Trek Boers - Lest we forget - Deuteronomy 4:7-9

Boer POW camps in India

admin June 25, 2025 0 Comments

The British took over 25,000 Boer prisoners of war and shipped them to other colonies, while confining civilians, including women and children, in concentration camps in South Africa. The prisoners were sent to India from April 1901 when the facilities in St. Helena, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Bermuda became inadequate.

At the end of the war in 1902, 9,125 of the Boer prisoners of war, including some foreign volunteers, were in about twenty cantonments all over India. This was the largest number in any colony: there were nearly 6,000 in St. Helena, 5,126 in Ceylon, over 3,000 in Bermuda and1,733 in South Africa.

Among the prisoners of war in India was Commandant T. F. J. Dreyer, commandant of the Potchefstroom Commando, who served under General Smuts and was captured during the daring raid of 300 miles through British lines in 1901.

One prisoner – J. L. de Villiers managed to escape from the camp at Trichinopoly. Dressed as an Indian, he went to the French colony of Pondicherry and returned to South Africa via France and the Netherlands.
Another prisoner, Commandant Erasmus, a Johannesburg solicitor, took an interest in Indian history, philosophy and literature. He gave a series of lectures on the subject to the Transvaal Philosophical Society: they were published by Gandhi in Indian Opinion.

The Kimberley Public Library has some material in their archives from a Mostert, concerning his experiences as a POW at Ahmednagar.

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Concentration camps, India

How India Helped Britain Win its ‘Dirty’ War in South Africa

admin June 25, 2025 0 Comments

On the last day of May in 1902 one of Britain’s most bitter imperial wars came to an end. The Boer war was fought in South Africa as Britain succeeded, eventually, in extending control from the Cape Province and Natal to include the Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State.

The British Empire won – with India’s help. Indian soldiers served in the Boer War, and a memorial in South Africa commemorates those who lost their lives. And military bases in India were brought into service as detention camps for thousands of Boer prisoners of war (PoWs). Both the role of Indian servicemen and of PoW camps on Indian soil are details largely neglected, even by military historians – but they reflect a crucial element of how Empire worked.

Unusually for a British military adventure, its opponents were European settlers rather than people indigenous to the area being fought over. The Boers were largely of Dutch farming stock; they spoke Afrikaans, still one of South Africa’s principal languages; they were Christian and white; and they were formidable fighters.

The last time Britain had taken up arms against white settlers it hadn’t gone too well – that conflict ended in American independence.

At first, the conflict in South Africa didn’t go too well either.

The Boers of South Africa were agriculturists – the word ‘boer’ means farmer in both Dutch and Afrikaans – and had carved a living from an often inhospitable land. They were tough, clannish and – as so often with settler communities – armed and familiar with using a rifle. They were well placed to turn to guerrilla war and that’s what they did with initial success.

In all, Britain – and its colonies – deployed approaching half-a-million combatants in South Africa – almost ten times the number that the Boers and their allies (several thousand Irish volunteered to go to South Africa to fight the hated Brits) managed to muster. As well as a redoubtable military opponent, the British government faced opposition in another form – many British liberals and leftists felt the war unjust and its prosecution savage and uncivilised. These critics were often called ‘pro-Boer’. It would be more accurate to describe them as perhaps the first mass anti-war movement in the UK.

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Anglo-Boer war whistle-blower Emily Hobhouse celebrated in Cornish home

admin June 25, 2025 0 Comments

Series of events mark 165th anniversary of birth of forgotten pacifist who exposed conditions in British concentration camps

She took on the might of establishment and empire to expose the suffering of women and children held in British concentration camps but her story has “faded” from the history books.

From 12 April a series of events are being held at the Cornish home where the pacifist, whistle-blower and activist Emily Hobhouse grew up, around the 165th anniversary of her birth, part of efforts to shine a new light on her fight for justice.

Hobhouse travelled from Cornwall to South Africa at the turn of the 20th century and reported back on the awful conditions endured in the British bell tent camps set up during the Anglo-Boer war, but was dismissed as a “hysterical woman” and a traitor.

Her life and times are being celebrated at a new historical attraction called The Story of Emily at the rectory in St Ive, near Liskeard, where she grew up.

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Emily Hobhouse, memorial, UK

Wreath laying to commemorate lives lost during Anglo-Boer war

admin June 25, 2025 0 Comments

The Alberton Voortrekkers, a cultural organization rooted in Afrikaner heritage, held a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate lives lost during the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). The event, reported recently, honors the memory of those who died, including Boer soldiers, women, and children in British concentration camps, as well as British and other participants. Such ceremonies reflect the Voortrekkers’ commitment to preserving Afrikaner history and remembering the war’s impact on all communities. Specific details about the date, location, or attendees of this particular event are not widely documented in available sources, but it aligns with similar commemorative activities at sites like the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, where the war’s toll—over 34,000 deaths in camps alone—is solemnly acknowledged.

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Boer War Memorial Statue returns to Sturt Street Gardens

admin June 25, 2025 0 Comments

The Boer War Memorial Statue in Ballarat’s Sturt Street Gardens was restored and returned to its site following a $318,000 restoration project, part of a broader $700,000 effort to restore multiple statues in the city. The statue, unveiled in 1906 to commemorate locals who served in the Boer War (1899–1902), had been removed for conservation due to its deteriorating condition, with its foundations deemed beyond repair. A like-for-like bronze replica was created to replace the original, which was made of beaten copper with a hessian and plaster core. The restored memorial was unveiled on June 13, 2025, as announced by Mayor Tracey Hargreaves. The statue, designed by James White, depicts a soldier on horseback rescuing a comrade and holds historical significance, listed on the Victorian War Heritage Inventory.

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Australia, memorial, Monument

Voortrekker Graveyard in Greylingstad

admin June 24, 2025 0 Comments

The Voortrekker graveyard in Greylingstad, Mpumalanga, South Africa, is a historical cemetery with graves dating back to before the town’s establishment in 1909. Located near the original Greylingstad site, approximately 5 km southeast of the current town, it contains burials significant to the Voortrekker heritage. The graves have been catalogued by the Genealogical Society of South Africa, preserving records of early settlers in the region. Unlike the modern cemetery in Greylingstad, which is still in use, the Voortrekker graveyard holds particular historical interest due to its association with the early Voortrekker movement and the area’s pre-Boer War history

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Graves, Greylingstad

president kruger funeral

admin June 24, 2025 0 Comments

Paul Kruger, former president of the South African Republic (Transvaal), died in exile in Switzerland on July 14, 1904. His body was initially buried in The Hague, Netherlands, but was repatriated to South Africa with British permission. He received a state funeral in Pretoria on December 16, 1904, with the vierkleur flag of the South African Republic draped over his coffin. After ceremonial lying in state, he was buried in the Heroes’ Acre at the Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria

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Concentration camps at Heidelberg

admin June 24, 2025 0 Comments

Heidelberg, South Africa, was the location of concentration camps during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). These camps housed Boer women and children, and also separate camps for Black Africans who were caught up in the conflict. The camps were established as part of the British “scorched earth” policy, which aimed to deprive Boer guerrilla fighters of support.

Key Points:

Two sets of camps:There were separate concentration camps for white and Black populations in the Heidelberg district.
White camps:These camps housed Boer women and children whose farms were destroyed under the scorched earth policy.
Black camps:These camps housed Black Africans who were displaced or seeking refuge, with some working for the British military.
High mortality rates:The camps, particularly the Black camps, suffered from poor sanitation, disease, and high death rates, especially among children.
Legacy:The Heidelberg camps serve as a reminder of the devastating impact of the Second Boer War on civilians and the harsh realities of the conflict.
Cemeteries:Graves of those who died in the camps are located in two cemeteries: the Kloof cemetery and the “camp cemetery” on the road to Nigel.
Limited information:While the history of the white camps is relatively well-documented, information about the Black camps is still being uncovered.

Concentration camps

Concentration camps, Heidelberg

The Battle of Schuinshoogte

admin February 18, 2025 0 Comments

The Battle of Schuinshoogte, also known as the Battle of Ingogo, was fought on February 8, 1881, during the First Boer War. It took place north of Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. General Sir George Pomeroy Colley, leading British forces, aimed to clear a path along the Newcastle-Mount Prospect road to secure British supply lines and receive reinforcements, as his communications were constantly harassed by Boer patrols under Commandant J.D. Weilbach after their victory at Laing’s Nek.

Colley left Mount Prospect camp with a force primarily composed of infantry, leaving some artillery and a company of the 60th Rifles on a ridge overlooking the Ingogo River. As they advanced, they encountered a Boer force, leading to a fierce engagement. Heavy rain then fell, ending the battle abruptly. The swollen Ingogo River made it difficult to ford, and under cover of night, the British managed a retreat, although some drowned in the river crossing.

This battle resulted in significant British casualties, with seven officers and 66 men killed, and 77 wounded. The Boers, who had eight killed, managed to bury their dead at the farm Geelhoutboom. The failure of the Boers to capture British artillery during the rainstorm is noted as a significant tactical error. Had Colley received his reinforcements before the rain, it’s speculated he might have secured a victory, potentially strengthening British negotiating power in peace talks.

This engagement further demoralized British forces, contributing to the series of defeats they experienced in the First Boer War, culminating in Colley’s death at the Battle of Majuba Hill.

Monuments, Newcastle

Battle of Schuinshoogte, newcastle

The Battle of Kraaipan

admin January 13, 2025 0 Comments

12 October 1899 was where the first shots were fired that marked the start of the Second Anglo-Boer War.
That night 800 men of the Potchefstroom and Lichtenburg commandos under General Koos de la Rey, one of General Piet Cronjé’s field generals, attacked and captured the British garrison and railway siding at Kraaipan between Vryburg and Mafeking, some 60 kilometres south west of Mafeking. Thus began the Second Anglo-Boer War. Under the orders of Cronjé the Mafeking railway and telegraph lines were cut on the same day.
De la Rey and his kommando derailed an armoured train carrying British supplies.

Kraaipan