TOPIC:

Philippus Petrus Jacobus Halgryn

Artillerist, Transvaal Staats Artillerie – pre Boer War
Burgher, Klerksdorp Commando – Anglo Boer War

- Anglo Boere Oorlog Medal to BURGER P.P.J. HALGRYN

If his death notice is to be believed then Philip Halgryn was born in Bloemfontein, in the Orange Free State although evidence to hand shows that he was born in Burghersdorp, a small settlement in the Albert magistracy of the Eastern Cape. Whatever the case may be, he was the son of Cornelius Rudolf Halgrijn (the Dutch spelling of the surname) and Martha Johanna Halgryn (born Viljoen).

A son of the soil, as were so many Afrikaners who made their living off the land, Halgryn was born on 8 February 1850. By the time he was in his early 20’s he had moved to Potchefstroom in the Western Transvaal. It was here while living at Klipplaatdrift that he wed 21 year old Phillipina Maria Charlotta De Bruin of Sterkstroom in the Eastern Cape, not far from where he was born and raised. He was 23 years old at the time of the nuptials on 10 January 1874.

Growing up he would not have wanted for playmates – being one of 13 children born to his parents. This was nothing unusual for the time in which he lived – most Boer families were large; their safety and financial well-being depended on the size of the family. Boys were able to assist their father in the tilling of the land and the looking after of the crops and the flocks of sheep or herds of cattle whilst girls helped their mother with the household chores, the churning of butter, feeding of the chickens and a multitude of other tasks in and around the house. If they were fortunate enough to marry well they also added to the family’s coffers.

As time wore on Halgryn drifted away from the farm and is in the Commandant-General's “Stamboek voor de Staatsartillerie 1883-1896" with service acknowledged from 1895 to 1896. No explanation is provided as to why he left their employ.

As the 19th century drew to its inevitable close the war clouds that had gathered over southern Africa burst. The two Dutch-speaking Boer Republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State went to war with the might of Imperial Britain on 11 October 1899. For many weeks before the date hostilities commenced, the Boer Commandos had been advised to gather their rifles, ammunition bandoliers, and enough food for a week and report to the market square in the towns closest to them. Divided up into Wards, each under a Veld Kornet, the Boers came in from their farms and smallholdings and reported for service in defence of the Fatherland and were, in most cases, champing at the bit to get at the Imperial troops ranged (so they thought) on their borders.

Halgryn was no exception. As a resident in the District of Potchefstroom, and a citizen of the Republic, he reported to that Commando, under the command of Commandant F. Wolmarans and would have joined his comrades in arms as they gathered around the coffee pots in the centre of Potchefstroom.



Fortunately for the researcher, the medal which the Boer Burgers were able to claim for their service, from 1920 onwards, required the completion of a Vorm B – an application which not only required the name, rank and details of the claimant but also, more importantly, the battles and places in which he had participated. In Halgryn’s case, his widow posthumously claimed his medal in May 1923 and, thanks to her efforts, we are able to place Halgryn at the following battles and actions: -

- Mafeking
- Blaauwkrans (most probably Blaauwbosrand)
- 14 Stroom (Fourteen Streams) and
- De Klipdrift.

With the Potchefstroom Commando until the first (formal) phase of the war was over, the first action Halgryn was involved in was the Siege of Mafeking.


Map showing Mafeking in relation to Halgryn's home districts of Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom. The Black Star indicates where he farmed.

Mafeking was besieged by General Cronje days after the commencement of the war with Baden-Powell’s garrison having to defend at all costs. On arrival, each of the mounted burghers in the Mafeking area was issued/equipped with a Mauser and 100 rounds of ammunition, but each individual was responsible for his own food supplies. Field Cornet Martins assisted General Cronje as commandant. There were a number of skirmishes in and around the town as the siege war on, none more so than the action at Cannon Kopje. According to the Times History,

"As daylight broke on the last morning in October, Cronje concentrated a very heavy cross-fire with his guns on Cannon Kopje. On the high ground to the south were to be seen several men holding a large number of riderless horses, the riders not being visible and evidently hidden in the long grass in front of them. As the light became better, from the town men could be seen rising and running forward and dropping in the grass. These were burghers of the Potchefstroom commando, which Cronje had chosen for the attack.

During their advance a heavy artillery and rifle fire was directed on the fort, and the telephone connection with headquarters was cut. When they were within 400 yards, the shell fire still continuing, Colonel Walford called to his men to come from shelter and man the parapets.

Though standing out practically without cover the little garrison of forty-five men opened with their magazines and two Maxims on the foremost line of Boers, who had hastily dug themselves a shallow trench from which they kept up a vigorous rifle fire, At the same time Baden-Powell, perceiving another party advancing more to the south-west, to take the fort in flank, opened fire on them from the town with two 7-pounders under Lieutenant Murchison. It only needed about five minutes of this gun play to check and disperse the enemy. The Boers rose all together out of the long grass, appeared for an instant to hesitate, formed one long thick line in a semi-circular formation round the kopje, and then turned and fled towards their horses."

In November 1899, Cronje marched south to confront Lord Methuen’s advance up the railway towards Kimberley. This to help the Free State troops that were still at Belmont. The siege of Mafeking was thus left to General Snyman and 1,500 Boers.

General Cronje had hardly joined the Free State troops when his government commanded him to join up with Generals De la Rey and Prinsloo. The Potchefstroom commando with, inter alia, Commandant MJ Wolmarans, JT Martins and TFJ Dreyer took up position at Magersfontein near Kimberley early in December 1899. On 11 December 1899, the Boer forces defeated the British troops. General Cronje’s forces excelled during the attack and, by way of special acknowledgement, they received a telegram of congratulations from President Paul Kruger.

The skirmish mentioned by Halgryn at Blaauboschrand, which is on the way between Magersfontein and Paardeberg, is where the Boers destroyed a stockpile of British supplies.

After the battle of Magersfontein, Cronje’s troops remained in the Kimberley area for the purpose of forcing the British garrison that was in the town to surrender. For these forces that took up position near the Modder River, these tactics actually amounted to a long time of inactivity.

A skirmish took place at Fourteen Streams, three miles to the north of Warrenton and about 100 miles from Kimberley on 19 March 1900 where a mounted column from Kimberley, believed to be marching to the relief of Mafeking, under the command of Colonel Parkin, engaged about 500 Boers opposite the town. “The enemy were defeated, and the town, which has been in Boer hands for months, was entered. The inhabitants enthusiastically welcomed the British and cheered the Union Jack over and over again.” This according to “The Barrier Miner” of March 21st 1900.

As the months of the siege wore on a relief force entrained from Cape Town, working its way up to the town. The Imperial Light Horse was part of this relief force under Colonel Brian Mahon. Gibson’s official history of the I.L.H. recorded that:

“After many miles of hard riding with almost no Boers sighted, a serious engagement now took place on 13 May against an attack by 600 Burghers of the Potchefstroom Commando under Commandant Liebenberg. “A”, “C” and “D” Squadrons were able to beat off and follow up those of the enemy who attacked the advance. “B”, “E” and “F” Squadrons, protecting the right flank were more sharply engaged. The bush afforded the enemy excellent cover. Firing took place at close range and lasted about three-quarters of an hour. When the artillery gunners found the enemy with their shrapnel the Boers gave up the fight and withdrew.”

No serious opposition was encountered thereafter and the way into Mafeking proved open. The Column entered the town on 17 May 1900 – the siege was over.

As the war progressed Halgryn was involved in other actions and skirmishes, principally as a member of the newly-formed Klerksdorp Commando. From August 1900, after the fall of the two Boer Capitals, phase two or the guerilla phase of the war was entered on. Gone were the pitched battles which characterised the first part of the war, now the remaining Burghers in the veld were divided up into small, highly mobile “hit and run” type outfits which would swoop down on isolated British patrols and Lines of Communication and, once plundering what there was so take, would release the Imperial/Colonial troops to make their way back to their own lines – more often than not, with only their undergarments as clothing.


Map highlighting Tweebosch battle

Aside from the well-known siege and subsequent relief of Mafeking, the other seminal engagement in which Halgryn participated was the battle of De Klipdrift on 7 March 1902 (also known as Tweebosch). This seminal defeat of a British force towards the end of the war was widely reported on. Volume 70 of After Pretoria: The Guerilla War. With The Flag To Pretoria contained the following account of the action:

“At this juncture Lord Methuen determined to take the field once more and avenge the defeat which had befallen the convoy (Anderson’s). He gave orders for Kekewich to send a column of mounted men to Rooirantjiesfontein, which lies directly to the south of Lichtenburg, where this column would meet a force under Major Paris, coming from Vryburg, which he himself intended to accompany. Of the columns which would be operating to the south of Lichtenburg, that of Major Paris was by far the weakest. It was made up of a number of detachments from various corps and regiments, some of them largely composed of Dutchmen whose loyalty was dubious, others of unseasoned irregulars.

It included 300 Infantry of the Northumberland Fusiliers and 1st Loyal North Lancashires, 3 guns of the 4th and 38th Field Batteries, 2 “pom poms”, 257 of the Cape Police and British South Africa Police, 184 of the 5th Yeomanry, 110 of the 86th company of Yeomanry, apparently new levies; and of various South African irregular corps, the following numbers: Cullinan’s Horse (64); Dennison’s Scouts (58); Ashburner’s Light Horse (126) and Diamond Fields Horse (92). The total force was about 1250 men of whom 300 were unmounted, and 5 guns. With the column were 86 slow moving x and mule wagons.

It is difficult to discover what purpose there was in moving out with such a force to pursue De la Rey. Moreover the enemy in this part of the field could dispose of at least 3000 men in the event of an emergency. They could move faster than the British. With odds of three to one, and far greater mobility, there could be little doubt of the result of a conflict.

The march began on March 2 but the ground was so heavy that in the first four days progress, a distance of only 53 miles was covered, and a certain amount of sniping was encountered. On the morning of the 6th the column reached Leeuwspruit, and there more serious fighting began. A force of Boers hung upon the rearguard, sniping it at every opportunity. As there was some confusion, Lord Methuen went back to see what was happening, taking with him two guns. He found the men of the rear screen “very much out of hand and lacking both fire-discipline and knowledge of how to act.”

This was not a promising beginning; however the enemy were easily forced to retire by the shrapnel of the artillery, and the march as resumed. At 11.30 in the morning Tweebosch was reached, and there the column went into camp. The Boers who had been watching its march carefully, were now assembling on all sides of it. What their exact numbers were does not matter, they could easily bring 3000 men to bear against it. At 3 a.m. on the 7th, the first part of the convoy, the ox waggons, moved out of camp, with about 450 of the column as escort.

The main body waited with the mule waggons for an hour and then followed in their steps. As an attack by the enemy was apprehended, Lord Methuen had directed Major Paris to place trustworthy men in the rearguard.

At daybreak the expected happened, and the rearguard was heavily attacked. All available reinforcements were at once despatched to its support; one gun and a “Pom-Pom” opened on the Boers, while the 5th Yeomanry and Ashburner’s Light Horse extended on the flanks, so as to prevent the enemy from carrying out their obvious purpose of enveloping the rearguard and cutting it off.

The first section of the force with the ox waggons was at that moment about a mile in advance of the main body, the mule waggons with which were moving in four lines well closed up. Lord Methuen sent orders to his vanguard to halt, so that the whole force could concentrate, when it would be in a better position to meet the attack. Major Berange with the Cape Police was directed to reinforce the rear, to meet a fresh body of the enemy now showing in that quarter. Lord Methuen galloped off to the advance guard, which was heavily engaged, and there found the Infantry of the Northumberland Fusiliers extending to meet the enemy, who were threatening the whole right; the artillery with the advance had already taken up a position from which to repel the Boers; no mounted men could be seen, and it was assumed that they had moved to support the rearguard. There was considerable confusion, as the native drivers of the ox waggons could not be induced to stir, but had taken refuge from the bullets under the waggons. The column was therefore, as it were, anchored to the ground with the enemy in ever-increasing force all about it.

The attack on the rearguard grew in intensity. The enemy succeeded in forcing their way into the screen which covered the mule waggons, but as Cullinan’s and Ashburner’s Horse with the 5th Yeomanry were thrown into the fight, there progress was checked for a time. It was now about 5.30 a.m. when a fresh and more determined onset was delivered by the Boers upon the right rear and right flank, threatening to cut off the mounted troops, who were with difficulty holding their own, from the infantry and waggons. Such an attack was most disconcerting to the ill-disciplined men of some of the irregular units. To the consternation of all, the mounted screen began to give way. The confusion among the mounted men developed till it became a flight, and they tore back at full gallop past the British left and, unable to rally, rode off the field in the greatest disorder. The flight of the men did not cease till they regained the railway line many miles from the scene of the action.

As the British rear was rolled up, the attack on the infantry and the guns of the 4th battery grew in intensity. The enemy worked in to within 600 yards, or easy rifle range, of the artillery and shot the gunners down. While affairs were in this posture, Lord Methuen sent orders to such of the rearguard as remained to seize a kraal on the Leeuwkuil road, and hold it as a rallying point. Majors Paris and Berange accordingly occupied it with a handful of about 40 men. The resistance was protracted about Lord Methuen for nearly three hours after the mounted men had given way.

….. with the General shot down (Methuen had been shot in the thigh), and the Boer artillery already at work shelling the kraal in which Major Paris was still holding out, and preparing to open on the small handful of unwounded troops who still surrounded their fallen leader, surrender became inevitable. at about 9.35 the white flag went up. The casualties in the battle of Tweebosch were heavy: 68 officers and men were killed; 121 were wounded; and in addition to the wounded, who were all taken prisoner, 205 unwounded men were taken by the Boers.”

As mentioned previously, the Commando structure had become fragmented as the war wore on. We know that Halgryn fought under De la Rey in the Western Transvaal but so did thousands of other Burghers. Lionel Wulfsohn, on page 225 of his book Rustenburg at War, mentions that “De la Ray’s force at Tweebosch consisted of the Lichtenburgers, Krugersdorpers and Rustenburgers under command of Generals Celliers and Kemp. In addition there was Van Zyl’s detachment from Bloemhof, and guns captured from the British at Yzerspruit.”
The implication is thus that Halgryn slotted in with one of these Commandos.


Circled in black is the farm on which Halgryn spent most of his life and where he passed away.

Halgryn was what was described as a “Bitter einder” – a combatant who survived the war, from beginning to end, without being captured or obliged to surrender. That he avoided being wounded was, in itself, an achievement. He laid down his arms at Marico in June 1902.

The war over he and his family faced a bleak future. Close relatives of his had been interned in the Krugersdorp Concentration Camp since 30 April 1901 as the scorched earth policy had gained traction in the Western Transvaal. Farms had been denuded of livestock, either by the British or by the Boers themselves, farm houses raised to the ground and crops burnt. All had to start again with no financial means at their disposal.

Halgryn passed away on 17 June 1917 from Heart Failure and Pneumonia. He was 67 years 4 months and 12 days old and living on his farm Palmietfontein 280 in the Potchefstroom district. His widow married a Petrus Johannes Delport (61) when she was 66 years old, at Klerksdorp on 30 December 1918. It was she who, posthumously, applied for his medal.

Acknowledgements:
- Rustenburg at War - Lionel Wulfsohn
- History of the Imperial Light Horse - Gibson
- Jeppe's Maps of the Transvaal - RobD
- Johan Wolfaardt for info on Halgryn's Artillery service
- SANDF Archives for Vorm B