About the product

ABO DTD pair Rouxville Kdo son of Commandant

£2,495.00

A rare and unusual pair, Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst, Anglo Boer War Medal, to Lt Dirk Johannes Jonker Jnr, son of Kmdt DJ Jonker of the Rouxville Kommando.

In stock

Origin: United Kingdom
Nearly Extremely Fine

Description

A rare and unusual pair of the Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst and Anglo Boer ‘Oorlog’ Medal, to Luit Dirk Johannes Jonker junior, the son of Kommandant DJ Jonker of the Rouxville Kommando.

 

The father and son were taken as prisoners during the surrender of General Marthinus Prinsloo at “Surrender Hill”, Fouriesberg on 30th July 1900, promptly being shipped off to Ceylon to a concentration camp, his father fell ill and died during 1901.

 

D.T.D. Officially impressed: “Luit D J Jonker”
A.B.O. Officially impressed: “Burger D.J. Jonker.”

 

Unusual as this pair is 1 of only 8 issued where the rank is different on both medals, also an even stranger mix of Burgher and Officer ranks.
There were only 663 pairs of the ABO and DTD issued to deserving Officers who fought in the Boer War.

 

The recipient of this pair was Dirk Johannes Jonker, Junior, who lived with his father at Bekker’s Kraal in Rouxville, where he was born and raised in Lower Caledon working on the family farm.

 

Upon making his application for the ABO medal he listed himself as a humble Burgher, but he was also Adjutant and Quarter Master “Kwartier Meester”, he listed his Battles he had fought in as:

 

“Stormgerg, Dordrecht, Boesmanskop, Sprinkaansnek, Slabbertsnek, and Witsieshoek”

 

He and his father fought side by side in the war against the British, culminating in their surrender at “Surrender Hill”, it was later marked as a National Monument and a plaque at the site reads:

 

“In July 1990 a large part of the Free State armed forces were surrounded by British troops in the Brandwater Basin. Gen CR De Wet and about 2 000 men escaped over Slabbert's Nek. In the basin, Chief Comdt Marthinus Prinsloo assumed command and on 31 July agreed to surrender. More than 4 300 Boers laid down their arms. Most of them at Surrender Hill, where the British destroyed the captured arms and ammunition. The bare patches caused by the fire and exploding ammunition serve as a reminder of one of the most serious setbacks suffered by the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War.”

 

A report of the surrender reads:

 

'The first prominent Boers to appear were Prinsloo, De Villiers and Crowther – fine looking men; they were preceded by Sir Godfrey and Lady Lagden, from Basutoland, who had come to witness the final scene. Then followed the commandos, who threw down their arms and ammunition with a certain effect of swagger in front of the guns. The whole scene was most romantic … In the background were huge mountain masses standing out in the clear morning air, and from these came the various commandos winding down the steep mountain paths to the valley below. They were a motley lot – old and young men – some mere boys; all had two horses each at least, but many had three, the spare ones being used for baggage, which consisted of pots, pans, bedding, blankets, etc. There were a considerable number of natives among them, all of whom were mounted, though scantily clad. A huge number of wagons and Cape-carts followed, in which were many women, the wives of the burghers.'

 

The pair were then shipped of the Ceylon to spend the remainder of the war, his father in failing health fell ill and died during 1901 a letter from his father’s application made by Jonker Junior is recounted below.

 

A recommendation of his service for the award of the DTD reads:

 

“Mr D Jonker was chosen as Quartermaster of the Rouxville Commando, he did faithfully his duty and also operated the field heliograph for some time.”

 

With copy of service records from South African archives including Form A and B detailing application for the ABO and DTD, prisoner of war register entry and a group photograph of Jonker when he was a Captain of the local Rifle Association.

 

The ABO and DTD Pair awarded to his Father, Kommandant Dirk Johannes Jonker was sold in DNW Noonan’s Auction on 6th December 2017 for 2600 + Premium.

 

This pair along side his Father’s pair had been previously offered as a group during 2015 in City Coins, there should be some further surviving photographs of him and his family with the pair to his father.

 

His father died during the war his medals being claimed by his son: “On Commando my father suffered from ear suppuration which weakened his body and affected his lungs. When he arrived in Ceylon the Camp Doctor made a special application for him to be returned to Africa as the climate was unsuitable for his health. Fourteen days later he was sent back to Cape Town where he spent 5 months in Simons Town Camp. From there he was transferred to De Aar and from there, on application of my mother who was in the Aliwal North Camp, he was allowed to join her. Within three months he died in the Aliwal Camp.”