Journal of the International Churchill Society - Winston Churchill

ural town that had also seen its share of war. It was hot, so we
stopped and had some Cokes near a swimming pool where
children and adults splashed each other and a long-haired dog was
friendly but obviously uncomfortable in the heat. The owner of
the hotel gave us permission to climb a fence onto the Colenso
battlefield, on property belonging to his family, near a British
cemetary. Here we met a good looking young blond fellow,
George Clouston (the same name was on a nearby tombstone),
son of the owner and a Boer War afficionado. For an hour he
showed me Buller's headquarters, the Boer positions, several
WAT5RVAL BOVENjfk
Above: RR stops along the escape route. Below: Belfast stationmaster,
Spion Kop British graves. Below right: Durban Town Hall today.
battle areas, mounds where a naval gun had been fixed, and a
British command post "messed up because of some Italian
tourists who moved the stones." On one boulder, British soldiers
had carved ensigns. I thanked George profusely, and he replied by
handing me some cartridges and shell fragments—Enfield and
Mauser cartrides and dum-dums. He said he had hundreds more at
home and was pleased to share them. I was most grateful and
offered to pay for his time and the momentos, but he refused. He
was of British stock.
Driving south we stopped north of Frere to look at the spot
where Churchill was captured during the armoured train incident.
There are plaques memorializing the spot, with a map and description.
On the far side of the tracks is a small graveyard with a
dozen neat stones, the remains of British soldiers killed in the
skirmish.
Still farther south we lodged overnight in Piermaritzburg, the
provincial capital of Natal. The small Churchill Park is overwhelmed
with statues relating to the Zulu, Boer and both World
Wars. A few hours' drive away was Durban, where young Winstor
had arrived in triumph on 23 December 1899.
Durban is a vacation city for South Africans and busiest on
Christmas weekend. It's the Miami Beach of South Africa, with
about a mile of clean, white sand and modern hotels. After
shopping in the Oriental Market (Durban has the largest Indian
population outside India) and swimming in the warm Indian
Ocean, we drove to the business center.
I attempted to visit various museums and newspaper offices
to obtain information on Churchill's speech, which is not recorded
in any of the published sources. But due to the holidays
everything was closed. I have letters pending now in Durban, and
our guide Irmela has promised to follow through.
We did see the old Town Hall where Churchill spoke after his
return from Lourenejo Marques. It is now a post office, facing a
beautiful park across the street, also filled with statues. From
Durban through Zululand we stayed overnight at Umtata, capital
of the independent homeland of Transkei. The next morning
Irmela drove us through Ciskei to Port Elizabeth, then to Oudtshoorn
and its ostrich farms (the meat is red!). Finally, we spent
severals days in Cape Town.
In Chapter II of London to Lady smith, Churchill begins: "We
have left Headquarters busy with matters that as yet concern no
one but themselves in the Mount Nelson Hotel at Cape Town—a
most excellent and well-appointed establishment, which may be
thoroughly appreciated after a sea voyage, and which, since many
of the leading Uitlanders have taken up their abode there during
the war, is nicknamed 'The Helot's Rest'." I can advise that the
Mount Nelson has lost none of its elegance and charm. Although
we had only one dinner there, it was an experience: serviettes
placed on your lap; dishes served with hot silverware for hot
foods and cold for cold foods; waiters who are there when you
need them but invisible otherwise; diners wearing proper attire
(though I saw some children in pajamas). All of this cost the
equivalent of S25 for two, including a bottle of wine and a tip.
After much exploring of the area by car and a helicopter, we
took the Blue Train to Johannesburg. But not before I'd located a
Cape Town bookshop with 15 books about Churchill and the
Boer War, three of them first editions. We spent more days in
Johannesburg —shopping, always shopping—and took one of the
last tours of the gold mines there before boarding a plane for the
16-hour flight to New York. Two hours more and we were at
O'Hare, Chicago and home. The memories proved far better than
our expectations. With over 300 still photos and a thousand feet
of moving pictures plus two bags of memorabilia, our experience
in this beautiful and historic land will be relived many times in
coming years. •
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