From the next City Coins auction, November 2020
DTD (Komdt. A. J. Bester);
[ ABO ]
Commandant Andries Jacobus Bester (Bloemfontein) was one of the 6 Delegates who voted against ending the war. He held strong views about the matter and is minuted as having said: “I have been delegated by a commando of 800 men, and although General de Wet clearly explained our position to them, these 800 men declared that they would not submit to England. My commando has been taking part in the war since the commencement, and we have sacrificed everything already that was dear to us, all for our national existence and independence. Eight months ago, my commando was in very bad circumstances. We were badly supplied with horses and clothing, but now we are furnished with all we want, almost as well as when we commenced the war. Every burgher has at least two horses, and some have five, and they are all full of courage. Where they get the courage from is a riddle to me, because dark days have passed over them”.
The Peace Negotiations by Kestell & Van Velden p191.
There were 2 Kommandants named AJ Bester in the Orange Free State Delegation: from Bloemfontein and Bethlehem. The Bethlehem Bester did not claim a DTD and/or ABO. The DTD and ABO of Commandant Andries Jacobus Bester (Bloemfontein) was claimed by his widow in January 1922.
