Boer War brooch made from a piece of artillery shell fired into Kimberley probably by “Long Tom” during the siege. Inscribed: ‘SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY 1899- 1900’ on the brass and ‘BOER SHELL’ on the steel.

Boer War brooch made from a piece of artillery shell fired into Kimberley probably by “Long Tom” during the siege. Inscribed: ‘SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY 1899- 1900’ on the brass
and ‘BOER SHELL’ on the steel.

Dimensions: 4.2 cm long by 2.7 cm high.

The Siege of Kimberley lasted 124 days and was finally relieved on 15 February 1900 by a cavalry division under Lieutenant-General John French, part of a larger force under Lord Roberts. From the 7th of February the Boers used the much heavier 100-pounder “Long Tom” to counter “Long Cecil”
Note: See page 184-185 of The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham 1979 for an account of these bombardments.

Photo sourced on SOUTH AFRICAN CANNON ASSOCIATION- http://www.sa-cannon.com/long_tom.html#.XWXxs-gzaUk

Long Tom being loaded during the siege of Mafeking- Photo sourced from Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/155_mm_Creusot_Long_Tom