Christmas Set In Amid Misery,
Hunger, And Disease, The More Piteous For The Grim Attempts To
Amuse The Children And Live Up To The Joyous Season, When The
Present Of Santa Claus Was Too Often A 96-Pound Shell.
On the top
of all other troubles it was now known that the heavy ammunition
was running short and must be husbanded for emergencies.
There was
no surcease, however, in the constant hail which fell upon the
town. Two or three hundred shells were a not unusual daily
allowance. The monotonous bombardment with which the New Year had
commenced was soon to be varied by a most gallant and
spirit-stirring clash of arms. On January 6th the Boers delivered
their great assault upon Ladysmith - an onfall so gallantly made and
gallantly met that it deserves to rank among the classic fights of
British military history. It is a tale which neither side need be
ashamed to tell. Honour to the sturdy infantry who held their grip
so long, and honour also to the rough men of the veld, who, led by
untrained civilians, stretched us to the utmost capacity of our
endurance.
It may be that the Boers wished once for all to have done at all
costs with the constant menace to their rear, or it may be that the
deliberate preparations of Buller for his second advance had
alarmed them, and that they realised that they must act quickly if
they were to act at all. At any rate, early in the New Year a most
determined attack was decided upon.
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