The Bethulie Concentration Camp cemetery - a sad part of our history

Bethulie in the southern Free State is one of those places not many people pass through as it's not really on any of the main thoroughfares going south (or north, depending how you look at it).  On my last trip up to Johannesburg I deviated off the normal route to see what this town on the banks of the Orange River is all about.  One of the things I found out was that Bethulie was the site of one of the most notorious concentration camps of the Anglo Boer War of 1899 to 1902.  I was shocked by the size of the Concentration Camp Cemetery Memorial and even more so when I saw all the names on the remembrance wall.

It turns out that even the English called the Bethulie camp "the hell camp" because of the shocking conditions Boer men, women and children were being held in.  The ravages of disease, starvation and extreme temperatures, enhanced by the bad administration of the camp, meant that the camp saw a death toll of 1 737 prisoners among its population of about 5 000 over the 13 months it existed between April 1901 and the end of the war in May 1902.  At one stage about 30 people a day was buried in the camp.  Truly shocking and it literally had me speechless as I stood reading the info around the memorial.  

The original camp and cemetery was located much closer to the river back in the days but all the graves were relocated to this position when the Gariep Dam (called the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam back then) was constructed in the 1960's.

At the top end of the cemetery is an enclosed area containing all the original hand-carved sandstone headstones which were removed from the old cemetery.  They've all been set into three walls and having a closer look at the information on them you suddenly realise how many children were among those who had dies in the camp.  Unfortunately the gate was locked tight so I couldn't get a closer look at all of them,

I drove away deeply touched.  The Anglo Boer War was such a significant event in the history of South Africa and yet so many of us never get to visit sites like this because it's often off the beaten track.  So next time you're on the main drag down to the beach fro your summer holidays, why not set a day aside and take some of the back roads.  You will come away the better for it.

Graaff-Reinet town hall and the Victory Peace Angel war memorial

Statues is a bit of a sore point in South Africa at the moment (referring to the Cecil John Rhodes statue at UCT and and and...) but there are some truly special ones out there.  One of these is the War Memorial or "Victory Peace Angel" outside the town hall in the Karoo Heartland town of Graaff-Reinet.

About three months after the end of World War One, the Mayor of Graaff-Reinet called a public meeting to discuss the erection of a war memorial.  The site decided on was what is now known as the Mayor's Garden right in front of the town hall and the memorial was to honour the brave men of Graaff-Reinet who had lost their lives in the war.  The great bronze figure mounted on a high pedestal was unveiled on 7 November 1923 by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught.  It was designed to stand guard over the names of the men from Graaff-Reinet that died during the first World War.

My Old Fort adventure in Durban

I get to visit Durban once a year during the annual Tourism Indaba but other than stopping in Umhlanga and taking walks on the beachfront, I've never really had an opportunity to explore the city much.  This year I decided to pinch off an hour to explore and discover at least one new place and the choice fell on The Old Fort.  From outside the place didn't look like much but I pressed on and in and was pleasantly surprised by what I found.  When the Dutch arrived in the small settlement of Durban in 1842 the British weren't too impressed to see the Dutch flag flying at the Point.  A armed force of a few hundred were sent to the settlement to sort the Dutch out and was surprised by some stern resistance.  After having to retreat back to the camp Dick King set off on his famous overland horse ride to Grahamstown to fetch reinforcements.

The camp didn't really provide the British with much shelter and during a 24-hour truce called to bury the their dead, the British moved quickly to strengthen it.  Sixty wagons was pulled in a circle around the tented camp and a trench dug around the perimeter.  The excavated soil was used to build up a mount in front with parts of the trench and mount still visible today.  During the siege the Boers shot 651 cannon balls and thousands of bullets at the British.  Many of the cannon balls were dug up and reused after having been fired at them by the Brits.

 

. The battle went on for a whole five weeks until it was finally ended with the arrival of two British ships, a schooner called the Conch, and the Royal Navy’s frigate HMS Southampton, with reinforcements.  Dick King had succeeded.  The Dutch were sent packing as far back as Cowies Hill and the rebellion was over.  The British was back in full control of Natal.

 

The Old Fort was continuously used as barracks until 1897 and today it's an open air museum of sorts.  The old magazine building has been converted into a chapel while aged military veterans live in rooms that used to be the military barracks.  The gardens that can be found through out the fort complex is littered with historical and interesting items, amongst them a bench made from timber of HMS Southampton, a cannon recovered from the wreck of the Grosvener (1782), and plaques commemorating the heroic journeys of John Ross and Dick King.  The South African Heavy Artillery Memorial can also be found in the fort's gardens.

 

Before I knew it my hour was over and I had to get back to what brought me to Durban in the first place.  Perhaps in the future I will get other opportunities to explore the city and expand my knowledge of the city a little more.

South African Heavy Artillery Memorial in Durban

I wouldn't really call war memorials a specific interest on my side, but I really enjoy discovering historic sites and attractions.  Just about every city and town in South Africa has a war memorial of some sort and Durban is no different.  Usually cities have a number of war related memorials and the first one I found in Durban was the city's South African Heavy Artillery Memorial, one of six around South Africa. 

 

After the end of World War I the Imperial Government presented 6 howitzer guns to the Union of South Africa.  The guns were used by the South African Heavy Artillery Association to honour their fallen Comrades-in-Arms and the six South African Heavy Artillery Memorials were created.  The six memorials can be found in the following places:

• Johannesburg Zoo - Memorial to 71st (Transvaal) Siege Battery
• Clyde N Terry Museum in Kimberley - 72nd (Griqualand West) Siege Battery
• Company Gardens in Cape Town - 73rd (Cape) Siege Battery
• National Museum in Bloemfontein - 74th (Eastern Province) Siege Battery
• Union Buildings in Pretoria - 125th (Transvaal) Siege Battery)
• Warriors' Gate MOTH Shellhole in Old Fort Road, Durban - 75th (Natal) Siege Battery

Uitenhage War Memorial

I'm fascinated by a lot of things so I won't say that war memorials fascinate me, although I find it very interesting how the war memorial in every town - because yes, just every town has some kind of war memorial - looks different.  Ranging from cenotaphs to historic cannons and massive monuments to small simple objects.  This is the war memorial in Uitenhage containing a list of men from the town who died during the two World Wars.

South African Museum

I'm a museum kinda guy.  There is always something new to discover even if you have been to it so many times before.  My favorite museum to go to is the South African Museum in Cape Town.  Its the oldest museum in sub-Saharan Africa and was established in 1825 by Lord Charles Somerset.  It is both a research and educational institution and offers collections of natural history and anthropological objects that document all forms of life - living and extinct - from southern Africa.   Whats also nice about the museum is that fact that its located at the top of the Company Gardens (seen in the photo just behind the Delville Wood Memorial) so a visit can be combined with exploring the whole area.   

One of the most popular and impressive parts of the museum is the whale well with it's life sized whale and whale skeletons. Its combined with the rest of the marine section which also showcases sharks and dolphins. 

Other exhibits range from an extensive collection of mammals and birds, to an excellent collection of material cultural heritage of our indigenous populations going back to their earliest origin.  These include Stone Age tools, some over 120 000 years old, and rock painting.

Chaos Boy's favorite part of the museum was the dinosaur and fossil section with these life sized skeletons being the centre of the exhibit.

Cape Town War Memorial

As you would know I am always on the lookout for something interesting to photograph, doesn't matter if its natural or historical.  As far as historical attractions go you tend to find some kind of war memorial in just about every town and city around South Africa and Cape Town was no different.  In actual fact I found two right next to each other.  At the top of the Company Gardens just below the South African Museum is the Cape Town War Memorial containing the names of the men from the city that has died in the two world wars.  Right behind it is the Delville Wood Memorial which commemorates the World War 1 Battle of Delville Wood in France, in which a predominantly SA force of more than 3 000 soldiers was reduced to 755 survivors by German forces.

Montagu War Memorial

I've said it before and I will say it again and again and again (every time I find another one).  Just about every town has a war memorial.  Click to see those in Knysna and Mossel Bay which I've blogged about before.  Driving around Montagu I was looking for interesting places and stumbled upon the Montagu War Memorial remembering those from the town who fell during the Anglo Boer War, WWI and WWII.  I'm not a war junkie so I don't know what the gun is called, but I liked the fact that the memorial wasn't just a brick or stone pillar.

Also situated in the memorial garden is a Voortrekker monument that was erected in 1938 to commemorate the Great Trek's centenary year.

Angel shining

The Angel Statue in Grahamstown is an Anglo Boer War Memorial depicting an angel standing over a fallen Boer soldier.  Initially I wanted to try and get the sun on the angel's head as a halo, but I had to stand in a busy street to do that.  Looking at the picture afterwards I realised that having the sun on the dying soldier gives it even more of a spiritual meaning as well. 

Knysna War Memorial

About a month or so ago I stated in a post on the Mossel Bay War Memorial that each and every town seems to have a war memorial of some kind. We spent a couple of day in the beautiful town of Knysna and I made sure that I stopped by the Knysna War Memorial during our visit to get a couple of photos to keep on proving my point.

A subscription list was opened in 1921 by Herold Thesen to collect money towards the erection of a memorial to remember those who died in the service of their country.  The Memorial was unveiled in 1922 by Reverend Captain Alfred Duthie who was Chaplain to the Forces in Flanders and France during the First World War.  The memorial stands on Memorial Square in the centre of town right nest to the Main Street. 

 

The Memorial not only contains the names of men from the town that had fallen during the Great War, but also plaques with the names of those who died during World War II and the Bush War.

Mossel Bay War Memorial

Just about every town seem to have a war memorial of some kind (I don't mean anything bad with that, I'm just saying) and Mossel Bay is no different.  This Mossel Bay War Memorial stands at the Point below the Cape St Blaze Lighthouse on the rock formation known as Frog Rock and was unveiled on 28 September 1928.  It was designed by W.J. Delbridge of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in the style of the art deco period and was probably modeled on the Cenotaph in London.

The cenotaph commemorate combatants from Mossel Bay who fell in the First and Second World Wars as well as in the Korean War, and in the South African Border War with Angola.

SS Mendi Memorial

 Mendi Memorial in New Brighton

There is a monument in the New Brighton township of Port Elizabeth to those who died on the SS Mendi in the First World War.  Blacks were not allowed to represent South Africa during the war as soldiers and those black people who did volunteer were sent to Europe as Labour Corps to do work like digging trenches.  The SS Mendi sailed from Cape Town transporting 823 members of the 5th Battalion, South African Native Labour Corps to France.  From Cape Town she went via Lagos to Plymouth before crossing the English Channel for Le Havre.  On 21 February 1917 at 5am in thick fog she was struck and cut almost in half by the SS Darro, an empty meat ship that was bound for Argentina.

 Inscription on the Mendi Memorial at New Brighton

616 South Africans (607 of them black troops) plus 30 British crew members died in the disaster.  The men of the South African Labour Corps came from a wide range of social backgrounds and different groups within South Africa, but the majority were from the rural areas of the Pondo Kingdom in the Eastern Cape.  Some men were killed outright in the collision while others were trapped below decks.  Many however gathered on the listing deck of the Mendi, but unfortunately very few of them could swim.

One of the most shocking parts of the incident is that the crew of the Darro made no attempt to rescue survivors and kept on sailing on.

The names of the men who died on the SS Mendi are inscribed on the Wall of Names at Freedom Park in Pretoria 

Oral history records that the men met their fate with great dignity. Their chaplain, Reverend Isaac Dyobha, is reported to have calmed the panicked men by raising his arms aloft and crying out in a loud voice:

"Be quiet and calm, my countrymen. What is happening now is what you came to do...you are going to die, but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers...Swazis, Pondos, Basotho...so let us die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war-cries, brothers, for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies."

They were stomping the "death drill" as the ship went under.

Union Buildings

The Union Buildings on Meintjieskop in Pretoria is the official seat of the South African government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa.  The Boer Republics of the ZAR (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State united with the Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to for the Union of South Africa.  Pretoria was selected as the administrative capital of the Union.

The cornerstone of the building with its two identical wings was laid in November 1910, shortly after the Union of South Africa was formed. Hence the name Union Buildings.  It took 1,265 workers over three years to build the structure.  The two wings at the sides served to represent the union of a formerly divided people and was again relevant in 1994 with democracy coming to South Africa.

The two cannons standing outside the Union Buildings overlooking the gardens are 40-pounder RML field carriages.  The guns were navel guns that were mounted on carriages by the British forces during the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902) and accompanied the British siege train to South Africa.  Although intended to, they were not required for the expected siege of Pretoria, which did not eventuate.

Also standing joust outside the Union Buildings overlooking the gardens is a war memorial commemorating those who died during the First World War.  The monument is a replica of the monument that stands in the war cemetery in Delville Wood in France.  There is also a replica in Cape Town in the Company Gardens.

South African National Defence Force Memorial

The South African Defence Force Memorial is situated just outside the entrance to Fort Klapperkop in Pretoria. The memorial was unveiled on May 31 1979 and includes a statue of a soldier holding a R1 rifle, in memory of all members of the South African Defence Force who lost their lives serving their country. The individuals who have lost their lives are honored with an inscription on a number of marble plaques mounted around the statue.

 

Angels

I am having one of those days where I don't have anything new to show and going through all my stock I can't really find something that tickles my fancy tonight. "Not good enough, boring, too plain, not artistic enough..." I'm sure you all know the feeling. So as I'm looking through all my pics and remember past travels, I encountered a couple of heavenly beings that are ideal for my "Random ..." theme.

The Angel Statue (Boer War Memorial) in front of the Commemoration Methodist Church in Grahamstown

The War Memorial in front of the Victoria Hall in Graaff Reinet

An angel (yes I know another one) from the South End cemetery in Port Elizabeth

Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial

In yesterday's post I mentioned the Prince Alfred's Guard Mermorial. Prince Alfred was the second son of Queen Victoria. He visited the Cape Colony on two occations. He visited Port Elizabeth in 1860 and St Georges Park was inaugerated on the first anniversary of his visit. For his visit a military guard was formed to accompany him on his visit. The guard was not disbanded afterwards and continued to exist. This Memorial was erected in 1907 in memory of men from the guard that died in 4 different wars, one of the the Anglo Boer War (or South African War) fought between 1899 and 1902.

The whole Memorial is actually a large ornament on top of a water reservoir

The figure on the top represents a member of the Guard, while the four lions hold shields with the names of the wars as well as the Guard's coat of arms.

PE Monuments 2

Today I want to continue showing off some of better known monuments and historic buildings in Port Elizabeth.

Situated on Market Square in the historic heart of the city is the Port Elizabeth City Hall. Completed in the 1862 and with the clock tower added on in 1883, the building burned down in 1977 and was restored to its former glory shortly after. The tower sticking out behind belongs to the Old Post Office, opened in 1900, while the cross in the front is a replica of the cross planted by Bartholomeu Dias in 1488.

Probably one of the best known monuments in the city, the Horse Memorial was erected in 1905 in rememberance of the horses and mules that died during the Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902). Port Elizabeth was the main port of entry for the British forces and the thousands of horses that were used by the British during the war.


The Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial is a monument to the memorary of men from the guard that died during four different wars around South Africa. It is situated in St Georges Park and is actually a large ornament on top of a water reservoir.

The Cenotaph in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Gallery (previously known as the King George VI Art Gallery) was put up to commemorate those men from Port Elizabeth that died during the First World War. The men who fell during the Second World War was also later added to the list.