A Hunter, A VC & A Boer War Crime
Africa beckons.
A long-time FP reader and contributor generously gifted me a subscription to Sporting Classics Magazine, and when it arrives in the post, my evening’s plans are set. The Adventure 2024 issue just landed, and it serves up a wonderful article by Wayne Van Zwoll on one of my very favorite fellers — the great J.A. Hunter.
The article is well-illustrated, including this delightful Men’s Adventure-style piece by Bob Kuhn. J.A. Hunter killed almost a thousand rhinoceros under contract to the government of Kenya, in order to clear land for native farmers. He expressed considerable regret at the impact of his work — a not uncommon phenomenon amongst the Frontier Partisans — because it helped to end the life he loved.
There is a poignancy in this remembrance of the Old Africa:
“I am one of the last of the old hunters. The events I saw can never be relived. No one will ever see again the great elephant herds led by old bulls carrying 150 pounds of ivory in each tusk [or] hear the yodeling war cries of the Masai after cattle-killer lions. Few indeed will [say] they have broken into country never before seen by a white man. No, the old Africa has passed.”
I wrote about Hunter at length in 2017:
The Mighty Hunter
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Our friend Christian Parkinson has served up another fascinating tale from the South African frontier — the story of Cecil D’arcy of the Frontier Light Horse:
Many VC winners have struggled to cope with their sudden fame and our hero today is one of them. He rose through the ranks to command one of the most famous units of the South African Frontier. He won a VC fighting the Zulus, served with distinction against the Basothos and then mysteriously disappeared. Today’s story is about an incredible man — but one who remains an enigma.
The Frontier Light Horse is a storied unit — very much in the Ranger tradition — and none ever took to the field in more picturesque fashion:
I shall soon tackle the story of their savage fight at Hlobane during the Zulu War in 1879 — one of the epic firefights in Frontier Partisan history. It’ll be a Tales of the Rangers podcast…
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When we think of war crimes during the Boer War, we automatically think of the notorious case of Breaker Morant. Boers, too, committed crimes — some accounted for and others, like the Leliefontein Massacre, in which Manie Maritz’ commando killed 35 Khoikhoi, remained forever unpunished.
In January 1902, just a few weeks before Morant was executed, a young Boer named Izak Bartholomeus Liebenberg was hanged at Aliwal North in the Cape Colony for the murder of a Boer policeman who was serving the British. collaborators often meet a grim end. This sounds like something the IRA would do to an informer:
Arthur Conan Doyle (he of Sherlock Holmes fame) reported:
The first absolute murder in the war was that of Lieutenant Neumeyer, which occurred at the end of November 1900. The facts, which have since been officially confirmed, were thus reported at the time from Aliwal:
“Lieutenant Neumeyer, commanding the Orange River Police at Smithfield, was driving here, unarmed, in a cart yesterday, when he was ‘held up’ by two Boers. He was taken prisoner, handcuffed, and treacherously shot in the back with a revolver and again through the head.
“The murderers stripped off the leggings which Lieutenant Neumeyer was wearing, searched his clothes for money, and afterwards dragged the body to a sluit, where, later in the day it was discovered by the Cape Police and brought here. Two natives were eye-witnesses of the murder. Lieutenant Neumeyer had served with distinction in the Rhodesian campaign.”
Liebenberg — who was one of Gideon Scheepers’ raiders — was captured in July, tried by a military court in November, and sentenced to death.
According to True Crime Library:
The circumstances of his hanging on Saturday, January 11th, 1902, were nothing if not crude. The first time the trap-door opened Liebenberg, hooded and bound, merely hit the ground a foot or two below. It transpired that no pit had been dug, so, while the doomed man was kept waiting, soldiers were brought in to dig to a depth for a suitable drop. This done, Liebenberg was re-executed, this time successfully.
Liebenberg’s last letter to his family is poignant:
My Mother and [younger] brother,
How bitter the cup must be for you to taste getting this sad message from me; I understand only too well. But dearest Mother thou must be thankful to receive this tiding of death from your son; thou could reason that the Will of the Lord is done [despite] how bitter it must be for thee; have peace in knowing thy destiny; Christ was crucified an innocent man and who am I to deserve better.
Mother the Lord has forgiven me all my trespasses and I belong to the Lord; He has forgiven me everything and what He chooses is well chosen and good; so my dear Mother I take refuge and solace in the Lord. He will save us and comfort us. In Jesus the sinners find refuge, he takes them in, so Mother I wish thee Gods best blessings and little Brother and friends alike. Believe and trust in the Lord and all will go well with thee. I am going to depart from thee; in the hereafter to meet in Heavenly Salvation. How divine it must to meet God’s angels there. Farewell dear mother. We have to part but thy Faith will [must] protect thee.
So dear Mother and friends do not lament, grieve over me; I am safe with the Lord and His will be done, His will is Good and so I am going to leave all of you; Jesus is my savior; “Jesus takes the sinners to him and He has also accepted me in Heaven” I may enter to Him with full Trust and Faith in Him; I rejoice self at the end dear Loved Ones.” “Jesus welcomes the sinners and Mama I have asked […] Du Plessis to send you all my belongings [stuff] and portraits; to do with as thou see fit. I feel such bliss under the Cross as it is the Lord’s will that I have surrender everything to Him and I am completely at peace with it. I have [Loo?] Du Plessis with me and [he] will stay with me until the end. At this moment he is not here but will come quickly when my time comes and the end is near. O what sublime salvation would it not [have] be[en] to be out of this prison in the Heavenly Kingdom were it not that thee and my little brother could not be with me …
Oh Mother Father and [my] two brothers are not even aware of my situation; when thee see them again tell them to take refuge in the Lord and tell them that if they do it with righteous hearts that He will save them. So now I must close with a relieved and joyous heart and take leave for the last time in the Holy Spirit. Greetings from your ever remembering son.
Izak Bartholomeus Liebenberg