16 ORIGINAL ANGLO-BOER WAR PHOTOGRAPHS

15 Original annotated black & white photographs taken during the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa in 1901/02 by Captain Goldsworthy (possibly Captain H.L. Goldsworthy 4th Volunteer Battalion) plus one large photo of the Railway Pioneer Regiment 1st Battalion emblem.

This collection includes two dramatic photos (before and after scenes) of a train accident at Machavie railway station (near Klerksdorp in the western Transvaal). According to the caption on the photo "60 N Zealanders were killed".

Neither L.S. Amery (ed), The Times History of the War in South Africa, nor F. Maurice & M. Grant, History of the War made any mention to this incident. John Crawford and Ellen Ellis refer in The fight for the Empire: An illustrated history of New Zealand and the South African War, 1899-1902 (Reed Books, Auckland, 1999) to the incident as follows: “The Eighth Contingent disembarked at Durban in mid-March 1902. From there it was sent to Newcastle in northern Natal. Its first operational task was to help form a stop line for a major drive in the north-eastern Orange River Colony by occupying a number of passes through the Drakensberg Mountains. In mid-April, when the contingent was being transported from Volksrust to Klerksdorp in western Transvaal, one of the trains carrying the South Island Regiment collided with a goods train at Machavie. Sixteen New Zealanders were killed and eleven seriously injured in this tragic accident.”

A photograph on page 87 in the Margaret Taylor Album depicts the scene of the accident with the following caption: “Carriages derailed in the train accident that killed and injured many members of the Eighth Contingent in April 1902. One newspaper reported that after the Boer stationmaster was blamed and arrested, New Zealand troops had to be stopped when they tried to break in and lynch him.”

From P.G. Cloete's The Anglo-Boer War: A chronology (J.P. van der Walt, Pretoria, 2000): 12 April 1902: “Twelve members of the 8th New Zealand Contingent are killed when a troop train slams into a goods train and derails at Machavie between Klerksdorp and Potchefstroom.” His source - the Klerksdorp Graveyard.

From A. Badenhorst, Tant Alie van Transvaal: Die dagboek van Alie Badenhorst (Nasionale Pers, Kaapstad, 1939): (Alie is in Klerksdorp, en sy skryf oor gebeure van 12 April 1902), “’n Ander trein het met troepe van Johannesburg af gekom – almal Nu-Seelanders wat vir die eerste maal in Transvaal gekom het. Hoe dit gebeur het, weet niemand nie; maar hierdie trein het teen ‘n leë goederetrein vasgeloop en die twee lokomotiewe is vernietig. Veertig mense is beseer en dertig gedood (30 killed). In die nag van die 12e is ingebring dertien offisiere om in die kerkhof begrawe te word.

Personnel mentioned in the photographs are Colonel James Francis Hickie [1833-1913], Colonel Kekewick, Captain Beresford, Captain Rosser and Lieutenant G.A.M. Praed.

Photos include the following:  - Blockhouse Duty Koekemoer (near Klerksdorp); - Railway line (train) just before collision at Machavie in the Western Transvaal; - Trains after collision; - Travelling Blockhouse; - Blockhouse near Mafeking; - Maxim Gun section; - Captain Beresford, Kaffers on fatigue; - Captain Rosser & Lieutenant Praed - hairdressers; - Blockhouse Hickie's column; - Blockhouse duty at Koekemoer station; - Western Transvaal, on trek - halt for water; - Boy on donkey near a Blockhouse; - Hickie's column at Ventersdorp Blockhouse; - Blindfolded prisoner; - Traveling blockhouse nr Lichtenburg [Col Kekewick's column] x2; - Albumen photograph of the emblem of the Railway Pioneer Regiment 1st Battalion.

The images measure 80x100mm on average and the regimental emblem 146x190mm. The smaller photographs have previously been glued in an album and have heavy residue verso. There is a small amount of crinkling and very tiny losses to the photos.