Rifles in the Boer War

The use of the Lee-Metford by British forces was undoubtedly one of the biggest changes of equipment of the British Army. Before 1888 the British army had used The Martini Henry rifle, a breech-loading, single-shot, lever rifle. This rifle was used, most famously in the Zulu war, where it was used mostly, but not exclusively, against men armed with just spears and shields. This was fine - the rifle could fire 12 rounds a minute, so on an open battlefield a Zulu army had no chance. 
The Lee-Metford on the other hand could fire 20 rounds a minute - a huge increase in fire power, it also used smokeless powder, and had a greater range than the Martini Henry. But these technological advances, although useful, were not used effectively in the British Forces, as they were in the Boer forces.

Lee-Metford

Before the Boer war, age old tactics had been used to fight battles, forming a line and firing by rank was still an effective method by 1888, we can see this in the iconic scene from Zulu where Stanley Baker lines up his men and suppresses a Zulu attack. This kind of tactic was necessary, primarily because of loading times, but also because of a lack of smokeless powder. Another scene in Zulu when there are Zulu marksmen on the hills firing down onto the British Troops best illustrates how long range firing was not feasible; when firing non-smokeless powder, a man can be seen from very far away and then immediately fired upon.


The Boers however, capitalized upon their bolt action rifles - the German Mauser and the Norwegian Krag rifle (which had a very unusual and interesting design). Boers rarely allowed the British to have pitched battles, and made the most of the fact that they could fire without their positions being revealed. a small number of well placed Boer riflemen could easily decimate an entire British Column, and then easily escape on horse back. These Boer tactics lead to great frustration in the British Army and led Kitchener to make 2 major tactic changes. Firstly the scorched Earth Policy which effectively denied sustenance and safe houses to Boer guerrillas. This, whilst definitely effective also had many ethical issues. Another, somewhat lesser known tactic was the use of the Bushveldt Carbineers - a mounted guerrilla type force, primarily composed of Australians, set up to counter the Boers. They used carbine versions of both the Lee-Metford and the Martini Henry

Carbineers

The Carbineers, although not in Britain, are fairly famous in Australia. The most famous of all of them was a man called Henry 'Breaker' Morant. Morant was court marshaled and executed, for killing Boer prisoners, despite this being a well known and condoned practice for Carbineers, as they had no other means of keeping them. It is often said that his killing was used as an attempt to keep Germany away from the war as well as a way to make peace with the Boers. He is now a folk Hero in Australia, his friend after his death wrote a book about him called Scapegoats of Empire, and there is also a film about him.

Weapons of the Second Boer War | Kieran McMullen. 2013. Weapons of the Second Boer War | Kieran McMullen. [ONLINE] Available at:http://kieranmcmullen.com/2012/10/07/weapons-of-the-second-boer-war/.


Film Breaker Morant


Piers Brendon, 2008. The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997. Third Impression Edition. Vintage Books.