If mistakes occur on one side they may occur on the other.
Reuter's agent at Frere Camp reports on 4th December:--
"After the evacuation of Dundee the Boers shelled the hospital and the
ambulance until the white flag was hoisted, when their firing ceased.
Captain Milner rode with one orderly into the Boer camp with a flag of
truce, and was told that the Boers could not see the Red Cross flag.
This statement he verified by personal observation."
As to the use of "explosive" bullets, which makes the "man in the
street" so indignant, it is worth mentioning that, as far as I am aware,
not a single instance of the employment of such a missile came under the
notice of our medical staff with Lord Methuen's column. I do not for one
instant deny that occasionally such bullets may have been fired at our
troops, but it is clear that the utmost confusion prevails about the
nature of these projectiles. The Geneva Convention prohibits the use of
explosive bullets, _i.e._, hollow bullets charged with an explosive
which is fired by a detonating cap on coming in contact with a resisting
surface. Now it is almost impossible to render a Mauser bullet
"explosive," owing to its extreme slenderness, so that any explosive
bullets which may have been used by the enemy must have come from
sporting rifles, which are--as all evidence goes to show--extremely rare
in their commandos.
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