Burgert Matthias was die seun van Burgert Matthias van der Westhuizen en Johanna Catharina Pienaar.
Surname | VAN DER WESTHUIZEN |
Name | BURT MARTIVAS |
Age | 75 |
Address | AREMOETSPRUIT |
District | VENTERSBURG |
Where Captured | AREMOETSPRUIT |
When Captured | 1900/11/03 |
Camp | Onbekend |
Country | Onbekend |
Ship (To) | Onbekend |
Ship (Back) | |
POW Number | 15623 |
Kroonstad was surely one of the most unattractive
camps in the entire system. When Lucy Deane of the Ladies Committee visited the
town in October 1901, she thought it a hideous place. In fact, she added, it
wasn’t a ‘place’, merely a railway centre and storage depot for military
supplies, with ‘acres of bags of meal etc. covered with sail-cloth’. ‘The rest
is wide dusty tracks with spotty Camps of various “Corps” of sorts, a tent
Hospital, tin shanties, a few seedy Bungalows and Wesleyan-Church-looking
place, a Native location built entirely out of tin biscuit boxes flattened out
and rivetted together, the whole enveloped in a permanent cloud of dust made
worse by the incessant galloping to and fro of men on horse-back’. But the position
of Kroonstad as a railway and supply centre was to have a major impact on the
camp, for such distribution points have always been important for the
dissemination of disease. The troops, who lingered in Kroonstad for some time
between the fall of Bloemfontein and the march on Pretoria, brought typhoid
with them, while their followers, ranging from labourers to prostitutes,
probably harboured other infectious diseases. (
Kroonstad camp was most likely formed
fairly early since General Kelly-Kenny suggested on 7 September 1900 that a
camp be created there, to protect loyal farmers from the Boers. Already in 1900
a number of farms had been burnt, leading to a substantial influx of homeless
families into the town. By 24 November 1900 it is clear that a camp had been
formed. The village of Reitz was evacuated on 20 January 1901 and Lindley was
probably emptied about the same date. By the end of March 1901 Kroonstad camp
was already fairly large, with over 2,500 inmates. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
The camp was divided into two parts, with 365 people from the Lindley district on the south side of the Valsch River and the remaining 1,200 on the north side. Flooding cut off the Lindley people completely, making it impossible to feed them. Inspector Daller visited Kroonstad camp in April 1901 and he thought the Lindley camp was ‘prettily placed’; it was an ideal spot for a ‘pleasure vamp’. He was not surprised that the families did not want to move, for they had put in hard floor, and built themselves kitchens and ovens. They were, he considered, a ‘better class’ than the people on the north bank. Breaking up their homes would only cause unhappiness. But the situation was impossible and the Lindley people were transferred across the river. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
From the first Kroonstad lacked accommodation as Boer families poured in. Nutrition was also critical and it was months before the camp authorities admitted that the ration scale, based on military rations and scaled down for women, children and men who were not performing hard labour, was inadequate. Only twelve passes a day were issued so people could not get into town to buy food, clothing or do business. The length of stay in Kroonstad camp also took its toll. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
By August 1901 the MO was reporting cases of scurvy and it was decided to issue lime juice to inmates who had been in the camp for more than six months All these conditions ensured that infectious diseases would spread rapidly and hit hard. And epidemics struck early for many of the first arrivals were in a bad way. By the end of February 1901 there were already forty patients in the camp hospital, twenty-seven of whom had enteric and the first medical report makes it clear that this was initially the major health hazard. But measles had also struck as early as March 1901 and diphtheria was common as well. The two doctors spelt out the problems very clearly but their warnings fell largely on deaf ears in these early months. They were particularly concerned about the food provided for the sick children, which was unsuitable for those suffering from digestive difficulties, arising from typhoid, measles and diarrhoea. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
Food was not the only problem. In his report for March 1901 Dr van der Wall commented on the overcrowding in the tents. Exposed to excessive heat during the day, and excessive cold at night, not to mention the fact that many of the tents were not waterproof, it was not surprising that the young and the old suffered. Gradually the number of trained nurses was increased. Although the first epidemic was partially contained by July 1901 a second wave was attacking the camp. After he had visited the camp in early August, Goold Adams reported to Lord Kitchener that the epidemic had been fuelled by 800 people, brought in from Graspan, near Reitz, six weeks ago. They were already suffering from measles which ‘spread like wildfire’. General Knox also took an interest in the problem, recommending a convalescent camp, since the children often died after they had been discharged from hospital. It was during this crisis that a number of families, with members suffering from measles, were transferred to nearby Heilbron camp. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
At the end of October 1901, the water, drawn from the Valsch River was muddy and inadequate, with each inmate allowed a gallon a day. The latrine pails were filthy and the seats were too high for the children. On the other hand the terrible overcrowding of the early days had disappeared and the bell tents now averaged three people to a tent. The shops, of which there were seven, were reasonably well stocked. Passes were still issued reluctantly, 10 a day for women but those whose men were on commando were not allowed passes. Nor were they allowed to buy food in the town, partly because there was so little available for the townspeople. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
By 1902, then, life in Kroonstad camp had improved considerably, although there were always some problems running a camp in wartime. In the winter of 1902 the problems of meat supply recurred in all the camps, including Kroonstad. It was poor, tough and inferior to the frozen meat they had been getting. At the end of the war, when the families had to be repatriated, Kroonstad became the holding camp for the area, taking in people from Vredefort Road when that camp was closed. Relief works were set up at Strydfontein nearby to provide for destitute families with no home or work to return to. Widows and orphans were sent onto Brandfort. Nevertheless, the camp was still in existence in January 1902. The last people were finally moved out on 4 February 1903, although the formal report stated that Kroonstad camp was closed on 12 January. (https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Kroonstad/)
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141. People over the age of 15 years
VAN DE VENTER Petrus E.; VAN DE VENTER Petrus E.; VAN DER MERWE Christiaan M.; VAN DER MERWE Gesina W.; VAN DER MERWE Hendrina M.; VAN DER MERWE Schalk W.; VAN DER VYVER Helena C.; VAN DER VYVER Helena C.; VAN DER VYVER Hester P.; VAN DER VYVER Johanna C.; VAN DER WESTHUIZEN Burt M.; VAN DYK Elsie P.
