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Matthew Perreira

Trooper, Farmer’s Guard – Anglo Boer War
Corporal, 1st Cape Coloured Labour Regiment - WWI

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Orange Free State, South Africa 1901 & 1902 to 9 Tpr. M. Perreira, Farmer’s Guard
- British War Medal to 743 Cpl. M. Pereira, 1 - Cape C.L.R.
- Victory Medal to 743 Cpl. M. Pereira, 1 - Cape C.L.R.

Matthew Perreira’s antecedents are clouded in mystery. His surname is resonant of a Portuguese heritage and his family, based in Port Elizabeth, were most likely immigrants from that country. A hard working people they assimilated themselves into the community of South End in Port Elizabeth where, over the course of a generation or two they became, in some instances, “people of colour” – those who could lay no claim to being exclusively White having intermingled and inter married with people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.

October 1899 saw the advent of the Anglo Boer War with the forces of the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal ranged against those of the British Empire aided, in large measure, by the locally raised Colonial regiments, mainly in Natal and the Cape Colony. Initially the war went comparatively well for the Boer forces with the British, hopelessly undermanned, losing ground but this all changed with the influx of more troops from other corners of the Empire and Great Britain herself.


Perreira might well be one of these Farmers Guard fellows

The Boers had no other resources of any magnitude to rely on and were steadily, remorselessly driven into a corner by a much better resourced and, certainly after the first few months debacle, a much better led army. As the capital cities of first Bloemfontein and then Pretoria fell, the Boers resorted to guerrilla style hit and run tactics with the British countering this renewed mobility with a scorched earth policy designed to cut off any logistical support to the Boer Commandos bringing about their capitulation. Another British tactic was to erect hundreds of Block Houses in an effort to hem the Boers in and make their capture more likely.

As the Boers began to surrender in large numbers and hand in their arms they were shipped off to Bermuda, St. Helena or Ceylon as Prisoners of War leaving their womenfolk alone on the land with young children and no means of defence. This gave rise to the creation of, at first, a Burgher Police, a body of men comprised mainly of surrendered Boers who now had the task of guarding their own folk at the behest of their former antagonists.

The Burgher Police evolved into a Farmer’s Guard which was formed in November 1901 from surrendered burghers who had to enlist for a 3 month period at a pay of 5/- per day. They were, in turn, like their forerunners, responsible for the safety of surrendered burghers who were farming in the so-called “protected area” surrounding Bloemfontein. This was a zone created for the Boers so that they might continue their farming pursuits without being harassed by the remaining Commandos – always on the scrounge for food, clothing and men to enlist.

This by no means their only function – safeguarding the “volk” on the farms meant that they were often pitted in combat situations against their own flesh and blood and, treated by their own as “verraiers” (traitors) their lives couldn’t have been easy. One such instance where they were in conflict was reported in the Cheltenham Chronicle and Gloucestershire Graphic edition of Saturday, February 15th 1902. The article read as follows:

“Death of General Du Toit – Bloemfontein, Wednesday

The Farmers Guard yesterday captured Field Cornet Combrinck and nine of Du Toit’s men. Du Toit himself, who was wounded last month, died on the 30th.”

The Scotsman of March 10, 1902, under the banner heading “Capture of a Laager” reported that,

“Three of Bester’s men surrendered today in the central district of the Free State. Colonel Western surprised a laager on the 4th instant. Two Boers were killed and one was captured.”

By 1 June 1902 there were as many as 5 464 Boers in the employ of the British – a large increase over the 3 963 reported on the 27 April 1902. The largest number, 1 533, were employed in the Orange River Colony of which 609 were members of the Farmers Guard including Perreira.

Initially there was only one Battalion of Farmers Guards – divided into “A”, “B” and “C” Companies or Squadrons. Shortly thereafter, owing to the increase in the number of those Boers taking up the British offer of enhanced compensation, a second Farmers Guard battalion was constituted. It was to the latter that Perreira belonged with no. 9 and the rank of Trooper. He was issued with a Queens Medal with the clasp Orange Free State and bars 1901 and 1902 for his efforts. But were these enough for a man who would have been vilified everywhere he went by those “bitter einders” who had stuck it out to the end?

The Boer War a thing of the past Perreira went about his business. The peace that reigned was rudely interrupted on 4 August 1914 when the German Kaiser decided to wage war against the land of his mother’s birth. Britain was at war once more but on this occasion on a far larger scale. South African, many citizens of whom had only twelve years before been at loggerheads with Britain, now found themselves aligned with her against Germany.

As has been mentioned earlier; Perreira was, most likely, of a darker hue than most Anglo Saxons, this might account for him enlisting with the Cape Coloured Labour Regiment for service in France as opposed to the regular infantry or artillery regiments. The Evening Telegraph and Post of Wednesday, June 14th 1916 carried a small article which read thus:-

“Cape Coloured Labour for French Ports –
Cape Town, Tuesday

In the House of Assembly General Botha, replying to a question, announced that the government approved of the raising of a thousand Cape Coloured labourers for dock labour in French Ports.”

All that exists in the South African Defence Force Archives pertaining to Perreira’s service is a card informing us that he had attained the rank of Corporal on enlistment with no. 743 on 17 July 1916 and that he had fought in France from 1 September 1916 until 21 July 1919. He was discharged on return from England at Rosebank in Cape Town on 14 September 1919. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Imperial issue Victory Medal – the C.C.L.R. was regarded as an Imperial and not a South African unit.

His medal register confirms that his address was 99 South Union Street, Port Elizabeth. This particular page of the medal register commencing with number 736 and ending with number 755 appears to be a register of those from P.E. who attested as all the addresses hail from that quarter.

Nothing further is known about him save for the fact that he had a son, Matthew William Perreira, who fought in World War II.

Good gracious Rory,
How wonderful to have a medal to a recipient without the infamous black asterisk after his number, very nice indeed, rather scarce too and made so much nicer by the additional Great War service in France, one assumes he would not have been able to join the 1st SAI Brigade, a most exceptional trio, I like it very much indeed.
Regards Frank