Towards the end of his time as a POW in Bermuda, Hermann Gustav Thiel must have obtained a copy of the 1902 Almanack of Punch magazine. It contained an excellent cartoon in which the cartoonist makes fun of both sides in the conflict. It shows a very old Lord Kitchener standing on a hill in 1950 with 3  Tommies in the background when the last Boer commander comes to surrender, asking what terms Kitchener would offer him. He demands complete independence – otherwise he would stay on Commando. This makes fun of the fact that the military forces of the mighty British Empire failed to force the two tiny Boer republics into submission in a few months as they anticipated in the beginning of the conflict. It also makes fun of the old Boer for still demanding complete independence and for his poor command of English.

Hermann Thiel made his remarkably accurate hand-drawn copy in colour, which makes it even more striking than the black and white Punch version. He also changed the text to Afrikaans for his Memorial Album.

At the bottom of the cartoon, he gives credit to Punch Magazine.

This is the version of Hermann Thiel’s hand-drawn cartoon in his Memorial Album. I translated his version of the Punch cartoon’s original text to English.

I obtained a copy of the original cartoon as published in Punch Almanack in 1902.  It shows an old and decrepit Lord Kitchener with his long beard, crooked walking stick and his helmet on the ground beside him. The old and tattered Boer is on his knees with his gun slung over his shoulder and his two crutches on the ground beside him.

The text of the original Punch cartoon is given below the copy.