Hospitals in Cape Town during the Anglo-Boer War

The choice of Cape Town as the site for the base hospitals during the Anglo-Boer War was for many reasons a logical one. The hospitals that existed in the city at the time were inadequate in size and lacked the required facilities. The unexpectedly large number of wounded and the epidemics of typhoid and plague demanded an ever-increasing number of hospital beds. These demands were met by expanding existing hospitals making use of temporary hospitals and converting other buildings into hospitals. Eventually more than 3,000 beds were made available by the 10 hospitals in Cape Town and the system, despite continuing problems, provided a reasonable service under difficult circumstances.