TOPIC:

I found a letter in my great-grandfather's belongings, he was a Lt.Col in the Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion from a Capt. van Deventer written in 1901, thanking my great-grandfather for everything he had done for him. I am trying to find any information on Capt. van Deventer. I have attached the letter, any information / assistance will be appreciated.

Hello Anna
Welcome to the forum.
I think Mr Van Deventer may have been a POW. The letter mentions Bermuda, I'm no expert on POWs but I did find 2 names which may help.
11117   Van Deventer  Hendrik Johannes
11118   Van Deventer  Lucas Johannes 
Both these gents were sent to Bermuda as Boer prisoners of war.
The V C may refer to Veld Cornet which was a rank in the Boer Kommando. It's only my humble opinion. Hopefully my fellow forum members will be able to help with clarification.

Best wishes

Dave...

Hi Dave

Thank you for the response, I will follow up on these 2 names, appreciate the assistance

What a lovely piece of history. This poses a bit of a puzzler. Working solely on the medal rolls (medals issued) to the Boers, only 2 Gert Van Deventer's present themselves - neither of them are officer ranks - one a normal Burger and the other a Corporal.

Of course it is possible that your Captain Van Deventer (the rank by the way is a scarce one to Boer Commandos), never claimed his medal - many didn't.

I also looked at the POW's as your man mentioned he was headed for Bermuda? In total there were 59 POW's recorded with the surname Van Deventer - only a handful of these ended up in Bermuda and none of these were a Gert or a Gert J. as I seem to think he signed the letter.

I am sorry I am not of more help.

Regards

Rory

Hi Rory
Thank you for the response, it was a great find for me, showing my great-grandfather was a good man and treated people kindly in a difficult situation. I was the first to show interest in discovering everything I could about him and his career, so I am starting on a clean slate. If you might be interested, I am also trying to find information on medals I discovered within his belongings, they all were issued to Dooly Bearers, I have 2 X Bronze SA Queen's medals , 1 x Khedive's Sudan Medal, 1 x India General Service Medal, Clasp Burma, 2 x India General Service Medal, Clasp Relief of Chitral, all are named, none share the same details.

Thank you

Anna
Is it possible you could share your G Grandfather's name and a little more detail regarding his date of birth and where he lived? Also, what numbers and names are
there on the IGS Burma and GS Chitral?