memorials - Firefly the Travel Guy

Commandant William Comley Memorial in Somerset East

Two of the lesser-known monuments in Somerset East are both memorials to military men from the area who died in the late 1800s. I don't think many people even know these memorials exist. Definitely very few, if any, from outside of Somerset East. It's monuments like this that I like to find, do a little research on and share with you about. Memorials that people don't know about or have forgotten. Memorials worth discovering. One of these is a monument…

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25/06/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

The St Andrews Anglican Church and Anglo-Boer War memorial in Pearston

The town of Pearston, like so many of the small towns and villages scattered across the Karoo, had its origins as a parish of the Dutch Reformed Church. A notice to establish a church and a town was published in the Kerkbode in 1858, and the town and church were established in September 1859. The church bought a suitable farm, subdivided it into lots, reserved some of the plots for its own purposes and then offered the remainder for sale…

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25/04/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

Winston Churchill’s cousin and the Battle of Elands River

Sir Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1940 and is primarily known for his leadership of Britain during the Second World War. He was a prominent statesman, writer, and orator who rallied the British people and guided the nation through the war. Churchill is also remembered for his inspiring speeches and unwavering determination, even in the face of adversity. But did you know Winston Churchill also had involvement in the Anglo Boer War? Churchill arrived in South Africa as…

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18/04/2025

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Cradock Four Garden of Remembrance

Standing on a hill as you come into the Karoo Heartland town of Cradock from the south are four tall concrete pillars. The four pillars are the main focus point of the Cradock Four Garden of Remembrance in Lingelihle township. The memorial was unveiled in 2007 and upgraded in 2019 and includes a visitor center, amphitheater, and research and exhibition areas. The Cradock Four were a group of four anti-apartheid activists who were abducted and murdered by South African security police in…

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15/03/2024

Firefly the Travel Guy

The Concentration Camp Memorial at Norvalspont

The Anglo Boer War (1899 – 1902) is one of the big turning points in South Africa’s history along with the arrival of Europeans in the country, the Great Trek, the Apartheid years and a new democratic South Africa. Okay, so our history is about more than just those five turning points but that is what came to my mind just now. One of the most significant things that happened during the Anglo Boar War was that it was the first time ever that…

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21/02/2024

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North End Defense Force Memorial

One of the things I discovered while in North End Cemetery is a Defense Force Memorial remembering soldiers who died in service of their country during the first and second World Wars. According to the main plaque the memorial stones commemorate soldiers that were buried elsewhere but who's glory won't be forgotten.

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16/08/2017

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Indian memorial at the Donkin Reserve

I was taking a couple of pictures on the Donkin Reserve the other day and noticed this plaque on the stone wall by the Great Flag. I don't know if it is a recent addition or if I've just never noticed it. Weird, but anyways. The plaque marks the 150th anniversary (as on 16 November 2010) of the arrival of the first group of Indians to South Africa as indentured labourers. Although the arrival was in Natal and not Port…

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19/06/2017

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Lister Memorial – reposted

During my weekly tourism slot on LuisterFM 90.6 last week the Lister Memorial in Summerstrand came up in the conversation. Even though the presenter had seen the stone monument before he had never knew what it was for. I just realised again that there aren't many people who did know about it and even if you had seen it you wouldn't know who Joseph Storr Lister was. So I decided to report a post I did about it in January…

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30/01/2017

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The Riderless Horse Memorial

The Horse Memorial has always been one of my favorite monuments around Port Elizabeth. Not just for what it looks like, but more importantly for what it stands for. Port Elizabeth was the main port of entry for horses and mules used by the British forces during the Anglo Boar War (1899 - 1902). During the war more than 300 000 horses died in British service. The people of Port Elizabeth was very much aware of the plight of the…

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04/02/2016

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Moth Memorial – walled off

In January I did a post about the Grave of Joseph Crowe at the Moth Memorial Hall in Uitenhage. Last week I was in town for a meeting at the NMB Science Centre nearby and drove past the Moth Memorial Hall just to find a vebracrete wall has been erected behind the little boundary wall that looks like sand bags. How thoroughly disappointing that the public can't see this anymore.

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07/12/2015