TOPIC:

Lourens Marthinus Van Niekerk

Rapportryer (Despatch Rider), – Heilbron Commando
Spioen (Spy), – Heidelberg Commando
Burger, Boshof Commando

- Anglo Boere Oorlog Medal to BURGER L.M. VAN NIEKERK

Lourens Van Niekerk was very specific about the various roles he fulfilled during the Boer War. He is also the only recipient I know of that served with as many as three different Commandos in a career that spanned the entire breadth of the war – from beginning to end.

Born in Boshof in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State on 18 August 1865 he was the son of Gerrit Jacobus Van Niekerk and his wife Stephina Anna Catherina Van Niekerk. Known to his contemporaries as “Doe” – he was, like his father, a son of the soil. Growing up on the family farm “Rietfontein” outside the small hamlet of Boshof, Van Niekerk had plenty of playmates in his siblings – Helena Dorothea; Stephina Anna Catherina; Anna Hester Francina and Frederick Van Niekerk. His mother passed away in 1867 when he was 2 years old and, his father having remarried to Catherina Maria Aletta Holzhausen, he also had step-brothers, Gerrit Jacobus and Theunis Johannes Pieter. His father passed away in 1879 when he was 14 and his step-mother married Frederick Johannes Wolhuter (by 1883)

By the time he wed 16 year old Helena Susanna Kok in the Dutch Reform Church in Boshof on 11 November 1890; he was 25 years old and farming “Plessisdam”. His young bride hailed from the farm “Rustpan.” His parents both deceased, the nuptials were witnessed by older brother Frederick.

Settling down to married life, far from the stresses and strains of urban life, enabled the couple to get on with the vital business of raising a family. They were blessed with a number of daughters - Stevina Anna Catherina, Anna Hester Francina, and Helena – before son Gerrit came along.

The family’s domestic bliss was, unbeknown to Van Niekerk, coming to a rapid and abrupt end. Long-festering rancour between the two Boer Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State and the might of the British Empire erupted into full-scale war on 11 October 1899 and life, as they knew it, was never the same again.


Vorm B -Application for a medal

The Vorm B that Van Niekerk (a late claimant) completed in February 1935 for the award of his war medal provided much detail as to his involvement in the Anglo Boer War. As alluded to earlier, Van Niekerk claimed to have seen service with three different Commandos in three different deployment capacities. Was this grandstanding on his part? An effort to stand out from the crowd thirty two years after the last shot was fired in anger. We will never know but certainly the battles (some of them could, at best, be regarded as skirmishes) that he listed show that he was active on a number of fronts. We know that he was a “bitter einder” – someone who survived the war without being captured or having surrendered.

Was he present at the battles he listed? One can only rely on the integrity of the officers and men who co-signed his medal application – confirming that he was where he says he was.

Interestingly, Van Niekerk states that he was a Despatch Rider (Rapportryer) with the Heilbron Commando – this Orange Free State Commando was mobilised some 350 kilometres from his native Boshof. He then states that he was a “Spioen” with the Heidelberg Commando. The term “Spioen” in this context most likely refers to the role of an intelligence operative. Sadly, no details are provided by him.

The last named Commando with who he served was his “home” Commando – the Boshof Commando where he was a Burger.

Heilbron Commando

In trying to piece together where he was at what stage of a three-year long war, I have assumed that he started out with the Heilbron Commando who served, from the very commencement of hostilities, in the Natal theatre –Van Niekerk, under the section of his Vorm B pertinent to the battles in which he participated, merely makes mention of “Natal” – hardly descriptive and giving nothing to the researcher to work with. He was deployed with the Heilbron Commando as a Despatch Rider – here we have difficulty in placing him on any particular battlefield – the Heilbron Commando served at Elandslaagte, Ladysmith, Colesburg (some of the men besieging Ladysmith were moved to Colesburg to counter the upward march of the new troops streaming into the country), Lindley and Bethlehem in the Free State. Was he one of the men who escaped with De Wet after the surrender of 4000 men with General Prinsloo in the Brandwater Basin in July 1900?

To summarise, Van Niekerk saw action in Natal with the Heilbron Commando and was driven out of Natal into the Orange Free State, back across Van Reenen’s Pass.

Heidelberg

Perhaps it was at this point that he joined the Heidelberg Commando where, according to him, he was employed as a Spy. This being the case, it is nigh on impossible to marry him to a specific action although he does mention Heidelberg as one of the places he saw action.

Mention is made, under who he served, of Commandant Stefanus Bernardus Buys, of the Heidelberg Commando who fought in Natal, specifically at Colenso, and who was taken POW on 30 October 1901 – during the guerrilla phase of the war. This would tend to confirm that Van Niekerk was under his command before this date.

Boshof Commando

Whatever the case may be, these were all curtain-raisers to the main event – his service with the Boshof Commando. This, the next phase of his war, is much easier to follow – this is the period where, after the fall of Bloemfontein and Pretoria, the Boer forces were broken up into highly mobile small units who criss-crossed the Orange Free State and the Transvaal harassing the long lines of communication the British forces were obliged to employ to equip and feed their army. Gone were the pitched battles that characterised the first few months of the war – now it was a case of hit and run. The British, in an effort to force the Boers into submission and surrender, began first with the erection of chains of Blockhouses which dotted the veld in every conceivable direction.


Leeuwkop

Coupled with this came the many drives that Kitchener and Roberts prized so highly. Columns of many thousands of men, combined with artillery support, moved out from every direction in sweeping drives with one aim and one aim only – to hem the Boers in and catch them in the encircling net. Boer Generals like De la Ray and De Wet were awake to the threat and, time without number, as the net closed in, escaped through a gap almost miniscule in size.

Frustrated, the British High Command decided on an effective but highly controversial approach in a final effort to bring the Boers to heel – the scorched earth policy – what this entailed was setting fire to the farmhouses, the lands, and the crops of the Boers. Women and children found on the farms were rounded up and interred in Concentration Camps specifically erected for the purpose. Any livestock found was either captured or put to death on the spot. The thinking was that this would cut off the remaining Commandos in the fields source of sustenance. Considered by many to be a war crime, the strategy worked.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves and Van Niekerk’s machinations. His Vorm B is much more forthcoming with specific actions in this regard; listing the following: Leeuwkop, Loxkraal (Locke’s Kraal), Barberslaagte and Parys – all of the above in his native Orange Free State.

The little-known skirmish at Leeuwkop refers to a skirmish against Lt.-Col. Henry’s column in February 1902 during the period when the so-called ‘model drives’ were instituted by Kitchener. There is not much info in the major sources on these late skirmishes – they tended not to get much press coverage.


Locke's Kraal

This was followed by the skirmish at Locke’s kraal which was fought on 2 April 1902, in the district of Boshof only two months before Peace was declared. Commandant Petrus Rasmus Erasmus, was the commanding officer on this occasion. He was killed in action here, to be replaced by another of the leaders mentioned by Van Niekerk - Commandant Pieter Georg Du Plessis who would have been in command at the skirmish at Barberslaagte which is a small stream in the Hoopstad district. Nothing further could be found with respect to this action. The last action listed by Van Niekerk was Parys – this town on the Vaal River separating the Transvaal from the Orange Free State saw quite a bit of movement during the war but no reference to a fight could be found.


Lockes Kraal from a distance

As a member of the Boshof Commando, Van Niekerk would have fought under not only the aforementioned Commandants’ but also under General Christoffel Cornelius Jacobus Badenhorst – the overall Officer Commanding the unit. Badenhorst’s last major success was fought on the 8th of April 1902 on the farm Hartenbosch, close to Bultfontein. This was a major setback to Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry. At 02h30 on 8th April 1902, a force of 200 men was dispatched from Bultfontein, the force consisted of the Burma Mounted Infantry, A and D Companies of Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry and a detachment of the 18th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry under the command of Maj. C. C. Luard with orders to move westward and deal with commandos in that region.

After reaching the farm Hartenbosch without encountering any resistance, they returned to Bultfontein. However, they were suddenly attacked by a force under Comdt. Herklaas Badenhorst (at this time in command of the Hoopstad commando) with a party of 300 burghers.

They approached rapidly from the west and the rear-guard formation was broken up totally. Luard tried to get his men in a good position which was sighted more or less 4 miles further on. Before this could be achieved the fight was practically over. A small party of the TMI attempted to make a stand but they were outflanked. In the end the entire force was rounded up group by group and 128 POWs were taken.

Pte. William Cooper recalled: “It was a hot fight. The bullets were spitting and cracking around our feet something awful, especially the explosive and Martini-Henri. I had the shoulder strap of my tunic cut with a bullet. That was close enough.”

The skirmish was fought over a long distance. The TMI lost one soldier killed and 9 wounded out of a total of 2 officers and 15 men killed and wounded. Peace was declared on 31st of May 1902 and Badenhorst and his men laid down arms at the farm Aarddoorns in the district of Brandfort on 14th of June 1902. There is every chance that Van Niekerk was in this action.

Little is known of Van Niekerk post-war. It is assumed that he returned to his family and his farming pursuits. He passed away at Jan Kempdorp, near Kimberley, on 13 May 1950 at the age of 84.

Sources:
- Vorm B and medal registers in the SANDF Archives, Pretoria
- Familysearch.org for Family Tree and marriage certificate.
- Dr. Arnold van Dyk, Bloemfontein, for information and maps on Locke’s Kraal, Leeuwkop and an account of General Badenhorst


Commandant PR Erasmus

Thank you Rory.....

This has given me a huge amount of information and it is greatly appreciated......
I have members of both the Heidelberg (a Bitter-Ender) and Boshof Commandos......
It is great to see the information on what they did and accomplished, maybe they even knew Van Niekerk.....

Thanks Again.....

Mike

Rory,

Thank you for sharing your excellent research, which I found most interesting.

Ian

I echo what Ian said. A fascinating account, Rory.