I have been researching Captain H B Andreasen, Border Mounted Rifles, whose medals I recently acquired, and a great deal of information that relates to him has come to light. I have decided to separate some of it from his biography, and one such piece deals with the men from Andreasen's Squadron. Their names have been taken from an out-of-print book and are given here in an edited form.
The book, ‘The Norwegian Settlers – Marburg, Natal 1882’ (Marburg Norwegian Lutheran Church, Port Shepstone, 1932), was translated into English in 1967 by A H E Andreasen. It contains a wealth of information on these settlers, including records of their military service in the Anglo-Boer War, 1906 Natal Rebellion, World War 1 and World War 2.
Relevant here is the record of the men who served in the Boer War. This was compiled by Sergeant Edward Haajem, who served with two of his sons, Karl and Ole. With the few exceptions indicated, all the men served with the Border Mounted Rifles. They were:
Captain H B Andreasen; Sergeants E Haajem and G Oie; Corporals J Andersen, P Bjorseth, P Lillebo and R M Nilsen; Troopers A Andersen, A Bjorseth, F Bodtker (Natal Field Artillery), N Brudevik (Brudevig on BMR roll), T Bru-de-Wold (Natal Police), K Haajem, O Haajem, A Hojem, E Holte, F Hufft, G Ingebriktsen (Inglebrigsten on BMR roll), K Martinusen (Martinson on BMR roll), N Nilsen (P Nilsen of the BMR roll), E Pahr, O Vinjevold (Not on the BMR roll).
There is a Trooper R Lillebo on the BMR roll, who is not listed by Haajem.
Haajem recorded that the brothers John and Arthur Berg “served with the Methuen’s Regiment and later Loxton’s Horse”.
Colonel H T Bru-de-Wold (Natal Staff Corps), a Norwegian who formerly commanded the BMR, settled in Natal in 1862, so he is here excluded from the 1882 list, although Haajem included him in his report.
In the Port Shepstone Norwegian Settlers Cemetery there is a memorial to those men in the BMR from the district who were killed in action or died of disease during the Boer War:
www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=3004539
Brett