OVS Maxims

On 6 July 1894 the Orange Free State Volksraad approved the import of their first two Maxim guns, with a further two guns arriving early in 1896, all of M-H calibre.

The 1894 guns (No. 910 & 911) were ordered on 30 July 1894 and dispatched to "Bloemfontein, Orange Free State" on 13 November 1894 (order nos. 1519/10142). Both were mounted on “Infantry wagons” similar to that of No. 649. The second Free State pair (No. 5523 & 5524) were dispatched to “Orange Free State S.A.“ on 13 December 1895 (order nos. 1961/11546) arriving in Bloemfontein on 3 February 1896. They were also mounted on infantry carriages.

Somehow No. 910 found its way to the Transvaal. Exactly why and when this transfer took place remains uncertain, but since the Transvaal did buy arms from the Free State on previous occasions, it is not impossible that it was acquired to assist in the Transvaal’s 1895 campaign against another tribal chief, Magoeba. Col. Trichard’s biography mentions the use of two M-H calibre guns during this campaign and again at the ambush of the Jameson Raiders. To complicate matters it later states that before the Raid, the Transvaal had only one “M-H Maxim on wheels” (No. 649), which suggests that No. 910 was only acquired on loan from the Free State. The Maxim-Nordenfelt order book contains a note that No. 910 was one of the guns captured from Jameson, but this is probably incorrect.

Whatever the original agreement, it seems that the gun was never returned to the Free State as all Free State Artillery Corps reports from 1896 onwards list only three guns.

The exact location and date on which the three remaining Free State Maxims were captured is not known, but it is suspected that at least one gun was surrendered at Paardeberg on 27 February 1900, while another was left behind at Bothaville later that year on 6 November.

ORANJE VRIJSTAAT ARTILLERIE CORPS/ Historical Study and Re-Enactment Group