TOPIC:

Colonel (?) Dietrich E. Braun published privately a rather curious booklet "Souvenir of Dietrich E. Braun "Atwenty years 'Struggle in South Africa" with photographs and a bit of text. A small section is dedicated to his service in the Boer War.

Here are three photographs of the German Ambulance in the field.






.All courtesy of the McGregor Museum, Kimberley

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MC Heunis has just sent me this key to the General Kock & Staff photograph.

No sign of Badicke, I'm afraid, Rob.



1. Asst-veldkornet Dierking
2. Dr Elsberger (of the Ambulance of the German Corps)
3. Kapt. Robertson (adjutant of the German Corps)
4. Kapt. Weisz (of the German Corps)
5. W van de Berg (of the German Corps)
6. Luit. Von Wichmann (of the Transvaal Staatsartillerie)
7. Kol. A H Schiel (of the German Corps)
8. Adj. F Kock (son of Genl. J H M Kock)
9. Genl. J H M Kock (severely wounded at the Battle of Elandslaagte, 21/10/1899, and died on 31/10/1899)
10. Adj. P R Kock (son of Genl. Kock)
11. Adj. A F Kock (nephew of Genl. Kock)
12. Kapt. Harras G Zeppelin (adjutant in the German Corps; killed at Elandslaagte)
13. Luit. Von Albedyl (of the German Corps)
14. Luit. Louis von Zelewski (of the German Corps)
15 Veldkornet Potgieter (killed at Elandslaagte)

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Neville, MC, thanks for putting names to faces. If I'm correct, no 11 identified as Judge Kock, was the man arrested by F.E.T. Krause in Johannesburg just before Roberts troops occupied the town. Judge Kock had come to Johannesburg with the bright idea of blowing up the gold mines. Although Kock's intentions were undoubtedly patriotic and aimed at hurting the Goldbugs who were largely responsible for the war to break out, blowing up the mines would have been a PR disaster as a large number of shareholders in the mines hailed from Boer-friendly countries. Moreover, the destruction of the mines would probably have affected the compensation schemes as well as the country's ability to (financially) recover after the war.

This photograph, taken at "Scholz' Nek", near Kimberley, shows a number of Germans serving with Albrecht on the western front. The image was reproduced in a German book on the Red Cross, with fourteen of the men identified. Unfortunately, it is not immediately obvious which names refer to which individuals. MC Heunis has had a go at putting names to faces.







MC writes:

This photo also appeared in a German Red Cross book with some names - see attached. Some of the names I have not been able to verify, so they may be incorrect.













The two Hochapfel brothers are well known and have interesting backgrounds. Professor Fritz Hochapfel (above) was a chemist in Bloemfontein before the war and volunteered with his brother to assist Albrecht when the war broke out. The Professor was in charge of the OVSAC's medical services and also the postal services on the Western Front. He designed the well-known "OVS Commando Brief Franko".










Lieutenants Von Heister and Augenstein are well known. They appeared in quite a few POW photos that were used to sell the "German officers manning Boer guns" narrative, although neither of them were trained artillerymen. Lieutenant Augenstein (above) was a Grenadier back in Germany and Von Heister (below) a Dragoon.
Otto Augenstein [originally from Frankfort], was a watchmaker from Bloemfontein who volunteered as Albrecht's aide-de-camp (still to be confirmed). He, according to Count Sternberg and Lt Von Heister, played an important role in saving Albrecht's guns at Modder River.








The photo also shows a "Lt Geiling" and a "Behr", as well as a "D Schultz" in what looks like OVSAC interim field dress, but to date I could not confirm any of these names. I suspect the guy standing behind Albrecht with sword and officer badge or the guy lying in front of him with sword was actually Lieutenant Stuckenberg, his close friend who fell at Modder River. Stuckenberg was a neutralized OVS burgher and a businessman from Fauresmith. He served in the artillery in Germany many years before and volunteered his services to Albrecht at the start of the war, who made him section commander of two guns. Von Heister also names a German "Eikhof" in his writeup, who may also appear in this photo, but I have no info on him. The guy identified as Lieutenant Geiling does not have officer regalia and rather looks like he was a farrier volunteer.


Some of the other names on the photo:





A Schultz was a German Volunteer by the looks of it, but it's not stated if he was an artillery or commando volunteer. It seems A (Arthur) Herzfeld was a Jewish-German volunteer in the Free State Artillery. The rest of the men were probably just normal commando volunteers, either German of origin or Boers like Lübke.








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From the above it is now possible to identify the three characters in the well-known photograph of Majoor Albrecht seated in front of his German M1892 Zeltbahn shelter (know by the Boers as "Vrijsyaatsche zijltjes"). Reinhardt Hochapfel, with the Red Cross armband, is on the left; Majoor Albrecht in the centre; and Luitenant Otto Augenstein on the right.



















Majoor Albrecht and Reinhardt Hochapfel also appear on the side of this German beer stein.






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