sistance for about twenty minutes, but our men
thrust their rifles through the loopholes of the blockhouses and fired
within, calling out "hands-up" all the time, whilst the "Tommies"
within retorted, "You haven't V.M.R.'s to deal with this time!"
However, we soon made it too hot for them and their boasting was
exchanged into cries of mercy, but not before three of our men had
been killed and several wounded. The "Tommies" now shouted: "We
surrender, Sir; for God's sake stop firing." My brave field-cornet, G.
Mybergh, who was closest to the blockhouses, answered: "All right
then, come out." The "Tommies" answered: "Right, we are coming," and
we ceased firing.

Field-Cornet Mybergh now stepped up to the entrance of the fort, but
when he reached it a shot was fired from the inside and he fell
mortally wounded in the stomach. At the same time the soldiers ran out
holding up their hands. Our burghers were enraged beyond measure at
this act of treachery, but the sergeant and the men swore by all that
was sacred that it had been an accident, and that a gun had gone off
spontaneously whilst being thrown down. The soldier who admitted
firing the fatal shot was crying like a baby and kissing the hands of
his victim. We held a short consultation amongst the officers and
decided to accept his explanation of the affair. I was much upset,
however, by this loss of one of the bravest officers I have ever
known.

Meanwhile the fight at the other blockhouse continued. Commandant
Groenwald afterwards informed me that he had approached the blockhouse
and found it built of rock; it was, in fact, a fortified ganger's
house built by the Netherlands South Africa Railway Company. He did
not see any way of taking the place; many of his men had fallen, and
an armoured train with a search-light was approaching from Brugspruit.
On the other side of the blockhouse we found a ditch about three feet
deep and two feet wide. Hastily filling this up we let the carts go
over. As the fifth one had got across and the sixth was standing on
the lines, the armoured train came dashing at full speed in our midst.
We had had no dynamite to blow up the line, and although we fired on
the train, it steamed right up to where we were crossing, smashing a
team of mules and splitting us up into two sections. Turning the
search-light on us, the enemy opened fire on us with rifles, Maxims
and guns firing grape-shot. Commandant Groenwald had to retire along
the unconqu