TOPIC:

Uys, a long shot. Did your Grandfather by any chance have a brother by the name of Martines (Marthinus Johannes) who was shot and killed at the battle of Modderspruit on 20.10.1899?

Hi There David,

Unfortunately not. My Grandfathers siblings all died 1915 or later.
Pieter Willem (14/9/1872) died in a Prisoner of War Camp in Indonesia, about 1902.

May I suggest you look for a Facebook forum “Prinsloos all over the World”.
Paul Prinsloo who runs the site, has a very extensive data base on the Prinsloos.

Regards,

Muys, the Bloemfontein Museum’s database gives the following information about the demise of the Pieter Willem Prinsloo you refer to:

Database ID:751
Surname:Prinsloo
Name:Pieter Willem
Date Death:15 Mar 1901
Age:28
Cause:Empyema
Number:8435
Location:Ceylon
Pieter Willem was from Ficksburg and was taken POW on July 30, 1900 at Fouriesburg and transferred to Diyatalawa camp on the SS Dilwara.

As for your suggestion to look up “Prinsloos all over the World”, I am not subscribed to any social media platform. I posed the question as I have a very moving letter written on October 31, 1899 by one A.P. Prinsloo to his parents from one of the Boer posts near Ladysmith. In that letter he writes that his brother Martines (Marthinus Johannes) was shot and died “peacefully” in the writer’s arms. If Paul wants a copy of that letter for the family archives he can contact me via the Private Message feature on this website.
Everhard

EFV
Thank you for all the info of PWP. Appreciate.

Regarding your very interesting snippet about APP and his brother MJP, I do have access to the Prinsloo Group.
And I am quite willing to try and trace his family/descendants. But I would need a bit more information. Do you perhaps
have the names/initials of the parents, and any dates like birth/deaths etc.
You are welcome to switch over to regular e-mail to ease communication. Sent you my address via Private Message.

EFV
Some good news. Paul Prinsloo came back with a reply. He has only one MJ Prinsloo with a brother
Anthonie Philiipus Prinsloo as a brother. MJ would have been 23 years old when he died.
I do hope Paul has access to this forum, to contact you directly.

Uys, thank you for the information. I have decided to share the Prinsloo letter in this thread in the hope that additional information may come to light.

Boer letters written from the battlefields are rather rare. Most of those that have survived date from the early months of the war, written by Boers participating in the sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley or Mafeking. The letter below, translated from Dutch/Afrikaans, was penned by A.P. Prinsloo to his parents in which he announces the death of his brother Martines (Marthinus Johannes) Prinsloo.

Two excerpts:





Ladysmith 31 October 1899

Dear Parents,

In solace to my deep sadness I received today a letter from you. Dear parents, I am doing fine health-wise but as [the prophet] Job said, the Lord gives and the Lord takes, let the Lord be praised. Father and Mother, we are camped out near Ladysmith. We arrived here Friday from Dundee after we had chased out the English. We had rested until Monday morning when at first light the cannon balls and bombs started thundering over us like a ferocious storm. This continued to about midday until we managed to chase away the Englishmen, taking more than 1200 prisoners. Oh, dear parents you know the proverb: “You cannot chop wood without making chips” (Closest English proverb: Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs) and we must acknowledge that God is right. Notwithstanding how heavy things are, we will have to deal with them [in the knowledge that] he will comfort us.

Our brother Martines is one of the men who died in the battle. I have to tell you that I stayed with him until he breathed his last. He stayed alive for two hours after he was shot and during that time he was lucid and of sound mind, begging God for mercy. He eventually passed away, quietly and peacefully. Dear parents, I know I could write more but I simply do not have the strength therefor. I hope that God will bring you solace.
Otherwise, both Hans and I are fine and in good health and I hope that you are likewise.
Rest me to send warm greetings to you and all the brothers and sisters.
With best wishes, your son,
[signed) A.P. Prinsloo


According to the Bloemfontein Museum database, Marthinus Johannes Prinsloo died aged 21 on the 20th of October, 1899 during the battle of “Modderspruit/Nicholsnek, Ladysmith”