The article was published in Polish. Below is an English translation of its opening. Wersja polska
Magersfontein, Stormberg and Colenso – three spectacular defeats suffered by the British Army in South Africa at the start of the Second Boer War, within just seven days – went down in history as “Black Week” (10–17 December 1899). The future Prime Minister, Sir Herbert Asquith, summed up the public mood succinctly: our generals seem unable not only to win victories, but even to give convincing reasons for their defeats. Indeed, it might have seemed that a clash between a rabble of South African farmers and the professional soldiers of the British Empire could only end in the swift defeat of the former. The events of those December days of 1899 proved otherwise. Part 1 of this article presents the campaign in Cape Colony, with particular emphasis on its climax – the Battle of Magersfontein. Part 2 discusses the other two battles of “Black Week”.
