The British Army built a gallows in the lower half of a windmill to hang Boer rebels at Vryburg, Cape Province, in the dying embers of the South African war. After a short trial by a military court the condemned were despatched to the “windmill,” as it was called, and hanged in public.

Rebellion was particularly fierce around Vryburg because the Boers were incensed that the British were using “coloured” troops, equipping them with uniforms as well as employing them as spies.

Four men were hanged at the “windmill.” The first two, Johannes Jansen, 30, and Nicolaas Rautenbach, 24, were charged with armed rebellion, which included possessing highly destructive “dum-dum” bullets.

After their trials the families of the two men were taken to concentration camps, where they were taunted about the impending executions. On Friday, October 11th, 1901, the British Army ordered the entire Boer population of the town, including children, to watch the hangings, carried out at 8 a.m. After the drops, soldiers bayoneted the bodies to ensure they were dead.