The Capture of Winston Churchill.

On 15 November 1899, 125 years ago in the Second Boer War, British politician Winston Churchill was captured by the Boers while working as a war correspondent for the Morning Post newspaper.

Illustration depicting the
ambushed train and the battle

He was accompanying an armoured train which was ambushed and derailed by the Boers near the town of Chieveley. After joining in to try and fend off the Boes, he was captured along with several other men and interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Pretoria. 

Churchill pictured in 1895

Just a month into his internment he successfully made a daring escape slipping out through a latrine and scaling the camp’s walls in the still of night.  

He then embarked on a perilous journey, stowing away on a train and seeking refuge in a British sympathiser's house in Mozambique.

His escape made headlines in Britain, turning him into a national hero. This paved the way for his entry into politics, setting the stage for a career as the legendary statesman he became.