Presentation from the Anglo Boer War 110^th Anniversary Conference in Ladysmith in 2010.

On the farm Langverwacht there is a monument to the 23 New Zealander soldiers, who died in an encounter with a Boer commando on the night of 23^rd and 24^th February 1902. Sometime in 2000 the monument was destroyed by a falling tree, one of the two oak trees planted around the site of the mass grave. A grass fire had damaged and weakened the old oak. A high wind sometime later did the rest. Built from local stone, cut to shape on the site, the cairn had remained intact for 99 years from 1903 when it was erected. This was my first sight of the ruined structure in 2002.

The monument was still intact in October 1999. A small gathering paid tribute to the combatants of both sides on 11^th October of that year. Willem Naudé from Vrede arranged the ceremony and, in spite of making contact with the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria, nobody from New Zealand was able to attend.

Getting the monument rebuilt was no easy task. The New Zealand Government Heritage Ministry are the custodians of New Zealand’s war graves but this is no longer a war grave. The remains of those buried in a mass grave at the foot of the monument were re-interred in a Garden of Remembrance in the Town Cemetery in Vrede in 1965. However, the fact that Langverwacht was the first occasion when a significant number of New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in a war on foreign soil was a deciding factor. The Prime Minister, Helen Clark, in fact ordered the rebuilding. Let into the base of the monument was a white marble plaque with inlaid lead lettering giving the names of the fallen. The plaque had been broken, fortunately into only two pieces. Finding the missing piece was the easy part.

Sadly, Willem Naudé passed away on 17^th November 2008 without ever seeing the rebuilt monument. His last visit was on 5^th August 2008. Willem had an abiding interest in Langverwacht and the history of Vrede and its inhabitants. He wrote a book about the area during the Anglo Boer war which he had privately printed. He made a number of contacts in New Zealand who supplied many of the pictures that he used in his book. This was his last visit to the site in company with the farm owner, Jan van Reenen and the New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner, Mike Walsh.

The rebuilding of the structure was completed in November 2008. Certainly it was an emotional moment for me when I saw the rebuilt cairn on this occasion. The two pieces of the white marble plaque were joined together and replaced. A further plaque has been placed to show the part played by the government of New Zealand in bringing this project to completion. The construction crew is all smiles on this occasion, like the New Zealand Deputy High Commissioner, Mike Walsh and contractor, Gerna van Heyningen. Joseph Buthelezi, the man who lives on the property and was in the 1997 picture, was present in 1965 when the remains were disinterred. He pointed out to us exactly where the bodies of the slain were buried. The monument was erected at the head of the mass grave.

This is the completed monument. The name plaque has been repaired and replaced and the New Zealand government plaque installed alongside. The tree that fell and smashed the cairn has been placed on the grass behind.