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Hi everybody

A recent discussion on the Doctor who served on both sides in the Boer War triggered my memory about Glen Scorgie.

According to the entry in "Men of the Times" in 1908 he was a highly respected citizen of Potchefstroom.




The entry makes no mention of his Boer War service, but he served in the Potchefstroom Town Guard and in 1905 he received a QSA for that service.



Now for the interesting part.
When the Boer awards (DTD, ABO & LvW) were gazetted on 21 December 1920, Glen Scorgie was an early applicant for the ABO.



He claimed active service in the Waterberg Commando, initially in the Northern Transvaal (October - December 1899) and then in Colesberg and the Free State (January- April 1900).
In support of his application he submitted copies of two "passes"
One, dated 25/12/1899 and issued by Asst Comdt Genl F A Grobler, which read (freely translated) "Please pass Glen Scorgie, who is on leave from my Commando, wherever he may be"
The other one, dated 26 March 1900, was issued by Asst Gen F A Grobler and countersigned by Head Commandant P J Schutte and read " Permission granted for Dr. Daley and G Scorgie to travel to Potchefstroom for reasons with which I am completely acquainted with".

However, Glen's ABO application was turned down.



When considering the application members of the Advisory Board reported that Burger Scorgie was not "Faithful" as he went back to the "Engelsen" in 1900 and carried on as shop-keeper in Potchefstroom.

Nice try!!!

Henk

That is great Henk. Even a Potch TG is nice, and I guess he did at least serve on both sides. He probably just had enough and wanted to go home and joined the TG to protect his shop and because it was a social thing to do.

I suppose the British couldn't tell people had served in commandos and seemed in fact to encourage them to change sides, but it must have been risky to take in what was an enemy. Much simpler and trusting time back then!

Cheers
Ryan

Henk

Thank you for another very interesting Boer War story.

There must have been many more Burghers (citizens) of the Transvaal, who shirked their commitments to the ZAR, and who escaped to one of the Colonies to join the British side there.

I posted about one such man a while back - Tom Vinnicombe, a Burgher who had come from Natal and who made a name for himself by building churches in the Transvaal for the Dutch Reformed Church. He was busy building the church in Bethal when the war started, and, although he was nominally a member of the Bethal Commando, he was assured by Commandant-General Piet Joubert that he would not be called up, since he was doing 'God's work'. That promise was forgotten after Joubert's death and Vinnicombe received an order to report for duty. He went on the run and for a while he was hidden on farms in the Bethel district, and eventually made his way to the front, where he joined the Natal Guides. His wife and children later abandoned their house in Bethal, and the family was reunited and settled in Volksrust.

An unexpected postscript to this story came about after the British occupied Bethal. While searching the town, soldiers came across Vinnicombe's Commando-issued Mauser and ammunition, which his wife had hidden in the attic of their house. Since there was no-one left to inform them otherwise, it was assumed that the house belonged to a Boer sympathiser and it was burned to the ground.

There was much more to the story of the Vinnicombes and the Boer War, and it was well told in the biography shown below.

Regards
Brett

It must be incredible to get such a publication about your man for whom you have the medal! Well done!

I think his house being burnt down is probably the prize for irony for the war!

Cheers
Ryan

Brett

It would be great to uncover more men with voluntary/forced service on both sides in the Boer War.

Vinnicombe was a fantastic find. He definitely takes first prize in this "competition"!!

Henk

Ryan & Henk

Thank you for your comments.

The best things about the Vinnicombe biography are the anecdotes about incidents in the war involving both Boer and Brit. Some tell of the divided loyalties of those people who had been friends before the war, but had then become enemies through no thoughts or actions of their own.

One of the most remarkable incidents involving Tom Vinnicombe came about while he was serving with the Natal Guides at Standerton, and Bethal was still under Boer control. Intelligence gathered by the Guides included the story that Tom's family in Bethal were short of food, so Tom sought permission from his commanding officer, Major Hubert Gough, to undertake a night ride to Bethal with food for his family.
"The young major, noted for recklessness himself, was horrified. To visit a town in enemy hands, alone, in uniform, was unacceptably dangerous, even at night ...."

Accompanied only by his "Cape boy", Tom did in fact make the ride to Bethal, where he was met by both his family and other inhabitants of the town. In a remarkable turn of events, the man who held the keys to the town in the temporary absence of the Landdrost (Magistrate) was,
"Albertus Hamman, whose quarry a few miles north of Bethal, supplied the beautiful sandstone"
that Tom had been using in the building of the new church. Hamman had been told that when the British came he was to hand over the keys of the town to them.
"As far as 'old Hamman' was concerned they had!"
Then comes an account of the amazing events that followed: the warm welcome from family and old friends, both Boer and Brit, and, later, Tom's escape back to Standerton, his mission accomplished!

Regards
Brett