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ZAR’s last Cruesot ‘Long Tom’ is dynamited

This Day in History: April 30, 1901
Additional Date: April 30, 1901
During the Second Anglo-Boer War, the fourth and last Creusot 'Long Tom' of the state  artillery of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (South African Republic, also known as Transvaal Republic), was dynamited by its crew under Lieutenant H Du Toit before falling into British hands at Bergplaas, 46 kilometres east of Petersburg (Polokwane). According to General Viljoen this took place within a mere 200 metres from the advancing enemy. The Cruesot is synonymous with the Second Anglo-Boer War as it was widely used. The war lasted three years,  between 1899 and 1902. The  British claimed victory  and annexed both ZAR and the Orange Free State and incorporated them into the Union of South Africa.