TOPIC:

I have had in my collection for many years the QSA of Sergeant T F Vinnicombe, Natal Guides. In spite of him being a member of a prominent Natal settler family, I uncovered very little information about him, and his thin file and his medal were stored away, seldom seeing the light of day. Quite by chance, I recently discovered that there exists a published biography of Vinnicombe, which was written by one of his grandsons and which was published in 1989. I received a copy of this book a few days ago and it has revealed in detail the life and times of a very remarkable man. What makes the book so notable are the details that have been gleaned from historical and family records, not least amongst the latter being Vinnicombe's own writings. These are mostly in verse form, which was written in rhyming couplets, some of which are reproduced in the book. There cannot be many personal histories that have been written in this way.

From the point of view of this forum, the most interesting sections of the book are those about life in the Transvaal shortly before, during and shortly after the Boer War. Vinnicombe and his family, who were Natal 'Empire Loyalists', actually lived there during this period. Although Vinnicombe was deeply sympathetic to the Boers, many of whom were his friends and close associates, when he was overtaken by the war in Standerton in 1900, he volunteered his services to the Natal Guides. His expert knowledge of the Boers, their language and their country made him an asset to the British. He evidently served loyally, but seems to have spent much time and thought on how to avoid killing any of the enemy.

From time to time, I will add to this thread extracts from the book that may be of interest to other forum members.

Brett

I recently became aware of Justin's interest in the 13th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, many of whom surrendered to the Boers at Lindley in May 1900. There is a passing reference to these POW's in Vinnicombe's biography.

Brett

Vinnicombe’s Trek by R N Currey – pp 173, 174.

Tom Vinnicombe was in Standerton when the town fell to the British. It was then that he joined the Natal Guides and his main job was to interview burghers who had surrendered.

“Tom, in his interviewing, was of course particularly interested in anything he could learn about Bethal [where his family was living]. A Mrs Koos Botha, a refugee from there, told him a story of Landdrost [Magistrate] Kleynhans’s harsh treatment of some Imperial Yeomanry prisoners-of-war. They had been captured at Lindley in the Southern Free State, and marched up to Standerton; then moved out just before Buller arrived to continue their long march through Bethal and Ermelo, to a prisoner-of-war camp near Machadadorp. Mrs Botha said that the Landdrost had refused the guards permission to set off early with them and so avoid marching in the heat of the day. She had seen how footsore they were and had herself pleaded with him to be ‘less severe’, but in vain.
This story of gratuitous cruelty, by a man in a nervous and tense state of mind, has a moralising sequel, interesting for a quite different reason. Within a week, during which Mrs Botha had reached British lines, she had seen Kleynhans again, now a prisoner-of-war himself, hot, tired and begging for water. The story as Tom tells it ….. is hearsay, but the bare statement that Kleinhans was in British hands soon after the fall of Standerton is confirmed by an independent source. Two months later, on 11 August, he was reported as having been arrested by General Christian Botha for having surrendered to General Lyttelton ‘some time ago’.”

Brett,

Many thanks indeed. That's a very interesting and previously unknown story about the 13th Battalion.

I will look out the book - who was the publisher?

Best wishes,

Justin

Every single medal to the Natal Imperial Guides is worth having, I want them all!

Justin

There are three publishers listed on the title page:
James Currey, London
Heinemann, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
UN Press, Pietermaritzburg

I found my copy on an Internet search list. There were several more copies on this list, some in the UK and the others in the US.

Regards
Brett

That's fabulous Brett. I'm already looking forward to the next instalment.

Best wishes
David