TOPIC:

My grandfathers rifle was confiscated by british upon his capture he was hailed a war hero and was grandson to Pres. Paul Kruger,

Its located in the british war museum, heres a link.
collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1965-09-5-1

Is there any way to have this returned to the family or the war museum if boer republics?

I think its highly unjust for a family airloom to be kept by them and nor returned ti SA where it belongs.

Any help would be highly appreciated

Regards
Teuns

Teuns,

When the Boers attacked Mafeking through the Stadt on 12 May, they came very close to taking the town. There were several Boers captured that day.

Is this Commandant's Eloff's rifle? The silver shield only says it was 'taken from Boers'

The broader issue of the legitimacy of museums to hold material is complicated. There are many groups around the world advocating for the return of stolen artefacts. There has been some but little movement in recent years. France in 2018 and the Dutch government in 2020 approved recommendations to return stolen artefacts but I believe only a single item has been returned so far.

In the first instance, you could write to the NAM to ascertain the museum's view on this issue.

Best wishes
David

Very interesting all the articles thank you to eceryone who made this site possible I salute you

Seems to be his rifle if im reading the description im attaching

Teuns,

The catalogue description goes further than the evidence suggests they should.

This is what is written on the side of the rifle:



Had it been Eloff's rifle, I feel sure that would have been recorded. From the accounts of the attack, several Boers were disarmed at the same time and I would imagine the rifles were collected together making it impossible to distinguish ownership unless there were some markings on the stock of the rifle.