THE THREE BRITISH OCCUPATIONS OF POTCHEFSTROOM DURING THE ANGLOBOER WAR 1899-1902

Abstract

In the course of 1900, the second year of the Anglo-Boer War, Potchefstroom
was occupied three times by British forces and twice evacuated, all in the space of
five months. This article focuses on the circumstances leading to these events, their
significance for the effective British occupation of south-western Transvaal and on
the effects of the occupations on the civilian population of the town.
Possession of Potchefstroom, next to Pretoria and Johannesburg, the most
populous town in the Transvaal, was a pre-requisite for British occupation of all of
the south-western quarter of the Transvaal. The main consideration being that the
Western Railway line ran through Potchefstroom terminating in Klerksdorp. Its use
was indispensable as a supply route for all garrison towns to be established south
and west of Krugersdorp. The expectations that all would be accomplished with ease
were dashed by the advent of the guerrilla phase of the war by mid-1900. Critical in
this regard was the activation of renewed Boer hostilities securely based in the
Gatsrand from where all rail and road communication between Potchefstroom and
its supply base in Krugersdorp was disrupted. These factors and other considerations
resulted in six months of failed British attempts to secure Potchefstroom.
Alternating Boer and British control of the town had interesting repercussions
for the civilian population with its considerable British element leading to a division
of loyalty toward the combatants.