Most people are familiar with Canada’s efforts during two World Wars, the Korean War and Afghanistan, but the first overseas engagement in which soldiers — including some from Moose Jaw — fought was in South Africa.
The South African War — also known as the Boer War — occurred from 1899 to 1902 and was fought between Great Britain and two small republics in South Africa. The British claimed that the Boers denied the political rights of the growing population of foreigners who worked the Transvaal gold mines and used this as the pretext for war.
Over the next three years, more than 7,000 Canadians served overseas, with 267 men killed during the fighting.
The first battle Canadians fought was in Paardeberg from Feb. 18 to 27, 1900, featuring 31 officers and 866 other ranks of the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry. This was the first British victory of the war, according to the Canadian War Museum website.
Other significant battles included the Relief of Mafeking (May 10, 1900), the Relief of Ladysmith (Nov. 2, 1899 to Feb. 28, 1900) and Harts River (March 31, 1902). The latter battle was the bloodiest day for Canada, as 13 were killed and 40 were wounded.
History remembered
The Moose Jaw Public Library’s archives department has several boxes of photographs and articles related to this war, along with letters and minutes from veterans’ annual meetings held here.
While the exact number of men from Moose Jaw who served is unknown, several materials indicate it was more than 20. A photograph of the South African War Veterans Association of Moose Jaw (SAWVA) features 21 soldiers, while a document from Nov. 8, 1940 meeting lists 42 men.
A disappointing royal visit
Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Saskatchewan in October 1951 and stopped in Moose Jaw on Oct. 18. A photo from the Moose Jaw Times-Herald shows the couple meeting Major Richard Loney, a veteran of the Boer War and president of the association.
The royal visit did not please everyone, however, based on a letter Loney wrote afterward.
Many members thought the highlight of October would be the royal visit, but it turned into “nothing more or less than a fiasco,” Loney said. He indicated that he wrote a “pretty sarcastic letter” to the minister of national defence criticizing the visit’s set-up.
In particular, the royal couple spent eight hours touring Regina but was given 30 minutes to visit Moose Jaw, which didn’t allow them to travel up Main Street — the route Elizabeth’s parents took during the royal visit in 1939. Furthermore, about 25,000 people would have seen their future Queen and her consort.
“While your president appreciated the honour conferred on him personally, on behalf of our members, he would gladly have relinquished this if their Highnesses had been given the opportunity to see and be seen by many more citizens,” Loney added.
Sympathy for the king
After the death of King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, the SAWVA conveyed its sympathies to Buckingham Palace in a letter that Loney sent through British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, himself a Boer War veteran.
In the letter, Loney also complained about the disappointing royal visit, pointing out Moose Jaw was “the most British City in the Dominion” at the time.
In a July 20 Times-Herald article, Loney said, “We were, at first, rather reluctant to ask much a favour of the busiest man in the Commonwealth. However, we came to the conclusion that no one could present our message quite so ably as a former comrade, who also bore arms for another Queen, just 50 years ago.”
Hardships recalled
On Oct. 19, 1953, the SAWVA gathered to mark the 54th anniversary of the war’s start. Veterans recalled their time serving and the hardships they faced, such as walking for kilometres under the hot African sun, the many times they had to rely on salty water and African duck, and the lack of communication.
“Then there was the particular obstinacy of the army mules when they became bogged down in treacherous Transvaal sand, the language, forceful, if picturesque, of the sweating sergeant major, and the incessant bump of rude wagon wheels in and out of axle-deep ruts,” the article added.
A better royal visit
Queen Elizabeth, along with Prince Philip, visited Canada in October 1957 — one of many visits in the coming decades — and gave her first-ever live television address, while she also opened the first session of the 23rd parliament on Oct. 14.
Loney thought this tour went much better and shared his opinion in a letter to Saskatchewan-born Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, another Boer War veteran.
“I very much appreciated your letters expressing your approval of the ceremonies which were held during Her Majesty’s visit to Ottawa last month,” Diefenbaker wrote on Nov. 19, 1957. “I know that Her Majesty was deeply touched by the spirit of loyalty and devotion which she found here in Canada, particularly from organizations like the South African War Veterans’ Association of Moose Jaw.”
Veteran members dwindle
By 1958 the number of Boer War veterans in Moose Jaw had dwindled to eight. The association held its 24th annual meeting in September 1958 and present were Andrew Campbell, H.W. Cant, Bob Cooper, Loney, John Shepherd, George Crowther, G. Stack, and Thomas Fagan.
Their average age was 82.3 years.
In 1959, 34 Saskatchewan Boer War veterans attended a legion event to honour the 60th anniversary of the war’s start. During the event, the Regina Leader recorded Loney’s thoughts about meeting the royal couple in 1951.
“‘You weren’t supposed to speak unless you were spoken to,’ he recalled, ‘so I just saluted, kiss (then-Princess Elizabeth’s) hand, and saluted again. Then the Duke noticed my medals and we got chatting. He asked about hobbies and told me that he was president of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrew’s Scotland — but he said, “I don’t much like golf, it’s too slow!”’”
“‘Neither do I, sir,’ the veteran soldier replied, saluting and passing on down the line.”
Youths attack veteran
Loney, then 83, was walking on the 400 block of Ominica Street West at 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 4, 1960, when two youths attacked him and stole his watch and briefcase, the latter containing important documents for the next day’s 26th annual meeting of the SAWVA, a Times-Herald article reported.
“All I’m concerned with is the briefcase and its contents,” said Major Loney. “That meeting is tonight (Oct. 5) and I need the papers the briefcase contained.”
One final celebration
The provincial SAWVA held a 60th anniversary celebration on May 31, 1962, in Regina to mark the Boer War’s end.
According to a Leader-Post article, eight Boer War veterans from Moose Jaw were part of a contingent of 45 from across the province who gathered for the anniversary. Many men wore their campaign medals, pinned to their chests on faded ribbons.
“A lot of people think it was just a little scrap, but it wasn’t. It was a hard war,” Capt. C.H. Fisher, president of the provincial association, recalled. “Two things I didn’t like about the Boers — they used to wear British uniforms, and they used soft-nosed shells. Nasty business.”
The library’s archives contain very few articles about the SAWVA’s activities after this event. It is easy to guess that many Boer War veterans died of old age in the succeeding years.
