TOPIC:

Meurig
According to Kiernan's book, part of the 2/NBS "operated within the O'okiep defences and at important strategic points along the railway ... etc". They were recruited for three monthly periods. Kiernan's book is quite a good read; only managed to get it a few months ago.
Regards
IL

LinneyI wrote: Meurig
According to Kiernan's book, part of the 2/NBS "operated within the O'okiep defences and at important strategic points along the railway ... etc". They were recruited for three monthly periods. Kiernan's book is quite a good read; only managed to get it a few months ago.
Regards
IL

Interesting, does he mean during the siege? Again I refer to the "Field State" reproduced in Burke (mentioned in a post above), 2NBS are shown at Port Nolloth, Anenous and Garies, but not for O'Okiep. The Field State does explicitly show 1st & 2nd NBS where they are located at the same place, e.g. Garies, so one would expect to see them listed for O'Okiep (if they were there).

Burke confirms 2NBS did man blockhouses along the Port Nolloth-O'Okiep railway.

Regards
Meurig

Meurig
In Kieran's O'okiep book, he lists 41 names for the 2/NBS in his Appendix III. He comments that it had a 200-man strength and that it consisted mainly of CCC staff. As indicated in my earlier post, he says that the 2/NBS operated within the O'okiep defences and along the railway. Of course, "operated within" could mean prior to the commencement of the actual siege. I should emphasize that I am not trying to credit my 2/NBS chap with being in the siege. It would seem to be very unlikely as his discharge date predates the end of the siege.
IL.

Thanks Ian.

Couple of questions if I may:
What is Appendix III, why are these 41 names listed?
What is "CCC"?

I agree with your interpretation of "operated within". When I get the book I can see where Kieran draws his information from - if he has footnoted his work.

Regards
Meurig

Meurig
Sorry; the CCC is shorthand for the Cape Copper Company V . Sometimes IL gets addicted to initials!!!
Appendix VIII to his book - misread the Roman numeral - relates to the nominal roll of 2nd Namaqualand Border Scouts from WO 100/259. On the following pages he lists alphabetically those in 2/NBS; however the great proportion apparently did not get a QSA because of their racial background - or perhaps the 41 were the only ones who put in for their medals. Application had to be made and also a certification that the applicant was "white".
I find the Kieran book is quite good and told me a lot about a campaign I had not read much about.
Hope this helps until you get your copy!
IL.

Thanks Ian.

Alles klar!

Okay so neither proves anything about 2NBS being present in the siege.

I would recommend Burke's : Siege of O'Okiep: Guerrilla Campaign in the Anglo-Boer War - well written and based on original papers so you can see where the facts are coming from. Also, about 50% cheaper than Kieran. As I have all the medal rolls and Burke's book, I would hope Kieran has used other sources I don't know about. (I hate buying books that don't tell me anything new).

Regards
Meurig