Stuck In A Dirt Road, A Canadian, An Afrikaner Farmer and The Battle of Paardeberg

An out-of-the-way trip to visit an almost forgotten battle site where Canadians fought in South Africa and won, which was a key historical moment in Canadian history that helped forge a Canadian identity, revealed more than expected and also had some disappointment.

After this tall friendly Afrikaner farmer pulled my putt-putt of a rental car out from the dirt stuck on the side of the road, we talked about why I was stuck there and about the Battle of Paardeberg.

When he first came to my rescue after I waved him down, he initially spoke to me in Afrikaans from inside his pickup truck. I bent down, looked in the cabin of the truck and smiled, “Sorry, I don’t speak Afrikaans. I’m a stupid Canadian who got his car stuck.” It was a dirt road with muddy patches from the recent heavy rains.

I could see he was surprised and seemed a little puzzled like he was thinking I was pranking him. He gave a little laugh and said something in Afrikaans again. I don’t speak Afrikaans but by the sounds of the words I guessed he said something along the lines of “Are you really Canadian?”

“I am Canadian. For real,” I said.

The farmer smiled and I could see he was intrigued and very amused. Naturally, he was curious and asked what I was doing there. He said that he’s been having his sheep stolen lately and for a moment wondered what this car was doing there up the road from his farm. I reckon not many outsiders use that road.

I told him I was visiting the area out of curiosity, to see the site of the Battle of Paardeberg (18–27 February 1900). This historic battle was fought during the Second Anglo-Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902) also known simply as ‘The Boer War’.

I asked the farmer if he knew that Paardeberg was pretty much the first real British victory of the war, that the British were losing battles up to that point. He said he knew this. I explained that it was the Canadians who won the battle in the end. He was again surprised and chuckled when he put in context that it was the Canadians who won the British their first significant battle of the war. “I never knew the Canadians were here in this battle!” he said. It seemed to me that most South Africans don’t know about Canada’s involvement in this battle and Canada’s involvement in the war overall. I went on to tell the farmer that the Royal Canadian Regiment commemorates the Battle of Paardeberg every year to this day. Despite the Canadians having a piss-up for a victory over his ancestors for 122 years now, the amicable farmer said it was a long time ago, he wasn’t offended. Good. I thought he might take it personally and get pissy with me about that fact.

The victory of the Battle of Paardeberg happened on the anniversary of a major Boer victory over the British 19 years earlier in the First Boer War, the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881. One of the British officers at Paardeberg was a veteran of the battle of Majuba and he pushed for a victory to happen on the 27th, to have payback. The battle of Majuba has been considered “one of the "most humiliating" defeats suffered by the British in their military history” re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Majuba_Hill After the Battle of Paardeberg, the Boers had their Majuba Day taken from them, the victory hit Boer morale hard. A romantic Victorian-style painting by Richard Caton Woodville commemorating the victory at Paardeberg Drift shows soldiers looking off into the distance with surrendering Boers approaching, and the sun rising over the ridge; the painting is called “Dawn of Majuba”.

Frankly, few Canadians know about the Battle of Paaderberg nor about the significance of this battle, nor, actually, about the Boer War itself. The battle is not only important to Canada’s military history but it is arguably one of those key moments in Canadian history that helped mould Canadian identity. One can debate the morals and/or motivations for the British going to war in South Africa against the South African Republic (aka the Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State, right or wrong, but regardless, the battle was a marker for Canada as a fledgling nation. Throughout Canada today, occasionally one can find in small towns and cities monuments or memorials or markers dedicated to Canada's participation in the ‘Boer War’ in South Africa and for those Canadians who fell there.

The farmer pointed down the road in the direction I was heading to where I would find a Paardeberg monument. That memorial also happens to be on his land, he told me—yet he didn’t know about Canada’s involvement in that battle, and it took a chance random encounter with a Canuck stuck on the road in front of his farm to tell him that.

I thanked the farmer most sincerely for his help in getting my car out of the dirt, for pointing out where the monument and other battle-related markers were located along the road, and for advice on how to drive those muddy patches. He graciously gave me his phone number in case I needed help or anything.

When I finally got to the monument location about a kilometre and a half further down the road, I saw an old banner-style angled metal sign with rusting iron letters that said ‘Paardeberg’. The monument itself, a small red brick-walled area, was barely visible further out in the field toward the Modder River. The farmer said that the monument has been neglected. A termite hill by the field’s entranceway reminded me that the Canadians and British had hidden behind termite hills while they were pinned down by the accurate Boer rifle fire. The Boers had a reputation for their marksmanship.

The rather unimpressive monument is dedicated to the Boers who fought and died there. Four of the Boers listed are buried at the monument site. A black centrepiece memorializes all Boers by name who had fallen there. There was no monument I saw for the British and/or Canadians, except for a later addition, a small plaque added to the outside wall in 2000, a hundred years to the day after the battle. The plaque has been neglected and is a little overrun by vegetation. It reads:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO

FOUGHT AND DIED IN THE BATTLE

OF PAARDEBERG DURING FEB. 1900

UNVEILED 27 FEB 2000

ERECTED BY HISTORIAN AND

PERDEBERG FARMERS ASSOCIATION

I reckon we can assume from the wording on the centennial plague that it is dedicated to all those on both sides who fought in the battle.

Just a few meters from the memorial by the edge of the ridge on the Modder River there is a tin roof covering a three-dimensional map and information point. Unfortunately, the map is faded and eroded. The farmer had told me that someone had vandalized and removed the information pieces that were attached to the map.

Personally, I think it’s sad that Canada doesn’t have a monument or something there to memorialize the battle and those who fought and died there because it was such a key moment in Canadian history. Meanwhile, it seems even the locals don’t realize the Canadian involvement in the battle. The farmer had told me that there are schools that visit from time to time and they do hikes to and through the area to see the battle site. (I suspect that there is an element of modern-day South African politics that has many in the population not really caring to memorialize a war between the British empire and Afrikaners.) Ideally, it would be nice to have something there memorializing Canada and the Canadians who fought and died there. Perhaps Canada and the Legion could look into this one day. Perhaps but I have my doubts. I believe Canadian schools should teach more about Canada’s military history but it appears these days most don’t want to know or learn such things.

After first hearing about the Battle of Paardeberg at the age of 13, explained to a group of us in great detail by a WWII veteran and military officer, I finally did it, I visited Paardeberg. I am very please I went, but the visit still left me with questions and a desire to see more of the area. Over 122 years after the battle, my visit had me wondering how many other Canadians have actually visited the site. Going by that local farmer’s reaction, not many at all.?

The visit to the Paardeberg Drift battle site happened last week on the 25th of April, 2022.