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These photographs were sent to me by Ann Oberholzer, a resident of Port Shepstone. Although the memorial is located in the Norwegian Settlers Cemetery, the names inscribed on it represent Norwegian, German and English residents of the town.

As far as I know the only other Boer War memorial in a small South African town dedicated to men of the local militia regiment is in Uitenhage, Eastern Cape. This memorial was vandalised recently. Heilbron in the Free State has a memorial to Boer soldiers and concentration camp victims in the grounds of the Dutch Reformed Church. Both Durban and Johannesburg have more elaborate Boer War memorials. In the case of the one in Johannesburg it commemorates men from nine regiments that have links to the city, although the men recorded were not all Johannesburgers.

Brett

A truly superb, in terms of both workmanship and attention to detail, memorial, very English in appearance, yet, it commemorates some rather "Wagnerian" sounding individuals, moreover, that particular boot again.

Hi Brett.....

Here is an old photo of a piece from my collection.....

Thought you might like to see it.....

Mike

Frank
The BMR Memorial is fortunately situated in the Norwegian Cemetery, where it is well cared for. What the future holds for it is very uncertain, with the vandalising of the one in Uitenhage (and other such events) perhaps a sign of what lies ahead.

Mike
How amazing! It is a small world for people with our interests! Thank you for sharing your Melville display with me. If you do not already have them, I can have copied for you papers in the Maritzburg Archives relating to Melville's death. Such papers can occasionally carry interesting information. I suspect that he was the son of Hugh Melville, a well-known farmer from the Port Shepstone district. 'Melville' is the name given to one of the residential/resort towns on the coast north of Port Shepstone.

Regards
Brett

Hi Brett
I only have one BMR QSA left in my collection.


I do not have any info on Hulley, except a copy of the QSA roll page, a page from the NMR History and an entry in a handwritten roll of Natal Boer War casualty
burials.
I also had a QSA (BMR)/KSA(NVCR) to Tpr H Gottschalk but disposed of that some 6 years ago.
Henk

Henk
I felt confident that you would have something 'special' from the BMR in your collection and I was right! A Caesar's Camp casualty is a rarity to be envied.
The pair to Gottschalk was (and still is) also exceptional, since although 51 members of the BMR went on to join the VCR, he was one of only four German settlers to do so. I suspect that, by the end of the Natal campaign, the German's disenchantment with the British and sympathy for the Boers was well underway. Certainly one of the four Germans would later deny to his family any service with the BMR and VCR during the war.
Thank you for sharing.
Regards
Brett