Dullstroom Boer War Memorial, South Africa
S 25° 25.108 E 030° 06.417
36J E 208981 N 7185558
This memorial, erected for the activities of the Boer War, is located in the town of Dullstoom, South Africa.
Waymark Code: WMJAG8
Location: Mpumalanga, South Africa
Date Posted: 10/19/2013
Views: 5
THE MEMORIAL:
There is a small fenced area in the middle of Dullstroom that holds a memorial called the Garden of Remembrance,establised in memory of the terrible times the villagers faced during the 2nd Boer War, plus a stone memorial to the original settlers, and a pretty Rose Cottage surrounded by roses and bushes (one of the few buildings that was not destroyed in the Boer war).
The Memorial is accessed via a stone entryway with plaques, and an open archway to pass to the garden behind. Inside the garden you first encounter the memorial stone that honors the early settlers, the etching which is hard to read as it has aged and faded. Beyond this is a low stone wall with plaques honoring those affected adversely by the Boer Wars.
ABOUT DULLSTROOM:
Dullstroom is a small town in Mpumalanga province of South Africa, halfway between Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. Today it is a tourist town that is considered a premier fly-fishing destination. After the First Boer War (1880-1881), South Africa’s president Paul Kruger began encouraging emigration. At this time, groups in Holland began to organize financial backing to support the Afrikaans who had endured the First Boer war, as well as send a group of settlers to the area. By 1883, Wolterus Dull of Holland had been able to arrange sufficient funding to purchase two farms in the Dullstroom area; Groot Suikerboschkop & Elandslaagte. Settlers from Holland arrived in 1884-1887 and by 1890 the settlers had established a small village.
In 1892 Paul Kruger named the village named Dull's-stroom, which was later shortened to Dullstroom, in honour of Wolterus Dull and the nearyby Crocodile River ("stroom" is an Afrikaans word meaning "stream"). Records reflect that by 1893 DullStroom boasted 48 residents, eight homes, three stables, 10 cattle corrals and trading store called the " Boeren Handelsvereniging ".
It was not long before Dullstroom would see the end of quiet farm life, as The Second Boer War descended upon the village. British solders occupied Dullstroom in May 1900. Most of the village’s men were already on the battlefield, so the British had little resistance from the women and children who had remained in the village while the men were away fighting. The British proceeded to carry out orders of “scorched earth” warfare whereby they virtually razed the village to the ground. After burning or destroying everything of value, including the slaughter of all livestock, the village’s women and children were transported to a British concentration camp in nearby Belfast. Many of the Boer men (Boer is a Dutch word meaning “farmer”) died fighting and many others died in detention. The women and children who were placed in the British detention centers did not fare any better fate: placed on low rations and provided little in the way of supplies, it is recorded that of approximately 100,000 women and children detained, 26,000 of them perished in these camps.
SOURCES:
www.mpumalangahappenings.co.za/dullstroom_homepage.htm
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visit link)
www.dullstroom.info/html/history.html
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visit link)
dullstroomaccommodation.co.za/Dullstroom.htm
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visit link)
www.walkersons.co.za/dullstroom.html
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visit link)
www.dullstroom.co.za/accommodation/ziziestate/activities.html
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visit link)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concentration_and_internment_camps#South_Africa
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visit link)