Whilst the phase of the small columns was being operated we
usually returned to Middelburg to rest and refit and during these rest periods
we had some exciting times. The Boers
kept blowing up our supplies on the trains that brought them from Pretoria. The idea was to put explosive under the rails
and let the weight of the engine touch off the explosion and derail the
engine. Then the destructive party would
take what they could of the supplies and make tracks.
The most successful train wrecker on our part of the line
was an Irishman we called Jack Hinton.
He and his party could and did wreck trains, rob the contents and get
away with it. Our regimental postman was
another Irishman, Paddy Boyle by name, and he was bringing our mail on one of
the trains Jack wrecked. Paddy would
have had some registered letters for which he had signed. He had to hand his mailbags over and in doing
so he asked Jack to give him a receipt for them. Jack had a Mauser pistol in his hand, “Yes”
he said and aimed the pistol at Paddy
.
Eventually we got the answer to this trouble. The first truck, filled with iron rails, was
No. 1 vehicle with the locomotive behind it, and armoured trucks were
improvised carrying a number of infantrymen, but it did seem a long time before
the answer was forthcoming. Jack did a
lot of damage and kept the Boers in his area supplied; I never heard what
happened to him.
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