14 JULY 1901 - MARTINSHOF

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A report came in that some Boers, including the Geldenhuijs brothers, had taken shelter in Theron’s stables at Martinshoff. A party of newly raised DMT and Town Guard were sent to flush them out. With the group went Capt Barry S Moore of the Army Service Corps.

 

The Boers suddenly ran firing from the stables and got away. They had hit Sergt Walter Calverly in the buttocks and Cpl CS Biggs in the leg. Because noises were still being heard in the shed, Moore began throwing fire balls to give light as the DMT men rushed the building.

 

Soon afterwards Johannes Meintjes saw somebody moving along the shed’s open side at a crouch. He challenged three times and fired. The man fell. He ran over and found, to his horror, he had fatally wounded Capt Moore. The noise was from wounded animals. The Coldstream Guards congratulated the DMT on their first attempt at night work, but their morale had taken a heavy blow.

“Commandant Gideon Scheepers and the Search for his Grave’ by T & D Shearing.