TOPIC:

Hi there,

I'm trying to track down any information I can find on my great grandfather Louis Valentine De Villiers. I have just found a short obituary that said he had served in the Anglo-Boer War in his youth. According to his marriage certificate he was born in Wynberg, South Africa. I have no details about his sevice in South Africa, not even which side he might have fought on. Can anyone point me in the right direction for finding more information on his service?

Tasha

Hi Tasha, welcome aboard. I had a look at the medal rolls for the Queen's South Africa Medal and there are almost three pages of De Villiers's but none with initials L or V. It was often problematic for men of Afrikaans ancestry who served in British forces so many such men never claimed medals and in many cases their was never any request/return completed for their medals.

I take it that that his place of birth was Wynberg in the Cape? If he hadn't actually left the Cape and become a burgher of the OFS or ZAR then if he served with Boer forces he would have done so as a Cape Rebel. You might be able to find his name in the database of the Anglo-Boer War Museum which has a searchable database for Boer forces: www.anglo-boer.co.za/database-search/

Best of luck,

Mark

Welcome Tasha,

I had a look through the roll for medals issued to the Boer forces and, while there are some 47 men named De Villiers, none of them have the correct initial for you. There are not even any close matches.

This does not mean he did not serve with the Boer forces, only that he did not apply for the Boer Medal.

Kind regards
David

Thank you both for your help. Yes he was born in Wynberg in the Cape and it has been very hard to find any information on him prior to his arrival in New Zealand. There is a family rumour that he left SA in some sort of disgrace though I don't have any specifics. Thanks for the link to the Anglo-Boer War Museum, I'll have a look.