TOPIC:

Every once in a while a "fresh to market" group of medals surfaces. I was able to acquire these to members of the Kietzmann family from the Eastern Cape of South Africa. They haven't sailed yet so the picture is not of the best. The medals are:

- South African General Service Medal with 1877-78 clasp to Lieut. C. Keitzmann, Keiskama Hoek Vol. (he is the only officer on the roll and was OC of the outfit)
- Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal with Basutoland clasp to Lieut. C.A.F. Kietzmann, Keiskama Hoek Vol.
- Queens South Africa Medal to 1, Sjt.Mjr. C.A.F. Kitzmann, K.W.T. D.M.T.

Next come the medals to Friedrich Peter:

- South African General Service Medal with 1877-78 clasp to Tpr. F. Peter, Keiskama Hoek Vol.
- Cape of Good Hope General Service Medal with Basutoland clasp to Sgt. F Peter, Keiskama Hoek Vol.

and bringing up the rear is:

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony and Orange Free State to 52 Pte. R Heger, Frontier Lt. Horse, ex District Mounted Rifles.

There is quite a sizable German settler population in the Eastern Cape - stemming from men and women who were, after the Crimean War, sent out to South Africa to eke out a living by the then British Administration. We have all heard of the 1820 Settlers but the German immigrants are less well-known.

Britain declared war on Russia in 1854 following Russian incursions into the Crimea - an area that had been held by the Ottoman empire until then. A German mercenary army was put together, but by the time it had arrived in Britain, the war was already over. The mercenaries were offered an opportunity of settling in South Africa, which about 2500 of them accepted.

The soldiers were settled in Kaffraria, a new colony on the eastern fringes of the Cape colony that had seen very little development until then. In Kaffraria the legionaires established villages - unfortunately the military and strategic considerations outweighed the economic ones, with the villages ending up in remote and waterless locations. On top of this very few of the soldiers were married (some had picked themselves wives in England, while Irish girls were 'imported' for others). The soldiers therefore did not make good settlers and the settlement of the area was not successful. Most mercenaries left for other areas of South Africa or were reemployed by the British when soldiers were required to quash the Sepoy rebellion in India a few years later.

The main contribution of the German Crimean Legion was therefore the establishment of villages, to which they gave German names.
Furthermore, they also assisted in establishing German congregations and schools, in which most teachers were retired soldiers.

These medals have arrived safely from down south: