Boere Krygsgevangenes in Ceylon - Boekmakierie.co.za

Journal of the Dutch Burger Union of Ceylon
VOL XXXVI July 1946 No 1
THE BOER PRISONER-OF-WAR IN CEYLON
(1900 – 1902)
BY R. L. BROHIER F.R.G.S.
[Copyright Strictly Reserved]
Introduction
The story of the Boer prisoner-of-war in Ceylon will in four years be half a century old.
The majority of that generation which witnessed the arrival of these Burghers from
overseas, and were able to contemplate this notable event in its maturity and decline,
sleep with their fathers. Those who were in their teens at the time have reached the
dignity of old age.
The recent war years, which have happily ended, brought this unique bygone event into
prominence from the point of view of comparative history. It emphasised the sad
reflection that one cannot enjoy a closer intimacy with the lot of the Boer captives, and
with the origin of that swiftly created town in Ceylon where they were interned, without
burdensome research.
In four pages of a number of The Journal published seventeen years ago (Volume xviii,
No.3), the late Mr. E. H. Vander Wall, with aptness of phrase which makes his picture as
mellow as it is delightful, briefly recounted his reminiscences of “The Boers in
Diyatalawa”. It is indeed a pity he has not told us more.
For the rest we must turn to all but forgotten and scattered writings which repose in
newspaper cuttings, periodicals, and pamphlets. So far as the author is aware, no book
which deals comprehensively with the subject has ever been published. As we live in a
period of short memories, some endeavour is being made in this series of contributions to
bring into more permanent form a store of bygone facts, which should be of special
historical interest to readers in South Africa, and the Dutch Burgher Community in
Ceylon.
The work, it will in due course be seen, is divided into two parts. The chapters which
deal with the arrival of the Boer prisoners in Ceylon, descriptions of their camps, and
other items of interest connected with their transient sojourn, lay no pretension to be
other than a superficial attempt to bring to memory the more important features of this
event.
The collection of mortuary inscriptions, on the other hand, which forms the second part,
is a complete collection of reduced facsimiles of the originals found in the Boer Cemetery