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W. Marsh - a Cape Rebel with the Smithfield Cdo. and an Ossewabrandwag General 4 years 9 months ago #69439
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Willem Johannes Henoch Marsh
Burgher, Smithfield Commando – Anglo Boer War General, Ossewabrandwag – Paarl District - Anglo Boere Oorlog Medal to Burger W.J.H. Marsh An imposing 6’2” man with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Willem Johannes Henoch Marsh, or ‘Oom Willie’ as he was universally known, was a scholar, teacher at the little rural school in the vicinity of one of two farms he owned in the Brits area; a laundry owner, politician, musician and ardent supporter of athletics and cycling in South Africa; and an incorrigible joker and prankster. This was how his family saw him – to others he was the poster child of an anti-British, pro-German cultural movement known as the Ossewabrandwag, who fought for South Africa to stay out of WWII. “Oom Willie”, it has to be said, was a complicated man. 
Born in Hopefield, a small hamlet inland of the West Coast of the Cape Colony on 19 January 1883, he was the son of an English-born Missionary – Edward Henry Marsh – and his Dutch-speaking wife, Johanna Jacoba Marsh, born Niehaus. Edward Marsh had arrived from Devonshire in England and in 1868 married Johanna Jacoba Niehaus in Cape Town. Edward and Johanna had seven children of whom Willem was the fourth-born. Always a rebel, his family remember that, as a teenager he moved out of his home to live with the Du Plessis family in Paarl. This could explain why, despite his English affiliation, when the Anglo Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, a 16 year old Willem, opted to fight on the side of the Boers, becoming in the process, a Cape Rebel, liable to be court martialed and sentenced to summary execution if he were caught. This decision probably caused untold grief among his family members – with older brother Edward Marsh the Postmaster at Porterville and very much a loyal Cape Civil Servant. For a passionate teenager with a thirst for adventure the Boer War must have been a God-send. The two Dutch-speaking Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State had declared war on the might of the British Empire and, within days of its commencement, had sent men pouring into the colonies of the Cape and Natal. Most Transvaal Commandos headed either for Natal where they besieged Ladysmith, or for the Northern Cape where they besieged Mafeking whilst the Free State Commandos headed west to lay siege to Kimberley where the much despised Cecil Rhodes was known to be. Why Marsh chose the Smithfield Commando is not known, from where he was in the West of the Cape Colony, there were closer Commandos to join – Bethulie as one example – but, irregardless, on 3 October 1899, a full week before the hostilities commenced, he had enlisted as a Burgher with the men from Smithfield in the Orange Free State. Boer combatants were required to claim their medal from 1921 onwards, using the Vorm B designed for the purpose. This form, fortunately for the collector, requires the applicant to divulge where it was that he saw action. In the case of Marsh, who was a late claimant on 6 June 1945, he claimed to have been present at Stormberg, Bethulie, Retiefsnek and Fouriesburg; thereby allowing the reader to follow in his footsteps, as it were, rather closely. The first of these was the action at Stormberg – on 26 November 1899 the Boers, including the Smithfield Commando, occupied a deserted Stormberg Junction in the eastern Cape. When the British first drew up a plan of campaign against the Boer republics, it was intended that the 3rd Division, commanded by Major General Gatacre, would secure the area known as the Cape Midlands, immediately south of the Orange Free State, in preparation for an advance along the railway running from Cape Town to Bloemfontein. In the event, many of the division's troops had to be diverted to Natal after disasters there, and Gatacre's reduced force arrived late. By the time they were ready to take the field, Boers from the Orange Free State had already seized the important railway junction of Stormberg. 
Gatacre, hearing of the loss of Stormberg on 8 December whilst at Graaff Reinet, determined to make an immediate counterattack to recover the place. A force of 3,000 was to be taken by train to Molteno, the nearest railway station to Stormberg still in British hands, and march by night to attack a hill known as the Kissieberg, which dominated the Boers' position. The force at his disposal consisted of the 2nd Battalion, the Northumberland Fusiliers (960 men), the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Irish Rifles, (840 men), the 74th and 77th batteries of the Royal Field Artillery and 250 mounted infantry detached from various infantry battalions. Other detachments that were intended to join the force failed to arrive because telegraph orders were not sent. There was no time for reconnaissance, and preparations were rushed. Early the next day, the British troops hastily boarded the trains, but then sat for hours under a hot sun while locomotives were found. They were already tired when they reached Molteno, but had to set off on a night march with fixed bayonets after a hasty meal and very little rest. Gatacre's locally engaged guides were soon lost, and the force wandered about the veldt all night. The Boer dispositions at Stormberg were: The Bethulie Commando, and some local rebels, numbering 800 under Du Plooy lay close to the station at the foot of the northern reverse of the Rooi Kop; Marsh’s crowd, the Smithfield Commando, 700 strong, under Swanepoel, was on the south-western slope of the Rooi Kop – to them was entrusted the defence of the nek, where trenches were dug and two guns posted west of the railway. It was mainly at this nek that the Boers feared an attack. As dawn broke, the British at last came in sight of the Kissieberg. A small Boer picket with one 75mm Krupp gun under Sergeant Hendrik Muller of the Free State Artillery Corps, opened fire. Although Gatacre's force had merely to march around the hill to force the Boers to retreat, about half the infantry rushed forward without orders to storm it. They found that the hill was a typical kopje, ringed by a vertical rock face, which most of them were unable to climb. A few soldiers scrambled to the top, only to be swept off by friendly fire from their own guns which came into action with the rising sun in the gunners' eyes. Swanepoel and his Smithfielders, who had at first waited at the nek facing Molteno, soon realised that the attack was concentrated elsewhere, and moved across to the Kissieberg to join in the enfilading of the British men below. The commanding officer of the Northumberland Fusiliers took it on himself to order a retreat, and most of Gatacre's force began to fall back in disorder. Gatacre gave the order to retreat to Molteno but mounted Boer reinforcements appeared and attacked from both sides. The retreat of the exhausted British infantry was covered by the mounted infantry and the artillery, although two 15-pounder guns were lost. Not until they reached Molteno did Gatacre realise that over 600 men had been left behind on the Kissieberg. Hopelessly cut off, they were forced to surrender to the Boer forces in what was an ignominious and completely avoidable defeat for them. Davitt, in his book “Boer Fight for Freedom” came at the battle of Stormberg from another angle: The southern commandos were mainly recruited from the country south of Fauresmith and Wepener. There were 500 Transvalers with these commandos, while volunteers from the Cape Colony joined in large numbers (this could account for Marsh’s presence in the Smithfield Commando). From the declaration of war until 12 November, fully a whole month, this strong body of fighting burghers lay immediately north of the Orange River, doing nothing. The English fell back from their garrisons immediately south of the Free State border after the Boer victories in Natal, and the colony to the north of Stormberg was left without a single British soldier. Commandants Swanepoel, Du Plooy and Steenkamp with the Rouxville, Smithfield and Bethulie men moved forward in the latter part of November upon the Stormberg Junction, occupying the place which Gatacre then resolved to attack on 10 December. Gatacre had three roads to choose from – the third way was by the main road from Molteno to Steynsburg – it was the best and only practicable route to take. When three miles outside Molteno, it turns suddenly to the west, dipping south at the bend and sweeping round in a semi-circle the farm of Klipfontein, approaching again to Stormberg, almost at right angles. The farm of Klipfontein is southwest of the hills on which the burghers were placed, and it was on this farm that the English were themselves surprised, but not before they had reached within 500 yards of the ridge on which the Smithfield burghers were posted. The Boer forces at Stormberg when Gatacre’s attack was delivered comprised 400 men of the Bethulie Commando and 350 men of the Smithfield burghers, under Commandant Swanepoel. Swanepoel held the crest of the hill looking down on the Klipfontein farm. The four commandos were in two divisions; the one in occupation of Stormberg being composed of the Rouxville and Smithfield burghers and the other, at De Kop, comprising the Bethulie and Burghersdorp men. The separation of the two laagers by that distance was the result of a quarrel as to which division should have the solitary gun, a Krupp 12-pounder; the Smithfield men claiming and holding it, whereupon the Burghersdorp burghers moved away nine miles nearer Steynsburg, where they were in laager, and asleep, when Gatacre’s guns were heard in the early morning of the 10th December at the Stormberg Junction. As Gatacre’s men approached the Junction they passed near to a farm which, fortunately for the burghers who were asleep in their laagers ahead, possessed a dog. The animal barked at the passing troops and awoke two men, who beheld the mass of moving Tommies. They rushed with their guns to a stone wall some 200 yards from the road, and opened fire into the rear of the column. Half the troops had passed on before this incident occurred. The Smithfield burghers, with their Krupp were on the crest of the hill about a mile away, to the right front of the column, and were aroused by the shooting. The front part of the column was, therefore, only some 500 or 700 yards from Commandant Swanepoel’s (Smithfield Commando) position on the top of the ridge when the two shots, ringing out their warning in the morning air, told the tale of the enemy’s stealthy advent right on to the farm at Klipfontein. On the Smithfield men firing down on the more or less massed Tommies, a panic was created. By now the Rouxville men had come up, firing on the enemy. Men dropped all round, while not a single Boer was visible at any point. Davitt goes on to confirm that Gatacre’s men then withdrew, confirming the fact that 600 men were left behind to be taken prisoner. 
Stormberg was eventually occupied by Gatacre on 5 March 1900, by which time the Free State Commandos were in almost full retreat towards Bloemfontein with Lord Roberts nipping at their heels. On the 8th they blew up the railway bridge at Bethulie, the British forward scouts being too few in number to prevent this. The road bridge was another matter – on the 10th the British forces seized a farm commanding the road bridge, and held on, under heavy rifle and shell fire from the Boers, till the arrival of Gatacre’s advance guard at noon. The bridge had been mined but the British fire kept the Boers from completing the electric connections at the northern end. A Lieutenant with four men removed some boxes of dynamite off the bridge under a sharp fire, and later that night the wires were cut and the dynamite which had been placed at the piers was thrown into the river. At Bethulie firing went on for several days but on the evening of the 14th March, on receipt of the news of Roberts’ entry into Bloemfontein, the Boers retreated, and the next day Bethulie was occupied by the British. General De Wet now decided to take the fight to the British, in early April, with a force of 6000 men from various Commandos, he headed for Wepener along the Basutoland border. By the 9th April his forces had surrounded the garrison there, laying siege to the town. But Marsh and the Smithfielders were destined to miss out on the beginning of that action – Froneman and 500 men of the Smithfield Commando were sent to Smithfield – this expedition, it was later found, accomplished nothing as it found the Smithfield garrison leaving as they approached. There was controversy when Froneman, the General in command, wanted to pursue the retreating English and Swanepoel, the Commandant of the Smithfield Commando, flatly refused to allow his men to pursue them, leaving Froneman powerless to do anything about it. Returning to De Wet, Froneman was sent off with his 500 Smithfield men to retard the progress of the southern column under Brabant and Hart, who were on their way to relieve Wepener, but this Boer force was driven back by Brabant as he entered Rouxville on 15 April. General de Villers was now sent by De Wet to the Korannaberg, a range of mountains north-east of Thaba ‘Nchu, with the Ficksburg, Wepener and Smithfield Commandos to protect the Ficksburg/Ladybrand district. But where to now for Marsh and his Smithfield comrades? Like all other Boer Commandos, they had been driven inexorably eastwards. The Free State forces needed time to regroup and a place in which to do it, with the obvious choice being the eastern part of the country – the lush, fertile “bread basket” beyond Bethlehem and towards Harrismith – the only town of any significance still in Boer hands. Men of Heilbron and of Kroonstad and of Bethlehem from the north, of Senekal and Winburg, of Bloemfontein and Thaba ‘Nchu, of Wepener, Ficksburg and Ladybrand from the central plains, and from Smithfield and Rouxville in the south, descended on the Brandwater Basin, in a half-moon shaped deployment around Fouriesburg. The plan was that the Free State forces would now confer as to their next step. They were in a precarious position – the British forces could block all access routes into the Basin thereby trapping the Boers, depriving them of almost any hope of escape. To settle the differences amongst the Boers in the basin, a secret council of war or krijgsraad, consisting of all the senior burgher officers, was held. The meeting was presided over by President Steyn and a decision was taken that the Boer forces would be divided into three columns and that each should, independently, attempt to break out of the basin. The first column, under General de Wet, accompanied by President Steyn and Generals P Botha and Piet de Wet and about 2 600 men, was to start on 15 July. The second, under Paul Roux with Generals P J Fourie and Froneman and about 2 000 men (including the Smithfield Commando), was to start a day later, and the third one was to follow later under General Crowther with about 500 men. The remaining men under General Martinus Prinsloo were to hold the passes against the British. The plan, which had not been made known to the rank and file, had considerable merit and had it been carried out completely, the British forces would have been kept fully occupied by the escaping Boers and held back by Prinsloo's men. In the event, however, only the first column under General de Wet managed to escape on the night of 15 July. His laager, which had been in position at Kaffir Kop between Retief's Nek and Slabbert's Nek, moved through Slabbert's Nek in a convoy of about 400 wagons and carts. This escape must also be seen in the light of the fact that the Slabbert's Nek exit had not yet been closed by the British. There was much criticism of De Wet and President Steyn for abandoning the remaining burghers in the basin and, owing mainly to the lack of an appointed commandant-in-chief, the rest of the plan was not carried out. The Boer military system did not provide for a regular or proper route of promotion, and any hoof commandant in an area at any time could assume command. Since both Prinsloo and Roux - men of equal authority - were left in the basin, a problem existed. Therefore, it had become imperative for the Boers to appoint a new commandant-in-chief or hoof commandant and, after much debate and discussion about the two main contenders, Prinsloo was elected at a krijgsraad at Slaapkranz on 27 July. By this time, valuable time had been lost and the escape plan had not been completed. Paul Roux was much younger than Prinsloo and had drawn attention to himself and his commando in Natal by making useful suggestions about the organization of the forces and by his devotion to the wounded. After General P H de Villiers had become disabled at Biddulphsberg, Roux had been appointed Veg Generaal in spite of some jealousy from other commandants. In the meantime, the British generals Bruce Hamilton and Hector Macdonald had been charged with closing and holding Naauwpoort Nek to the north of the Brandwater Basin and the Golden Gate exit in the north-east. General Hector Macdonald was despatched to Naauwpoort Nek on 25 July to join up with Bruce Hamilton and the combined forces bivouacked at Middelvlei. Macdonald established himself at David Naude's farm and had effectively closed Naauwpoort Nek by 26 July, after meeting with considerable resistance there. As the only exit from the Brandwater Basin then still open to the Boers was the Golden Gate, Generals Macdonald and Bruce Hamilton marched eastwards to Darvel's Rust, about 10 miles from Naauwpoort Nek. There they bivouacked on the night of 27 July. On the next day, 28 July 1900, Bruce Hamilton moved eastwards with his brigade. These forces moved the enemy from successive positions and reached Stephanus Draai by nightfall. Bruce Hamilton, as yet unaware of the reinforcements that were being sent to him, moved forward on 29 July with his small force. The country was difficult and the Boers opposed his advance. Inside the Brandwater Basin, the great majority of burghers were only too glad to be relieved of the intolerable strain of the last month of being harried by the British and surrendered willingly. On the morning of 30 July 1900, General Hunter received the surrender of Generals Prinsloo and Crowther and of the Ficksburg and Ladybrand commandos. The surrender took place on what would become known as 'Surrender Hill'. The first prominent Boers to appear were Prinsloo, De Villiers and Crowther. Then followed the commandos, who threw down their arms and ammunition with a certain effect of swagger in front of the guns. The whole scene was most romantic ... In the background were huge mountain masses standing out in the clear morning air, and from these came the various commandos winding down the steep mountain paths to the valley below. They were a motley lot - old and young men - some mere boys; all had two horses each at least, but many had three, the spare ones being used for baggage, which consisted of pots, pans, bedding, blankets, etc. The surrender at Slaapkranz went on for several days and the prisoners of war were despatched in parties of two hundred to the town of Fouriesburg under the escort of the Imperial Yeomanry. The march of the captured commandos commenced the following day, on 2 August, and the men eventually arrived at Bethlehem, Senekal and Winburg on 12 August. With the exception of about 105 old men and young boys who were issued with railway passes to enable them to return to their homes, the commandos were sent by train to Cape Town and, subsequently, shipped overseas to Ceylon. The net total of the five commandos captured at the Golden Gate was 1 544 men. Marsh was now in an invidious position – he had surrendered and was now a Prisoner of War. This meant, should it be discovered that he was a Cape Rebel, a charge of high treason and, very possibly, death. He was still only 17 years of age – almost a “penkop” as the very young Boer combatants were known. Perhaps it is for this reason that he appears nowhere on the official POW returns. It is suspected that he gave an assumed name, a “non de plume” in order to protect his true identity. So how then do we know that he was indeed a Prisoner of War? There are a number of incontrovertible sources which confirm this. The first was the Vorm B where, in his own handwriting, March confirmed that he had been taken prisoner at Retiefsnek and transported to Diyatalawa Camp in Ceylon, returning in December 1902. The second source comes from the little known publication “De Strever – Voor Christus en de Kerk” – this publication was the organ of the C.S.V. – the Christelike Strevers Vereeniging in the Diyatalawa Camp in Ceylon and published by the owners of the “BOERENIEUWS” in Aliwal North. 
Under the Name List of CSV members who were Prisoners of War in Ceylon appears “W.J.H. Marsh, Hut 2”. His residence is provided as “Klein Drakenstein” (Paarl in the Cape Colony) and his nearest Post Office as “Lady G Bridge, Paarl” – had these facts been made known to the British authorities before he sailed from South Africa, things could have turned out very differently for Marsh. 
Further evidence of his incarceration exists in the form of a photograph of the POW Orchestra, in which Marsh was the “resident pianist”. Back in South Africa, Marsh was still not entirely free from scrutiny. Like most returning POW’s, he was required to spend time in the local jail until he was either pardoned or released. A memorandum from the Attorney General’s Office, Cape Town on 15 January 1903 to a Mr Dale read as follows: “Marsh – Paarl A man of this name is in jail at the Paarl. Is anything known of him? He will apply for bail.” A follow-up memorandum was addressed to a “Waters” the next day which asked, “Did you find out anything about Marsh? Mr Nightingale passed up a memo yesterday.” These were anxious moments. On 17 March 1903 Dale addressed a telegramme to the Magistrate, Paarl as follows: - “Just learnt that one Marsh is in custody in your jail on a charge of High Treason. It is believed he joined enemy in late Free State where he was residing at time. There is no evidence filed against him here, and if you are satisfied that you cannot get evidence to his having been in arms in the Colony you may release him, warning him that if the required evidence is forthcoming, he may be liable to re-arrest.” One wonders whether or not Marsh knew just how close he came to being “found out”. With the war a thing of the past, the various communities in South Africa began the healing process. For some it was more difficult than for others and, it has to be said that Marsh would appear to have fallen into the earlier category – despite his English heritage, he was very decidedly an Afrikaner. Now a seasoned war veteran, Marsh turned his attention to his studies, deciding that a career in education was what he wanted to pursue. Having qualified as a teacher, he betook himself to the small Transvaal town of Carolina. It was whilst resident here that he took a bride for himself in the form of Rachel (Rykie) Jacoba Retief. The Retief’s were a well-known Paarl family and the wedding took place in the Grand Hotel in Cape Town on 19 December 1906. She was Afrikaans and he, English but, according to family sources, despite the “linguistic and cultural differences”, their marriage was rock solid. For a number of years, Marsh appears to have made Brits his home. This town, north of Pretoria, was a hotbed of Afrikaner nationalism and it was here that he taught school as well as invested in two farms in the district. But the yearning to return to more familiar terrain won the day and he and his family made the trek back to the Klein Drakenstein where he settled in his native Paarl where he involved himself in civic affairs. After a lot of life in between, Marsh began to realise his political aspirations. He had long cast off the mantle of his “Englishness” and was now a full-blooded member of the Dutch Reform Church. Having taken no part in the Great War of 1914-1918 he was disinclined to offer his services when WWII rolled round in late 1939, on the contrary, Marsh had already joined the ranks of the pro-German, anti-British Ossewabrandwag, soon after its formation on 4 February 1939. Having always had a keen interest in politics, he rose rapidly up the ranks. Die Afrikaner Personeregister (Who’s Who) of 1942 filled in some of the gaps, informing us that Marsh was a Councillor on the Paarl Town Board, Chairman of the Health Committee, Chief Commandant of the Paarl/Franschhoek Commando of the Ossewabrandwag and Chairman of the local National Party branch as well as Secretary of the District Management of the party. This was, in itself, not unusual – the National Party, under Hertzog and Malan was initially quite supportive of the Ossewabrandwag – there was an unholy alliance between the two and an understanding that, no matter what the circumstances, they would not compete with one another. Seen as a cultural organisation, the OB didn’t interfere, in the main, with the National Party. 
But had Marsh been playing a double game? Was he a “mole” within the organisation? We learned earlier that he had married into the Retief family. One of his wife’s brothers – Paul Johannes Retief – was an officer with Military Intelligence, stationed in Paarl. Did he recruit Marsh to spy on his own movement? It would appear that there was some truth to the rumour – an investigation into an Afrikaans Church Minister of Religion carried the following telling paragraph. Translated from the Afrikaans it read thus: “And so the man referred to by Dr. Key van Valkenburg as “a moral imbecile” and another witness, Willem Johannes Henoch Marsh, an “unscrupulous villain”, became paid agents for Military Intelligence from 7 September 1940 – spying on the Ossewabrandwag.” Emerging from this unscathed and undiscovered, Marsh became so highly thought of that he was promoted to the rank of General of the Paarl District of the OB. At about the same time, just after the end of the war, on 6 June 1945, he completed the Vorm B required to claim his Boer War Medal. By now very well connected, his application was supported by a Senator and his old Commandant, Swanepoel, who wrote confirmed that “Marsh joined my Commando as a volunteer and his character was such that nothing could be said against him.” Senator Mentz went on to say that, ‘I knew the applicant in Diyatalawa Camp in Ceylon, and when I left in October 1902, he was still there.” As an aside, he wrote to Marsh saying: “Fill in what your rank was, I have it at the back of my head that you were Secretary to Commandant Swanepoel.” At more or less the same time he became the Deputy Mayor of Paarl and, in 1947 when the Royal Family visited South Africa, was the cause of some consternation within the OB’s ranks. Avowed anti-Monarchists, the OB High Command did not take kindly to press reports of the day wherein Marsh was quoted as being “inclined” towards the Monarchy. The Dundee Evening Telegraph of 20 February 1947 carried the following article which it, and others in similar vein, incurred the wrath of Marsh’s political masters: “Royal Party After driving up the steep Jan Phillips Mountain from Paarl, 36 miles from Cape Town, the King and Queen and Princesses picnicked today by a mill-stream 1000 feet up. They looked down on the Paarl Valley, with its fruit gardens and vineyards, and saw the fantastic peaks of Drakenstein – one of the vineyards to supply all wines on the Royal train. After the picnic, the Royal Family drove on towards Drakenstein. As they travelled through the rich vine land they passed picturesque farms whose French names told of the settlement of the district by Huguenots. They stayed for lunch at Bien Donne, where they were served with “spanspek” and traditional dishes cooked by the farmers’ wives, who had been busy preparing for four days. The seven-mile long main street of Paarl was packed with cheering children, white and coloured, under oak trees planted by the first governors of the Cape 250 years ago. Among the Councillors presented outside Paarl Town Hall was “General” W.H. Marsh, local leader of the Ossewabrandwag (Ox Wagon Guard) – extreme anti-British party. “Now that I have met the King.” Said Mr Marsh, “I would like him to cable London that he is staying here.” In another article, this time in the Aberdeen Press of 21 February 1947, it was stated that: “’General’ H. Marsh, leader of Paarl Ossewabrandwag, extreme anti-British party, said afterwards: “The Royal Family captured us completely by their gracious simplicity. Now that I have met their Majesties I personally would like to ask them to stay here.” “Die O.B.” – the Ossewabrandwag’s newspaper – 16 February 1949 edition informed its readers that, “General Willie Marsh has been appointed Head General over the Generalships of Paarl, Stellenbosch, Caledon and Swellendam. As time marched on so too did Marsh – a well-known and much-loved figure in his native Paarl, his granddaughter wrote that, “My first memories of Oupa were of him rolling down the bank of the Marsh home, 7 Protea Street, Paarl, as we children jumped up and down, squealing with delight and urging him to go ever faster. He was obviously in his element playing like a child again. Daily, with hat on head and swinging a walking stick, he strolled jauntily down the street to cries of ‘Môre, Oom Willie’ as he stopped here and there to exchange a joke. Much loved by one and all, he teased my brothers and me mercilessly. Number 7, Protea Street, was a magnificent house, sited below Paarl Rock, with scenic views of the mountains, and covered in an ivy creeper. The rooms were all huge, with the study and entrance hall panelled in wood and the interleading lounge and dining room separated by wooden sliding doors. Wooden shutters ensured total darkness at night. The kitchen and, in particular, the large pantry, which was always stocked to the brim with ginger beer, delicious watermelon ‘konfyt’ and cakes and biscuits, all homemade, formed an integral part of the house. A wide wooden staircase with creaking steps, which I found to be rather intimidating, led to the bedrooms. Ouma had attended art school in Cape Town prior to her marriage and her oil paintings bedecked the walls, while samples of her tapestry work could be found throughout the house. Two large fig trees in the back provided ample juicy figs, shade and sturdy branches for climbing. A mean draughts player, Oupa used to beat me every time we played until I decided to observe his methods. Learning quickly, I became invincible except when playing with him when our games always ended in a draw as we each assembled wodges of men on either side of the board. The Marsh family was very musical and Oupa’s sister, Anna Marsh, married to her piano, as she was fond of saying, was the first woman in South Africa to be granted a Doctorate in Music on graduation from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Number 7 resounded with music from morning to night as Oupa sat at the piano, either playing pieces by one of his favorite composers, Bach, Brahms or Beethoven, or accompanying some soprano or tenor as he or she rehearsed for a future performance. During the week we accompanied Oupa on occasion to the Dutch Reformed church, which he had joined on his marriage and where he pounded out the hymns on the organ for the upcoming services. The music was quite magnificent. Knowing John’s love of ‘Ave Maria’, he would always include this piece in his repertoire, much to John’s delight. 
On many an afternoon John and he could be seen sitting on the front veranda as he imparted his memories and advice garnered from a lifetime lived to the hilt. John was then dispatched to purchase the daily copy of the Cape Argus, using the change of a penny to purchase an iced sucker, which he speedily polished off while walking up the hill on the way home. Weekends were always exciting as we piled into Oupa’s car and drove with him to the surrounding farms to buy eggs, chickens, vegetables, milk and fruit. Obligatory attendance at church on Sundays was followed by the traditionally large Sunday dinner and we children were always given a small ‘dop wyntjies’ or tot of wine, the Cape being wine country. Deeply religious, he always said grace before and after every meal and Ouma and he read the bible together every evening on retiring to bed. Oupa’s eating habits were extraordinary. He ate hugely on some days and nothing on others. Oupa was elected President of the Paarl Athletic and Cycling Association for more than 25 consecutive years and always attended the traditional annual athletic meets on Boxing Day, one of the highlights of the sport world. He was very fond of his old Buick and to my everlasting shame, I remember on one occasion when my grandparents were child-sitting in Pretoria, I made him park two blocks down the road from my school to obviate being seen anywhere near the car by my peers. On another occasion he dashed fully clothed into the sea to rescue John, who had been bowled over by a sudden rogue wave at Hermanus. Oupa’s thumb was permanently damaged in this rescue. In 1956 Marsh’s daughter had a car accident while driving her parents from Malmesbury back to Paarl. Ouma was killed on impact while the children and maid were not injured but Oupa sustained severe injuries. After his discharge from hospital, Oupa travelled to Pretoria and decided to relocate to 47 Nicholson Str. to live with our family. He returned to Paarl to pack up his belongings but had never fully recovered from his injuries and died the following year in his bed at number 7 while joking with his doctor between heart attacks. He could not wait to join his beloved wife in heaven and had finally had his wish granted. A rebel to the end, after his death a stash of bananas was found in his wardrobe which had been prohibited because of his heart problems. He loved bananas and had slipped them into the house on the quiet – just like a naughty schoolboy but very typical of him. This complicated man, much loved by many, passed away at home on 3 May 1957 at the age of 74 years 3 months. Despite the various accolades that had come his way over the course of his life, the death notice read, simply, “Retired Teacher” – but “Oom Willie” Marsh was much more than that. 
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W. Marsh - a Cape Rebel with the Smithfield Cdo. and an Ossewabrandwag General 4 years 9 months ago #69440
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W. Marsh - a Cape Rebel with the Smithfield Cdo. and an Ossewabrandwag General 4 years 9 months ago #69441
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W. Marsh - a Cape Rebel with the Smithfield Cdo. and an Ossewabrandwag General 4 years 9 months ago #69452
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