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Hello Neville,
I wish I could express my gratitude properly. Many thanks again. Yes, my uncle, Jens Kok eventually approved of the exhumations but unfortunately he passed away many years ago. He also attended the inauguration of the monument on Platrand.
You mention the names Welly and Mr. Schuman. Is it perhaps possible to obtain more information from them? I would dearly like to visit the archive where the mentioned story was found.
Do you have any idea of what happened to the cross which was on the grave?
Many thanks and best regards,
Brahm

Brahm

Welly Hyde died many years ago, and I have no idea whether Mr Schuman is still with us. The latter had been sent down from Pretoria to oversee the exhumations and to make sure they were carried out in a respectful manner. I'm afraid I don't know which government department he came from.

Most of the headstones were incorporated into the Platrand Monument, but given the unique nature of your great grandfather's marker (iron and brass), I imagine its construction made it inappropriate for inclusion. All the ubiquitous iron crosses were taken to the Natal Provincial Administration works department depot, where they were treated as scrap. I would like to believe this was not the fate of Hermanus's marker, as it was considered special at the time. Some of the items found in the graves (silver watches, etc) are now held in the collection of the Anglo-Boer War Museum, Bloemfontein. The cross might have ended up there too.

I'm afraid I can't help with the archive question. If this was information discovered by Schuman, I would imagine it might have come from the National Archives Repository.

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Hello again Neville,

Many thanks for your support and very valuable work, it is dearly appreciated.