![File:Wolseley Blockhouses. 1901 during Anglo-Boer War. Wolseley, Western Cape. 02.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Wolseley_Blockhouses._1901_during_Anglo-Boer_War._Wolseley%2C_Western_Cape._02.jpg/400px-Wolseley_Blockhouses._1901_during_Anglo-Boer_War._Wolseley%2C_Western_Cape._02.jpg)
Original file (3,072 × 4,608 pixels, file size: 7.45 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
![]() | This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons. Information from its description page there is shown below. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. You can help. |
The design was developed by the army’s chief engineer in South Africa, General Sir Elliot Wood, who based it upon a similar pattern he had used in the Sudan during the 1880’s. Examples of this structure may still be found at Wellington, Burgersdorp, Harrismith, Wolseley, Montagu, Prieska and Laingsburg, while others are scattered about the Magaliesberge and the foothills of the Khahlamba. A miniaturised version may also be found in the cemetery at Darling.
Although Wood’s design was excellent and did good service in guarding the railway links, it was too substantial and hence too expensive and time-consuming to build. These shortcomings became more evident after January 1901 when the Dutch began to redefine the nature of the conflict and reconstituted their field forces into smaller groups of highly mobile horse commandos. The wide-open plains of the southern African interior presented few obstacles to their movement and when Republican forces invaded the Cape for the second time, they were able to drive deep into British territory and hit with impunity at civilian targets, causing havoc to the Colony’s well-established civilian service infrastructure. In an attempt to limit these guerrilla tactics the British began to criss-cross the country with a series of barbed wire fences, which they hoped would hamper commando movement and eventually force their surrender.
By the end of the war, in May 1902, the main lines of barbed wire stretched from Cape Town to Mafeking, Port Elizabeth to De Aar, Naaupoort to Pietersburg, East London to Aliwal North, Rustenburg to Lourenco Marques, Durban to Mafeking, and from Hutchinson to Carnarvon, Calvinia, and thence through to the west coast. In most cases these ran alongside existing railway lines, which made the task of patrolling them, and of servicing the needs of men on sentry duty, a relatively simple matter. The wire used varied from the simple, two-strand coil to the much-vaunted eight-stranded variety, which was reputed to be “uncuttable”.
Blockhouses formed an essential part of this policy, and it was planned to string out a series of these structures along the fences within sight of each other. The number involved was massive, and because the Wood prototype was too substantial for this use, a smaller, more affordable unit, suitable for mass-production, was called for. The answer was provided by Major SR Rice, of the Royal Engineers, who reduced the concept of a blockhouse to a simple cylindrical drum topped by a corrugated iron roof and surrounded at its base by a circular wall of stones or sand-bags. The inner tower was created by placing two corrugated-iron water tanks of differing diameters, one within the other, and filling the space between them with stones and earth. The perimeter defences were often supplemented by trenches, but these were used more as shelters than firing positions. The final product may not have been as permanent as Wood’s design, but then it was not as expensive.
Summary
DescriptionWolseley Blockhouses. 1901 during Anglo-Boer War. Wolseley, Western Cape. 02.jpg |
This file has no description, and may be lacking other information.
Please provide a meaningful description of this file. |
Date | |
Source | Own work |
Author | A3alb |
Licensing
![w:en:Creative Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/CC_some_rights_reserved.svg/90px-CC_some_rights_reserved.svg.png)
![attribution](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Cc-by_new_white.svg/24px-Cc-by_new_white.svg.png)
![share alike](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Cc-sa_white.svg/24px-Cc-sa_white.svg.png)
- You are free:
- to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
- to remix – to adapt the work
- Under the following conditions:
- attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.
![]() |
This image was uploaded as part of Wiki Loves Monuments 2014.
Afrikaans ∙ Alemannisch ∙ العربية ∙ جازايرية ∙ azərbaycanca ∙ Bikol Central ∙ беларуская ∙ беларуская (тарашкевіца) ∙ български ∙ বাংলা ∙ brezhoneg ∙ bosanski ∙ català ∙ čeština ∙ Cymraeg ∙ dansk ∙ Deutsch ∙ Zazaki ∙ Ελληνικά ∙ English ∙ Esperanto ∙ español ∙ eesti ∙ euskara ∙ فارسی ∙ suomi ∙ français ∙ Frysk ∙ Gaeilge ∙ galego ∙ עברית ∙ हिन्दी ∙ hrvatski ∙ magyar ∙ հայերեն ∙ Bahasa Indonesia ∙ Ido ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ ქართული ∙ 한국어 ∙ кыргызча ∙ Lëtzebuergesch ∙ latviešu ∙ Malagasy ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Bahasa Melayu ∙ Malti ∙ norsk bokmål ∙ नेपाली ∙ Nederlands ∙ norsk nynorsk ∙ norsk ∙ polski ∙ português ∙ português do Brasil ∙ română ∙ русский ∙ sicilianu ∙ davvisámegiella ∙ slovenčina ∙ slovenščina ∙ shqip ∙ српски / srpski ∙ svenska ∙ ไทย ∙ Tagalog ∙ Türkçe ∙ українська ∙ اردو ∙ oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ∙ Yorùbá ∙ 中文 ∙ 中文(中国大陆) ∙ 中文(简体) ∙ 中文(繁體) ∙ 中文(香港) ∙ 中文(臺灣) ∙ +/− |
![]() |
Captions
Items portrayed in this file
depicts
9 April 2012
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 12:32, 6 September 2014 | ![]() | 3,072 × 4,608 (7.45 MB) | A3alb | User created page with UploadWizard |
File usage
Global file usage
The following other wikis use this file:
- Usage on af.wikipedia.org
- Usage on it.wikipedia.org
- Usage on nl.wikipedia.org
- Usage on nso.wikipedia.org
Metadata
This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it.
If the file has been modified from its original state, some details may not fully reflect the modified file.
Camera manufacturer | NIKON CORPORATION |
---|---|
Camera model | NIKON D3100 |
Exposure time | 1/250 sec (0.004) |
F-number | f/8 |
ISO speed rating | 100 |
Date and time of data generation | 15:30, 9 April 2012 |
Lens focal length | 20 mm |
Software used | Ver.1.00 |
File change date and time | 15:30, 9 April 2012 |
Y and C positioning | Co-sited |
Exposure Program | Normal program |
Exif version | 2.21 |
Date and time of digitizing | 15:30, 9 April 2012 |
Meaning of each component |
|
Image compression mode | 4 |
Exposure bias | 0 |
Maximum land aperture | 3.8 APEX (f/3.73) |
Metering mode | Pattern |
Light source | Unknown |
Flash | Flash did not fire |
DateTime subseconds | 40 |
DateTimeOriginal subseconds | 40 |
DateTimeDigitized subseconds | 40 |
Supported Flashpix version | 1 |
Color space | sRGB |
Sensing method | One-chip color area sensor |
File source | Digital still camera |
Scene type | A directly photographed image |
Custom image processing | Normal process |
Exposure mode | Auto exposure |
White balance | Auto white balance |
Digital zoom ratio | 1 |
Focal length in 35 mm film | 30 mm |
Scene capture type | Standard |
Scene control | None |
Contrast | Normal |
Saturation | Normal |
Sharpness | Normal |
Subject distance range | Unknown |
GPS tag version | 0.0.2.2 |