After the unsuccessful Jameson Raid of 1896 the Kruger government
realized how vulnerable the South African Republic was. Four forts were
therefore built around Pretoria. For each fort a 155-mm gun was bought
from the firm Schneider et Cie in Le Creusot, France. When the
Anglo-Boer War erupted in 1899 these guns were taken from Pretoria to be
used against the British at the sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and
Kimberley. After the relief of these towns and especially after the
Boers adopted guerrilla tactics, the Long Toms became a burden, because
they could not easily be moved about. The result was that the Boers
destroyed the Long Toms to prevent the guns being taken by the enemy.
Several myths and legends about these four guns had their origin during
the war. And, as is so typical with folklore, it is often difficult to
distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction about the Long
Toms, especially as accounts have come to us through the years by means
of oral tradition. Were they really as formidable as the Boers made them
out to be? Did they really outclass the British guns - in range as well
as in accuracy and effectiveness? And what happened to them eventually?
Why are there today no Long Toms to be seen anywhere? How did they
disappear? Were they destroyed by the Boers themselves and, if not, what
happened to them after the war? Is there, as rumor has it, one lying
somewhere in a hidden kloof where it was dumped by the Boers - still
waiting to be found? What happened to their remains? Why are the remains
nowhere to be seen? Is there still a complete Long Tom somewhere in
England?
