The British soldiers’ Bloemfontein: impressions and experiences during the time of the British occupation, 13 March – 3 May 1900

ABSTRACT / SAMEVATTTING

After defeating the Boers at Paardeberg, Modder River Pass/Poplar Grove and near Abrahamskraal/Driefontein, Lord Roberts’ victorious army of 34 000 soldiers occupied Bloemfontein on 13 March 1900, without encountering any further opposition from the Boers. Roberts planned to continue his advance to Pretoria as soon as possible, but the exhaustion of his troops and the enteric fever (typhoid) epidemic that ensued, forced him to halt in Bloemfontein for more than seven weeks. This presentation, which aims to explore a rather obscure aspect of Bloemfontein’s War-time social and military history, will provide a review of the British soldiers’ impressions of Bloemfontein’s buildings and gardens, shops, and of the town’s women. Their experiences of life in Bloemfontein, including the clubs and bars, will be discussed. The focus also falls on how Bloemfontein was transformed from a republican Boer capital to a British Army military base and a British-dominated ‘Bobsfontein’. The impact of the enteric fever epidemic will be discussed, and the British soldiers’ memories of Bloemfontein, in general, will also receive attention.

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