TOPIC:

In reading up on the Roodewal (Rooiwal) Disaster I stumbled upon a copy of A.G.M. Batten’s booklet “The Roodewal Incident” published on the occasion of the South African National Exhibition held in Bloemfontein in July 1981. This publication deals with the stamps and Postal Notes that were destroyed or looted during De Wet’s successful raid on the large stores at Roodewal station in 1900. Perhaps of less interest to the non-philatelist, one of the letters reproduced in the booklet nonetheless caught my eye:


(* The Roodewal Incident took place on June 7, 1900, not 1901)

This story strikes me as odd. Christiaan de Wet was one of the best, if not the best, commander (Boer or Brit) in the field during the Boer War. De Wet was cunning, tough, uncompromising and often surly. He was however not a practicing philatelist, not greedy and totally against taking anything with him that could hamper his mobility, something he heavily relied on for staying out of the hands of the enemy. Schlepping a pile of useless stamp-sheets around does not fit his profile at all.

Fast forward to 1914. WW1 has commenced and De Wet is playing a prominent role in a Rebellion initiated by some former Boer commanders who object to sending South Africans to fight on the side of their former enemy against a former friend. In that context it is easy to speculate that the fortuitous and timely “discovery” of stolen goods at De Wet’s residence was politically motivated and purely aimed at discrediting him. Comments?

As you correctly state EFV, this incident took place in 1900 and not in 1901 as per the Twycross letter. Here is the link to my article on Sergeant Chapman who was there.

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/5-medals-and-...of-7-june-1900#73949