| Administrative History | Following the Sudan Campaign Ogston was keen to make suggestions for improvements to the army medical service. He visited Germany and Russia (see MS 3850/1/4 for a record of his visit there in the winter of 1898/1899) to observe medical practice in the military services in these countries and as a result formulated strong opinions on how changes could be made to better aid British frontline troops during military campaigns.
Ogston delivered the Address in Surgery at the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association at Portsmouth in 1899 where he made criticisms of the army medical services. He was keen to observe conditions in South Africa for himself, and indeed had to pay his own expenses to get there, but his address had led to hostility from some in the army medical establishment. He was however able to secure a letter of introduction from Queen Victoria which allowed him to observe in person the medical facilities the British forces had at their disposal. Ogston departed for South Africa from Southampton in early December 1899 on board the Union Line steamer 'Mexican'. He returned from the Boer War in July 1900. He recorded his experiences in South Africa in two volumes, MS 3850/1/5 and MS 3850/1/6.
Further information can be found in 'Reminiscences of three campaigns', Alexander Ogston (London, 1919), the text of which was based on Ogston's journals. |
| Description | "Journal of a Visit to the Boer War in South Africa in the Winter of 1899-1900 Volume Second". Includes list of appendices and illustrations in text at the start of the volume. The journal contains very detailed notes and descriptions of Alexander Ogston's time in South Africa and includes many carefully drawn plans and sketches, newspaper cuttings and references to rumours circulating round the camp. Many of the pages have been scored through in pencil.
First entry dated 3 April 1900 "Kimberley to Boshof"
Boshof (page 4)
Sketch plan of Battle of Tweefontein, 5 April 1900 (page 5)
Sketch and description of "Jeffrey's expanding dum dum [bullet]" (page 10)
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 10 and 11 regarding French soldier Villebois-Mareuil
List and notes on wounded men Ogston treated following battle of Tweefonteiu (page 12)
9 April - notes condition of wounded men (page 14)
Sketch of "Structure of Kopp..., Boshof" (page 17)
"Camp Rumours" (page 18)
Sketch of tulip grass "that poisons our horses" (page 20)
Sketch plan of Transvaal (page 21)
Sketch plan of alternative routes between Boshof and Kimberley (page 21) [incorrectly numbered]
Sketch plan (page
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 24 and 25 about Major General Gatacre
20 April - sketch of south east water supply of Boshof (page 25)
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 28 and 29 relating to battle at Boshof
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 32 and 33 regarding Captain Sississon
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 34 and 35 regarding the collection of effects of the late Viscomte Villebois de Mareuil
Sketch of "outpost action at Boshof 28 Apr." (page 36)
30 April - "Yesterday being Sunday, on which the Boers don't fight, was a quiet day...Some of our scouts brought in word in the morning that the Boers had gone away: but others reported later in the day that they had moved westwards so as to waylay the Kimberley Road" (page 37)
Sketch plan of defences of Boshof (page 38)
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 42 and 43: "The Boshof Engagement" and "Methuen at Boshof"
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 44 and 45 regarding defeat of British force
Feather of [Koraan?] bird enclosed between pages 48 and 49
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 50 and 51 regarding poisoned Mauser cartridges
Sketch and description of poisoned bullets (page 52)
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 52 and 53: "Deaths from wounds. A mysterious poison. Medical men puzzled".
14 May - "Boshof to Hoopstad" (page 54)
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 58 and 59: "Boer Barbarities" [from Free Press, 29 Nov 1900]
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 60 and 61: "Wessels on Parole" [8 June 1900]
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 64 and 65: "Success by Methuen. Hoopstad Occupied"
Hoopstad - "Hoopstad seemed to be a place of perhaps 150 inhabitants, and is rather picturesquely (for a South African town) perched on the edge of a flat plain...The sick, as the army gathered in, assumed alarming proportions: starting in the afternoon with 17 in our charge...till by evening there were something like 110 to be left...many very seriously ill with typhoid fever" (pages 65-66)
Hoopstad to Bothaville, 21 May (page 66)
Bothaville (page 72)
Bothaville to Kroonstad (page 74)
"Kroonstad to [Cape Town?]", 30 May (page 79)
"My Fever" (pages 80-81): "Of the days that followed the 2nd June I remember very little. My disease was first doubted as being typhoid fever, but as it ran its course it became a clear case and from the first I was treated for that ailment"
Enclosed between pages 80 and 81 is a card "Short Prayer For The Use Of Soldiers In The Field"
"My Convalescence" (pages 82-83)
Sketches and notes relating to expanding bullets and "sporting" bullets; "Curios at Bloemfontein" (page 84)
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 86 and 87: "Military Hospitals", "Hospital Accommodation. The Enteric Outbreak", "Sick and Wounded. Alleged Shortcomings", "Sickness Among Troops. A Sensational Indictment" [two taken from Bloemfontein Post, 1900]
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 88 and 89: "War News" [Bloemfontein Post, 2 July 1900]
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 90 and 91 regarding "Hospital Scandal", military hospitals and enquiry
[Bloemfontein Post, Cape Times]
Newspaper cuttings enclosed between pages 92 and 93: "Fever at Wynberg" and "The Hospitals Debate" [Cape Times, 10 July 1900]
Cape Town (page 96)
Black and white photograph of Ogston in military uniform ["Cape Town July 1900" on reverse] (page 97)
"Mrs Hanburg Williams was also at tea...She told me a great deal about the wide-spread dissatisfaction felt regarding the attitude of the military surgeons towards the ladies voluntary help" (page 98)
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 98 and 99: "Chasing the Boers" [Cape Times, July 1900]
Newspaper cutting enclosed between pages 100 and 101 regarding progress of war [Cape Times, 11 July 1900]
Note of menu items enclosed between pages 102 and 103
"Voyage Home from Cape Town to Southampton" [departed on the 11 July 1900 and arrived back in Aberdeen on the 29 July] (pages 103-112). Recounts journey home and individuals he has met including Dr. Conan Doyle, Lady Sarah Wilson, Mr. Cheatle, Mr. Corbett and Mr. Stewart.
Newsaper cutting enclosed between pages 108 and 109: "Enteric Fever at Bloemfontein" [Morning Post, 3 July 1900]
R.M.S. "Briton" Concert Programme dated 13 July 1900 enclosed between pages 106-107: the programme included a reading "From Rodney Stone" by Dr. Conan Doyle
Sketch plan of Bloemfontein water-supply (page 111)
"Notes explanatory and supplementary" (page 112)
[The journal ends on page 112 but after this numerous newspaper cuttings, articles and notes are enclosed including a passenger list for the Union Line to South and East Africa [travelling on board the S.S. Briton for the return journey from South Africa] (page 147). On pages 156 and 157 there is a sketch map of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.] |