MIDDELBURG NEWS — The SA Military History Society comprising 20 members from Port Elizabeth recently visited the newly restored Historical Cemetery in Middelburg.
They were met by Hubert Vorster, Chairman of the Heritage Foundation and Don Watt-Pringle. This body in conjunction with the local Tourism Board is to be congratulated on restoring this cemetery. The area is very neat and tidy, graves have been repaired and much painting has taken place. One of the missing entrance gates has been found and the cemetery is now secure.
It is indeed encouraging to note the good work being done by local communities in preserving their heritage. It adds to the good name of the town and the economic benefits are significant. Simply work out what 20 persons spend on food and accommodation, petrol and the like. It is no small figure. Well done to the Middelburg Heritage Foundation and all who share this passion!
The SA Military History Society is very active in all the major centres. The touring party spent two nights at Welvanpas Guest Farm near Middleburg and enjoyed excellent hospitality and accommodation.
The interest of the group lay the memorial dedicated to the eight members of the local Town Guard who were killed in action at The Willows. This old farm is situated 40km out on the Richmond Road. At the time of the Anglo Boer War in May of 1902 Commando members under Fouche and Theron attacked the farmstead .They were in desperate need of new horses, clothing and ammunition in the closing stages of this conflict.
The members visited Noupoort on the Friday afternoon and were guided through the historic All Saints Anglican Church by Peter Barnes-Webb and Willem Loock. This well preserved old church was built by the British troops together with the Presbyterian and Methodist churches. The impressive blockhouse continues to dominate the skyline and was also visited.
The group met with Allen Duff who was their guide on Saturday and Sunday.
He is a well-known Anglo Boer War historian and has an extensive knowledge of the old Cape Colonial Rail system. He dealt specifically with the actions that took place on Wolwefontein which lies North of Noupoort and on Kuilfontein which is to the West of Colesberg. Battle fields were viewed, strategic koppies were climbed and much that which took place between the Australian Contingent and the Prince Alfred Guard who were pitted against the Commandos led by Generals Grobbelaar, Schoeman and Koos De Le Rey was brought to vivid reality.
If De Le Rey had had his way and taken the vital Noupoort junction that war could have possibly had a different ending. As the younger man De Le Rey deferred to the elder and more cautious generals and their tardiness allowed the British under General Clements to secure the rail junction. De Le Rey then turned away and led his men back to the Transvaal
Allen Duff described the ambush of a train by General Pieter Kritzinger in January 1900 which took place on the old line at Welvanpas . The line where the ambush took place runs a short distance from the present and which was laid in the 1950s. Through diligent research in the Cape Archives he found that the train was ambushed at the 254 mile stone mark .This large rectangular stone is still in place and is clearly marked even after all these years (the number 254 signifies that that spot is 254 miles from Port Elizabeth)
Kritzinger did not have much luck in this ambush. Aboard was a party of women and children and 40 members of the PAG who were returning to Port Elizabeth on leave. They had a little ammunition and after a sharp exchange surrendered only to be stripped of all their possessions and clothing by the Boer forces. The locomotive was them banked up and with a full head of steam sent off towards Rosmead without a driver. The carriages were set alight and destroyed. The locomotive never made it to Rosmead for it ran out of steam but by that time Kritzinger had moved on.
The Australian contingent who saw a lot of action in the Colesberg area were a different breed of men. Drawn from Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia they were accomplished horsemen, knew how to shoot and were accustomed to hard living. The Boer forces soon learnt this to their detriment as the Australians learnt quickly to cope with local conditions unlike the raw British recruits.
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