25 NOVEMBER 1900 - GROENFONTEIN

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In his book “With Rimington” Captain L March Philipps, writing from Frankfort, notes on p 206 that his last diary entry was for 20 Nov 1900, as “each day’s events became monotonous”. 

However, on p207 he describes an incident that took place a few days later:
“…we were camped on the river and had a picket on the other side. Two or three Boers crept up the river right between our picket and the main body, and then walked straight to the picket as if coming from us and fired into it at point-blank range.

 

They mortally wounded one of our men and in the dusk escaped.” In the early 1900’s there were 2 farms named Groenfontein in the Frankfort District, both bordering the Vaal River. 
 

Serjt. Bertie James Webber was the only Rimington’s Guides casualty recorded during November 1900. It is not known where he is buried but he is commemorated on the Boer War Memorial in Grahamstown.