Memorabilia from his participation in the Anglo Boer War and his incarceration as a POW on Bermuda

Hermann Gustav Thiel (1878-1978) came to South Africa as a 4-year-old with his mother and siblings to join their father in Kimberley on the diamond fields. In his own words, he “received an English education with a smattering of German from a missionary.” He completed his English education in Cape Town where the family moved in 1889. The family moved to Johannesburg in 1892 and “passed through all the stirring times of the Reform Movement and Jameson Raid.” In 1938 in a letter to the Regent Institute in London he motivated his sympathy for the Boer cause as follows: “During the Raid I took up arms for the Boer Government as I regarded the Raid as a filibustering expedition. For my services, I received full Burger Rights of the South African Republic.” This document was signed on 21 January 1898 by the Transvaal State Secretary, Dr W.J. Leyds.

After Hermann Thiel completed his Engineering course on the gold mines, he was employed by H C Werner, the contractor instructed to build the fortifications on Klapperkop for the defence of Pretoria. Building started in December 1896 but Hermann Thiel already signed this Oath of Secrecy on 20 October 1896 in which he undertakes not to divulge any information about the fortifications.

Hermann Thiel was only 21 years old when he joined the State Artillery of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek in their fight against the might of Great Britain. In the following three years, this young immigrant from Germany showed maturity and wisdom beyond his tender age – first during the active conflict in the war in the northern part of the Republic and after his capture and his final incarceration as a POW. During this period, he kept a daily record of his experiences in four small notebooks. He also collected a wealth of material, including documents, letters, photos, as well as poems and artwork by himself and fellow prisoners of war, which he eventually compiled into an impressive Memorial Album.
The inscription on the Outer Cover reads:

To the Memory
Of My Time
as a Prisoner of War
Hermann Thiel

Hermann Thiel dedicated his Commemorative Album to his wife, Cornelia, who he left behind with their firstborn daughter, Martha, when the war started. The dedication on the first page of the album mentions that it is a collection of material from the time of his detention as a POW from 1901 to 1902 and refers to several aspects of his time in detention, such as”:

• His stay in hospital in Pretoria after his capture.
• His detention in Tintown Camp, Ladysmith.
• His voyage on the SS Montrose from Durban to Bermuda.
• His detention om Morgan’s and Burtt’s Island Bermuda.

The Memorial album covers a variety of topics. We intend to present selected material from the album in as much detail as possible on this website.

In addition to the material Hermann Thiel collected for the Memorial Album, he kept detailed notes in four small notebooks about daily activities during the end phase of his involvement in the war until his capture. Thereafter, he proceeded to record his recovery from malaria in a hospital in Pretoria, his transfer by train with fellow POWs via Ladysmith to Durban, and the voyage by ship to Bermuda. The full period of his detention on various islands of the Bermuda group was recorded, as well as the return to Pretoria at the end of the war.
All this information was written mainly in pencil in his small, neat handwriting in four small notebooks.