Pam McFadden

From the very beginning of the formal establishment of Dundee in 1882, the town was remarkable for the calibre of its inhabitants. Perhaps none more so than a young doctor and a young surveyor, who set off in 1884 for the unexplored “sea of land – land of water”.

The initiative was their own – without sponsorship from Government, the Royal Missionary Societies or the Royal Navy - they made and paid their own way. They were Dr Aurel Schulz MD and Mr August Hammar CE.

Over a hundred years later, the land that Schultz and Hammar traversed on foot, remains a land of adventure. They discovered this world in all its pristine glory.

Rumours of this magical world must have filled Hammar’s first years in Africa. He landed in 1879 and was sent to Rorkes Drift to map the frontier farms along the Buffalo river. He watched the battle of Isandlwana, from the heights of the Oscarberg. Unable to escape due to the approaching Zulu impi, that night he lay concealed on the hillside, watching the burning flames of the hospital building and hearing the frightful sounds of the battle below him. Signing on with Baker’s horse he fought throughout the rest of the campaign until after the battle at Ulundi when he returned to the burnt remains of the mission station to pick up the threads of his career. Round the campfires and talking to locals and passing adventurers, he heard many tales of grand adventure.

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Maria Ratschitz Mission was established by the Trappist monks in 1888. The mission is set on 3200 hectares of land and nestles in the fertile Nkunzi valley at the base of Hlatikulu Mountain.

The spire of the beautiful church can be seen from great distances and the peal of the church bells can be heard throughout the valley.

Maria Ratschitz Cathedral (Talana Museum)

In 1886 two silent Trappist monks from the Marianhill monastery chose the site for the mission station as it reminded them of the Bavarian area from which they originated.

Maria Ratschitz was a daughter house of Marianhill, outside Pinetown. The mission was established on the farm Boschkloof in the Biggarsberg, which was purchased by Father Franz Pfanner for approximately ₤6 000. It was named Maria Ratschitz after the Marian shrine in Leitmeritz in northern Bohemia.

The original church (Talana Museum)

The two monks lived in a simple wattle and daub cottage. The framework for this cottage was made from two huge yellowwood trees from the forest. They worked with dedication to create a model farm with fine Friesian herds and superb vineyards.

An important aim of...

Nita Meyer and her husband, Izak, farmed at “Twyfelfontein” near Laffnie’s Drift on the Buffalo River. Her original diary, written in high Dutch and covering hundreds of pages, is held at the Talana Museum archives.

Izak was a burgher of the Utrecht Republiek and a brother of President Lukas Meyer of the Nieuwe Republiek at Vryheid. Nita was the daughter of Doctor Aveling, of Harrismith. They had two children, Marthie and Izzie.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, commando members were mustered and their families banded together for self protection. Sina Uys and her four children, as well as Minnie Van Rooijen and her four children, all came to stay together at “Wydgelegen” with Nita.

The personalities from the Uys family, mentioned below, came from a tragic line of forebears. The patriarch Piet Uys and his son, Dirkie, were killed by the Zulus at Italeni in April 1838. The second generation Piet Uys was killed by Zulus on Hlobane on 28 March 1879 while fighting for the British forces. The third generation Dirkie was one of the first burghers to be killed at Talana on 20 October 1899.

The first excerpt from the diary...

Just prior to the outbreak of the Boer War, the small mining and railway village of Hattingspruit, only a few kilometres north of Dundee, grabbed some reflected limelight. This was due to the incredible physical exertion of 7 000 Zulu workers who walked from the Witwatersrand Goldfields back to their homes in Zululand.

The logistics of this march were organised by John Sydney Marwick. At 24 years old he was a fluent Zulu linguist, and the Johannesburg Agent for the Natal Native Agency, responsible for the recruitment and personal affairs of several thousand Zulu workers employed on the mines. His Zulu nickname was “Muhle”.

John Sydney Marwick

The discovery of diamonds and gold and the subsequent mining operations had revolutionised the country. There were far reaching changes in the social, political and economic life of the country and its inhabitants. A cheap and constant supply of labour was needed and by 1899 100 000 Africans were employed on the gold mines.

Once it was clear that war was going to break out and that the closure of the gold mines was imminent, the question arose as to what would happen to the mine workers Many of the mines shut down and 78 000 workers sought refuge outside the Transvaal.

According to Thomas Pakenham’s The Boer War:

In terms of...

“An increasing number (of horses) are killed for rations and today 28 were especially shot for the chevril factory”.  HA Nevinson war reporter for The Daily Chronicle.

Chevril Label (Talana Museum)

So often with history it is the main events that are carried down through time. The logistics to keep armies moving tend to be overlooked and the animals that suffered in wars also tend to take a back seat.

Horses played a vital role during the Anglo-Boer War. 360,000 horses out of a total of 519,000, were imported to South Africa including 50 000 from the United States and 35 000 from Australia – most of them landing in Port Elizabeth. 106,000 mules and donkeys out of a total of 151,000 were also brought into the country for the war.

Horse in transit (Talana Museum)

A variety of breeds of horses were used during the war. Many Boers used Basuto Ponies, that were well adapted to the rocky, mountainous terrain and were known for their endurance. The Boer horses were exceptionally hardy and nimble and could survive in all types of terrain and weather conditions.

War...

As early as 1873 a Colonial government commission had been set up to investigate the establishment of laagers for defensive purposes in the Newcastle Division. They recommended that 2 laagers be built, one on Newcastle town lands and the other not that far from where Fort Pine stands today. In 1874 £5 000 was allocated for the construction of laagers and armouries throughout the Colony of Natal.

By 1877 nothing had happened and in December of that year Messrs HSD Coetzee, JJ Gregory, A Jansen, DC Pieters and CG Willson, acting on behalf of the Biggarsberg residents, met at Dundee to petition the government for the construction of a laager.

By this time the government had decided to build a post for the Natal Mounted Police at Dundee and on 18 December 1877 the Colonial Secretary wrote to the Colonial Engineer, enquiring how long it would take to finish a wall enclosing the proposed barracks. He wanted this done as soon as possible as the post would also serve as defensive laager for the Biggarsberg district in case of emergency.

In January 1878 the Colonial government sent a party of about 70 labourers to quarry stone and to prepare for the building. A contract to construct the wall was entered into with a local contractor, John Marshall of Kelvin Grove.

Capt Hime, the Colonial Engineer selected the site. An inspector, David Smith, reported that he considered it to have an insufficient water supply. John Marshall suggested alternative water sources and this...

The Penn Symons flag arrived in the post addressed to the Museum Dundee back in the early 1980s. It has been on permanent display in the museum since 1983. It has an interesting story and one that is personally connected to my forebears.

The Penn Symons flag

The idea for a permanent museum in Dundee that would commemorate the Anglo Boer War and particularly the Battle of Talana (the first battle of the Anglo Boer War of 1899-1902), the history of the coal industry (the Dundee Coal Company was launched on the London Stock Exchange in 1889), the history of glass making in South Africa (glass has been  made in our valley since 1889) and of course the local settler history, was mooted in 1977 with an exhibition in the MOTH hall to raise awareness. The decision was later taken to establish a museum to coincide with the centenary of the founding of Dundee in 1982 and the original Smith farm – Dundee farm, on the slopes of Talana hill - was purchased as a joint venture between the Dundee Town Council and the Province of Natal.

Looking at Talana...

In 1901 the Duke of Cornwall and York – the future King George V – and his wife embarked on the longest official tour ever undertaken by the British Royal family. The tour lasted for nearly eight months and most of it was spent in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, with brief calls at Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon, Singapore and Mauritius. They travelled almost 50 000 miles.

It became one of the great media events of its day and was viewed by contemporaries as a ceremonial occasion of great and lasting importance. At the time it was viewed as being “undertaken at the express desire of Queen Victoria, as a mark of special appreciation for the part her colonies had played in the hour of the Empire’s need.” However, the truth was much more complex. Her death in January 1901 changed the attitude of Edward VII, once he became king, and he did not want the tour to proceed. Eventually it was agreed that the tour would go ahead, so long as Joseph Chamberlain (Colonial Secretary) would guarantee that there was no danger to the heir to the throne.

George and his wife left Britain in mid March. He was not particularly enthusiastic about visiting South Africa and at his request John Anderson, the Colonial official accompanying the royal party, wrote to Chamberlain from Aden in early May, with a request to cancel the visit to South Africa as there was a “serious outbreak of plague” in Cape...

Known as “Long Toms”, the four 155mm siege guns installed in the forts to protect Pretoria, were supposed to be far too big and cumbersome to move, yet one of them (nicknamed Schanskop Tom), which had originally been installed at Fort Schanskop, was used to drive the British out of Dundee. It was manoeuvred up Impati Mountain and shelled the British camp on Ryley’s Hill. Unable to retaliate, the British were forced to withdraw from Dundee and make a hazardous, but mostly uncomfortable (in the pelting rain) retirement to Ladysmith.

H. Watkins-Pitchford, one of the Veterinary Officers stationed in Dundee, wrote to his wife that –

“The big gun of the enemy drove us out. They had managed to put one of their 40 pounders (6 inch) guns on a truck and had brought it from Pretoria on our railway, which had, of course, been left intact, with our usual disregard of our foe. This gun was mounted upon the top of a hill overlooking the town, and with it they poured in heavy shells at a range at which we were hopeless to reply as we had only light guns in our possession”.

This gun was subsequently moved to Pepworth Hill, just north of Ladysmith, as the Boers tightened their grip around the town. It came into action again during the abortive British sortie on 30 October, later to become known as “Mournful Monday”. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes but at that time a Doctor serving...

On the western heights of the Biggarsberg, Mkupe Mountain looks down on the strategic pass to which it gives its name and the Inkunzi river. During the Anglo-Zulu War (1879) and the 1st Anglo Boer War (1881), this pass was of vital concern to the British Army, as it was their supply line between military headquarters in Pietermaritzburg and the Frontier stations of Newcastle and Dundee. It was also the shortest route for any Boer invading force to strike at the communications system of the British defending forces and the quickest route to take to Ladysmith.

Fort Mistake from a distance

“Mkupe” is an old Zulu name meaning the "fouling of the Eagle’s Nest”. To this day the black eagles nest along its cliffs and soar across its northern flanks.

Other mountains with historical significence can be seen from these heights:

• to the east. Mt. Nonni (with the signal fort built in 1881 and the Border Mounted Rifles Fort “Carolina”(built in 1901),
• “Lindisfarne” with its twin forts and 
• Mt. Mpati with its memories of General “Maroela” Erasmus and the young Denys Reitz on commando in October 1899

Many is the tale told of the origin of Fort Mistake and its quaint name – and many are the legends that continue to this day:

• that the foolish British (without...