Marthinus Nikolaas Ras (18 January 1843 – 21 February 1900)[1] was a South African farmer, soldier, and gun-maker who is considered the father of South African Artillery.[2]
He served in the First Boer War in the Potchefstroom commando under GeneralPiet Cronjé. After witnessing the siege on the British fort at Potchefstroom by the Boers, he realized the need for artillery by the Boer forces to be able to successfully mount an assault the British blockhouses and forts. In the early stages of the conflict, the Boers seriously lacked cannons to enable them to assault the six British army forts in the Transvaal. In December 1880, he requested and obtained permission to return home to his farm Bokfontein, near Brits, to build a cannon for the Boer forces.[2]
Cannon building
Ras built two cannons (named the Ras cannons), the first being a 3 inch caliber, 4½ feet barrel cannon, named "Martienie" and the second a 2 inch caliber, 5½ barrel cannon, named "Ras". The "Martienie" cannon was used to great effect on a British fort near Rustenburg, firing 93 shots and resulting in the subsequent surrender of the fort.[3]
Death
On 21 February 1900, during the Second Boer War, whilst on the way back to his farm at Bokfontein (south of Brits), Ras was ambushed and killed at Kayaseput[specify] by an impi (African war party) of the Kgatla tribal chief Linchwe, an African tribe fighting on the side of the British.[4][5]
References
^L.S. Bothma; C.M. Woest; L. Groesbeek. Ras-Geslagsregister. p. 6.
^ abRosa Swanepoel. (PDF). University Of Pretoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
^L.S. Bothma; C.M. Woest; L. Groesbeek. Ras-Geslagsregister. p. 137.
^L.S. Bothma; C.M. Woest; L. Groesbeek. Ras-Geslagsregister. p. 138.
^Morton, R.F. (1985). "Linchwe I and the Kgatla campaign in the South African War,1899–1902*". The Journal of African History. 26 (2): 169–191. doi:10.1017/S0021853700036926. JSTOR 181722. S2CID 154565537.
marthinus, nikolaas, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, general, notability, guideline, please, help, demonstrate, n. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s general notability guideline Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Marthinus Nikolaas Ras news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Marthinus Nikolaas Ras news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Marthinus Nikolaas Ras 18 January 1843 21 February 1900 1 was a South African farmer soldier and gun maker who is considered the father of South African Artillery 2 Marthinus Ras next to the Martienie Cannon Contents 1 Military service 2 Cannon building 3 Death 4 References 5 SourcesMilitary service EditHe served in the First Boer War in the Potchefstroom commando under General Piet Cronje After witnessing the siege on the British fort at Potchefstroom by the Boers he realized the need for artillery by the Boer forces to be able to successfully mount an assault the British blockhouses and forts In the early stages of the conflict the Boers seriously lacked cannons to enable them to assault the six British army forts in the Transvaal In December 1880 he requested and obtained permission to return home to his farm Bokfontein near Brits to build a cannon for the Boer forces 2 Cannon building EditRas built two cannons named the Ras cannons the first being a 3 inch caliber 4 feet barrel cannon named Martienie and the second a 2 inch caliber 5 barrel cannon named Ras The Martienie cannon was used to great effect on a British fort near Rustenburg firing 93 shots and resulting in the subsequent surrender of the fort 3 Death EditOn 21 February 1900 during the Second Boer War whilst on the way back to his farm at Bokfontein south of Brits Ras was ambushed and killed at Kayaseput specify by an impi African war party of the Kgatla tribal chief Linchwe an African tribe fighting on the side of the British 4 5 References Edit L S Bothma C M Woest L Groesbeek Ras Geslagsregister p 6 a b Rosa Swanepoel Ras Cannons PDF University Of Pretoria Archived from the original PDF on 6 June 2011 Retrieved 6 March 2010 L S Bothma C M Woest L Groesbeek Ras Geslagsregister p 137 L S Bothma C M Woest L Groesbeek Ras Geslagsregister p 138 Morton R F 1985 Linchwe I and the Kgatla campaign in the South African War 1899 1902 The Journal of African History 26 2 169 191 doi 10 1017 S0021853700036926 JSTOR 181722 S2CID 154565537 Sources EditL S Bothma C M Woest L Groesbeek 2005 Ras Geslagsregister L S Botma amp C M Woest ISBN 0 620 32329 9 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marthinus Nikolaas Ras amp oldid 1134319113, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
