Blockhouses: symbols of a fearsome war

The dogged determination of the British to win the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902 resulted in the construction of thousands of blockhouses across the South African veld, writes Mike Burgess.

- Mike Burgess.

The British built approximately 8 000 blockhouses, at enormous cost, not only to protect their railway networks and other points of strategic importance, but also to stifle the mobility of Boer commandos across the South African veld. These were mainly masonry or corrugated iron structures and were built both in organised patterns and in isolation.

THE SCORCHED EARTH POLICY AND THE BLOCKHOUSE

As early as mid-1900, the Boer capitals of the Orange Free State (Bloemfontein) and the Transvaal (Pretoria) had fallen to the British Army. The war was far from over, however, as the Boers now engaged in hit-and-run guerrilla warfare, striking particularly at the railway network that the British were so dependent on to resupply their occupying force.