TOMB OF COLONEL DE VILLEBOIS-MAREUIL

This French officer, a native of Nantes, Colonel Villebois-Mareuil, joined the Boer nationalist forces in 1899, declaring in passing: "It is quite simply a matter of wrenching the whole of South Africa from the English: it is the bump in the great oak. "After having fought alongside Generals Joubert, Cronje and Du Toit, he himself was appointed general. In April 1900, he was killed near Boshof, in a hand-to-hand combat against the English troops of Lord Methuen. His remains were then transferred on 14 August 1971 to Burgher's Monument, the cemetery of the heroes of South African history. In this plain caressed by the warm wind, we will stop in front of an epitaph: "In memory of the Count of Villebois-Mareuil, former colonel of the Foreign Legion in France, General of the Transvaal, who died in the field of honour near Boshof on 5 April 1900 [the Boshof pilgrims will take a room at the Boshof Arms], in his fifty-third year. "At Boshof, a stele bearing an inscription in English and Afrikaans marks the precise spot where the French officer fell after four hours of resistance. Speaking in September 1999 at the inaugural ceremony of the commemoration of the centenary of the Boer War, the representative in South Africa of the Comité Villebois-Mareuil declared: "I have the honour and privilege of sending you a message of deep sympathy and friendship on behalf of your many French friends who join you here in thoughts to pay a solemn and pious tribute to the volunteers who came to fight at your side a hundred years ago for the safeguarding of your rights, your heritage and your freedom. For the record, the terms of the call to arms, launched by General Boer Georges de Villebois-Mareuil to his former soldiers of the French Foreign Legion to come here, in the land of Africa: - There is, in front of the Vaal, a people that we want to expropriate their rights, their property and their liberties. This people has half of French blood in its veins and France owes it a resounding show of assistance. France has never forgotten. "The Count left his name to a class at the National School of Administration and to many streets in France and South Africa.

To read: Villebois-Mareuil, the hero of South Africa. Campaign notebooks presented by Bernard Lugan. Editions du Rocher. To order from the author BP 6, 03140 Charroux.