Desecration of South African War Graves

[Fishbone Jones]

I don't know if this was covered at the time, but a friend just sent it to me by email. Quite disturbing to say the least. Does anyone have updated info?


Copyright National Post 2004)

Author(s): Tim Butcher, with files from Chris Wattie
Article types: News
Dateline: LADYSMITH, South Africa
Section: News
Publication title: National Post. Don Mills, Ont.: Mar
11, 2004.  pg. A.15
Source Type: Newspaper
ProQuest document ID: 581036941
Text Word Count 809

Canadians buried there: Witch doctors, robbers steal
bones, grave
markers

LADYSMITH, South Africa - South African witch doctors
looking for human
bones
and grave robbers have desecrated the graves of
soldiers from the Boer
War,
possibly including those of 261 Canadians who died in
the conflict.

Graves from the 1899-1902 war are now in such a poor
state that the
British
government has drawn up a (ps)500,000 emergency rescue
plan.

Skeletons have been exhumed for use in muti, or black
magic, bronze
name plates
have been pried off grave markers and melted down for
scrap, and large
memorials have been demolished by grave robbers
mistakenly convinced
they
contain gold.

The African tradition of burying warriors with their
most valuable
possessions
has persuaded many South African robbers to dig under
memorial stones
and
headstones.

There are more than 25,000 British war graves in South
Africa from the
Boer
War, which marked Canada's first deployment of troops
overseas. The
small
Canadian contingent left 261 fallen troops behind.

Philip Michael, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs
Canada, said the
stories of
grave robbery were shocking. "I would hope that we
would have been
notified
about this sort of thing going on," he said.

"[But] this is the first I've heard of this."

He did not know if any Canadian graves were among
those desecrated, but
said
the federal government is joining with the British in
negotiating a
four-year
contract to maintain the South African war graves with
the Commonwealth
War
Graves Commission.

This will be the first time the commission, a
multinational body set up
to
maintain the graves of those who died in two world
wars, will take
responsibility for the fallen from a conflict that
pre- dates the First
World
War.

"It looks promising, but negotiations are still
ongoing," Mr. Michael
said.
"These things take time."

The grave robbers seem determined not to give
Commonwealth governments
any time
to address the issue.

On the summit of Tchrengula, a hill near the town of
Ladysmith, an
entire stone
cenotaph marking the fallen from the Gloucester
Regiment has
disappeared.

In an earlier robbery, the mass grave in front of the
memorial was
disturbed
and local historians said bone fragments were taken.
The grave was
subsequently
raked over and restored to its original condition.

"I have no idea how they got up here or what they did
with the stone
plinth or
the cross," Mike Suddaby, 59, a local farmer, said as
he stood in the
pit left
by the robbers on the site where the memorial was
positioned. "It was
huge and
must have been really heavy but there are no roads or
even tracks
nearby."

Just 100 metres away, a memorial for the fallen
soldiers of the Royal
Irish
Fusiliers is also in a parlous state. A white marble
cross still
stands, but it
is barely visible through thick overgrowth and a
number of pits have
been left
nearby by grave robbers.

"The vandalism was carried out by the locals looking
for bones from
which the
Sangoma, or witch doctor, can make medicine," said
Brian Kaighin, a
local Boer
War expert. "The treasure hunters were also looking
for gold, believing
it is
buried with the dead."

A few kilometres away at Spion Kop, the site of
another British defeat
in the
early part of the war, the damage to the graves is
more innocent.
British
military grave stones have been knocked over by
grazing cattle.

The story is repeated all over South Africa at the 356
sites that have
been
identified by local historian Stephen Watt as the
resting place for the
British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian troops
of the Imperial
Forces.

"This repair plan comes not a moment too soon," Mr.
Watt said. "The
condition
of many of the sites has really deteriorated and
unless work is done
there is a
danger they could be forgotten completely."

It is his database of war graves that the Commonwealth
War Graves
Commission
will be working from when it begins its work with
(ps)250,000 provided
by the
Ministry of Defence and a similar amount from charity.

Richard Kellaway, the director general of the
commission, will fly to
South
Africa later this month for final negotiations with
the local
authorities at
national government and provincial level.

"It has taken four years of hard work to set this
project up and you
must
remember that the consent of the local authorities in
South Africa is
crucial,"
said Brigadier-General David Keenan, a defence attache
at the British
High
Commission in Pretoria.

"The term Anglo-Boer war remains a sensitive one in
this country and
the work
can only go ahead with local help."

If the project is successful, other British war graves
in South Africa
dating
from the Anglo-Zulu war and the Anglo-Xhosa frontier
wars of the 19th
century
could also be looked after by the commission.

 

[Guardian]

How did our government (and the British and South Africans) allow these graves to deteriorate to this point? I guess the war in SA happened so long ago, those 261 men dropped off the desk, so to speak....

This is saddening.

 

[Infanteer]

...and this is where the policy of leaving the dead where they lay gets us.  There is something to be said for the new tradition of repatriating the dead to Canada.

 

[Marauder]

It's called the Dark Continent for good reason.

 

[Slim]

Got this from the Strathcona historical society today...

Slim



Boar War Graves Desecration

Earlier today, Roger Pothier, a member of the RCD Association distributed an article he found from the National Post dated 11 March 2004. The article was written by Tim Butcher, with files from Chris Wattie. It is repeated here because of the obvious interest that it has to Strathcona's.

LADYSMITH, South Africa - South African witch doctors looking for human bones and grave robbers have desecrated the graves of soldiers from the Boer War, possibly including those of 261 Canadians who died in the conflict.

Graves from the 1899-1902 war are now in such a poor state that the British government has drawn up a 500,000 GBP emergency rescue plan.

Skeletons have been exhumed for use in muti, or black magic, bronze name plates have been pried off grave markers and melted down for scrap, and large memorials have been demolished by grave robbers mistakenly convinced they contain gold. The African tradition of burying warriors with their most valuable possessions has persuaded many South African robbers to dig under memorial stones and headstones.

There are more than 25,000 British war graves in South Africa from the Boer War, which marked Canada's first deployment of troops overseas. The small Canadian contingent left 261 fallen troops behind.

Philip Michael, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs Canada, said the stories of grave robbery were shocking. "I would hope that we would have been notified about this sort of thing going on," he said. "[But] this is the first I've heard of this."

He did not know if any Canadian graves were among those desecrated, but said the federal government is joining with the British in negotiating a four-year contract to maintain the South African war graves with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

This will be the first time the commission, a multinational body set up to maintain the graves of those who died in two world wars, will take responsibility for the fallen from a conflict that pre- dates the First World War. "It looks promising, but negotiations are still ongoing," Mr. Michael said. "These things take time."

The grave robbers seem determined not to give Commonwealth governments any time to address the issue. On the summit of Tchrengula, a hill near the town of Ladysmith, an entire stone cenotaph marking the fallen from the Gloucester Regiment has disappeared.

In an earlier robbery, the mass grave in front of the memorial was disturbed and local historians said bone fragments were taken. The grave was subsequently raked over and restored to its original condition.

"I have no idea how they got up here or what they did with the stone plinth or the cross," Mike Suddaby, 59, a local farmer, said as he stood in the pit left by the robbers on the site where the memorial was positioned. "It was huge and must have been really heavy but there are no roads or even tracks nearby."

Just 100 metres away, a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Royal Irish Fusiliers is also in a parlous state. A white marble cross still stands, but it is barely visible through thick overgrowth and a number of pits have been left nearby by grave robbers.

"The vandalism was carried out by the locals looking for bones from which the Sangoma, or witch doctor, can make medicine," said Brian Kaighin, a local Boer War expert. "The treasure hunters were also looking for gold, believing it is buried with the dead." A few kilometres away at Spion Kop, the site of another British defeat in the early part of the war, the damage to the graves is more innocent. British military grave stones have been knocked over by grazing cattle.

The story is repeated all over South Africa at the 356 sites that have been identified by local historian Stephen Watt as the resting place for the British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian troops of the Imperial Forces.

"This repair plan comes not a moment too soon," Mr. Watt said. "The condition of many of the sites has really deteriorated and unless work is done there is a danger they could be forgotten completely." It is his database of war graves that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission will be working from when it begins its work with (ps)250,000 provided by the Ministry of Defence and a similar amount from charity.

Richard Kellaway, the director general of the commission, will fly to South Africa later this month for final negotiations with the local authorities at national government and provincial level.

"It has taken four years of hard work to set this project up and you must remember that the consent of the local authorities in South Africa is crucial," said Brigadier-General David Keenan, a defence attaché at the British High Commission in Pretoria. "The term Anglo-Boer war remains a sensitive one in this country and the work can only go ahead with local help."

If the project is successful, other British war graves in South Africa dating from the Anglo-Zulu war and the Anglo-Xhosa frontier wars of the 19th century could also be looked after by the commission.

 

[bubba]

this year there stealin bones of canadians,next year thy'll be appliyan for work visa's in canada.desigratin cemetaries,what is the govornment gonna do anybody know,i'd like to kick the witch doctor right in the testicles(repeatedly) :threat: