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BOER PRISONERS OF WAR IN BERMUDA
BOER PRISONERS OF WAR BURIED IN BERMUDA
A project that received the full support of the authorities was the erection of a monument in remembrance of those Boers who had died while in captivity. Rev van Blerk was put in touch with the Committee for the Restoration of the Anglican Cathedral and it was decided to build an obelisk of Nova Scotia freestone on a base of Bermuda limestone. The monument, which has the names of the dead inscribed on its plinth, was duly erected by the convicts at one end of the Lond Island cemetery and it was dedicated by the Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda in 1903.
Most of the carving on this obelisk was done by Francois "Rooi Faan" van der Merwe, a real extrovert with long red hair, whose natural exuberance had got him into many a scrape both before and during the war. On his return home, he was a well known designer of clothes, a successful garage owner, and superintendent of a power station - all without the benefit of previous training! He died in Krugerspan in 1958 at the age of 81.
There are some errors and discrepancies with regard to the names and dates inscribed on the monument and Dr Carl Schulenburg, who visited Long Island in 1974, has meticulously researched the subject with reference to various burial registers and information obtained from the Pretoria Archives. The definitive list of the 35 dead is as follows:
| GRAVE | NUMBER | NAME and AGE | CAUSE | BURIAL DATE |
| 1 | 119117 | DJ Roodt (19) | Enteric fever | 6.7.01 |
| 2 | 19883 | P de Klerck (22) | Enteric fever | 19.8.01 |
| 3 | 20371 | WJ Smith (30) | Erysipelas | 26.8.01 |
| 4 | 19662 | PJ Eloff (37) | Carcinoma | 10.9.01 |
| 5 | 19971 | PW Maartens (23) | Enteric fever | 11.9.01 |
| 6 | 20093 | LA Nel (54) | Heart disease | 15.9.01 |
| 7 | 21491 | JN Steyn (31) | Enteric fever | 23.9.01 |
| 8 | 21023 | CS de Haas (55) | Pneumonia | 3.10.01 |
| 9 | 17429 | WDJ van Vuuren (71) | Debility | 4.11.01 |
| 10 | 19883 | D de Klerk (19) | Meningitis | 21.11.01 |
| 11 | 20852 | JA Calitz (41) | Pnemuonia | 21.11.01 |
| 12 | 21330 | JP du Plessis (53) | Pneumonia | 30.12.01 |
| 13 | 24507 | DF Beukes (19) | Pneumonia | 23.1.01 |
| 14 | 20326 | PB Schalkwyk (41) | Pneumonia | 30.1.02 |
| 15 | 26127 | GC Olivier (31) | Heart disease | 01.2.02 |
| 16 | 26047 | TD Moolman (12) | Meningitis | 08.3.02 |
| 17 | 20663 | S Charalaahedron (22) | Tuberculosis | 18.3.02 |
| 18 | 20339 | AHA Schoeman (65) | Syncope | 30.3.02 |
| 19 | 25530 | DJ Botha (40) | Pneumonia | 31.3.02 |
| 20 | 21309 | RJ Opperman (45) | Bright's disease | 07.4.02 |
| 21 | 20843 | *DJ de Bruyn (18) | Enteric fever | 08.4.02 |
| 22 | 16870 | F Bosch (16) | Shot escaping | 28.4.02 |
| 23 | 20654 | AJ van der Walt (66) | Pneumonia | 29.4.02 |
| 24 | 19638 | WC Diedericks (66) | Heart disease | 01.5.02 |
| 25 | 20102 | DG Nortje (53) | Syncope | 31.5.02 |
| 26 | 20562 | JS Vermaak (53) | Dysentery | 02.7.02 |
| 27 | 24809 | JH Joubert (67) | Pericarditis | 04.7.02 |
| 28 | 25116 | DS Prinsloo (66) | Gastritis | 20.7.02 |
| 29 | 20048 | BE Meyer (36) | Enteric fever | 15.8.02 |
| 30 | 26685 | WJJ van Zyl (20) | Heart disease | 23.8.02 |
| 31 | 26326 | SW van der Sandt (41) | Enteric fever | 03.9.02 |
| 32 | 21003 | NJ Goosen (27) | Tuberculosis | 06.9.02 |
| 33 | 25269 | *SJ Steyn (49) | Bright's disease | 12.9.02 |
| 34 | 21496 | *JH Steyn (20) | Enteric fever | 06.11.02 |
| 35 | 21078 | *WE Johnston (27) | Enteric fever | 15.1.03 |
WE Johnstone had died in 1901 during the period that the rebels (*) were held in the military prison at St. George's. He had been buried there, but his remains were moved to Long Island on the date shown.
"RED FRANCOIS" of Fauresmith, OVS
Source:
BOER PRISONERS OF WAR IN BERMUDA, published 1962 by the Bermuda Historical Society , Par-la-Ville, Hamilton, Bermuda.
Used with permission by author Colin H. Benbow.