TOPIC:

Served: Transvaal Wes.

Summary
Cornelius Jacobus Oosthuizen was born on 3 April 1884 in Stellenbosch, Cape Colony. He was the son of Izak Frederik Oosthuizen (1847–1902) and Christina Dorothea Janse van Rensburg (1850–1897).

His mother died in 1897, leaving him motherless at age thirteen. His father was captured at Paardeberg on 27 February 1900, sent to St Helena, and died there on 28 February 1902 of heart disease and is buried along with almost 200 Boers who never made it home.

Cornelius, who was on Commando at the time, thus lost both his parents by the age of eighteen. However, despite this loss, he would join the Union Defence Force, be commissioned, and go on to serve in WW1 (GSWA); a rank he would hold until 1929.

Anglo Boer War Service (1899–1902)
At the outbreak of the war, Cornelius at just 15 ½ years old, joined as a Burger in Kommandant Tollie de Beer’s Commando, operating in the Western Transvaal.

His ABO Medal application (Vorm b) in 1923 records his service from October 1899 to June 1902 when he surrendered his rifle at Vryburg with Kommandant Van der Merwe.

The application was signed by Kommandant Tollie de Beer, corroborating Oosthuizen’s service and confirming his participation in these actions.







The application lists actions at (?), Yzerspruit, Brakspruit, Koranenfontein and Schweizer Reneke. These engagements were typical of the guerrilla phase of the war, involving raids and ambushes against British forces.

Schweizer Reneke and Tollie de Beer
October 1900 – Clash with Methuen: On 17 October 1900, Lord Methuen’s British column defeated Boer forces under Commandant Tollie de Beer near Schweizer Reneke. This was part of Methuen’s wider campaign to suppress Boer resistance in the Western Transvaal. De Beer’s commando was forced to withdraw, but Boer activity in the district continued.

August–November 1901 – Siege of Schweizer Reneke: Beginning in early August 1901, Tollie de Beer commanded a force of approximately 1,250 burghers that laid siege to Schweizer Reneke.

About 250 men under Colonel Chanier, supported by detachments of the Somerset Light Infantry, Scottish Fusiliers, East Lancashires, Yeomanry, Cape Police, and two 5-inch guns.

De Beer’s commandos surrounded the town, cutting off supplies and communications. Sporadic fighting and artillery exchanges followed, but the garrison held out despite being heavily outnumbered.

The siege dragged on for months until British relief operations eased pressure. The Boers eventually withdrew, but the episode demonstrated their ability to sustain prolonged resistance.

On 4 August 1901, Lord Methuen destroyed parts of Schweizer Reneke during operations against Boer forces in the district. This action was directly connected to De Beer’s activities in the area, as his commandos were among those harassing British positions.

Brakspruit (13 November 1901)
Boer resistance in the Western Transvaal remained fierce through late 1901. Lieutenant-Colonel W. B. Hickie, commanding a force of some 870 mounted troops and infantry, was tasked with covering the construction of blockhouses along the Schoonspruit.

On 13 November, at the farm Brakspruit, 32 kilometres north-east of Klerksdorp, Hickie suffered a sharp reverse. Two squadrons of Imperial Yeomanry—drawn from the 103rd and 107th Companies of the 2nd Battalion, and the 107th Company of the 6th Battalion—were sent forward to reconnoitre. They were overwhelmed by Boer commandos, their position destroyed in the ensuing clash.

The Yeomanry lost ten men killed or mortally wounded, eleven wounded, and sixty-four taken prisoner. Boer casualties were lighter, with four men killed and eight wounded.

Yzerspruit (24 February 1902)
Sunrise shone upon a complete disaster. Save a few men who escaped to Klerksdorp, the whole force, with its artillery and material, was in de la Rey’s hands. Five officers and 48 men were killed: 6 officers and 124 men wounded; the rest were prisoners. While Kemp covered operations, de la Rey took all the plunder that he wanted – half a million rounds of ammunition and some hundreds of mules and horses were the principal prizes, with the guns and prisoners, to the north-west.
From The Times History

On 24 February 1902, near the Yzerspruit stream outside Klerksdorp in the Western Transvaal, Boer forces under General Koos de la Rey staged one of their last major victories of the Anglo-Boer War. A British convoy of more than 150 wagons, escorted by the 5th Imperial Yeomanry, was ambushed while moving supplies between Wolmaranstad and Klerksdorp.

De la Rey’s commandos, numbering around 1,200 men, struck with precision, overwhelming the escort and capturing three wagons laden with small-arms ammunition—an invaluable prize for the increasingly resource-strapped Boer fighters.

The British suffered heavy losses, with many Yeomanry killed or taken prisoner, while the Boers secured both supplies and a morale boost at a time when their resistance was under severe strain.

By coincidence less than a week later his father would succumb of heart disease whilst a POW at St Helena.

Courtesy of Elmarie:


Boer Cemetery at St Helena where Izak is buried:


Skirmishes at Korannafontein
Korannafontein was not the site of a major set-piece battle like Yzerspruit or Brakspruit, but rather a location of repeated small-scale clashes typical of the guerrilla phase (1901–1902). Boer commandos used the farms and water sources in the Western Transvaal as staging points for ambushes and raids.

Recorded Skirmishes:
o Late 1901: British mounted patrols and Yeomanry detachments reported losses “near Korannafontein.” These were usually reconnaissance parties or convoy escorts surprised by Boer commandos.
o Early 1902: As De la Rey intensified operations leading up to Yzerspruit, Korannafontein again saw minor clashes, with burghers harassing British blockhouse construction teams and mounted infantry patrols.
o Casualty rolls mention men killed or captured in actions around Korannafontein, though the numbers were small compared to Brakspruit (Nov 1901) or Yzerspruit (Feb 1902).

Inter-War Period
After the Boer War Cornelius married Johanna Dorothea Petronella Bronkhorst (1892–1964) on 2 November 1909 in Heidelberg, Transvaal. They had at seven children, including Christina Dorothea (1913–1931), Izak Frederik, Johanna Dorothea Petronella, Maria Magdalena, Samuel Johannes, Cornelius Jacobus (1927–1985), and Petrus Johannes (1929 – 1993).

Petrus would later migrate to the United States, use an alias Peter John Osten, and settle in Charleston West Virgina.

Southern Mounted Rifles and the Manoeuvres of 1912–1913
The Southern Mounted Rifles (SMR) were originally raised in the Cape Colony during the Anglo-Boer War as a volunteer mounted infantry unit. After the war, they were retained as part of the colonial defence forces, tasked with internal security and rural patrol duties.

With the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and the establishment of the Union Defence Force (UDF) in 1912, the SMR were reorganized into the Active Citizen Force, alongside other colonial regiments such as the Natal Mounted Rifles and Border Mounted Rifles.

In 1912 and 1913, the newly formed UDF staged a series of large-scale manoeuvres across South Africa. These exercises were designed to:
• Test the integration of former colonial volunteer units into a unified national defence structure.
• Standardize training and tactics, ensuring mounted regiments like the SMR could operate effectively alongside infantry, artillery, and police units.
• Demonstrate readiness to the public and government, reinforcing confidence in the new defence system.
• Prepare for future campaigns, as South Africa was expected to contribute to imperial defence, which soon materialized in World War I.

For the SMR, these manoeuvres were an important transition from their Boer War-era role as irregular mounted infantry to a disciplined, nationally recognized regiment. They took part in mounted drills, reconnaissance exercises, shooting competitions, and mock battles, showcasing both horsemanship and military discipline.

It was during these manoeuvres that Cornelius Jacobus Oosthuizen was awarded several medals; his rank on the medals varied from Trooper to Seargent indicating a rapid rise in the NCO ranks whilst a member of the Active Citizen Force.





World War I Service (1914–1915)
By 1914, Cornelius had reconciled with the new political order and accepted a commission as a Lieutenant in the 12th Mounted Regiment (12 MR) of the Union Defence Force. His WW1 medal card records service from 24 October 1914 to 20 December 1914, and again from 26 January 1915 to 26 May 1915. The regiment was disbanded on 27 May 1915.

He was awarded the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal.

The 12th MR served in the German South West Africa campaign, conducting mounted patrols and reconnaissance across desert terrain. Oosthuizen’s prior commando experience made him well suited to this role.

Later Military Career
After WW1, Oosthuizen continued in the 8th Unmounted Riflemen, part of the Citizen Force. A military record dated 14 June 1929 notes that he had reached the age limit for his rank and requested that he choose between transfer to the Reserve of Officers or retirement under Section 34(1) of the South African Defence Act, 1912.

His address in 1923 was recorded as “Vyffontein No. 3, Vereeniging” but despite numerous attempts to contact him he never responded and all contact, or trace of him, was lost.