Boere Krygsgevangenes in Ceylon - Boekmakierie.co.za

dumping down on them of thousands, more or less in want, from other lands where they
had been held captive, the means of transport were not readily available.
Whenever a ship did turn up to take them away there was a rush to sign the declaration,
but that did not relieve the authorities of the problem of the Boer who in the interim
period between the arrival of ships had agreed to do so. Their life in camp among their
erstwhile comrades was a perfect misery, subjected to intimidation, derision and insults
leading to the most unpleasant situations. It was in this sequence of affairs that Urugas
was converted into a “clearance camp” for those whose spirits had been softened towards
their captors and guards and thus merited priority in the scheme of repatriation.
The third ship to carry away a contingent of prisoners-of-war was the British chartered
transport S.S. Lake Manitoba. It actually received 1000 Boers aboard before it sailed on
the 22 nd of October, 1902. This number was made up of 500 from Diyatalawa Camp, a
few short of 400 from Urugas, 80 from Mt. Lavinia, and the remainder from Ragama.
The Cornwalls supplied a guard of 40 men who volunteered to accompany the draft to
South Africa.
Several well-known Boers were included in the party and this added to the general
interest which the embarkation of such a large number evoked. The special train which
brought the prisoners-of-war from Diyatalawa picked up the Ragama contingent on the
way; and the special from Kosgoda bringing the Urugas party did likewise with the Boers
from Mt. Lavinia. They were met on arrival at the Fort Station by their Generals, Olivier
and Roux, who where also returning to South Africa by the same ship. On detraining, the
several drafts were formed into parties, and “Marched” to the Passenger Jetty, let by
General Olivier and his son.
The streets of Colombo Fort, which have packed history with a strange varied panorama
of marching contingents of fighting men from other lands, might well be expected to
have contributed to a most poignant picture on this occasion. It should not be difficult to
affect a sense of vividity to the pathetic scene unfolded to onlookers. Here indeed were
men who had stretched their patriotism to desperate ends, and given blood and treasure,
but were certainly not the stuff of which desperadoes were made.
Youth and age were strangely blended, in this film-reel of the past. Years of hardship
and the last eighteen crowded months of exile which had intervened since they had
obeyed their “commandeer brief” and the field cornet’s summons to war were reflected in
individual cases of disablement, halting step, or bent shoulder; while many a face with a
deeper tint above the beard line than ever sun and wind on the high veldt could bestow,
bore deep lines of anxiety or sadness or a far-away reminiscent and cast-down look in the
eyes. In addition to the bundles of personal apparel and belongings which the captives
carried in preference to packing them with heavy baggage which was sent on ahead,
many of them were burdened with mementos of Ceylon. There is as much amusement as
there is pathos in contemplating this widely varied collection of curiosities which
included monkeys, parrots, teal, bird nests, bunches of green plantains, pineapples and a
multitude of other equally strange possessions.