Left the 16 Lancers on the way to Paardeberg let their horses drink their fill in the Modder River. Some poop and urinate no doubt. One lancer trusts what's in his canteen for a good reason.
Coming up behind - because they're on foot, trekking across the dry, dusty, African veldt - are the hot and sweating infantrymen, including the Royal Canadian Regiment. They can hardly wait to get to the water of the Modder to refresh themselves. It will be their sole source of water during February and March, 1900.
Coming from Canada they only know the pure river water of the Canadian wilderness. Once the Battle of Paardeberg starts, on Feb. 18, 1900, they know little of the horrendous bacterial infestation, from the thousands of dead animal carcasses, that burble in the depths of the murky water. Modder River soup, or Chateau Modder, they will ruefully call it in later years. Many would suffer only temporary inconvenience of having to relieve themselves on the march from wretched diarrhea in the open veldt without a bush in sight as the parade goes by... But thousands of others would die from drinking it, succumbing to enteric fever. But then how could these young boys from Canada expect to know all that? The only enemy they can see is the dastardly Boer, who is unbeknownst to them, a far less deadly foe...
Left another type of similar canteen dating from the 1890s showing the type of cork stopper it contained. It is made of a lighter gauge of metal and shows how disfigured the felt cover got during use.
Below, one with the cover removed, and a battlefield relic of the same kind of canteen.
 Great Canadian Heritage Treasure |
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| Water Bottle, c 1890 |
| Orig. enamel ware - Size - 25 cm Found - Brantford, ON |
| Probably used by Canadian militiamen on maneuvers during summer training in the 1890s. |
| Great Canadian Heritage Treasure |
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| Water Bottle Relic |
| Orig. water bottle - Size - 25 cm Found - RSA |
| A relic from a Boer War campsite flattened probably by a wagon wheel or passing artillery gun carriage. |
Left another Boer War canteen, this one made of tin and used by the Red Cross to give water to wounded men on the battlefield.
It still sports the Red Cross and has the cup and handle fitted over the spout.
Enamel and tin canteens were a huge improvement in portability for the foot-slogging infantryman of the late Victorian period.
Earlier British army water bottles were heavy, made of wood, strapped with iron. Above a British army canteen dated 1886.
Left another wooden relic, with wire bail, from the Boer War and dated 1899.
The mysterious hole explained...
Another similar canteen, with felt cover still intact, and so unsullied it was never used on campaign by anyone, except on Sunday parade.
It does show the wooden plug which permitted the soldier to take a quick swig without having to unscrew the metal cap, which was only done to refill the water bottle. It also shows that James' canteen is missing the felt washer.
| Great Canadian Heritage Treasure |
The canteen is rather small, but a soldier had lots of other things to carry. Which is why, whenever the men came to a slough, they would refill their canteens, unfortunately, with the same water in which others washed, and the dray mules, cavalry and artillery horses pooped and whatever, as they too drank their fill. So many of these canteens are bandied about as "real Boer War items" though many are not and have never been in South Africa or on any battlefield. This canteen once had a long leather strap going through the three loops for draping around the shoulders on the march. The short strap here is merely to keep the stopper from being lost. This canteen is also instructive for comparing with other supposed Canadian canteens. This one has both, the top of the metal stopper and the canteen neck collar rim, stamped with the War Department 54 Arrow, showing the Royal Canadian Regiment was outfitted with government stamped canteens, not the bogus unmarked "private issue" equipment so beloved by shady ebay sellers and militaria dealers.
But what about the mystery hole? |
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| Canteen, Pvt. JRD McKerihen, C Co, RCR - South Africa 1900 | |
Orig. blue enamel - Size - 23 cm James safeguarded his items till the 1960s so the gouges around the loops here are the result of real battlefield bashes and crashes not the misuse by children in the passing decades. The canteen may have been covered in grey felt originally but the hardships of the campaign may have ripped and worn it off eventually. |
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A fabulous and rare Canadian Boer War canteen that belonged to James McKerihen and went on campaign to South Africa with him.
