Armoured train carrying searchlight, South Africa, 1900

Photograph, Boer War (1899-1902), 1900.

Railways played an important part in the South African campaign and were frequently attacked by the Boers. To counter this threat, armoured trains regularly patrolled the main routes. Winston Churchill, then a war-correspondent, was travelling onboard one such train when it was ambushed by Boer commandos.

From an album of 100 photographs compiled by Col H L Templer, Royal Engineers, 1900.