THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1950.
The Churchill Story, Fifth Instalment
PRISONER OF THE BOERS
IN
or
He looked around for a loop-
went up.
1899 Winston Churchill
By
Colin Frame hole of escape. Then his hands (Cons) was defeated at Oldham in his first attemptrailblock, derailing two trucks
father to follow his
into and killing injuring many politics. He lost to the soldiers.
For 70 minutes, with shells Liberal, Walter Runciman, bursting and Boer riflemen firing from the hillsides, Churchill, by 1,293 votes.
civilian though he was, took command of the situation.
In 1900, also as a Conservative at Oldham, he won his seat from Runciman by 222 votes.
Between those two elections he became for the first time the hero of his countrymen.
He left the senior officer to encourage his men to return fire from the comparative safety of their trucks and dodged up to the engine to see how the rest of the train could be brought safely
It was a strange twist of fate that made battle, from which he had withdrawn himself by quit-out. ting the Army, the means by which fame came to one who wanted only to be a politician,
He took his defeat philoso- phically. He turned to writing to fill in the gaps in time and pocket until he could renew the political struggle,
His Only Novel ABOUT this time his one and
only novel, "Savrola," which he had begun in India, was published. He made £700 out of it..
It is a Ruritanian tale of with power politics written
more youthful gusto but
he later ornate style than developed,
in
"I remember thinking it was like working in front of an iron target at a rifle range at which men were continually firing," he wrote in "My Early Life."
As he plodded into captivity by the side of General Botha he realised that as a civilian who อ military had taken part in action he was in an uncomfort- able position. Admittedly he had no pistol, but he still had clips of bullets, for it. And they were dum-dum bullets at that. He throwing them surrep- was
when Botha titiously away asked him what he had in his hand.
"What is it?" asked Churchill innocently: "I picked it up." Botha flung the bullets away. By now it had come on to rain, and there was probably not a more miserable man in the world than the future Prime Minister of Britain as he moodily marched
of the at the stirrup
future Cleared The Line
Prime Minister of South Africa. Churchill consoled himself TURST he had to improve the
.wounded engine driver's with the thought that even morale. "No man is struck twice | Napoleon had once laid it down him with more confidence than when one is alone and un- he could possibly have felt. He armed." added that if the man did his duty he would probably be de- corated.
on the same day, he assured that surrender may be pardoned
[Ten years later when he was Home Secretary Churchill made good this promise and the driver got the Albert Medal.]
Savrola, whom it is not difficult to identify with the author, is a liberal-thinking man who over-line, throws a reactionary government and then falls victim to a social- ist one.
It rolls with the thunder of oratory and the blood of orators. Sometimes within its pages you can almost hear the youth ful Churchill talking to himself: "Would you rise in the world?" said Savrola, You must work
while others amuse themselves. Are you desirous of a reputation for courage? You must risk your
life.
Would you be strong morally or physically? You must resist temptations.
"All this is paying in advance; that is prospective finance. Ob- serve the other side of the pic- ture; the bad things are paid for afterwards."
"Savroda" well suited to the tale There is one other passage in
about to be told the tale of war correspondent Churchill in the Boer War,
HR
Marched Away
TE could not see what more he
could have done,
But, as he marched away to the prison camp at Pretoria, the biscuit he munched was worm- wood and the dreary rain was gall
Then, coolly and methodically Churchill set about clearing the
using the engine as a bat-Looking at it now, anyone can see that this misfortune was in tering ram.
Just how hot the firing was fact an important and influential can be judged from the fact that step in the Churchill story. when he called for twenty volun- one teers to help overturn damaged truck, nine men only stepped out of their armoured boxes.
But they did the job.
And just how cool and Savrola- like Churchill was during this nightmare episode can be judged from a remark he made which, although he never recorded it, lived in the minds of the soldiery.
For a start he might with jus- tice have been taken by the Boers and put before a firing squad.
Although he had not fired a shot he had done enough at the train to merit execution civilian not protected by mili- tary law."
as a
No wonder he now says of the the most Boers: "They were good-hearted enemy I have ever fought against in the four con-
"Keep cool, men," he said. tinents in which it has been my "This will make good copy for fortune to see active service.""
"Deserved VC" my paper."
Fortunately what the soldiers ECONDLY, his gallantry at replied is not on record but it mentary either to the "Morning was no doubt far from compl Post" their extraordinarily special correspondent.
or
EDITORS PRESS SERVICE, INC.-HUEVA YORK
$57.
THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
"Enjoy yourself, dear?”
FOR THE BUSINESSMAN
Britain's Problems In Shortage of Commodities
(FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT)
London, Dec. 17., Since Premier Attlee came back from the Washington there has been speculation on passage in his communique dealing with supplies of raw materials.
Looked at from Britain's viewpoint there are two separate problems: one is the price which particularly affects materials such as rubber and tin which the United States is stockpiling, and the other is the actual supplies.
As Mr Attlee remarked in lead and cement this table, in-
weighed for nothing with Chur- plies both at home and abroad tears of unemployment in chill as he marched behind the does not clear up doubts and British industry wire.
་
confusions.
the train, reported in glow-the Commons debate this week,dicates that Britain has lower ing terms by all who returned the most urgent of commodities stocks to the extent between 10 safely on the engine, made him actually in short support for in- and 20 percent in 16 of these a hero.
dustry are sulphur and zinc. vital supplies. It is the considered opinion of The announcement made on Slowly, with the engine chug-
many officers that if Churchill Friday concerning immediate As a result of these condi- ging to and fro and the men
he would measures for allocating zine bytions, British industry is dis heaving obstructions to the side had been a soldier
an understandable Into Battle Again
of the line, the rails were cleared have received the VC for his the United Kingdom Govern- playing
ment and the United Plans work that day.
States state of bad nerves. Probably But these considerations plan for allocating sulphur sup fears în Lan Timetision," states the novel, were made for the engine, with
that of confusion and for the homeward run.
but Flosely "Savrola looked magnificent. His slowly back to safety while the very presence imparted a feeling rest of the troops marched beside of confidence to his followers. it using it as a shield against the His high and ample forehead Boer fire which had by now in might have contained the answer creased with further rifles and to every question; his determin-
engine Churchill entered the
Over all hangs the possibility ed composure seemed equal to an additional field gun. the utmost stroke of fate."
cab to direct the driver. The
of a fuel breakdown as coal his 25th A fortnight before.
pace was too hot for the infan-from being shot it was even On questions of price of raw stocks are 3,000,000 tons below birthday and just over a year
materials, nothing has been last year's 19,000,000 figure and after he had ridden his horse atry. He stopped the engine and wrong to imprison him. went back along the linė,
He demanded to be released. effected. The first expectation this may be a hard winter. Omdurman, Winston Churchill There he ran full tilt into the | But he spent his 25th birthday was the prospect of commodity of the "Morning Post" went into
in prison..
boards particularly for items battle again, but this time riding
such as tin, rubber and wool in an armoured train.
also being sought by the USSR. But such a scheme is not pos- sible to develop in peace time, it is recognised.
T
Ambush
Boers.
"My mind retains its impres- sion of these tall figures, full of energy, clad in dark flapping slouch, storm-
their
puffed along sixteen miles of clothes, with railway line from Estcourt driven, hats, poising on with companies of Dublin Fusi-levelled rifles hardly 100 yards liers and Durban Light Infantry away, aboard.
He
" he wrote.
Call To Surrender CHURCHILL turned and ran.
Bullets whistled by him and whined away into the banks of the cutting He climbed a bank and lay panting in a shallow de- pression at the top..
Churchill was not to be done out of such an experience. was standing head and shoulders out of the rear armoured truck when the train was ambushed. CHRAPNEL his first and nearly his last experience
Then came a horseman, level- of it burst over him and the ling his rifle and shouting loudly train crashed at 40 mph into a for Churchill to surrender.
I either
new one
Churchill felt for his pistol-"T thought I could kill this man, and after the treatment I had received I earnestly desire to do SO."
be
For a moment time stood still, The men looked at each other. Although neither knew it; this was one of the great moments of history, a meeting so strange that in fction it would thought far-fetched.
The bearded, uncouth horse- man was Louis Botha, due, to be first
Prime Minister of South Africa and one of the great Empire statesmen of the 1914- 18 war..
H
Hands Went Up.
TE looked along his rifle sights. at the man who would be called to save the Empire four decades hence.
заво
Churchill tumbled for his pls- tol and then realised he had left it in the engine.
interlocked and can be so easily With that supreme assurance
paralysed by a shortage of such which had marked his early days In the first place, solution of items as industrial alcohol or he stormed at the Boers and the zino shortage will imme-copper that fears are vivid. protested that he was a civilian.diately place copper in short
He insisted, in the face of supply for.brass fountries. normal military law, that so far
STANDARD
Dealer: South.
N. A 10 6 4
BRIDGE
Game all
9 5 3
J6 K
8 7
8 4.2
9832
E Q9
10 AQ 74
10 4 2
5
The bidding of this hand from match play was the same in both rooms. South opened One Spade and West bid Two Hearts; North had all the requirements for a raise to Three Spades and South bid game,
In Room 1 South ruffed the second Heart lead. drew trumps and led & Club to
assuming from West's overcall that he held A East wisely played low, and J was then led from dummy. losing to West's 'K. Two Club tricks had to be lost and South was one down.
The other declarer ted ◆4 from his own hand at West trick5..
won. but dummy's two small Clubs could now be discarded" on ◆ A and Q. If East hap pened to win with. • K; it would be a mora: certainty that West held a 4 and Southcould still make 19 tricks.--M." Harrison-Gray.
London Express Berulos.
STOCK MARKETS
The Stock markets appear to have thrown off the worst of their Korean nerves this week. Improved
war news and the Attlee - Truman communique However, rubber and tin are had a rallying effect, although regarded by some commentators the first reaction to the an- here as bright spots in the darknouncement of the termination commodity picture. Supplies of Britain's Marshall Aid made next year of both Malaya's a temporary setback. However, be there was further consideration principal products should adequate perhaps more than of the strengthened economic adequate, Rubber price rises situation revealed by the deci- are estimated by these optimistssion, and towards the end of to be mainly caused by United the week a marked move into States stockpiling and temporary equities developed perhaps as lack of spot supplies. Resusola hedge against inflation. tation of the American synthetio
The Roan Antelope Copper rubber industry is expected to balance up supply and demand Company seems to have chang- even including the raiseded its mind about moving its stockpiling programme and in headquarters from London to the event there is bound to be Rhodesia. Its chairman, A. R a sharp decline in prices. There may be even a slight reduction in United Kingdom rubber con- sumption, due to the shortage of sulphur for vulcanising
Prain, explained that it tax re- duction were the only con- sideration, control of the com- pany would certainly be trans- ferred abroad, but to enable shareholders to be no worse off he was referring to United Kingdom corporate shareholders as a result of the company's The general pieture is that move, it would be necessary to commodity shortages have pay materially increased divi- caught the United Kingdom dende.
CAUGHT UNAWARES
Government unawares.
The
Economist newspaper today. The advantage, of the move publishes a- of stocks in the would also Be decreased if the United Kingdom of 18 basic in theparity in tax rates were less dus
comparison year.
Eiving in future. Moreover, he previous | might not contifine so exception of to make the move valush
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