Chris Boonzaier

Here are his medals...

And here is an example of the supreme irony.... Cpl King, a volunteer from Edinburgh, fought in the Boer war in the 70th "Sharpshooter" coy of the 18th Imperial Yeomanry Batln. They were involved in numerous skirmishes with Cloete and company. His WW1 star has him as a member of Van Deventers Scouts... in the Boer war Van Deventer was a commander of one of the units he was fighting against. He served in the South West African campaign under the command of men he once tried to hunt.... One of the Ironies of South African medals !!

Yup, my wifes Grandmother did not want the smelly thing around so she gave it to the local veterans association, which P'd her grandfather off. The old guy was happy when I went there to fetch it back and its been in my collecting room ever since.

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The Jacket of the Flotillen Doctor of the 3rd U-Boot Flotille in La Rochelle

A good collecting field indeed.... and as I have always said... the award docs for these... BORING... but everyone seems to overlook the fact that most of the sigantures comefrom party officials, Allgemeine SS, higher police officers etc. etc. etc. THAT would also be worth a study on its own...

Cloete, the bottom group, is way, way, way more intresting... its a long but worthwhile read... Cloete ? The Sharpshooter Cornelius Willem Cloete D.T.D., D.S.O. died at the age of 70 on the 2nd of September 1944. His death certificate lists him as a pensioner and owner of the Grand Hotel in Ermelo. At the outbreak of the war he was serving in Danie Therons Bicycle-Despatch riders Corps under Theron and Koos Jooste. When Theron left to form his famous Scouting Corps Cloete went with him and served as a Scout for President Steyn and General De Wet in a string of battles and adventures up until just after the death of Theron, when he joined another Theron Lieutenant named Wynand Malan for an attack on the Cape Colony. At the outbreak of the First World War he was serving as 2nd in command of the Pretoria rifle association, better known as Enslin?s Horse. Barend Enslin had also served as one of Theron?s officers in the Boer war. After the rebellion in 1914 Cloete took command of Enslin?s Horse until the end of the campaign in GSWA as part of the left wing, 4th Mounted Brigade of the Southern Force. What kind of man was C.W. Cloete ? He seems to have had few aspirations to command during the Anglo Boer war, whereas fighters like Slegtkamp, Hindon and Malan left the TVK to make a name for themselves as leaders of independent raiding groups, Cloete seems to have been content to tag along with Malan as adjutant and Sharpshooter. When Malan needed a man to form the Commando at Calvinia he did not send Cloete on to make a name for himself, but promoted Maritz and sent him instead. Cloete, willingly or unwillingly stayed behind as Malans personal sharpshooter. Malan praises Cloete?s prowess as a fighting man, brave, tough and resistant to pain, but at no stage in his book does he communicate any warmth in his relationship with his adjutant. Malans memoires provided a wonderful insight into Cloete?s fighting abilities, just about every mention has Cloete shooting someone as he stands, rides or walks next to Malan. As Cloete had independently taken part in a number of large actions in which many enemy soldiers were killed as well as taking part in numerous ambushes and train wreckings...... it leads to the rather morbid question of how many British and Colonial soldiers fell to shots from Cloete?s Mauser, and if any of the soldiers serving under him in 1914 -15 had been in his sights 14 years before. It is of course a question that is relevant for any Boers serving in the Union Defence Force in 1914 but specially pertinent in the case of Cloete because he was a noted marksman with in all probability a large number of kills. So far it has not been possible to trace any mentions of Cloete?s service at the beginning of the boer war in the bicycle corps as there is no published literature about this, but with the help of F.J. Pretorius?s superb book about the first De Wet hunt it is possible to get a rough idea about Cloete?s services with the TVK in the second stage of his career as a scout. Theron had formed a scouting corps of 150-200 hand picked men. At this stage of the war De Wets commando averaged around 2000 men and they kept tens of thousands of British and colonial troops on their toes by raiding and attacking their lines of communication. In his history of the Boer war Thomas Pakenham writes? ?A Boer commando travelled light, light and fast. De Wet?s commando moved like a hunting cat on the veld. One minute the men lay there: formless, huddled around the small fires of cow dung, sipping coffee, or trying to sleep, wrapped up against the cold in their blankets; ponies picked at the bare veld, hobbled by foreleg and halter. The next minute the raiding party was on the move, bobbing heads under slouch hats, mausers erect, bandoliers swathed across the mens shoulders, strips of Biltong (dried meat) and pouches of flour tied to the saddle-bow???De Wet?s commando was not a majestic fighting machine, like a British Column. It was a fighting animal, all muscle and bone: in one sense the most professional combatant of the war.? The British hunted De Wet with a complicated system of sweeps and columns, and it was largely due to Therons Scouts that De Wet was able to operate at all. Theron?s scouts shared the vanguard duties with a small group of scouts under Gideon Scheepers, but their most important contribution was providing a solid rearguard that allowed De Wet to escape pursuers time and time again. Theron?s tactic was to place hidden pockets of men (10-12) at 1km intervals, slowly falling back and covering each other. By firing in volleys it made it impossible for the enemy to accurately judge how many opponents were firing at them, and as the groups were spread over a wide area it was difficult for the enemy cavalry to flank them. Step by step Theron would withdraw his men and when he had decided that De Wet and the main group had reached safety the rearguard would melt away. After the death of Theron, Cloete and Malan continued to serve in the TVK, finally parting ways with De Wet in Febuary 1901. De Wet had planned an invasion of the Cape and Malan and a Group of men were sent out to scout for the enemy and take the town of Philipstown. Having achieved this goal they awaited the arrival of De Wet. The British succeeded in changing De Wets plans for him, and Malan found himself cut off, with the option of making his way back to De Wet, or invading the Cape Colony with 25 men. 25 men who invaded the 276 000 square miles of Cape Colony were a mixed bunch indeed, including Manie Maritz who would be a key figure in the 1914 Rebellion, P.J. Joubert who would join him in Rebellion, the French Count Robert de Kersausson and the TVK sharpshooter Lt. C.W. Cloete. The Train Wreckers. The first action of the group after entering the Cape was not a feather in the cap for the small group of Raiders. Arriving at the farm De Bad, about 1km from the deaar naauwpoort railway line, Malan and Co decided to start their Kaapland adventure by attacking and derailing a train. Night had fallen as Malan surveyed the track, his plan simple but effective. Sending Cloete to the nearby farm to get a hammer and crowbar the Boers then proceeded to lift one of the tracks and put a rock under it. Malan then ordered two men to take position further up the line with orders to open fire on the train as it passed. Six Cape Boers were visiting the farm that night, (3 named Nienaber, 2 named Nieuwoudt and 1 named Van Den Berg). They had been sent by the British to collect horse fodder for the military. Along with the farmers wife and daughter they stood on the porch and gazed at the comings and goings of the commando with curiosity. They probably had an idea of what was about to happen, but according to Malan they did not help the Kommando and obviously has no means of preventing them from carrying out their plans. As it was the darkness prevented them from seeing very much. The line was a well used communication route and it did not take long before a train arrived. As the train approached shots rang out further up the line. This had the desired effect of speeding up the train and the driver had no way of seeing the damage caused to the track. The locomotive left the tracks and hit the bank, a number of wagons piled up one upon another and Malans men opened fire. In no time at all the dazed occupants surrendered and the Kommando moved forward to see what goods they had captured. Unfortunately for the Boers most of the wagons were empty, those that had been loaded contained horses, of which only two had survived the crash. With the horses as their only booty, the Kommando rode off into the night, unaware of the forthcoming repercussions of their ambush. By the time the British arrived Malan was long gone, but the 6 wagon drivers were still in the area, and were arrested for the act. A number of Africans claimed the men had been involved in the act, and for some reason (Malan suspects he was threatened) Van Den Berg turned crown witness and in exchange for his freedom he sealed the death sentences for 2 of the young nienaders and 1 of the Nieuwoudts. Malan was horrified at the execution of the innocent men and after the war had Van Den Berg tried in court for his lies in front of the British Court-Martial. Cloete testified as well but V.d.Berg was aquited. Passing through the town of Richmond the Kommando exchanged shots with the town guard, Malan unfortunately killing a Cape Afrikaaner who was seeking to join his group. Making their way in the direction of VW they bivuaced on the farm Klipplaatfontein owned by Mr Kochtt. As they had no pressing schedule the men awoke late and were having an outdoor shower under a water tank when the sentry called ? the Khakis are coming!!?. After a mad scramble for their clothes the Boers realised that the large force that was approaching had not yet spotted them and it was decided to ambush the British. Sending Maritz to the right, Malan took the balance around the left flank of the approaching horsemen, taking up position on a large rocky hill. When the group drew level Malans men opened fire, and so started what Malan describes as the most enjoyable fight of the war, insofar as one can describe a fight as enjoyable. For the next half hour they played a deadly game of hide and seek, until all the pockets of British soldiers had been captured. The British Colonial troop was composed of over 150 green troops under the command of Captain Strong. If Malan was astounded at capturing such a large group, Captain Strong appears to have been badly embarrassed at being captured by a force of just 18 Boers. Initially Strong refused to believe how small the group of Boers was and Malan took pleasure in assembling his small force to show Strong how few they actually were. One of the younger Boers recognised Strong from pre war days and asked him what the KFS on their badges meant. ?Kitcheners Scouts? replied Strong. And what is the F for asked Breda and was delighted when Strong told him it stood for fighting. Looking innocently at Strong he asked why they called themselves fighting scouts when they didn?t really fight. Being a newly formed unit the KFS were kitted out with brand new equipement, to which the Boers greedily helped themselves. After the skirmish at Klipppppp the British prisoners were released. The Kommando had no way of guarding, housing or feeding POWs. During the Guerilla phase of the war many wounded Boers ended up in British hospitals and in spite of claims to the contrary by some Boers, the treatment they recieved was generally fair... and of course led to their automatic capture. In the case of POWs the Boers were at a distinct disadvantage. Boer POWs were sent off to Ceylon or Bermuda, having little chance of participating in future combats, British POWs, once released by the Boers could be back in the field within a day or two. A frustrated De Wet once sent an indignant letter back to the British after releasing a group of POWs. In it he insisted that the British arrest the soldiers for allowing themselves to be captured for a third time !! Inspite of some ugly episodes later in the war, the shooting of prisoners was not a common occurance, and one can only imagine how much self control was needed to release men who would be shooting back at you some time in the near future. The fight at Probart?s farm I have found Two versions of this story, the First is from the Book ?Commandant Gideon Scheepers and the search for his Grave? By the David and Taffy Shearing, the second is the version according to Wynand Malan. ?On 26 March all horses in Graaff-Reinet were paraded, and Grenfell purchased 23 for his Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. The next day a combined force of 1st and 2nd Brabants under Scobell, Maj D Arbuthnot and Mullins were to have swept the mountains from due north of Aberdeen to Zuurpoort. At the last moment Grenfell was ordered to the Transvaal with Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. He left, taking the Graaff-Reinet horses with him. In the Camdeboo a call of ?Opsaal!? rang out as scouts reported a force of Brabant's horse under Captain Mullins with two guns coming up the valley. That night a farmer led Malan's men down a slippery path. They stumbled and the horses slipped and fell, until they reached the safety of Palmietfontein on the Aberdeen side of the Camdeboo. Mullins took the Boer laager at Roodepoort, and collected saddles, ammunition and booty. But the birds had flown. At the same time Major Arbuthnot with the Imperial Yeomanry was marching unsupported into the Camdeboo on the Aberdeen side. His reports to Scobell survive in his letter book. After leaving Probart's farm at Zeekoeirivier (New-lands), Arbuthnot placed an officer and 20 men on a koppie between Brandkraal and Waterkloof, and proceeded with the remainder to a ridge between Morgendal and Platfontein, while another patrol went to Mrs Pretorius' farm at Komskloof to get information. They received a report that the main body of Boers was in the mountains north of the homestead. Arbuthnot next signalled Aberdeen that he was trekking with the IY ( Imperial Yeomanry) and Brabant's(Horse) through Klein Kariegas (he must have united with Mullins), while Scobell advanced via Uitkomst. He reported that there was no news of the enemy. Malan, Scheepers and Maritz swooped back over the krantzes and captured Arbuthnot and a large number of his Yeomen. Mullins got away, but the Boers took back what they had lost at Roodepoort, and more. The troopers trudged back to Aberdeen, footsore and weary. As usual they had restocked the commando with rifles, bandoleers, clothes and especially boots. They appeared back at camp without the Major who was kept prisoner by the Boers, to the amusement of the Aberdeen people. Scheepers now took over Arbuthnot's letter book and used it to write to Malan, saying that a party from the north-west Cape had arrived from the Kenhardt district with a letter (which later went on to De Wet) from Cmdt PA Froneman asking for instructors for 140 rebels. Malan, Scheepers and Maritz waited in the Camdeboo, full of anticipation. Sure enough a strong force of 5th Lancers, Imperial Yeomanry and Nesbitt's Horse, led this time by Captain Stapleton-Bretherton, arrived on Zeekoeirivier. Bretherton entrenched the farm house, built stone sangars around the homestead and broke gun ports into the walls. The horses were placed in the kraal under the protection of a Colt gun sighted on a ridge above. Bretherton told the owner, Probart, that he intended to take Malan with him to Aberdeen for breakfast. The Boers surrounded the place during the night of 6 April, ignoring a continuous downpour. Maritz deployed men to guard the road to Aberdeen, while Scheepers occupied the koppie north of the house. Piet van der Merwe, Lieut Cloete and the ex-miner, 21 year-old Johannes Rudolph, led the attack. Van der Merwe was cutting a fence when the guard challenged in a frightened voice. As the first bullet flashed, he turned and fled. Lieut Cloete, quick on the draw, shot a guard on the other side of the house. Brisk fire was exchanged between the Boers under Maritz and the troops protected by the gunports. Scheepers' men crept behind the battery of the Colt gun, and wounded the gunners. In the middle of the fracas Rudolph grabbed Bretherton's golden chestnut with a diamond on its forehead, and Van der Walt claimed a black horse. The quality of the animals made them forget the war, he said. Malan stamped over, furious at the looting, and, ignoring the hail of bullets, dressed them down and told them to get on with the attack. Maritz was spurred on by hunger and a longing for coffee. The thought of getting his teeth into tin after tin of the Tommies' wonderful bully beef drove him on. When the Colt gun was captured by the Boers, the 5th Lancers in the sangars lost their cover. The Imperial Yeomen lost heart when they found themselves under fire from the ridge above. De Kersauson, with PietJoubert, attacked the troops holed up in the shed. Suddenly Malan rounded the corner of the house, leading a group of prisoners. Then an officer of Nesbitt's Horse, holding a piece of white linen, walked out of the front door. The fight was over. Although the guns were silent, the racket went on. The children were crying, the women were screaming their heads off and the donkeys were braving with fright. Huge Mr Probart (the whole family was over 6 foot), furious at the damage to his property, stormed over to Malan. He raged at the Boers for fighting and endangering the safety of the women and children. Malan shrugged it off, showing Probart the note that he had sent to Stapelton-Bretherton, demanding surrender because of the women. Probart rounded on the Captain, who had also capitulated, and started veiling at him. Bretherton ignored him. He was staring at the Boers. In an upper-class English accent he exclaimed, 'Are you really Boers? I thought Boers were thick, short fellows with long beards' Why, you look like gentlemen!' The Boers roared with laughter, triumphant in their victory, and nobody knew that, as fortunes of war go, they were at their peak. Their timing had been perfect. They had used surprise and concentration of effort, they had worked together, taken the initiative and won the day. However Malan, Scheepers, Judge Hugo, Robert de Kersauson, Manie Maritz, Lieut Cloete and Rudolph would soon scatter - not driven out by the columns, but by their own initiative. Malan wanted to move to the Cradock district, Maritz would leave for Kenhardt and only Scheepers would keep the Camdeboo Mountains more or less as base. Each was planning to be the warlord in a territory, and all were sure that there was another crest of the wave to ride. The Tommies had no bullv beef, so the hungry Boers slaughtered sheep. They threw the pieces of mutton on the fire, and, even though it was only hot and still dripping, began to gorge themselves. Probart stared as the commando consumed mounds of meat followed by cans of water. As he walked away shaking his head, Maritz said to him, 'If you had last eaten three days ago, and then been in a heavy fight, you wouldn't shake vour head like that! Stapleton-Bretherton and Arbuthnot were kept prisoner for a few days. De Kersauson paid them a visit, and reported to the commando with glee that they felt like jackals caught by a flock of hens. Thev eventually walked back to Aberdeen. The Boers took the wagons, the supplies and 50 civilian coats, as well as the horses. Although the bluff Stapelton-Brethcrton was captured, he was long remembered by the Aberdeen villagers as the only Englishman who dared enter the Camdeboo without surrounding the whole mountain range first. The affair had been another debacle from a Field Force point of view - only a young officer, Fletcher, and 25 men got awav. Over 80 men of all ranks were captured. The problem for the British had arisen after Gen Settle planned a drive by Scobell and Grenfell from west to east through the Camdeboo Mountains. Mounted men from Aberdeen were to guard the exit near Uitkomst, and Stapelton-Bretherton was to block the Graaff-Reinet side. But Grenfell was suddenly ordered to the Transvaal, and Settle found Aberdeen unable to supply mounted men. He told Stapelton-Bretherton to sort it out with Col Priestly, Royal Artillery commandant of Aberdeen. Priestly ordered him up to Proban's farm, without support, and he became a sitting duck for the Boers. Priestly got the sack and S/M Aston, 5th Lancers, a severe reprimand. An enquiry was started against the Nesbitt's Horse ofticer, the first to surrender. Settle seems to have gone on leave suddenly, and now it was Lieut-Col Haig's turn to do something about the Boers in the Camdeboo. Trumpeter D Martin and Saddler Peck of 32 Coy IY (Lancashire Hussars) were promoted to corporal for their conspicuous gallantry under heavy fire. Ptes HD Thompson and H Flemming of the 5th Roval Irish Lancers and Sergt A Owbridge and Pte Collinger of the 2nd Battalion IY who had been killed were later re-intered in the Aberdeen graveyard. Malan remembers the action slightly differently. In the Malan acount there is no mention of Scheepers participation, the three groups of Boers being under the command of Maritz, Piet Van der Merwe and Malan himself. Cloete was with Malan and killed the sentry when challenged. After Probart?s farm After the skirmish at Probarts farm Malan was ordered to provide an officer and cadre for a new commando in the Calvinia area. This task was given to Maritz and a picked group of 10 men. Soon after the departure of Maritz, Malan, accompanied by Cloete and 2 Burgers went to visit Mr. Probart. Upon arrival the farmer ran out to meet them, shaking with anger. He told the Boers that a British soldier had come to claim some of the horses left in Probarts care by Malan after the fight. To help him drive the two horses and two mules back to Aberdeen he had taken two young boys, the sons of some of Probarts farm workers. To the horror of the mothers of the boys, the soldier had threatened to shoot the two boys. According to Probert the soldier had been drunk and therefor capable of carrying through his threat. Added to that, shots had sounded out soon after the group had disappeared from view. Turning their horses down the road in the direction of Aberdeen Malan led his men in pursuit of the group. It did not take long to catch up and as they reached them Malan overtook the soldier. He had his pistol in his hand, but judging the man to be of no danger he passed him without firing. He had just passed when a shot rang out, the still galloping Cloete shooting the soldier out of the saddle. It is difficult to read between the lines of Malan?s description, as the man slid onto the road he asked Cloete ?Why did you kill the drunken bum??? to which Cloete replied he had been worried that the man was going to shoot Malan in the back as he galloped past. The way Malan describes the incident leaves it rather ambiguous... was Cloete looking after his friends, or was he simply trigger happy.... It is worth noting that Malan never seems to have had a warm friendship with Cloete, no nicknames, no personal details. A great respect for Cloete?s skills with the rifle are about the limit of his comments. Probart was a large man whos very size intimidated those around him. He was also rather deaf and as is often the case with the hearing impaired he tended to speak very loudly or shout, in Probarts case the sentences were often punctuated with an aggressive sounding ?eh?? . In an action that lacked somewhat in taste, Malan asked Probart to return the body to the Town commandant of Aberdeen with his compliments. Probart strapped the body to the back of his cart and rode into town coming to a stop in front of the office of the town commandant. Probart called loudly and when the commandant came out to see what he wanted, Probart loosened the straps and let the body fall onto the ground. ?This soldier has been shot Eh? Malan sends him to you with his compliments Eh?? Understandably the Commandant was furious and ordered his men to confiscate the two Mules pulling the carriage. Probart refused to hand them over and protested that Malan had only sent the Body, not the Mules, and if he went back without the mules he would be in big trouble? and noone in Aberdeen would be able to protect him. With this reasoning he turned his carriage around and drove unmolested out of the town. A nearly fatal error The day to day life of the kommando consited of playing cat and mouse with the British columns. Malans Kommando grew slowly and they began to establish themselves as a force to reckon with in the Cradock Area. One day Malan sent Veldkornett Van der Merwe out with an nine man patrol to find fodder at one of the nearby farms. Soon after a rider came back with the message that Van der Merwe had discovered a force of about 100 English mounted troops at one of the farms. He wanted to attack and requested that Malan send reinforcements to support the attack. Taking Cloete and 8 other men Malan rode out to take a look at the situation. According to the messenger, Van der Merwe had taken position behind the farm, Malan decided to approach it from the other side. He was still not 100% sure that the troops were indeed British. He had been awaiting a troop of Boers who had not yet arrived and did not want any shooting until the group had been properly identified. About 300 meters from the farm they arrived at a wire fence. Malan slid from his horse, wanting to have a good look at the troop through his binoculars. It right away became apparent that the troops were indeed English, who, having seen Malan were in turn were uncertain of the identity of Malans little group. While the main troop stayed up on the overlooking ridge, a small patrol of 10 men broke away to approach and identify Malan. As the riders approached, Malan ordered his men to stay saddled and to carefully load their rifles. Noone was to do anything that could identify them as enemy until Malan fired the first shot, then they were to jump off their horses and open fire. If Malan was worried he did not show it as he stood smoking, one hand rested on the fence post, the Rifle he had borrowed from Hoffmann held casually in his hand. Ever nearer came the English patrol, and Malan sensed the tension in his men. The British lieutenant had evidently mistaken them for Colonial troops and he rode up to Malan, just a thin wire fence seperating the two men. As he brought his horse to a standstill Malan said ?I think you have made an error, you think we are Colonial troops, but we are Boers. You are my prisoners.? The Young officer was no coward, grabbing his rifle he slid from his horse? he was dead before he hit the ground. At this moment a number of things happened. One of the young Boers shouted ?Ride!!? and took off followed by six of the others. Malan opened a desperate fire on the group of Englishmen. On the English side of the fence two riders had whipped their horses around and went speeding back to the larger group, the other seven sat frozen in their saddles and were shot down by Malan who was firing as fast as he could. Cloete slid from his saddle throwing his rifle to his shoulder, fired at and hit the two who were getting away. In the mean time, Hoffmann was sitting calmly in his saddle, having no weapon at hand. The main group had opened fire at the three Boers, who now had bullets whizzing around their ears. Malan was furious and shouted to Cloete to go and catch the fleeing Boers, Malan himself taking a shot at and missing the boer who had shouted to the others to flee. Cloete and Hoffmann took off after the group, they needed to get them back into action, Van der Merwe was attacking the British from behind and Malan needed to support him by attacking from his side. It developed into a bitter fight with many British casualties, but it was the death of the young Lieutenant that was to influence the war in the Cradock area for some time to come. At the end of the war, Malan, badly wounded at the time was waiting for a train at Cradock station. Suddenly Colonel Scobell pushed his way to Malan and shouted at him ?You shot my Lieutenant. You personally did it. If you come out, I will take it out of you!? Malans men were angered at this performance and with cries of ?Kick him out! Kick him out!??they did just that. This was the first and only face to face meeting of Malan and Scobell. In June 1901 Malan?s commando was west of Cradock where they, according to Creswick?s book on the guerilla war, they "made themselves perpetually offensive". Malan?s nemesis was without a doubt Colonel Scobbell. In the meantime Scobell had to content himself with a dawn raid on Malan?s camp on the 19th of June. Four Boers were killed and 40 horses captured, the rest of the Boers escaping mostly bareback on their horses. By the 25th Malan had gathered enough men for a raid on the town of Richmond but was beaten back by the defenders and on the 27th of July a Major Mullins leading a unit of Brabants Horse (a unit of irregulars) caught up with Malan and a fight ensued in which Cloete was seriously wounded. Cloete?s last action After the depart of Maritz and his men Malans Commando found itself in a weakened state and on the run. Pushed out of their hide by Scobells column they retreated in the direction of Betjieskraal, a farm owned by a man named Koos Venter. One of the ways to the farm was through a wide gully which Malan thought would make a good place for an ambush. Sending a few scouts and his extra horses ahead to the farm, he and Cloete prepared for the arrival of Scobbels men. Aware that his position would crumble if any of his men fled, Malan threatened to punish anyone who abandoned their position with treason. The men lay, tense behind their hides as they observed Scobells approach. The vanguard consisted of a couple of native scouts, followed by a group of around 200 horsemen, behind them was a larger group of around 800 men. Malans plan was simple, he wanted to hit the enemy a hard and fast blow, and then escape along the gully in the direction of the farm. The men must have sweated blood as they lay there waiting for the khakies. Luck was on their side however and the scouts failed to notice the Boers as they rode across the front of the gully. The 200 horsemen trotted on unaware that they were crossing the muzzles of 20 hidden mausers. The Boers waited breathlessly as the riders past by them at just 50m distance. Malan fired the first shot followed by a volley which he estimated downed at least 20 men. The boers kept up a murderous fire, aware that any lull would give the enemy time to reorganise. The riders fell over each other trying to break out of the ambush. In a very short while the rifle barrels were glowing. Malan writes that it was a short and bloody slaughter and one can assume that Cloete with his sharp shooting skills must have left his mark in what Malan describes as a screaming, shouting mass of horsemen. The larger group of horsemen were able to manouvre without being fired on by the Boers and a portion of them gained some high ground where they were able to fire down on the Boer position. For a Boer there was nothing worse than being flanked and as had happened countless times before, the appearance of an enemy on the flank was the signal Malan needed to order his men to run to their horses and leave the field of battle. The only Boer to be hit was Lt Cloete, whose femur was totally smashed. According to Malan Cloete was in extreme pain but refused to stay and surrender. The ride up the gully saw Cloete?s leg banging off the walls twisting on the sinews and muscles that were holding it in place. In the confusion after the attack, Malan and his men escaped, leaving Cloete at Venters farm. The Venter family realised that Cloete?s only hope for survival was at the British military hospital at Cradock, where they brought a rather unhappy Cloete. It is difficult to judge with what degree of bias Malan reports the details of Cloete?s hospital stay, but if his report is accurate Cloete must have suffered to a large degree indeed. According to Malan, Cloete lay for 2 days before anyone was willing to treat him. When the doctors did arrive Cloete was afraid they were going to kill him and he refused to be touched by what he called Horse doctors. Not really a wise move on Cloete?s part and the doctors told him to go to the devil, which seems to have been pretty strong stuff at the time. Cloete?s attitude to the doctors led to him being left another couple of days before any treatment was forthcoming. When it did it was not with kid gloves. A hand wound had been bound by Mrs Venter before bringing Cloete to Cradock. Now, 4 or 5 days later the cloth had hardened and was stuck to the wound. In all probability the situation in the hospital must have been rather tense as the dead and wounded from the ambush must have been there as well, but Malan says that was no excuse for the way the dressings were ripped off. Luckily, ccording to Malan, Cloete was as tough as a ratel, the feisty little bush beast that the South African army would later name its armoured personnel carrier after. As harsh as the treatment of Cloete sounds, it must be remembered that the dead and wounded from the ambush would have been in the same field hospital and tempers would have been a little frayed. That in no way excuses the treatment, but in the end the British doctors seem to have done a good job as his badly shattered leg was saved although left a couple of inches shorter than the right one.

Both these groups are to men who had documented "kills" amongst the British/Colonial troops in the Boer war. The top group is a DTD, DCM, ABO and trio. The ABO is the Boer medal for the Boer war, The DTD is the boer officers distinguished service medal. Most Boer war Boer officers who served on the govt side in WW1 served as officers once again. Jordaan, who had the top group had joined the regular army after the Boer war and was an NCO (with high connections as his superiors were all old comrades from the boer war era.) From Ben Bouwers book where Jordaan kills a british soldier... I was to take my men and trek with them through the Free State to the vicinity of Zastron where General Smuts would join us about the 15th of August. The other commandants received similar instructions. The men were not informed of what we were going to do at once, but with the assistance of the officers I drew up a list of seventy-five names. This occupation of ours was interrupted by news of a column (enemy) coming from Johannesburg evidently to Potchefstroom via Losberg. Lochenberg brought the news of it and I rode out with him and a strong detachment towards them, coming in sight of them on the farm Elandsfontein. The men hid themselves in the orchards and Lochenberg and I went to the house of Mr. Jan Pienaar, whose family were still on the farm. The column was passing the house by then, at a distance of eight hun- dred yards, along the road, without any intention apparently of exa- mining the houses. Nevertheless we posted two men on the roof to observe their movements, it being my intention to attempt a surprise attack from the rear as soon as they had passed. Lochenberg and I had hitched our horses to a post outside the door and gone inside. It being about eight o'clock in the morning Mrs. Pienaar offered to give us breakfast which we gratefully accepted and were waiting for its ap- pearance, when we heard the sound of horses' hooves. Lochenberg and I took no notice; my nose and mind were both occupied with the coming breakfast, which was nearing completion. But Mrs. Pienaar went to a window, gave a shriek and called out "Heavens' the English!" Lochenberg and I dashed for the door and as we opened it six troopers swung round the house. We sprang on our horses and dashed away, but he missed his stirrup and fell off before he had gone ten yards, which in a way was quite as remarkable as our surprise. Hardly had he touched ground however when he fired but hit nobody. I continued to race for cover and had just pulled up behind some trees a couple of hundred yards away when Jordaan, one of my staff, and a few other men who had been posted near, came up and fired on the troopers. Jordaan killed one and the others dashed away into the trees. We now expected that the column would advance towards the farm but they continued their march as though nothing had happened. We knew that, at the time, the soldiers had orders not to touch at farms, and it is therefore probable that these six men had stalked the house so succesfully because they were guarding against being seen going to it by their own people and, probably, without a thought of us. I could not help regretting the death of the trooper shot here, a fine, handsome fellow he was too, who had doubtless approached the farm with no more serious purpose than that of asking for a morning cup of coffee. The two men on the roof had failed to see the troopers and that was one of the very few occasions I have known a Boer sentry to fail. Altogether it was a morning of surprises. When the rear-guard passed we attacked it, but they had doubtless received notice of our presence; the pith had been taken out of our enterprise and the whole thing came to nothing.

You could be decorated by the crown !!!

I assume he must have done watch duy... or ?

What kind of U-jobs were there? I assume one of these was an engine room boy, the other?

Simply because its classier than SA and NSDAP superheroes with brylcream and dandruff giving funny salutes!

Tom must have a Detlev hotbutton... this and the virgins cross..... he be really fast for such an old guy !

Does anyone know what the US did with interned German seamen? were they allowed to go home? he had his papers with him so would have been recognisable as a reservist... did that count as a soldier to be interned, or was he still a civvie as he was not in uniform? No further entries in the book....

Hi, Jeff sums it up well, he feels it is "Right" and I would tend to agree, but at the end of the day the owner will have to feel the same to be happy with it. My torpedo bomber DKiG group is more or less the mirror image of this one, but from the german side. I have it because I feel it is "Right", so... want to mention the price?

Hi Stogie, The scope will actually be too large for a book, so a lot of the extra text will be in the form of a website, giving the book owner more bang for his buck.

It looks like a nice group. if you trust the source it may be worth picking up. there is no way to be 100% sure, just gut feeling. best Chis

Building groups is a national passtime for crooked dealers in England. as Ed says, unless these are to a South African (or Rhodesian) the service medals should not be named. Of course, the recipient could have had then privately named. most Brit collectors like to have the papers and at least one officially named medal (just to proove the seller is not justselling a paper lot with made up medals). Its a bit like German groups with unnamed medals, if you know where they are from, fine. but some guys wont touch them. WW2 British is too dodgy for me :-(

Is there any other "stuff" to help attribute it? best Chris

Damn... It takes me longer to photograph them than it takes for you guys to identify them...! Thanks!

We hope to cover enough docs that we can help anyone who has one to understand his one a bit better. Best Chris

that should allow collectors to "place" their units. On the website we will be able to provide the "deeper" research, either about the units, the battles or eyewitness accounts... so, the doc and blurb as pictured above in the book, and a large chapter about machine gun units and their evolution on the website including many eye witness accounts of the actions.... Including the following from a comrade of the man whose document is pictured. On 24th June, hell broke in upon us. The unimaginable fury of an uninterrupted week-long drumfire by all calibres over the infantry trenches and over the artillery emplacements. Over more than a 50km breadth, the gentle hills of the Somme and of the Ancre river sink behind the brown curtain of millions of shell-bursts. Those of us whose dugouts had not been crushed, crouched below on the alert, took breaths, whether of smoke, dust or shell-bursts, gasping and with difficulty, believed by the third day that the unrelenting booming, rolling, cracking and bursting, on top of the shaking and trembling of the earth, would drive us mad. On the sixth and seventh days the fury seemed to increase, the dugout entrances were mostly blocked leaving, where it was going "well", space to crawl through; the nerves of the occupiers were dulled, a suppressed rage lay in the tortured minds and souls of the defenders, one thought dominating all: "when will they finally come?" After a terrible night, after the inferno of dawn "they're coming". - Finally! - relief - that the enemy turns to the attack. The sun shines brightly. It is the 1st July 1916. In the splendour of this summer's day the English columns advance to the attack. They have the certainty, that their week-long drumfire, precisely calculated to the square metre, has destroyed every atom of life in our position. The enemy's artillery fire suddenly transfers to our rear positions, onto the grounds of Serre village, onto the approach roads and the villages beyond. 250 to 400 Metres away from our destroyed trenches they advance to the attack! They advance in columns, in thick, packed lines of attack, behind which are drawn up support troops, Indian lancers, ready to turn the English breakthrough on the wing of the attack front into a devastating defeat of our centre. The English infantry have their rifles at their necks, hanging from their shoulders, ready for the stroll to Bapaume, to Cambrai, to the Rhine! The idea that there could still be life or any resistance in us (after this week) seems absurd to them! But now men crawl out of half-crushed dugouts, now men squeeze through shot-through tunnels, through buried dugout entrances, through broken, shattered timber frames, now they rise up between the dead and dying and call and cry out: "get out! get out! its the attack!" "They're coming". The sentries, who had to remain outside throughout the drumfire, rise out of the shell-holes. Dust and dirt lie a centimetre-thick on their faces and uniforms. Their cry of warning rings piercingly in the narrow gaps that form the dugout entrance. "Get out...get out...they're coming!" Now men rush to the surface and throw themselves into shell holes and craters; now they fling themselves in readiness at the crater's rim; now they rush forward under cover from the former second and third lines and place themselves in the first line of defence. Hand-grenades are being hauled by the box from shell-hole to shell-hole. There's a choking in every throat, a pressure which is released in a wild yell, in the battle-cry "they're coming, they're coming!" Finally the battle! The nightmare of this week-long drumfire is about to end, finally we can free ourselves of this week-long inner torment, no longer must we crouch in a flattened dugout like a mouse in a trap. No longer do we feel the dull impact of the shelter-breaker exploding downwards (an impact like a hammer-blow on the helmeted skull). No longer must we calm, hold down, tie down those men whom almost lose their minds through this pounding, booming and splintering, through difficulty in breathing and through the jerking and swaying of the dugout walls, and whom with overtly trembling limbs want to get up away from this hole and this mousetrap, up into the open air, into a landscape of raging flames and iron - a landscape of insanity and death. We call for a barrage!! Red flares climb high then fade away as they fall to the ground. Destructive fire and barrage fire leave masses of green and red marks in the sky! Dear God! The German barrage fire! Behind us the guns lie destroyed in their emplacements, their wheels upwards, their barrels in the dirt. An enormous crater left by the impact of the English heavy shells yawns at the site of the gun emplacements. Most of the crews are dead, lying buried in tunnels and bunkers. On the waggon-tracks that led to the gun batteries lie shot-up ammunition waggons, shattered gun-limbers, spilled cartridges and shells, dead drivers, and the carcasses of horses torn apart by direct- and near-hits. Our barrage is pitifully weak; there is no artillery in reserve. The summer of 1916, the time of the great artillery shortage. So it was that on 1st July 1916 almost everything depended on us - the infantry!1 Shots flew, whipped and cracked wildly into the enemy ranks, above us it hissed, whizzed and roared like a storm, like a hurricane; the path of the English shells which fell on what little artillery was left, on the support troops, on the rear-areas. Amidst all the roar, the clatter, the rumble and the bursts, the lashing out and wild firing of the riflemen, the firm, regular beat of our machine-guns is solid and calm; -tack-tack-tack-tack....this one slower, the other faster in rhythm! - precision work in materials and construction! - a terrible melody to the enemy, it gives a greater degree of security and inner calm to our own friends in the infantry and to the other ranks. The machine-gunners, who in quieter times were much mocked - and envied (excused from hauling ammunition!), are popular now! One belt after another is raced through! 250 Shots - 1000 shots - 3000 shots. "Bring up the spare gun-barrels" shouts the gun commander. The gun barrel's changed - carry on shooting! - 5000 shots - the gun-barrel has to be changed again. The barrel's scorching hot, the coolant's boiling - the gunners' hands are nearly scorched, scalded. "Carry on shooting" urges the gun commander "or be shot yourself!" The coolant in the gun jacket boils, vaporized by the furious shooting. In the heat of battle, the steam hose comes away from the opening of the water can into which the steam's meant to re-condense. A tall jet of steam sprays upwards, a fine target for the enemy. Its lucky for us that the sun's shining in their eyes and that it's behind us. Had the enemy used close-in covering fire in 1916 as became customary for both sides in 1917 and 1918, the situation would have been highly critical for us.2 The enemy's getting closer; we keep up our continuous fire! The steam dies away, again the barrel needs changing! The coolant's nearly all vaporized. "Where's there water?" shouts the gunlayer. There's soda water (iron rations from the dugout) down below. "There's none there, Corporal!" The iron rations were all used up in the week-long bombardment. Still the English attack; even though they already lie shot down in their hundreds in front of our lines, fresh waves continue to pour over from their jumping-off positions. We have to shoot! A gunner grabs the water can, jumps down into the shell-hole and relieves himself. A second then also pisses into the water can - its quickly filled! The English are already in hand-grenade range; grenades fly to and fro. The barrel's been changed, the gun jacket filled - load! Hand-grenades and rifle-grenades explode violently in front of the gun - its not just unsettling, the loading gets into a tangle! You recite loudly, slowly and clearly saying to yourself: "forward - feed - back!" (knock the cocking handle forward - feed in the belt - throw back the cocking handle) - the same again! Safety catch to the right! - "feed through!"....tack-tack-tack-tack....a furious sustained fire once more strikes the "khakis" in front of us! Tall columns of steam rise from almost all the machine guns. The steam hoses of most guns are torn off or shot away. The skin of the gunners, of the gun commanders, hangs in shreds from their fingers, their hands are scalded! The left thumb's reduced to a swollen, shapeless piece of meat from continually pressing the safety catch. The hands grip the lightweight, thin gun handles as if locked in a seizure. Eighteen thousand shots! The platoon's other machine-gun jams. Gunner Schw. is shot in the head and falls over the belt that he feeds in. The belt's displaced, taking the cartridges at an angle into the feeder where they become stuck! Another gunner takes over! The dead man's laid to one side. The gunlayer takes out the feeder, removes the cartridges and reloads. Shooting, nothing but shooting, barrel changing, hauling ammunition and laying out the dead and wounded in the bottom of the trench, such is the harsh and furious pace of the morning of 1st July 1916. The harsh, clear report of the machine-guns is heard on every Division front. England's youth, Scotland's best regiments, bled to death in front of Serre. Our machine-gun, right by the Serre-Mailly road, commanded by the brave Unteroffizier [Corporal] Koch from Pforzheim, shoots through the last belt! It's driven twenty thousand shots into the English! After the initial confusion and panic caused by our unexpected resistance, after the horrific loss of life in their closely-packed attack formations, the English re-form. For two hours and more, wave upon wave breaks against us. With incredible tenacity, they run towards our trenches. In an exemplary show of courage and self-sacrifice, they climb from the safety of their jumping-off position only to be felled, barely having reached our shot-up barbed wire. Twenty, thirty meters in front of our guns, the brave ones fall, the first and the last attack waves together. Those following behind take cover behind their dead, groaning and moaning comrades. Many hang, mortally wounded, whimpering in the remains of the barbed wire and upon the hidden iron stakes of the barbed wire barricade. The survivors occupy the slight slope around and behind the remains of the barbed wire and shoot at us like things possessed, without much to aim at. They make cover for themselves from the bodies of their dead comrades and many of us fall in the fire. We shoot into the wire shreds, into the belt of barbed wire that winds to the earth. The hail of bullets breaks up at the wire and strikes downwards as an unpredictable crossfire into the protective slope. Soon the enemy fire dies out here as well. Fresh waves appear over there, half-emerge from cover then sink again behind the parapets. Officers jump onto the thrown-up earth and try to encourage their men by their example. Flat-helmets emerge in numbers once more only to disappear again immediately. The hail of bullets from our infantry and machine-guns sprays over their defences. The English officers no longer leave the trench. The sight of the field of attack takes the breath away from the attacker. The attack is dead. Our losses are very heavy. The enemy's losses are inconceivable. In front of our division's sector, the English lie in rows by company and by battalion, mowed-down, swept-away. The "No Man's Land", the in-between ground separating the two positions, is one great scene of misery. The battle falls silent, it seems to have frozen through so much misery and misfortune. Medical orderlies hurry into the battlefield, an English medical team appears from somewhere with many stretchers and unfolded Red Cross flags, a rare and shattering sight in trench warfare. Where to start!? Whimpering confronts them in almost every square meter. Our own medical orderlies, those who can be spared, join forces on the battlefield and place the enemy just as carefully into the hands of his people.3 Meanwhile the English support troops fared badly. Closely packed, caught between their jumping-off positions and advanced units of all kinds, they were unable to move forwards, backwards or sideways once the catastrophe began. Machine-guns mounted on sleds, elevated from the front line, with sights set at 500 to 700, shot an accurate line of fire into the English support troops. The deliberate destructive fire of the few German guns had a devastating effect on their ranks. Still shooting somewhere in the sector are two "Minenwerfer" [trench mortars] and a makeshift mortar put together by sappers, a so-called Albrecht-mortar (a wooden tube wrapped-around with thick coils of wire or steel bands). With a low rate of fire but with all the more terrible effect, this sent its shaky "jam-bucket", filled with a highly explosive charge, iron and thick glass, swaying through the air in the direction of Hebuterne. Wherever such a monster exploded 3 to 4 metres above the ground, the result was terrible to see. At the adjacent regiment on our left, situated in front of Beaumont, the enemy succeeds in breaking through to the third line. Our flank is threatened. If the enemy occupies the Heidenkopf, it looks bad for us in the valley. The 169 Regiment, that included the north- and northeastern sides of the Heidenkopf within its battle-sector, sends help to the Landwehrsmen. The slight, dashing Leutnant [2nd Lieutenant] Hoppe from Magdeburg throws the English out from the breach with a single infantry platoon from the third battalion in dazzling close combat. The English reserves, pushing from behind, that try to penetrate the gap, are caught in the flanking fire of one of our machine-guns that sees the opportunity and makes a positional change uphill - the Death Reaper! Here too the English soldiers fall to the ground in rows. Evening is drawing in. In front of the sector of the 52nd Infantry Division, the enemy's attack is defeated. Some kilometres further left, at Ovillers-Contalmaison, at la Boiselle, the enemy succeeds in breaking through the less-well consolidated position to a depth of one to two kilometres. The French succeed in breaking through at Peronne to a depth of 3 to 4 kilometres. Local successes, which they were able to extend to some two to four kilometres in a six-month long struggle - this loss of material, this sacrifice of life for that! The English-French dream of a bright and cheerful war of movement, a march to the Rhine, is over by the evening of 1st July. What happened on the part of the allied military command over the course of the further six months of the Battle of the Somme is the cruelest and the most incompetent bungling ever indulged in by an army command. The bases of Serre, Gommecourt, Beaumont-Hamel, which dominated the open-country towards Bapaume, remain in our hands. The 8th Baden Infantry Regiment 169 has the fame to be one of the few regiments which did not allow the English to gain a foothold in their sector on 1st July 1916. (Provided courtesy of Andrew Jackson http://www.pals.org.uk/pals_e.htm

because we so often seperate history from our collections I thought it time to reintroduce it ;-) At the moment I am working on the document section for the imperial Iron Cross book that a handful of us are doing with Gordon. The complete details will be availible at a later date, suffice to say for now that there will be a book and a corresponding web site. The book will be as gordon has posted, "big" but the website will make it "bigger". This is especially true for the document section. Like all books, we will have the documents pictured with a blurb of info... More or less as follows... Infanterie-Regiment 169 Sch?tzen Robert Otto (3. M.G. Komp.) The document was signed on the 11 January 1916 (corrected to 1917) by Hauptmann xxx, Batallionskommandeur The document is a special print for the XIV Reservekorps At the time of the award the Regt. was part of the 52. I.D. The 52. I.D. had a very quiet war until the battle of the Somme commenced. It suffered and caused heavy losses at Serre on the first day of the battle, then fought at Beaumont-Hamel, North of Thiepval from September to November 1916 at which time it was withdrawn from the battle. Otto's award was made while the Regt. was still in the rest area before being sent to the front again.

Ouch !

Stogieman has very meanly being poking fun at the haircuts seen on many Russian soldiers, its seems that the Soviet Union 1920-45 (and later) had a fetish for funny haircuts.... How about posting YOUR funny haircut photos, and an E-Beer to the collector who is custodien to the papers of the Commissar with the wierdest cut?