TOPIC:

Medals to Natal Rebels are not easy to come by. Many Natal Boers, having to continue to co-exist with those against whom they had taken up arms, didn't claim their medals, opting instead to assume a low profile.

Gert Coetzer, a Natal Rebel

Burgher, Vryheid Commando – Anglo Boer War

- Anglo Boere Oorlog Medal to Burger G. Coetzer

The northern parts of the Colony of Natal, at the end of the 19th century, bordered on the territory known as the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek or Transvaal, the land of the Boer. Towns like Dundee and its neighbor, Newcastle, were populated by not only English-speaking Colonial types who owed their allegiance to the Crown and thought of England as “Home”, but also a healthy number of Dutch-speaking Afrikaners who farmed the land and tended the soil and had a deep and abiding affinity to their Boer neighbours across the border. These hardy men and women were subjects of the Queen by virtue of where they had chosen to live although their sympathies, in many cases, lay elsewhere.

When the Anglo Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899 these Boers were faced with a dilemma and forced to make a choice they had hoped would never be asked of them – to remain loyal subjects of the Crown and stay neutral in the conflict, or to let their hearts rule their heads and throw their lot in with their Transvaal neighbours, just over the border. In order to do this, they would have to bid farewell to their loved ones and make the short trek over the border to Vryheid, the closest town to them in the Z.A.R.


An 1898 map of Natal showing Newcastle's proximity to the Z.A.R. as well as highlighting the locations of Ladysmith (Spioenkop) and Nqutu

Those that made this choice knew that, by so doing, they were committing treason by taking up arms against the Crown – a crime punishable by death. No easy choice and yet hundreds made it, among them Gert Coetzer and his two sons Willem Jacobus Johannes Coetzer (19) and Christoffel Jacobus Coetzer (17).

The Coetzer’s farmed at Bezuidenhout in the Newcastle district and, certainly towards the latter quarter of the 19th century, had a close relationship with the nearby town of Ladysmith where Christoffel Jacobus had been born on 11 November 1883. It would be true to say that their Natal roots ran deep but, blood is thicker than water as the old saying goes.

Where Gert Coetzer, the patriarch of the family, was born is unknown – our first glimpse of him comes courtesy of the marriage certificate celebrating the nuptials between himself, aged 19, and the 22-year-old Maria Magdalena Catrina Botha of the farm Spitzkop, at Newcastle on 25 August 1873. Coetzer farmed at Doornhoek at the time. The marriage took place in the Magistrate’s Court.

Having been born in about 1854, Coetzer was a mature 48 years of age when the war broke out. Having packed up their belongings, he and his two sons rode over the border and enlisted with Commandant Sarel Grobler of the Vryheid Commando. On 11 October 1899 the Vryheid, Piet Retief and Utrecht Commandos -1500 strong, under General Lukas Meyer, were camped at the foot of the Doornberg, some twenty miles from Dundee.

By the 19th Meyer and his men were planning a night march to mount the summit of Talana, the hill overlooking the town of Dundee where General Penn-Symons and his small force of 4000 men were garrisoned. At about 2.30 a.m. an advance party of the Boers stumbled across a British picket in the rain and exchanged shots. By the time the report reached Penn-Symons it was 04h00 and he sent out two infantry companies to reinforce the picket.

Almost simultaneously word reached the British camp that the Boers were on Talana. Possibly thinking that this was a mere raiding party, and not the main Boer force, Penn-Symons carried on with his morning preparations as usual, sending the artillery horses away from camp to be watered. The first sign that something was amiss was when a few men gazed upwards to see the summit of Talana infested with small black shapes in the distance – Lucas’ entire force. Shells next began to rain down on the British camped below. All was now pandemonium.

The Boers, after their encounter with the picket, had pushed on rapidly, leaving their ponies at the foot of Talana, the Utrecht and Wakkerstroom Commandos had climbed the hill, while the Middelburg, Vryheid and Piet Retief Commandoes under Meyer himself, road south and occupied Lennox Hill and other heights to the south –east.

The British in the camp below were, meanwhile, getting their act together and their artillery was unlimbered and soon responding with more accurate shell-fire. So much so that the thick line of Burghers dotting the hill disappeared down the back seeking shelter. Penn-Symons, recovering himself, ordered a full-frontal attack on Talana, neglecting, for some inexplicable reason, to send a flanking movement via Lennox Hill.

The British infantry surged forward but were steadily beaten off by the accurate enfilading fire of the Boers on the summit. There was hardly any cover amid the boulder-strewn slope, save for a small rock wall behind which many took cover whilst the artillery pounded the Boer guns into submission. Meyer’s force (including the Vryheid Commando) provided a heavy flanking fire on the Imperial Troops as they moved forward.

The 13th Battery devoted itself to keeping down the flanking fire from the Boers on Lennox Hill, who had been growing steadily more aggressive and had begun to come down to some kraals and small plantations at the foot of the hill whence they poured a hot fire into the woods and on the guns. In an effort to rally his men and breathe new life into his stalled attack, Penn-Symons rashly rode forward only to be mortally wounded in the stomach and having to be removed from the battlefield to die a while later.

Once the British force had reached the summit, all but a handful of Boers stayed to continue the fight, the remainder streamed down the back of Talana, mounted their ponies and rode away. Meyer and his men evacuated Lennox Hill at the same time.

The next action in which Coetzer took part was the kittle-know fight at Nqutu in Zululand. Prior to the war the Transvaal Boers had been in discussions with the Zulu Chiefs in and around the Nqutu district of Natal. This was met with skepticism in the main. Eventually on 31 January 1900, 600 Boer commandos under Commandant Ferreira invaded Nqutu attacking the magistracy. After half an hour's defence and after they had wounded or killed ten of the Boers' horses the men at the magistracy surrendered.

Twenty British, among whom were the magistrate, his wife and child, and fifty Zulu policemen were taken prisoner. The Boers also took 295 guns, twenty horses and 65 boxes of ammunition. President Kruger had been unhappy with this attack and the Zulu prisoners were sent back from Pretoria to Nqutu. However, the Boers remained in possession of the Nqutu district since it was of strategic importance to them, shortening their line of communications and was useful in protecting the Vryheid border.

This attack on Nqutu led to a decision on 2 February 1900 to withdraw the British Forces stationed at Nongoma, Nkonjeni and Nkandla to strengthen the garrison at Melmoth. The Boers, however, did not attack Melmoth but moved on to occupy Nkandla, capturing the magistracy there on 19 February. The occupation of Nkandla was however, short-lived for on 24 February it was reoccupied by Col Morris's force; but the Nqutu district was only cleared of Boer forces in May l900.

Tracking the movement of Boer protagonists in the war is a difficult task – in the first instance the medal for which they qualified was only approved and awarded, on request, from 1922 onwards. Secondly, one is reliant on how much detail the Burgher entered into when completing the section “Battles and skirmishes in which the application participated” – some are wonderfully forthcoming whilst others, despite seeing plenty of action, will name a battle or two and complete the section with the word “ens.” – roughly translated as “etc.” – this could mean any number of things.

In Coetzer’s case the difficulty was compounded by the fact that he did not apply for his own medal. He had passed away when, in 1960, after his two older brothers who had fought with their father had successfully applied for theirs, Coetzer’s youngest son, who was too young to participate in the war, applied for his father’s medal. Consequently, his sons and fellow combatants would have been relied on to complete that section of the Vorm B.

On application, Gert Coetzer, named after his father, was informed by the military authorities that only the oldest son could apply for the father’s medal. He countered this by stating that both his brothers were in possession of their own medals and that he had been too young to fight which is why he was applying for his father’s medal.

The authorities were agreeable, as long as both older brothers signed affidavits to the effect that he could get his father’s medal. This they were amenable to and in July 1960 the medal was correctly named and issued to him.

but what of the action Coetzer senior saw? We know from his Vorm B (completed by the family) that he was at Talana and Nqutu but did this mean that he was saw action elsewhere? Was he, as was so often the case, together with his sons in every instance. Having drawn that conclusion, we turn to the Vorm B’s completed by his two sons. In the case of Willem (the oldest), he saw action with the Vryheid Commando at Platrand (was involved with the investment of Ladysmith from the beginning of November and was at Spioenkop and on the Tugela in January 1900.

Coetzer senior could not have been with him as we know from his Vorm B that he was part of the Commando at Nqutu – despite this action taking place a week after Spioenkop, it is unlikely although not impossible that he and his comrades made the trek into Zululand for this purpose.

We look next at the Vorm B completed by Coetzer’s other son, Christoffel Jacobus Coetzer, when applying for his medal. He claimed to have seen service, first under Sarel Grobler of Vryheid, later under Commandant Dirkson and then later under General C.J. Muller of the Boksburg Commando. In an accompanying letter to the authorities he wrote: -

“I would just like to inform you that the Commandant under whom I fought, namely Commandant Dirkson, was of the Boksburg Commando and later under General C.J. Muller, also of the Boksburg Commando.

I was living in the Newcastle district and we joined the Vryheid Commando and after Nqutu and the siege of Ladysmith, I joined the Boksburg Commando and with the withdrawal through Helpmekaar I was involved in everything including Botha’s Pass. After that we went through the Bosveld (Bushveld) with the Commando”

Coetzer and his two sons were all taken Prisoner of War at Tautesberg on 28 April 1901 – they all appear on the list of Prisoners taken there on that day - thus, no matter how their paths may have diverged (if at all) they had been reunited by this date.

The Times History of the War carried the background beginning on page 142 under the heading “Events in Eastern Transvaal and Natal”: -

“In the afternoon of the 20th (April), the 100 Boksburgers who had abandoned Viljoen surrendered themselves, and reported that the main body had broken away to the south on the night before. The news seemed worthy of belief, and for several days the impression prevailed that Viljoen had crossed the railway and won his safety.

Anxious to give a wide berth to Benson, he made a circuit to the north-west, led his force up a bridle path through the southern extremity of the Tautesberg, and at 3 a.m. on the 21st gained the head of Buffel’s Kloof, a narrow and precipitous gorge which descends in a westerly direction to the Blood River. Here he rested until 2 p.m. and then dropped down into the valley. All night long the Boers urged their tired mounts through dense scrub, and at 3 a.m. on the 22nd reached the Oliphant’s River at a point about 3 miles south of Crocodile Drift.

Here they found a crossing-place, girth-deep and approached by steep banks., but just practicable, and at sunrise, unobserved by any British patrol, all were across. The guides had led Viljoen well. The Boers continued to march until 9 a.m. and then, exhausted, after nineteen hours in the saddle and three sleepless nights, came to a halt. Even now their leader gave them little rest.

Afoot again at midday, they made a feint towards Pietersburg, and on the 24th turned south towards Renosterkop. On the 25th they reached Blackwood Camp, sixteen miles north of Balmoral Station, and rested there for several days, even finding leisure to attack from the rear, Beatson’s post at De Wagen’s Drift.”

Their surrender came three days later, on 28 April when, in the words of Christoffel Coetzer: -

“Ons was op Tautesberg maar met die groot trek van die Engelse het ons die berg afgevlug want die Olifantsrivier loop langs die berg af. Toe is ons gevange geneem, ons was nog 40 manne bymekaar en daarvandaan is ons na Middelburg vervoer en toe na Trichonoply in Indie tot met die vrede. Ons is terug gestuur en eers in Durban se trunk en van daar na Newcastle tot die kroning van Koning Edward waarna ons vrygelaat was”.

“We were on the Tautesberg but with the great movement (drive) of the English we fled down the mountain to where the Olifants River runs next to it. We were the taken prisoner, we were 40 men together and were sent to Middelburg and then in to Trichonoply in India until peace was declared. We were sent back and kept in gaol in Durban, from there to Newcastle till the coronation of King Edward when we were released”.



Coetzer and his sons were sent to India as prisoners of war, landing at Madras on 15 May 1901 whereafter they were imprisoned at Trichinopoly. According to Dr Johan Wasserman’s study on Natal Rebels, they were repatriated to South Africa on 15 November 1902 and, as has been seen, incarcerated until King Edward’s Coronation where, as an act of clemency, they were pardoned and allowed to return to their livelihoods.

What became of Gert Coetzer is unknown, having been born in the early 1850’s he would have passed away before his sons applied for his (and their) medals.