TOPIC:

Served: General Prinsloo.

Born 17 February 1874 in the Philippolis district, Orange Free State, Sarel Johannes Liebenberg served as a Lieutenant in the Orange Free State Mounted Police (Oranje Vijstaatse Politie).

His service record places him among the relatively small cadre of professional officers who formed the backbone of the Free State’s internal security and wartime command structure.

Pre war and police service

Prior to the outbreak of the Second War of Independence, Liebenberg was a serving officer of the OVS Police, a force distinct from burgher commandos and staffed by salaried professionals. Officers of the Police held formal commissions and were accustomed to operating independently across wide rural districts, performing patrol, investigative, and enforcement duties.

By October 1899 Liebenberg had attained the rank of Lieutenant, a commissioned grade held by comparatively few men within the Free State services.

Anglo Boer War service (1899–1902)

With the declaration of war, the Orange Free State Police were mobilised en bloc and absorbed into the republican military system. Liebenberg entered active service as a police lieutenant and served first under General M. Prinsloo, and later under General Christiaan Rudolf de Wet, a sequence that reflects the wider transfer of Free State personnel from conventional deployments into more mobile operational commands.

In his formal Vorm “B” application for the Anglo Boereoorlog Medal, Liebenberg stated that he served in the Bethlehem district and took part in actions including the Battle of Bethlehem and the Battle of Biddulphsberg, among others. This application was accepted and the medal was officially issued in 1941.

Probable operational role

While police officers are seldom named in detailed battle narratives, the nature of the OVS Police’s wartime employment allows a credible reconstruction of Liebenberg’s likely role. Police lieutenants were typically employed:

• as mobile mounted detachments attached to local commandos,
• in reconnaissance, screening, and intelligence duties,
• as liaison officers between commandos and senior generals, and
• in rear guard and withdrawal operations, particularly during the British advance through the eastern Free State in mid 1900.

At Biddulphsberg (29 May 1900) and Bethlehem (6–7 July 1900)—both fought in Liebenberg’s stated area of operations—Free State forces relied heavily on experienced mounted men with local knowledge to hold secondary ground, observe enemy movements, and cover orderly withdrawals. These tasks align closely with the training and responsibilities of OVS Police officers and provide a coherent context for Liebenberg’s recorded participation.

Corroboration and peer validation

Liebenberg’s medal application was supported by witnesses who had first hand knowledge of his service, including Sergeant Stephanus Johannes Hartman, himself a well documented member of the Free State’s militarised services and a proven combatant.

Later life

After the war Liebenberg returned to civilian life, farming initially in the Orange Free State and later in the south eastern Transvaal. In 1920 he settled in Vryheid, Natal, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He died there on 24 February 1945, aged seventy.

Note

Medals awarded to Lieutenants of the Boer republics are notably scarce, with only 200 issued bearing this rank.

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could provide any additional information pertaining to Sarel Johannes Liebenberg.

A very nice medal you have there Shaun - and an equally apt summary of the mans life. To my mind these Boer combatants and the role they played as policemen is very underrated.

A quirky coincidence that both he and Hartman retired to Vryheid. They must have shared a good yarn over a braai fire from time to time.

Regards

Thanks Rory; I completely agree.

The two of them would definitely have told a few stories over the fire.

Regards,
Shaun