Annie Rayne, Arbroath
A Child At War In Southern Africa
Angus Angus Archives holds an account of life under the siege of Mafeking during the Boer War of 1899 - 1900 [MS 239]. The author is Annie Rayne, believed to be an Arbroathian. Annie spent her early years in Southern Africa. At the start of the Boer War Annie, her mother and the baby were sent from Pretoria to an uncle in Mafeking for safety. It was considered to be a strategically unimportant little town but the siege of 215 days became an important psychological turning point in the war. The Boers outnumbered the British in Southern Africa by 2 to 1. Yet instead of pressing their military advantage all the way to the Cape, they chose to attack 3 relatively unimportant towns: Kimberley, Ladysmith and Mafeking. The defence of Mafeking was led by Robert Baden-Powell who later founded the Boy Scout movement.
When the force of 10,000 Boers surrounded the town on 12 October 1899, Annie’s family and all the other families were evacuated from their homes to a lager, an enclosure, in the open veldt. There they lived in the open until a huge covered trench was constructed for the 300 women and their children. This was to be their home for many months. They left it only for a few hours every day to cook.
As the siege wore on the Annie and the other older children enjoyed a little more freedom. Annie’s mother nursed wounded soldiers and the children were given the task of carrying food to the wounded. On one such errand shrapnel hit Annie and a young friend. Annie’s injuries were minor but her friend was not so lucky. She died of her injuries.
After a time food supplies ran very low. Annie described some of the food the besieged were forced to eat including horsemeat. When that ran out donkey meat was tried. Annie states in a matter of fact tone that she preferred the donkey to the horse meat. The inhabitants of Mafeking were eventually reduced to eating locusts. Annie did not like the locusts but ate them anyway to survive. Annie and her family became so thin that her father did not recognise her after the siege was lifted.
The siege was broken after 215 days and was greeted with national jubilation. Annie and her family endured many hardships during the siege. The family considered themselves to be very fortunate: her mother was the only woman not to loose a child to starvation or military action during the siege.
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