Chris Boonzaier

A very intresting case! I was unaware that the Russians had german POWs for such a long period!

Wow... what a labour of love !! Hats off to you for the effort !

This guy had a 4 bar one. http://www.amicale-online.ca/modules.php?n...content&tid=259 From his diverse awards (Chuter ops, Tireur d'elite, Milan... ) and the fact he was in the REP and served in the Gulf, he must have been in a deep recon unit. (Only REP units in the Gulf)

surely not the right HK cross !!??

The earlier is one of the medals it would be a crime to clean. I even like the fact that it has bees repaired.

Here are 2 of obviously different quality... Earlier one has Argent stamped in the rim, later one has Bronze stamped.

I would be curious to know the exact date that the Zaire bar was discontinued. I know the cut off point was made to events BEFORE operation baumier, but I think this rule may have been made AFTER the operation.

Me thinko the same-o.

By the way, a bit off topic, the Appui sign on the back of the door, those are crossed Mortars and Milan missiles, NOT whatever you think they look like. We had just hung that up. The Saturday night before had seen a lot of beverages consumed in our room, listening to the Pogues and so a knife throwing competition developed the door suffereing as a consequence. The next day the sign was found way back in the section storeroom and very quickly put up.. you can still see a few chips around the side though...

Hi, I figured, you never know what comes out of the woodwork. Hendriks site almost made me start off another branch of collecting, but the wife whistled me back and pointed out I can't do it all :-(

Me left, Mitch right, just after the return from the Gulf.

This is the award document (Jack brewster = Chris Boonzaier, long story but not that intresting) for the Tchad one. Unfortunately my certificate for the Middle east bar was lost when I was in Central Africa. We had to go to Zaire to evacuate the Europeans and stayed there 4 weeks. In the meantime back in Bangui the staybehinds packed our kit. I had the award document for the Middle east bar and my citation in between the pages of an old magazine, which was thrown away and lost forever. Funny thing was, there is a Zaire clasp for the medal as well, had been awarded for years, but the awards were stopped just weeks before Operation Baumier, (1991) so we missed out on that.

Ed suggested a seperate thread for these.. I am tempted to think just reading Hendriks site negates any possible reason for having a thread, but lets see how it goes. here is my own OM, a bit beaten and nowhere near the quality of the old silver ones....

I was looking through the british casaulty lists of the boer war. very, very, very men are listed as Captured-released. The Boers in the later stages of the war did not have the possibility of keeping POWs, so they destroyed the rifles and released the men. 2 incidents always made me chuckle. 1) The British soldier who having being captured on a previous occasion and knowing what was coming, rattled of his clothing sizes so the captors knew if the stuff would fit before stripping him 2) General De Wet, furious, wanting to communicate that Soldier XYZ should be arrested for allowing himself to be captured by De Wets men for a third time. I suppose these must have been rear area or supply men that were captured when their columns were attacked... I would think that is the last war where prisonners who could not be taken care of were released. In WW1 raids anyone who could not be taken back was killed, and from there it has been all downhill....

This is a rather multi faceted group, to L.R. Jordaan. Almost unique in that he has a DTD, DCM combination, I think there are only 3 men who had this. In 1914 Jordaan was training soldiers, some who had served in the Boer forces, some on the British side. In the following short passage by Jordaans commanding officer (during the Boer war) a young soldier is killed while foraging.... 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 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.

Commander of the 14th (kings) Hussars. Once I bought it I found out he also wrote the regimental history !!! no lack of research info there !!! Not a South African but I put it here because of the QSA.

Another ex enemies group

A South African who served in GermanSouth west Africa, then joined the Royal artillery and lost his legs in France in 1918

A man with a very intresting story... and a very rare combination indeed

Here are two more. The 6 bar is nice because it is mainly battle bars, also to an Afrikaaner. Trooper H.T. Coetzee of Kitcheners Horse, am not sure if he had a KSA. the other is not to a South African although he settled in South Africa after the war. He was a Scot, Surgeon J.A. Robertson.

Here are 2. The one is to this guy http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=3339 The other to Private A.J. joubert of the Graaff-Reinet town guard. Like my relative above, he was a Cape Afrikaaner who was not to impressed with the cousins from over the border.

same one

a nice one to an Argyl and Sutherland highlander... Modder river, Magersfontein etc...

Here you go... the only set of Boer war medals to a boonzaier... and he was on the baddies side! My whole life long I have had to put up with people not knowing how topronounce my name... or how to spell it... and on the QSA... the name is wrong.. Broonzaier instead of Boonzaier I have a complicated family tree I found online... this guy must be an uncle of some sort... if anyone knows how to read these trees, give me a shout!