I came across this while transcribing an article about the experiences of Surgeon-captain P. J. Probyn, D.S.O., Royal Army Medical Corps, in South Africa during the Boer War (1899-1902). He was from Pontypool, South Wales. The following appeared in The Weekly Mail, 23rd August 1902.
"On one occasion when he was out searching for the wounded [at night] ……… two Boers left their trenches, and on learning that he was a doctor asked him to go into the trench to attend a wounded officer. He took them up to the general, who gave the captain permission to enter the laager. When they attempted to enter the laager a fusillade was opened upon them, and the captain at once lay on the ground until the firing had ceased, and escaped unhurt. The two Boers he subsequently found lying on the banks of the river, looking as white as a sheet, and to his astonishment one turned out to be an Englishman from King's Lynn, Norfolk, and the other a brother to the surveyor-general at Bloemfontein."
I'm also enquiring about this on a King's Lynn forum, although I'll be amazed if we can find the name of the man from King's Lynn. Does anyone know the name of the Surveyor-General at Bloemfontein at the time of the ABW?
The Boer officer that Probyn treated may have been Commandant Van Kiekerk.
