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Kirsten of the Tembuland Mounted Rifle Club 7 years 3 weeks ago #57493

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Ernest Godfrey Kirsten

Private, Tembuland Mounted Rifle Club – Anglo Boer War
Private, 9th South African Infantry (Sportsmens)
Conductor, South African Service Corps – (German East Africa) – WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal to 172 Pte. E.G. Kirsten, Tembuland M.R.C.
- British War Medal to Condr. E.G. Kirsten, S.A.S.C.
- Victory Medal to Condr. E.G. Kirsten, S.A.S.C.

Ernest Godfrey Kirsten (aka Gottfried Ernst Kirsten reflecting his German heritage) was born in Panmure in the rural surrounds of the Eastern Cape town of East London the son of William Kirsten and his wife Wilhelmina. East London is situated on the fringe of the old Transkei region, formerly known as Tembuland, and it was to the newly established Tembuland Mounted Rifle Club that Kirsten turned when the Anglo Boer War broke out after 1899.

The T.M.R.C. despite sounding very much like a social club for the polo-playing and hunting elite was anything but. Based in Umtata it was one of the many local units that were banded together comprising local farmers, rich and poor, with the sole aim of acting as a deterrent should any Boer threat become manifest itself in their neck of the woods. The threat was a very real one for, although initially confined to other areas of South Africa, the fighting soon spread southwards as the Boer Generals ventured forth in a concerted effort to enlist support from local Dutch sympathisers as well as supplies for their ongoing war effort.

Very little is known about and even less written about the Tembuland M.R.C. although, fortunately, a young recruit out from England in early 1900 to join the ranks of the Cape Mounted Rifles wrote a number of informative letters home to his mother. The one of interest to us appeared in the Windsor and Eton Express of 3 March 1900 wherein Danny Andrews wrote as follows:

“….only four fellows have had their kit handed out to them yet. The town (Umtata) is under the T.M.R. – Tembuland Mounted Rifles. They were merely a rifle club, but when the C.M.R. went to the front they came to look after the natives. We have thousands of natives all round but I think they are very quiet. The T.M.R. do all the guards for the town and we do nothing after 12 ‘o clock unless orderly duties.”

So there it was the T.M.R.C. appears to have been a Town Guard of sorts tasked with keeping a beady eye on the natives in what was, essentially, a massive native reserve. The natives everywhere presented a challenge with the concern ever-present that they would rise up taking advantage of their colonial rulers distraction and massacre the white settlers as had happened in Matabeleland some four years before.

The Boer War over on 31 May 1902 Kirsten was awarded the Queens Medal with their Officer Commanding certifying, on the medal roll dated 7 December 1901, “that the corps was called out for active service against the enemy and served throughout the war i.e. Nov. 99 to August 1902 until the C.M.R. returned to the Transkei and relieved the men of the Corps.”

Kirsten returned to his lands but, imbued by the spirit of volunteerism that characterised the early 1900’s, put his hand up for service in the Great War which followed in 1914. This conflict was on an international scale and South Africa was drawn into it on the side of the Empire. Biding his time Kirsten attested for service in German East Africa with the Sportsman’s Battalion – the 9th South African Infantry – at Potchefstroom on 20 December 1915.

The forms he completed confirmed that he was 38 years old and was now a Trader in Umtata by occupation. He had married at some point – to Gertrude Margaret Ellen Charnley– although his next of kin was his uncle Frederick Kirsten of Umtata. Confirming that he had served in the Tembuland Mounted Rifles in the Boer War he also provided his physical description as being 5 feet 5 inches in height, weighed 132 pounds and had a fresh complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. By way of marks about his person he had a birth mark on his right nipple.

Assigned no. 7392 and the rank of Private, Kirsten was sent to “A” Company embarking for German East Africa per the S.S. “Gaika” on 7 February 1916 – in time to take part in General Van Deventer's advance which involved the South African Mounted Brigade consisting of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd South African Horse. Berrange's brigade, the 9th (Kirsten’s), 10th, 11th and 12th South African Infantry, marched in support as did the horse-drawn 13-pounder guns of Nos 2 and 4 Batteries South African Field Artillery.

In the morning of 8 March the South African Horse used a crossing secured by Berrange's infantry to ford the River Lumi and advance on Lake Chala. An enemy detachment held a good position on the Chala Heights but the Germans withdrew south to Taveta when they saw the 1st and 2nd South African Horse approaching. Further south the 3rd South African Horse met opposition on the Lumi and was delayed until the enemy withdrew.

On 9 March the South African Horse advanced south-west towards Taveta whilst Berrange cleared the area of enemy patrols and ambush parties. On the following day the mounted South Africans attacked Taveta, looted the town, and pushed the defenders back onto Latema Hill.

The commander of the local German army which was named the Schutztruppe, Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, had planned an area ambush against van Deventer's and Berrange's brigades in the foothills of Kilimanjaro Mountain, but a report of bad news from the Latema-Reata battle had caused him to cancel this ambush. When he later saw that the Latema-Reata position could have been held, von Lettow regretted this cancelation as he had surrendered his strong left flank position.

These and other actions involved the 9th S.A.I. but the single biggest deterrent to the success of any venture in East Africa was the climate – this was not a white man’s territory – malaria, black water fever and other tropical diseases decimated the ranks of the European soldiers and Kirsten was no exception – on 13 September 1916 he was admitted to 6 Casualty Clearing Station at Dodoma with Malaria; being evacuated to the 4th Field Ambulance Section at Kikumi on 18 September and then back to Dodoma on 26 September after treatment.

Possibly because of this he was transferred to the Transport and Remounts section of the South African Service Corps as a Conductor on 5 December 1916 (with no. T5526). But malaria was never far behind – on 6 August 1917 he was admitted to 14 Casualty Clearing Station at Dodoma for treatment of Malaria. His condition not improving Kirsten was repatriated to the Union disembarking at Durban on 27 September 1917. Having been admitted to No. 3 General Hospital at Springfield he was transferred to a Convalescent Camp at Pietermaritzburg and from there admitted to Grey’s Hospital in that city in November 1917.

Finally, seeing no end to his woes in sight, the authorities discharged Kirsten from the army on 16 January 1918 as Permanently Unfit and awarded him both the King’s Certificate no. 4931 and the Silver War Badge no. 5072. His proceedings on discharge form had his final destination as Port St. John’s on the Transkei coast and credited his discharge as being due to malignant malaria and epilepsy. He had served for 2 years and 36 days and had a Military Character of Very Good.

Kirsten never again donned a uniform. On 27 December 1932 he passed away, aged 55 years and 3 months, at the Chronic Sick Hospital in Hillcrest outside Durban. His residence at the time was 20 Powell Road, Durban and his occupation was still that of a General Dealer.

He was survived by his wife and three children – Ronald Gustav Kirsten, Godfrey Ernest Kirsten and Mary Agnes Kirsten.