Boksburg commando diary

WITH THE BOKSBURG COMMANDO

By

A.P.OBERMEUER

The area of Boksburg stretched from Elandsfontein to Springs including the following towns:

Elandsfontein,  Germiston,  Elsburg, Vogelfontein,  Boksburg, Brakpan, Schapenrust and Springs.

Altogether there were 2 thousand men of which there were never more than 600-800 on commando.

After the retreat at Colenso the figure came down to approx. 300. At Colenso a section of men stayed

with assistant Veldt Comet Van Wyk while another left with Veldt Cornet Gravett at Colenso. At the

end of September 1899 you could see Veldt Cornet A.J.Dirksen accompanied by C.H.Muller, who flew

the Transvaal nag, riding to Boksburg with a following of 100 Burgers and they were ready to leave for

the natal border. When they arrived at the station (8oksburg) they were disappointed to find no

train was allowed to leave without permission from the Boss at Elandsfontein. After spending a couple

of days on the station they finally got the order and left for Zandspruit, while the flag (Vierkleur) was 

happing merrily. As the train left some of the men already started shooting off their guns. One week later

another trop train left for the front. On the 2nd November 1899 a political employee in the service of the

Veldt Kornet came to me with a list. On the list was a name Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, State

President of Z.A.R. and he was told to tomorrow at 10 am at the office of the Veldt Kornet with a

horse, saddle, bridle plus food for 14 days. There was of course not much that I could say against it, the

saddle and bridle were supplied by the VK and from a man that stayed across from the station I

commandeered a horse. The next day I appeared before the Veldt Kornet and was instructed to leave

on the 4th, but seeing that I still wanted to go to Jo’burg I delayed my departure till the 7th. I left the

Monday morning at 7am in the direction of Volksrust where I arrived at half past seven in the evening.

That night I slept in a coupe and the next morning I walked to Charlestown where the camp was.

Herewith I have still got to say that due to the lack of horse coaches my horse stayed behind and I

never saw it again. When I arrived in Charlestown I met a German who invited me to stay the night.

The next day the camp moved to Volksrust and that day I played some games of billiards with mister G

in a deserted Hotel that is at present being used as a hospital. On the 9th we left for Ladysmith where

we arrived on the 10th. Here I met A.J.Dirkson who I joined. He told me that he needed someone to do

his writing and appointed me straight away as his secretary. That night I slept under the VK wagon and

heard the first time the cannons being fired in the war. The next day 12th I was taken to the positions

around Ladysmith. We were about 1 1/2 hours ride from town or 4000 steps. We armed ourselves with a

good pair of binoculars so that we could see all the points of the town properly. That night reports about

the town came in and orders were given that at 4 am the next morning I had to be ready to leave.

I stood up at half passed three, warmed up some soup from the previous day made coffee for my water

bottle, fetched bullets and left for Ladysmith.

The cannons were firing already and everybody was looking for good positions or packed stones to make

small walls. After we had waited for an hour for the Tommies to arrive and they did not pitch the Veldt

Kornet gave us orders to return to camp.

Evenings at 10 pm we had to go back to our forward positions and nights at 12 pm the cannons were firing.

At 1 pm we left to return to camp and due to all the rain we were closer to camp.

Now and then a few bombs would fall in our position and our cannons would answer. From time to time

I had to stand guard. Someone then gave me a good advice namely that I had to tell the corporal where

I was sleeping, the during the evening I moved to another place and early morning moved back to my

original place. Needless to say I never stood guard again. VK Dirkson had left recently for Colenso to find

us a place to camp. On Wednesday 22nd November he returned and ordered us to break camp. That night

we spent halfway to Colenso. It was raining too terrible and was accompanied by strong winds so that we

were soaking wet. The next day we arrived in Colenso and made camp at the railway bridge. Here we met

our camp commander, Weilbech.

That Saturday I met an old neighbour of mine Mr H.R. from Amsterdam. I suggested that we visit the town

and station, which we did. At first we went to the station and I cannot describe the damage that happened

here. The furniture, books, thousands of tickets, all sorts of forms and letters were strewn over the floor.

In the centre of the room the safe was lying on the floor with a big hole blown in it. The windows, frames

and doors were mostly broken. Full of remorse at this damage we left the building and went over to the

couple of houses that stood around. There we saw the same kind of damage. Pictures, tables, chairs,

hunting trophies, buck-horse etc were lying all over the place. By then we had enough and went back to 

camp. In the afternoon we went to the Kaffir to buy milk for which we swapped sugar for it. That evening

we had a  heavy thunderstorm and lots of rain.

Sunday 26th November was a beautiful day. At 1 pm a report came in that the English are moving in from

 Estcourt. There were 900 men bringing wagons from Estcourt in to safety. The report stated that the English

were all around us in the hills and only an hour by horse away. At 12 noon General Joubert arrived back

from his trip to Estcourt. The men with him looked terrible, they were all covered with dust especially those

with the cannons and wagons. The drivers could not be separated from the Kaffirs, that’s how dirty they were.

A lot of Freestaters rode out to meet the General and escort him back.

That evening the English set up their cannons opposite us. The next morning bombarded our camp so that

we had to flee head over heels. The English came at us in three divisions but we were ready to receive them.

When they were near and close our cannon let loose on them and they turned and fled.

About 10 miles away from our old camp we made up our campsite and that evening was the first chance we

had for making food. At 8 pm everybody went to their positions. The English were putting their spotlights on

our positions. The whole night the spotlights were shining into the sky probably to try and make contact with

Ladysmith. In front of us was a single hill with a platform in front of it.  If the English took the hill they could

bomb our own camp from it. Hence the order to take the hill. Our men went and took the hill without a shot

being fired.

 On Thursday the 30th everything in camp was peaceful. Somebody came from Ladysmith and told us where

the English were hiding during the day. They also told us that some English soldiers had fled Ladysmith and

handed their weapons over also that other deserters had been shot and yet I don’t believe that to be true.

The English bombard us daily. On Saturday morning when I got to my position the bombing was in full swing.

As I got to the centre of the two hills where our cannon stood one bomb fell approximately 30 metres from me.

I got a big shock and thought it would explode. I immediately fell flat onto the ground and did not want to look

at it, but it stayed on the ground just like me. If I were alone I would have left the scene but more people

arrived and I made them aware of the bomb. One of then went to the bomb and walked around it and then

took it away. I suspect it to be a 15 pounder Armstrong and because it fell into grass it failed to explode.

On a lot of places in the area there were holes of approx. 1 metre diameter where “Lyddite” bombs were

lying and because of the soft ground none of them exploded.

Their searchlight was working every night but because it was in code we could not understand it.

Tuesday 5th December we moved our camp to next to a road and rail at the foot of a mountain where there

was good grass for the horses and oxen. That afternoon I left with Mr.R to Elandslaagte to collect food for the

men. That night we slept under a coach in company with “miss en van wyk” nicknamed or better known as

“Jameson” seeing that he was with the troop with who Dr. Jameson thought of taking Johannesburg. The

next morning we left early and rode close to Ladysmith where we unsaddled on our side of the Nek.

We then visited the position that corporal Jan Coetzer had held. At 10 am we saddled up and rode to

Modderspruit. That evening we slept in a closed goods van of the N.Z.A.S.M. Although one bed was a bit

hard we slept well because we were used to them. The next morning we visited the ambulance train of

Dr. Huizinga where I met various accidents. At 10 am we saddled up again and rode through to Elandslaagte. 

Here I met some people I knew specifically a Mr. H who was working on the newspaper namely

“De Staatsdrukkerij te Velde”. He treated me to a good meal and told me all the details about the battle of

Elandslaagte in which he participated. That night I slept in a coupe belonging to the Government

Printing works.

The next day I met two Boers that both fought in the battle of Elandslaagte. They took me to the camp of the

killed General De Kock where there were a lot of dead horses lying around. I also visited the camp of the

Germans and Hollanders and found plenty of pots, kettles, pans and suitcases. Then I viewed the actual

position of the Boer and Commandant Schiel. Behind some rocks I saw a lot of Mauser bullets lying.

Also the rocks in front showed a lot of bullet marks and everywhere there were pieces broken off. In five

minutes you could pick up 20 bullets. If you consider the amount of shell lying around they must have

defended their position heroically as they were circled and eventually had to give way. I then visited the

graves where all the heroic men were buried.

That afternoon we rode in a cart back to the camp. We spent the night in the old camp of “van Wijk” where

his tent still stood. The next day we rode over the to send a telegram to the State President telling him

that the men were in good mood and they did not doubt victory. That night I had to stand guard with

Mr. H. from 3 to 4 o’clock.

You see a lot of English playing Polo in Colenso, directly in front of our cannons but we would not shoot

at them as it would give the position of our cannons away. Tuesday I left for Elandslaagte and I came

back on Friday morning to find the camp virtually empty. I did not have to ask the reason for it was being

heavily bombed. At 9 am I met Mr C. that arrived with a man that had had an accident with his rifle.

He was busily cleaning it when he shot himself through his hand. Also the adjutant of VK Dirkson arrived

in camp with a sprained arm he got from falling off his horse. The first Burgher we took with a spider to the

hospital at Pieters Hill. At half past nine Mr. C. and I went to the front. There was no chance of getting to

our positions, thus we climbed a mountain from where we had a beautiful view over the whole battlefield.

Now only could we see the British advance then you saw them retreating. Also the battery that the English

lost during the day we saw being set up in position. In short we had a fantastic view of the battlefront but

we could not participate. As the shooting slowed down we returned. Some Burghers had Lee-Metford rifles,

others had camp horses or others were carrying ammunition cases. In short everyone had something.

That morning we were wondering about men that were lying under trees. By closer inspection we found

that they were reinforcements but they were not keen on joining the fight against the “Kharkies”.

Now that the fight was over these men were full of bravado and went directly to the battlefield because

they had heard quick enough that an arms truce had been reached to pick up anything that had belonged

to the English.. Then they came back and told us the most horrible tales of the battle. Of the Boksburg

Commando 137 participated in the battle. At half past one you saw a troop of prisoners-of-war consisting

of 16 officers and 30 men passing our camp. These were caught when the 10 cannons had been taken

from the British. The Boksburgher and Krugersdorper had the honour of doing it and VK Dirkson was the

man that unarmed the officers at the Donga and he had to use his pistol to threaten them because they

were resisting fiercely before they surrendered. These English handled themselves like lions. On the whole

about 300 prisoners were taken. General Bullers losses must have been great where as our side lost

7 men and 22 wounded. That afternoon a trolley was pushed towards us by two Burghers and on the front

line of the trolley there were two men lying that were heavily wounded. They were shot through the chest

as they were taking the cannons. Their names were De La Rey and Ackermann both from the Krugersdorp

Commando. The two Burghers that were pulling the trolley were dead tired and as they reached our camp

asked for assistance to push the trolley to the hospital. The young Burgher Landman and myself

immediately offered our help. Landman lasted only 5 minutes when he had enough and turned back that

left me and the two Burghers pushing. The trip was very exhausting because it was uphill and we had to

walk on the rails. At about 8 pm we arrived ath the hospital and we carried them in. The doctor said