TOPIC:

John Henry Boon

Sergeant, Western Province Mounted Rifles
Sergeant, Cape Garrison Artillery – Anglo Boer War
Rifleman, Rand Rifles
Sergeant, Railway Regiment – WWI
Private, Cape Battalion, 1st Reserve Brigade – WWII

- Queens South Africa Medal (CC) to 540 SJT. J.H. BOON. W.PROV.M.R.
- 1914-15 Star to SJT. J.H. BOON, RAND RFLS.
- British War Medal to SJT. J.H. BOON. RAND RFLS.
- Victory Medal to SJT. J.H. BOON. RAND RFLS.
- War Medal 1939-45 to 117772 J.H. BOON
- Africa Service Medal to 117772 J.H. BOON

John Henry Boon was born in Stoke Damerel, Devon on 14 May 1870 the son of Ellen Boon and her husband, Charles Robert Elston Boon, a Seaman in the Royal Navy. At the time of the 1871 census the family were living at 15 Lower Portland Place, Stoke Damerel, Devonport. John, aged 10 months, was at home with his mother and 3 year old brother Charles.

Little is known of his formative years but, as day dawned on 4 July 1898 he entered the ranks of the employed for the first time – not in his native England but as a Porter in the service of the Cape Government Railways in Cape Town, South Africa.



As he took his first steps into the unknown world of work he would not have imagined that, some 16 months later, he would be embroiled in a war – the Anglo Boer War, to be exact. This conflict between the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal on the one hand and Great Britain on the other, commenced on 11 October 1899 and was, initially, concentrated far from where Boon was to be found.

As the war progressed and the Boers, after some initial successes, were on the back foot, they turned their attentions to the Cape Colony – this is where their possible salvation lay, if only they could enlist the support of the Cape Dutch to bolster their numbers and tap into a fresh source of food and supplies for themselves and forage for their emaciated mounts. With these imperatives driving them they launched a number of incursions into the Cape Heartland coming, in some instances, to within thirty miles of Cape Town, the Mother City, herself.

By this time the volunteer regiments such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteers and the Cape Town Highlanders had already been active in support of the British war effort but they were not alone – other outfits were quickly raised to accommodate the flow of civilian volunteers who wanted to do their bit. One such example was the Western Province Mounted Rifles and it was to this regiment that Boon gravitated, enlisting with them and assigned no. 540 and the rank of Sergeant.

This corps soon reached a strength of over 500 and as soon as a squadron was ready it took the field, because the enemy in the first week of January 1901 had reached within a day's ride of Cape Town. Famously, one of the squadrons was said to be composed almost entirely of amateur cricketers. During January and February the corps was constantly in action. In a telegram from Clanwilliam, dated 31st January, the Press Association correspondent remarked that a detachment under Lieutenant Hallawell had driven 150 Boers from the Pakhuis Pass.

Throughout 1901 and 1902 the corps did an immense amount of arduous work in the extreme south-west of the Colony. They were often far from support and in a district much favoured by the enemy, and one almost impossible for regular troops. The corps had endless little engagements, frequently involving sharp casualties, and if they had a good many patrols captured this may be attributed to their being more than usually split up into little detachments at the request of the officer who commanded the district. A part of the corps were for a time in Colonel Capper's column. A patrol on 4th August 1901 made a smart capture of 7 prisoners, 70 horses, and 1000 rounds of ammunition.

One of the most notable things done in the western district was the successful defence of Tontelbosch Kolk, the Boer force in the neighbourhood being stated by Lord Kitchener to be about 1000 strong. The garrison, which was partly composed of men of this corps, made use of their cover most expertly, and during the siege the WPMR only lost 2 killed and 3 wounded.

They continued the good work into 1902 but Boon had taken his discharge by then, moving on to the Cape Garrison Artillery where he served, for an unknown duration, with the rank of Sergeant and no.39.

Amidst the strife and confusion occasioned by war Boon found the time to wed his fiancé, Jessie Eliza Mapp, the nuptials taking place at St Peter’s Church in Mowbray, Cape Town on 4 June 1901. He was a 31 year old Station Foreman based at Mowbray whilst his bride was 22 years of age.

Roll on to 1914 – this was the year that the Great War started – on 4 August – only 12 years after the cessation of hostilities in the Boer War. By now, post-Union in 1910, the Cape Government Railways had amalgamated with the Natal Govt. Railways and the Central South African Railways to form the South African Railways & Harbours and all employees of these various organs had, by default, transferred into the one body. Boon, never one to shirk his duty, enlisted with the Rand Rifles on 19 October 1914 for service in German South West Africa as a Sergeant with no. 833.

Providing his address as 130 Lower Main Road, Observatory, he named his wife as next of kin. He went through the entire campaign with the Rand Rifles, who were operational in the North of the territory as part of the 4th Infantry Brigade under Colonel Wylie of the Durban Light Infantry, until transferring to the Railway Regiment on 1 July 1915, 8 days before the German surrender at Otavi. Just prior to that he had been hospitalised at Karabib with Dropsy of the Legs on 6 June 1915, resuming duty on the 13th June. His service ending on 13 August 1915 he betook himself home opting not to continue the fight in the newly opened German East Africa theatre of the war or, indeed, the slaughter fields of the Western Front where so many fellow South Africans were to lose their lives.



For his efforts he was awarded the trio of medals to the Great War to go with his Queens Medal from the Boer War – these were sent to him in 1922.

Life now resumed its normal tempo and Boon, by all accounts a lively and popular member of the railway staff, was transferred in 1919 from De Doorns where he had been Station Foreman, to Touws River on promotion to Station Inspector. With the dawn of February 1930 he officially retired. An article in the South African Railways & Harbours Magazine of that month paid the following tribute to him:

“Station Inspector John Henry Boon, who joined the railway service on 4 July 1898, has proceeded on leave prior to retirement. Commencing in the service as a porter, Mr Boon, by faithful service, advanced himself to the present position and speaks with pride of having served under four General Managers. Mr Boon can recall with interest the visits of our present King to South Africa – first when he came with his brother when the two Princes visited Simonstown on their return from a world cruise, accompanied by a flying squadron of half a dozen warships, and then later when King George, then Duke of York, paid his second visit, during the period Mr Boon was Foreman at Plumstead. He has recollections of the explorer Stanley arriving from Zanzibar with his host of followers, who were quartered in the Admiralty grounds in Simonstown, and also when the noted Cetewayo was brought round to the Cape as a prisoner. He served in the Boer War and the Great War. For the last twelve years Mr Boon has been Station Inspector at Touws River, where his well-known and respected personality will be greatly missed.”




But Boon was not one to fade into retirement and obscurity - on 6 September 1939 the world was plunged into a global war once more with Germany and her territorial expansions at centre stage. South Africa, as part of the Empire, was also drawn into the conflict albeit it reluctantly on the part of those who harboured nationalistic aspirations (coincidentally almost the same ilk of people who caused internal problems in South Africa in the Great War)

Despite being all of 70 years of age and well above the acceptable age limit for volunteers, Boon found himself attesting for service at The Castle in Cape Town on 22 April 1940. Passing his medical examination, he was assigned to the Cape Battalion of the 1st Reserve Brigade with no. 117772 and the rank of Private. Describing himself as a Retired Traffic Inspector on the Railways he was physically, 5 feet 9 inches in height, weighed 196 lbs and had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and, unsurprisingly, grey-brown hair. His address was “Westhoe,” Gabriel Road, Plumstead, Cape Town.

Almost from the outset his health started to show signs of failing the demands of the job. On 2 October 1940 he was admitted to hospital, to be discharged to sick leave of three days. This was followed by promotion to Lance Corporal and a number of hospital admittances until finally, on 31 May 1942, he was discharged from the army “Age Limit Retirement” – although everyone knew that this was as a result of ill health. His conduct was deemed to have been Exemplary and he returned home earning the War and Africa Service Medals for his troubles.

Boon passed away at the age of 83 on 12 September 1953 from Cancer of the Colon whilst still residing at “Westhoe.” He is buried in Plumstead Cemetery and was survived by his wife, there being no children of the marriage.

Acknowledgements:
- S.A.R. & H Magazine
- Familysearch for Probate
- Ancestry for 1871 census and medal rolls