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We Wander the Battlefields We Wander the Battlefields Matthew (Midge) Carter & Trish Woodman We Wander the Battlefields is the fruit of Midge Carter’s life-long passion for the history of the Anglo-Boer and Zulu wars at the turn of the 19th century. The stories of heroism and tragedy are retold from the graveyards and memorials, many of them left forgotten and overgrown. It is both a detailed and personal account with many photo- graphs and, unusual for a book, complemented with an extensive list of videos available on the internet, videos made by Midge as he wandered the battle sites. It has been his partner, Trish Woodman who has patiently listened to these stories, researched the background, collated the available photographs and written this book. We Wander the Battlefields Matthew (Midge) Carter and Trish Woodman PRODUCT LABEL INGREDIENTS A very personal (and very non-academic) collection of anecdotes and reminiscences of military history meanderings in South Africa for more than 60 years. • Memories of well-known personalities from the past. • Many old and modern photos of graves, monuments and people. Inscriptions have been provided, with Afrikaans texts translated. The background stories behind ‘just a name on a stone’ have been written. • Odds and ends. • Warnings: Does not contain ponderous, learned chapters. Written by two wrinklies past their ‘Best-by-Date’. Authors: • Matthew (Midge) Carter. Made from New Zealand ingredients, grown in South Africa, product of Australia. • Trish Woodman. Entirely a West Australian product (with a taint of Irish convicts). © Matthew Carter and Trish Woodman, 2015. Reprinted 2016, 2017 ISBN 978-0-9942068-5-5 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including the condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Cartoon on page 9 courtesy of Rose Digden. Cover image: Midge walking the summit of Isandlwana with Brian Scott and in the background a scene from the film, Zulu Dawn. Layout and design of text by All In One Book Design (www.allinonebookdesign.com.au) Cover design by Neil Forsey, Out of the Box Design Studio (www.outoftheboxdesignstudio.com) Printed by Optima Press, Perth, Western Australia. In loving memory of Midge Carter (30th November 1930 - 23rd July 2016) the co-author of this book. He is much missed by his partner, Trish, his family and his friends all over the world. We Wander the Battlefields has enjoyed steady success and this is the third printing. A website, www.battlefieldwanderers.com.au is also currently underway. This will make available all the videos of historical battlefields which Midge made not just in South Africa but world- wide. As these fields become slowly overgrown and forgotten, Trish would like the website to be both a forum for discussion and a valuable resource of research material, free to all. Dedication Dedicated to the memory of the innumerable, long-forgotten men and women, victims of war, whose graves we have visited in so many battlefields and cemeteries around the world. May they rest in peace and honour. The ‘Cross of Sacrifice’ found in many military cemeteries. NOTE To complement many of the entries in the book and give a better picture, especially for those who have not been to South Africa, we have placed clips of battlefields and cemeteries, from our videos, on YouTube. A list of these video clips appears in the back of the book or visit www.battlefieldwanderers.com.au Table of Contents SECTION ONE This section is mainly about Matthew, (Midge) Carter and the role his interest in South African history and military history, especially of the Zulu and Anglo-Boer Wars, has played in his life for over 60 years. Part A ~ Anecdotes 9 Before You Begin (Trish) ................................................. 10 Introduction (Trish) ...................................................... 11 South Africa – land of contrasts and breathtaking scenery ........... 17 Anecdotes ................................................................. 20 Zulu Dawn ................................................................. 23 The Prince Imperial’s Watch An interesting find ....................... 37 Cetshwayo’s Grave Abide with me ...................................... 41 The 1st Anglo-Boer War Amajuba, The Hill of Doves................... 43 Bronkhorstspruit The legend of the soldiers’ peaches . 48 The 2nd Anglo-Boer War Bakenlaagte, The soldiers’ boots ............. 49 Bothaville The Kings Park gun .......................................... 52 Elands River The flag ................................................... 57 Frere A closer look ........................................................ 58 Holkran’s Massacre A lucky escape ...................................... 59 Itala Monument to valour .................................................. 60 Koster River The heroism of Emily Back and Bugler Forbes ............. 76 Colonel Bertram Laing Interview with a Veteran ........................ 94 Langverwacht The New Zealand Monument ............................ 97 Mafeking Helen Buchan .................................................. 99 Major John Francis Thomas Defender of Morant, Handcock, Witton . 102 Modderfontein Farm Deneys Reitz and the 17th Lancers ............ 105 Paardeberg A surprise shot ............................................. 109 Railway Hill Boer mass graves . 109 Sannaspos An interesting discovery ..................................... 110 Spionkop “Do you know where Spionkop is?” ........................ 111 West Australia Hill ..................................................... 114 Part B ~ Sidetracks And Snippets 125 A potted history of an interesting life. (Trish) ........................ 126 Lord Baden-Powell’s letter to the troops ............................. 132 Regimental Orders of the 3rd Bushmen’s Contingent ............. 136 Horse sickness .......................................................... 138 Cholera ................................................................. 141 I Killed a Man at Graspan (poem) .................................... 142 “Regrets I’ve had a few” .............................................. 144 Ship models, and a ship ................................................ 144 Sir Percy FitzPatrick ................................................... 146 Stanger A visit to Shaka’s monument .................................. 148 South African Military History Society .............................. 149 Sundry organisations ................................................... 152 Surrender Hill .......................................................... 153 Telegram “They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To” ......... 154 Transcription/Pronunciation./Translation ........................... 155 Treasured Books ........................................................ 157 Military experience Umkomaas Commando . 158 My weapon collection ................................................. 159 SECTION TWO An alphabetical listing of the war graves Part C ~ Haunting Graves 163 Preface (Midge, 1960s) ................................................. 164 Types of Military Gravemarkers in South Africa .................... 166 Words on Boer monuments translated ............................... 168 ‘Just a name on a stone’ ................................................ 170 Part D ~ Memorable Memorials 201 Early troubles/Voortrekker Monuments ............................. 203 Zulu War Memorials ................................................... 206 Anglo-Boer War Memorials: 1st Anglo-Boer War 1880-1881......... 211 Anglo-Boer War Memorials: 2nd Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902........ 212 Rock Inscriptions ....................................................... 231 Memorials and graves in other countries or other wars ............ 233 Photos of graves and monuments taken by friends ................. 241 Part E ~ Forts & Blockhouses 247 Part F ~ Statues & Plaques 251 Part G ~ Lesser-Known Cemeteries 255 Part H ~ Guns 259 A List of our Video Clips ................................................. 261 Index ........................................................................ 266 Maps ........................................................................ 270 References .................................................................. 272 Acknowledgements ........................................................ 272 SECTION ONE Part A Anecdotes Reproduced by kind permission of Rose Rigden. Reproduced WE WANDER THE BATTLEFIELDS Before you begin reading n these days of overdone ‘political correctness’, it is wise to remember the Ifollowing generalisations. The Zulu and Anglo-Boer Wars took place more than a century ago, so we should not judge events from our own perspective. Attitudes and social conditions were very different from today’s. This picture, which I found in a very old and tattered book so can’t reference, illustrates the distorted picture many people may have had of South Africa. By the way, there are no tigers there! Domination Not only did the British impose themselves on other nations at that time, but also the Dutch, French, Portuguese,
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