TOPIC:

Greetings all-My name is Alf Boyley and I am researching and compiling a history of Montagu in the Western Cape, South Africa. My emphasis is on the Boer War activities in the area in general and specifically, the history of the Montagu Town Guard and Montagu District Mounted Troop.

Welcome Antony,

I think these are two poorly documented units so any research in this area would be most welcome.

Best wishes
David

Hi David - Many thanks- Yes info on these two units is extremely scarce. I managed to obtain a photograph of the Montagu Town Guard which I will attach to this response. There were 35 QSA's issued to the Town Guard.One member Trooper Thomas Stretton Barry regiment number 9 died in 1900. He was 34 years old. Info on the Montagu District Mounted troop is even worse

Hi It is stated that around Montagu there are 9 town guard forts..The fort over the tunnel was built as an extention of the railroad forts not a town guard fort
I've found the main look out and others have located/refurbished others we've located 5/9
Some have original clay in loop holes
So don't know if this is useful..gps's/drawings/pics
cheers mike [email protected]

Hi Mike
Many thanks- What my research has discovered so far is that the Royal Artillery built the fort over Cogman,s kloof and it was manned by the Gordon Highlanders who encamped at the base- A pulley was used to get food water equipment etc to the fort. The nearest railway line is about 10 kilometres away. Please see attached old photo.

"1899 heralded the second Boer War and saw the construction of the English Fort above Cogmans Kloof. This was built by stonemason William Robertson at a site selected by Lieutenant Colonel Sidney, Commandant of the Royal Field Artillery. The fort was garrisoned by a company of the Gordon Highlanders who were camped on the original road construction site below Kalkoenkrans (Turkey Crag).
“Montagu had 4 small rectangular forts and a smaller circular one, all of which were instrumental in causing Commandant Gideon Scheepers and his Boer Commando of 300 men to avoid Montagu. Strictly speaking, the well-known landmark at Cogman's Kloof is not a blockhouse but a construction of mortared stonework which shares some features with the blockhouses.
Perched high on a rock above the R62 road, three kilometres south of Montagu, it measures 9,3 x 3,8 m on the outside. It has a simple entrance opening at the west end and 21 'waisted' loopholes formed in the masonry without steel plates. The loopholes are 700-800 mm above the concrete floor and the 400 mm thick stone walls reach a height of about two metres inside the building.
Inside the fort, near the south-east corner, is a roughly circular mortared stone platform (400 mm high), together with a drainage channel and hole at the base of the adjacent east wall, which seems to indicate the presence of a water tank and hence a roof. It is not known how much of this building has been restored but one would expect the entrance to have been protected by a screen wall either inside or outside”. Military History Journal Vol 10 No 6 - December 1997"

Hi Anthony
I had a gentleman called thomlinson who visited me on forts...he has resesached all stuctures
I showed him 4 square forts...dump/knipes koppie/ou berg and bersig...i found the circular look out fort and we measured this as well
According to Mrs Hoffmeyer there were 9 town guard forts...i keep looking on hills
If you have anything concrete over fort numbers please tell me and I can stop climbing hills
Mike
[email protected]