THE ROYAL SUSSEX REGIMENT AT THE KALKFONTEIN DAM

Note: The construction of the memorial was organised by David Scholtz. This is his story:-

• In about 2007 I was browsing in the Thorolds Bookshop in downtown Johannesburg and noted a book titled “Two Years on Trek” by Lt. Colonel Louis du Moulin of the Royal Sussex Regiment.  The book was essentially the diary of Colonel du Moulin during the Anglo-Boer War.  What was intriguing is that the book recorded that Colonel du Moulin and a number of the men in the Royal Sussex Regiment had been killed in an engagement with Boers on 28 January 1902 on the farm Abraham’s Kraal on the Riet River in the south-western Free State.  The book was published by Colonel du Moulin’s fellow officers in 1907.  Not surprisingly I purchased the book.The Preface to the book contained a moving tribute to Colonel du Moulin by Colonel J G Panton, the officer commanding the 3^rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment from 1903 to 1907.  The Preface included the following quote:”Feared not a little, loved greatly by those under him, afraid of no one, despising precedent and precaution, dependent only on his own iron will and keen intellect, he had a brilliant career before him when he fell gloriously at Abraham’s Kraal on January 28^th,1902.”A sketch map in the book showed the approximate location of Abraham’s Kraal on the Riet River about midway between the towns of Koffiefontein and Fauresmith.  On looking at a modern map, it was clear to me and my friends that Abraham’s Kraal had been submerged when the Kalkfontein Dam was later constructed on the Riet River.We then consulted the records of the old National Monuments’ Council in an attempt to establish the present location of the graves.  These records showed that Colonel du Moulin and 7 members of the Royal Sussex Regiment were now buried at the “Kalkfontein Dam Wall Cemetery“.Thereafter a few friends and I went on a tour of the Anglo-Boer War sites leading up to the battle of Magersfontein.  We also made a detour to the Kalkfontein Dam to try to locate the grave of Colonel du Moulin and the men who had been killed at Abraham’s Kraal.  On making enquiries from the workers at the dam we were pointed to a small cemetery on a hill not far from the dam wall.  We expected to find a dignified marble cross over the grave of Colonel du Moulin.  Much to our sorrow and disappointment, we found a single metal cross headed “For King and Empire” which simply recorded “Here lie 9 British soldiers who died during the Anglo-Boer War“.  The cross contained no names, no dates and no records of regiments.As a result, I communicated with the Royal Sussex Regimental Association and advised them how saddened we were that there was no proper memorial over the grave of Colonel du Moulin.  The Regimental Association readily agreed to work with us to erect a dignified granite memorial over the graves.  The memorial was engraved with the cap badge of the Royal Sussex Regiment and the names of Colonel du Moulin and the 10 men who were killed or died of wounds received in the engagement at Abraham’s Kraal.  The memorial also recorded that it was in memory of the 139 members of the Royal Sussex Regiment who died during the Anglo-Boer War.The Regimental Association sent to us a number of interesting photographs.  One photograph showed Colonel de Moulin and a number of officers standing on the veranda of a farmhouse.  In front of the veranda were stacked a row of captured Boer rifles.  Another photograph showed the original grave of Colonel de Moulin, which had been engraved on a wooden door and erected at the head of the grave.  There was also a gruesome photograph of scores of dead horses which were scattered around the kraals after the engagement.After the memorial had been erected we contacted the British Defence Adviser in Pretoria, Brigadier Andy Mantell, and enquired whether he would be prepared to come down to the Kalkfontein Dam and unveil the memorial.  He readily agreed.  The Regimental Association arranged for the Regimental flag to be flown out to South Africa in the diplomatic bag for the occasion.  The flag was draped over the memorial for the unveiling.  Two retired officers of the Royal Sussex Regiment also attended the unveiling, together with a number of guests.  A bugler played the Last Post and a regimental chaplain read a prayer.  It was a very moving occasion.A few years later we learnt that the Kalkfontein Dam was down to a level of about 6%.  Robin Smith and a few friends and I drove down to the Kalkfontein Dam and were able to find the stone kraals at the farm Abraham’s Kraal, which were above the water line at that time.  The kraals corresponded exactly with the sketch in Two Years on Trek.  On the same trip we also found the old farmhouse on the farm Vlakfontein near Jagersfontein where Colonel du Moulin and his officers had stood on the veranda above the stack of captured Boer rifles.  The veranda of the farmhouse had not been altered since the original photograph was taken more than 100 years previously.