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Chris and I visited Wepener on a recent trip to South Africa. Wepener is quite a small town with one hotel and a cluster of building in the centre. This is how Wepener looked in 1900.


Unusually for Boer War battle sites, there are no signs to show where the siege of Wepener took place (at least when we visited). We asked someone in the town and he directed over the drift and towards the general area. Armed with the map from the Times History, we set about trying to fix the position on the ground. It is possible to identify where the siege took place and it looks like the trenches from the time still mark the ground as these can be traced for some distance around the supposed position of the besieged troops.


Nearby is a small church where some of those killed duing the siege were buried.

David

It is encouraging to see the church and memorials so well cared for. Wepener has the advantage of being 'off the beaten track'. The vandals that seem to infest Natal and Zululand may also be absent west of the Drakensberg.

Regards
Brett

David.....

Quick question..... Do the Boer War grave sites fall under the mandate of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission????

Mike

Hi Mike,

No, I don't think so. The remit of the GWGC seems to be for the two world wars (mostly). I say mostly, because from their website it is not clear where the boundaries actually are and I guess these things can't be too rigid.

Have a look at this page: www.cwgc.org/content.asp?menuid=2&submen...d%20figures&menu=sub

Regards
David

In the 'old' South Africa, war graves, battlefields etc were the responsibility of the central government and were under the control of the National Monuments Council. Since the advent of the 'new' South Africa the NMC role has been filled by provincial bodies. As with most things in SA, there have been problems. This is not an appropriate place to go into details.

I have been told that recently, with the agreement of provincial authorities, privately-funded individuals from the UK have been in SA restoring cemetery precincts, headstones and other monuments. The provincial authorities were to resume protection and maintainence after the renovations. Since local interest in matters pertaining to Colonial times is patchy at best, time will tell.

I found and now I have lost a more recent report that the CWGC would assist in maintaining non-WWI and WWII cemeteries and memorials in SA. I hope that this wasn't just wishful thinking on my part. Hopefully, further enquiries will confirm it.

There is a S African War Graves Project run by volunteers, but that is strictly for recording war graves.

Regards
Brett