Researched by Richard Curtis, Lead Volunteer on Collections. The Boer War in South Africa fought between October 1899 and May 1902 was the first war in which traction engines played a significant strategic role. By the time the article below had been published in ‘The Graphic’ on 24 February 1900, just four months after the start of the war, some 35 traction engines had already sent to South Africa on requisitioned ships that sailed from Southampton on 16 & 22 November and 5 December 1899. Most of these engines were made by John Fowler & Co of Leeds and had [...]