Mortymoose does Magersfontein!

Mortymoose

Mortymoose

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My late Scottish father was a nutter about the Boer war, often reciting paragraphs from various books that he owned. Knew all about the Irish and Scots that fought with the Boers, often speaking about various battles. At the time I never paid much attention, I mean .....The Boer War sounded boring....

As I got older my interest stirred.

So this past week after I had dropped FirstBornMoose off at Varsity in Potch I decided to change my route home and go on a one man road trip to Magersfontein.

I had lived in Kimberley for over a year when I was an electrical apprentice with DeBeers, but rather than visit these historical places, I could be found in more interesting historical pubs like Star of the West, The Halfway House and Queens Hotel to name but a few.

A quote:
A hilltop memorial located close to the museum commemorates the Scottish dead, while the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) monument honours the men of the 2nd battalion who died during the battle. Two more notable memorials are those of the Scandinavians who fought alongside the Boers and the imposing Burgher monument to the north-east of the main Magersfontein hill. Information on the battlefield and refreshments are available at the cafeteria. Recently a guesthouse, the Bagpipe Lodge, was also established at Magersfontein.
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With bagpipe music blaring in the car, a touch of the Proclaimers, Amy MacDonald, The Corries and Big Country I headed South towards Kimberley, not knowing where I would land up that evening....
 
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It was soon evident that the current government does not deem the Boer War as anything worth preserving as I drove past the unmarked road turning off the N10 heading South. Realizing that I should not be crossing the Modder River, I turned and backtracked, turning off onto a dirt track I found a faded brown tourism board and headed North on the dusty track to a few kopies in the distance.

As I approached I could make out a Celtic Cross on the top of the kopie.
1aMagersfontein Koppies (Medium).jpg

The gate into the complex was manned by a single woman, I paid my R25.00, signed a book and headed in. I noticed a sign board indicating wild animals and a mere 500m there they were.

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As a fellow from the real bush it did not take me long to deduce that these were not wild beasts, but semi domesticated and this was their feeding spot. When I stopped the car, they did not even move, lifted their horny heads , blinked at me whilst I hurled verbal abuse in their general direction, City Bokke..... !!!!!
 
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I found a few buildings and a little cafe where a plump lady sat, seemingly happy to see the only visitor for the day!

Hardly anyone comes here anymore. So I was alone, the only car, an Aunty at the front gate and this lady in the kiosk. She told me drive up a hill where I will find a small museum and that there is nobody there, "Just push the doors open and go inside....", she added....

Up the Hill I went....found the wee building, pushed the doors open and went inside to be greeted by.....

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If you read the history, you will see that black folk did indeed play an important role in the conflict, on both sides! I somehow think the current government does not realize this.

It was strange to be in such a place when there is nobody else there....no Staff, no tourists..... just me.... So I placed my MyBB cap on the old canon and took a snap....

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To my right was a small door that led into a darkened room, I headed that way, intrigued....
 
My eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, the silence..... I could barely make out a white screen on a wall, when suddenly a black & white vintage film started playing , depicting a dark Kopjie, a recorded voice started to speak... It was like a Boer talking in the darkness..... My eyes strained, a single shot from a mauser rifle startled me.... then all hell broke loose on that old screen.....

Just as I was getting into the film I got the fright of my life as I realized I was not alone in here as I had originally thought. There were two figures 2 meters in front of me.....

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It took an entire 30 seconds before I realized that these were props..... and I was in a Boer trench facing the British....
I watched the 8 minute historical film, riveted to it, the youth, the slaughter, the futility of it all..... The Scandanavians, The Boers, The British and in particular the Scots, cut down.......

As the film flickered to a close, the sound of a lone piper filled the small room, hauntingly beautiful, stirring...... I felt a lump in my throat, my eyes welling up......
 
Leaving the small museum, I noticed on the roof, hanging, there were lists of the names of the fallen.... I read each and every name.

The hot midday sun seared my eyes, my enlarged pupils dilating rapidly.My eyes focused on the stone that was laid when the museum was officially opened...

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Glancing to my left, i saw a small Celtic cross, marking the route up the hill to a much larger cross on the summit. This I had to see.

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As I headed up the rock strewn path, mindful of snakes, I glanced up at the Celtic Cross towering above me some 120m ahead.

I recall thinking to myself that it looked really out of place, here in the barren African bush. I swatted another fly from my perspiring brow.

8The Large Celtic Cross (Medium).jpg

There was not much of a wind up there, just flies, the heat and that silence that only the African bush can provide. I read the inscription, once again I could feel that lump returning to my dry throat... I must have read that inscription at least 8 times, each time pausing to survey the brown landscape below, thoughts conjuring in my mind, trying to put myself in those pale skinned Highlanders boots.

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Next I did a strange thing that only Moose could understand, I took out my cellphone, held it above my head, turning towards the actual trenches, played Flower of Scotland on the pipes. It might seem strange , but it was the best I could do. I thought to myself, next time I come here, I will be wearing a kilt, armed with a piper from CBC in Kimberley and a Saltire.

I must have stood there for twenty minutes, pondering it all, before picking up a crescent shape rock and heading down towards the main viewing point of the trenches. For some odd reason, I thought of my father.

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I felt incredibly sad at that time and in all honesty felt guilty that I had not listened more to my father and perhaps visited sooner.

I never saw a single person, save for those two ladies that worked at the gate and kiosk ...... as I headed to my car, a voice in my head interrupted me, "Moose, how far is Matjiesfontein from here? If it's less than 500km , we drive now...." I took out my phone to discover that Matjiesfontein was 700km away.

"Damn! I always wanted to have a beer in that old historical pub!", I thought unto myself....

Suffice to say, that evening in the pub in Upington, I raised a glass to ALL the fallen!

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Here ends today's South African History lesson, :sneaky:

Mind you whilst on the piss in the Upington pub, I started to lecture a beast of a Boer who was only 21 about not respecting his forefathers culture, "Ja! oom, nee! oom!, we are ready for the war.........." , his girlfriend agreeing with the Ol'Moose, promising to send me an invite to their April wedding, as she took my email address...

;)
 
Excellent write-up!

You really are a good writer @Mortymoose :thumbsup:

Also do you watch horror movies? Because this is how people get killed in horror movies. Driving up to semi-abandoned facilities in the middle of nowhere, exploring empty museums alone, auto-playing movies and creepy mannequins? No thank you! :p
 
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Knyro said:
Excellent write-up!

You really are good writer @Mortymoose :thumbsup:

Also do you watch horror movies? Because this is how people get killed in horror movies. Driving up to semi-abandoned facilities in the middle of nowhere, exploring empty museums alone, auto-playing movies and creepy mannequins? No thank you! :p
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Except in this version, the zombies and slasher creatures are slayed by a bellowing scotsman, brandishing a badminton racket whilst gulping from a sizeable can of the breweries' best.
 
I last visited that place when I was a kid.

https://www.kimberley.co.za/places/kimberley/free/magersfontein-battlefield/

Magersfontein Battlefield
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About 31.5 km on the Modderriver Road past the airport. The Magersfontein battlefield is a must for any visitor to Kimberley. It is situated south of Kimberley and can be reached either via the airport road (31.5km) or via the N12 to Modder River (47,5km).

It was here that General P A Cronje and his Boer troops defeated the English forces of Lt Gen Lord Methuen who were on their way to relieve besieged Kimberley. Methuen planned to attack Magersfontein at dawn on 11 December 1899, using General A G Wauchope’s Highland Brigade as his main assault force. Methuen believed the Boers were positioned on high ground and ordered his artillery to shell Magersfontein during the afternoon of 10 December, thus sacrificing a possible surprise attack.

Wauchope’s Highlanders left Headquarters Hill at 00:30 the following morning. The plan required that they be in position below the Magersfontein hill by 02:30, but a dark, stormy night slowed their advance. The Highland Brigade only deployed at about 03:45 some 400 m from the unsuspected Boer trenches. In the dim pre-dawn the Boers opened fire, throwing the Highland Brigade into chaos. The Highland Brigade fought valiantly but was driven back by Boer rifle fire and its own shellfire. By midmorning the Brigade was pinned down and unable to move despite reinforcement by the Gordon Highlanders. The British were on the back foot for most of the battle. At about midday on the 12th Methuen withdrew his troops to Modder River station, where he remained for the following two months.

Kimberley would have to wait two more months before it was relieved. The Magersfontein Battlefield Museum was first opened in 1971 and renovated in 1999. Numerous artifacts from the battlefield can be seen, as well as an audio-visual presentation. With this display visitors can experience the battle as if from a darkened Boer trench with all the sights and sounds as the action unfolds. The museum has some examples of the uniforms worn by the leading role players and a selection of firearms used by the British and Boer forces.

A hilltop memorial located close to the museum commemorates the Scottish dead, while the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) monument honours the men of the 2nd battalion who died during the battle. Two more notable memorials are those of the Scandinavians who fought alongside the Boers and the imposing Burgher monument to the north-east of the main Magersfontein hill. Information on the battlefield and refreshments are available at the cafeteria. Recently a guesthouse, the Bagpipe Lodge, was also established at Magersfontein.
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A little excited I am.....

Heading to Potchefstroom in 72 Hours to take my FirstBornMoose back for her honors year, due to it being Namibian School Holiday's I get to take LastbornMoose with, so we gonna chuck a wee roadtrip into the mix, heading down to Kimberley to show the lad the Groot gat and the Museum, then over to Magersfontein again, I only realised after my previous trip that I had missed a few spots at Magersfontein that I should have seen....

/Moose Hollers FREEEEEEDOM!!!!! in his mind whilst he sits at work typing..... ;)
 
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