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Item Ref# MS7448
Boer War - United in the Cause of Freedom Obverse: Two shields inclined toward each other and overlapping. The left shield, representing the British Empire, is quartered with: (1) Star of India, (2) kangaroo – Australia, (3) scale balance – New Zealand and (4) beaver – Canada and with a small shield of the Cape Colony superimposed in the centre. |
Commandant G.J. Scheepers
In the relatively short period from March 1900 to December 1900 the 22 year old heliographer was thus turned into a reliable scout and became the leader of a scout corps.
He had developed into a pillar of reliability for General Christiaan De Wet, mastered the handling of dynamite and the demolition of railway lines, bridges and culverts, and had been involved in several active encounters with the enemy. He had also been used by his superiors in the remotivating and recruiting of demoralised burghers.
Although still young, he had proved himself to be a man with many talents and exceptional energy. It was therefore predictable that he be nominated by De Wet as second in command under the more sedate Commandant Kritzinger on a venture into the Cape Colony. They crossed the Orange River near Norvalspont on 16 December 1900. Scheepers was destined to remain in the Cape Colony until his death on 18 January 1902.
The first weeks of the invasion resembled the first rounds of a boxing bout with the contestants testing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Minor skirmishes, attempts to wreck railways and a brief foray into Venterstad, made Burghersdorp and Steynsburg farmers eager to rush and join the invading Boers.
The local defence system proved inefficient and General Hector MacDonald was soon obliged to despatch reinforcements to the area to bolster the Town Guards and District Mounted Rifles. Despite this the Boers managed to harass the enemy while keeping continually on the move. They were the aggressors while the enemy, most of whom were untrained men, were more often than not on the defensive.
Source: The Psychological Impact of Guerrilla Warfare on the Boer Forces, UP
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“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Matthew 14:30, 31 |