TOPIC:

Paul

Thank you for showing those memorial plaques. It is gratifying to see such memorials carefully preserved and kept in good order.

I look forward to Berenice's posts of similar memorials, so I came to wonder why it is that I find them so fascinating. I decided it stems from the fact that, in the 1950's, I attended St Matthew's Church in Estcourt, where there is (or was) a bronze plaque commemorating the five men from the town, who were killed during the Boer War while serving with the Estcourt-Weenen Squadron of the Natal Carbineers. At that time, there were many men from the Estcourt district who had served with what was then the Royal Natal Carbineers during World War II, and who gathered at the town's War Memorial on 11 November every year. I still have the badges given to me by some of them. So it was that I became fixated with the military history of the district, and with its local volunteer regiment. I now have the medals and badges of men who served with the Carbineers from the 1980's going back to the Zulu War of 1879.

St Matthew's Church is now closed, and is only used on rare occasions. I do not know if the Boer War plaque is still in the church. The Natal Carbineers have long since ceased to be "Royal", and, although the regiment still exists, its name is likely soon to be consigned to the pages of history.

Regards
Brett

Hello Brett,

I am pleased you found them interesting and thank you for your comments.
Thanks for sharing your story of Estcourt, different days indeed.

Cheers
Paul