TOPIC:

The recent post about the two sons of Major J.G. Maynard, Bethune's Mounted Infantry, who both died during the Boer War, had me thinking about the answers to the following questions:

1. Which family, Boer or Briton, tragically suffered the most casualties?

2. Were there any instances of father and son(s) casualties on either side?

3. Which family on either side had the most number of brothers that fought?

Justin

Below is an example of four British brothers, three of whom died during the war.

Hi Justin et al

Father & Son Boer War casualties : I have shown the awards to the Blignauts separately some time ago.

Father :



Son:




Henk

One of my current projects concerns a Burgher Cilliers of the Heilbron Commando. Heilbron's Boer War Memorial includes several examples of multiple listings of certain family names. For example, there are five men named Erasmus and three named Mentz. The latter are Veldkornet J Mentz, Assist Veldkornet N J Mentz and Burgher B D Mentz. Heilbron was, and still is a small farming town in the Orange Free State and there are likely to have been fathers, sons and brothers in these listings.

However, the really telling record on this memorial translates as:

"Number of women and children who died in concentration camps - 787"

The Erasmus, Mentz and other families who lost men in the war are bound to have been represented amongst the concentration camp fatalities, so the family that lost the most in this war is certain to have been on the Boer side.

Brett

Some of the answers for the British side are in my article:

Family Casualties in the Anglo-Boer War
Soldiers of The Queen (Victorian Military Society) Issue 72 March 1993


The attachment didn't load! I'll sort it presently.

Link to article: www.casus-belli.co.uk/index.asp?PageId=16


Regards
Meurig

Henk, Brett and Meurig

Many thanks for the interesting replies. I have found one family of five brothers so far: the Tayfields from Johannesburg.

Best wishes,

Justin

Hi everybody

The photo of F van Rhede van Oudtshoorn and his 10 armed sons comes from the Dutch publication "De Zuid-Afrikaansche Oorlog : Historisch Gedenkboek" by G L Kepper, published shortly after the Boer War.

I have the ABO/LvW to Kpl W P van Rhede van Oudtshoorn : I would like to think that he was one of the older brothers on the photo!!

Worthy of further research as Justin's father liked to say.

Henk