De Aar’s Military History
Buried in the Garden of Remembrance are 182 soldiers and 7 members of the Imperial Military Railways. Sixty-five units are represented. The remains of six soldiers previously buried at HOUTKRAAL have also been re-entered here (included in the 182).
The British strategy in safeguarding the Cape Colony from a Boer invasion from the OFS, was to hold the line of rail running some 50-60 miles south of the Orange River and roughly parallel to it.
Each of the three junctions, De Aar, Naauwpoort and Stormberg was consequently garrisoned. De Aar, beging the most important of the three, was held by the Yorkshire Light Infantry under Lt Col Baxter, and a locally raised unit, REMINGTON SCOUTS.
De Aar became a vast military warehouse and on November 4, 1900, Gen Wood RE was sent to take over command of the area De Aar – Orange River. The defences were further strengthened and reconnaissances carried out. By the 20th December, 1899, the strength of the garrison had increased considerably to:
RFA – 2 guns
2nd Warwicks Regiment
1st Yorkshire Regiment
1st Essex Regiment
Two Companies Mounted Infantry
Details (medicals, engineers etc)
De Aar figured in active operations mid-December when Gen Hertzog, after crossing the Orange River at Zand Drift thirty miles north of Colesberg, moved south into the Cape Colony. He occupied Philipstown on 19 December, but found his passage to the south blocked by a strong British force at Hanover Road, so he moved to the west, engaged an armoured train at Houtkraal on the De Aar – Orange river railway line, and passed some of his men across the line at this point. The remainder crossed to the south of De Aar. Both sections converged on Britstown, and on the way there overwhelmed four Yeomany companies which had been sent against him from De Aar.
Early in January Gen de Wet also crossed the Orange River approximately thirty miles west of Philippolis and marches westwards to operate in the De Aar – Prieska – Douglas – Hopetown area, skirting the Orange River, until February 28th when he crossed the river at Botha’s Drift about fiteen miles south-east of Philippolis not far from where he crossed over into the Cape earlier that month. Close on his heels, moving further south, followed Gen Hertzog who crossed the railway line De Aar – Hopetown on his way back to the OFS.
During the build-up for Lord Methuen’s attack on Magersfontein and for Lord Roberts’s march on Bloemfontein (mid-January 1900) which entailed the concentration of thousands of men, animals, guns vehicles and thousand of tons of
military stores on the short section of line between Oranje River and Modder River stations, De Aar became the controlling centre of the entire operation. Large reserves of rations were built up in the advance supply depot there. Units arriving from overseas were issued with their load carrying transport and other stores required on the advance. De Aar was now a major forward holding centre comprising also remounts, ordnance and medical stores depots and a military hospital centre, and played a major role in the British Field Force operations in South-Africa.
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