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This is a copy of a letter sent by my grandfather to his mother in Brading, Isle of Wight and published by the Isle of Wight County Press. I can see one item you definitely couldn't publish now !!




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“…..threw up their hands and begged for mercy, which they got with the bayonet”. I looked on the Bloemfontein Museum website for Burger Deaths at Vaalkrantz in early February 1900 but none were mentioned. Although it is possible that Boers who died during that battle are listed under another heading, I did however find six Burgers who were at the time taken prisoner there. (Louis Bok, Jan Derksen, Anthony Maeder, Joseph Scholtz, James Tully and Stephanus Venter.) So perhaps we can take your Grandfather's missive with a pinch of salt. Killing enemy soldiers who had surrendered undoubtedly occurred during the war, but it is unlikely that the execution of a dozen Boers who had surrendered, could have taken place without repercussions. The Breaker Morant story is a case in point.

I think you misunderstood, I wasn't suggesting they were murdered, merely that you probably wouldn't put that particular sentence in a modern day account in a local paper. Also being lucky enough to have his entire service history right up until after W.W. 1 I know my grandfather wouldn't have murdered prisoners !




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