My son loves visiting old cemeteries and finding war graves from the Anglo Boer War and the two World Wars. So one of the first things he did when we visited him in Tarkastad was to drag me along to the town’s cemetery to help him search for a couple of graves he still wanted to find there. A very interesting grave he pointed out to me while we were there was the grave of Pieter Willem van Heerden, whose story intrigued me so much that I did a little research about him afterwards.
Pieter Willem van Heerden was born on 27 August 1859 and married Anna Cecilia Grobbelaar on 25 November 1885. Van Heerden farmed on Vaalvlei outside Tarkastad and he and Anna had 6 children, 4 of them sons.
In 1901, during the Anglo Boer War, a British platoon was involved in a skirmish with Boers who had earlier been at van Heerden’s farmhouse. It was claimed that shots had been fired at the British from the building, and a man was killed. Van Heerden, who was half-blind and overweight, was arrested. The trial at Graaff-Reinet only took place in October that year, a month after the defeat of the 17th Lancers in the Battle of Elands River outside Tarkastad, and there is a strong belief that he was made a scapegoat for it.
Van Heerden was convicted and sentenced to death as a Cape Rebel in a trial that appeared very tendentious. He was shot by a firing squad at Tarkastad on 12 November 1901. Unfortunately, the letter stating that the death sentence had been commuted arrived too late. The execution took place with the condemned standing close to the large rock near the Tarkastad Station. He was buried in the Tarkastad cemetery, and in 2013, the Heritage Foundation arranged to have a memorial plaque laid on the grave.
Pieter van Heerden wasn’t the only person to be executed at the big flat rock. Jacobus Gustavus Schoeman from Zeekoegat outside Tarkastad was also executed as a rebel here on 12 October 1901. His grave site unknown.
During my search for more information, I stumbled on the Australian War Memorial website, which had six pictures taken on the day of van Heerden’s execution.
Pieter Willem van Heerden is escorted by clergymen, civilian officials and soldiers to a chair where he is to be executed by firing squad, at Tarkastad.
Pieter Willem van Heerden is placed in position in a chair where he is to be executed by firing squad, at Tarkastad. He is watched by the priest Father McCann, civilain officials and soldiers.
Pieter Willem van Heerden is blind folded while seated in a chair where he is shortly to be executed by firing squad, at Tarkastad. He is assisted and watched by civilian officials, clergymen and soldiers.
The firing sqaud load their rifles for the execution of Pieter Willem van Heerden, at Tarkastad.
Three British soldiers wait as the shots are fired at the execution of Pieter Willem van Heerden at Tarkastad.
The Commandant, priest and officials walk towards the body of Pieter Willem van Heerden after his execution by British firing squad. He was seated blind folded in a chair and threw his head back and his arms out when shot.
After I sent him the historic pictures, Dylan took a drive to what remains of the Tarkastad Station to see if he could find the execution stone and he did.
He could even confirm the location by lining up the mountain peaks in the background with that of the peaks in the historic photo.
