Boer Nicknames

On Boer side the rifle calibre guns were simply referred to as “Meksims” or “Handmeksim”, while nicknames like “Katlagter” were common. “Katlagter” is the Afrikaans name for a babbler, a bird known for its “whirring, grating, crescendo of sound” – a more fitting description of the noise made by a Maxim would be hard to find!

The larger 37mm gun was usually called a “Bommeksim” (Bomb Maxim) or simply a Maxim-Nordenfelt or Vickers-Maxim. This much loved gun also received descriptive nicknames like “Doodsklok” (Death’s Bell) or the more famous “Pom-Pom”. The name Pom-Pom is sometimes accredited to South African natives who is said to have imitated the slow pounding noise of its discharge.

The Boer's Martini-Henry Maxims 

During the 1880’s and early 1890’s the Martini-Henry was the preferred rifle in both Boer republics and therefore it is not surprising that the first Maxims imported by the Boers were of the same calibre. These were examples of Maxim’s “World Standard” model, chambered for the 577/450 Martini-Henry (M-H) round.

The round itself differed from standard rifle ammunition in having a cupro-nickel bullet and a solid drawn cartridge case with a special strengthened head. Manufactured by Kynoch of Birmingham, the ammunition was known as the .450 Maxim and had the word “MAXIM” stamped on its head to distinguish it from common M-H rounds.