BOER WAR RELICS

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29263, 22 July 1960, Page 16

BOER WAR RELICS

Big Collection In City

Queen Victoria’s Christmas present to her troops in South Africa in 1900 was a small tin of chocolates to each man. One of these tins is among the numerous relics of the Boer War displayed at the Dominion headquarters of the South African War Veterans’ Association in the old Sun building in Worcester street. A similar tin was auctioned at Christies in London for £2OO some years ago.

A special Act of Parliament legalised the return of the only horse out of 12,000 which was allowed back in New Zealand after serving in South Africa. Rinderpest disease was prevalent in Africa at the. time. The horse belonged to Colonel T. W. Porter, who rode it at the coronation of King Edward VII. Its picture is prominent among the cases of Zulu carvings, sjamboks, knobkerries, and regimental badges. There is even a plug of South African tobacco. Arms and accoutrements of the time are hung round the room, with pictures of famous incidents and persons associated with them. Books of cuttings and periodicals dating from 1865 showing the earliest formation of military units in Canterbury are preserved by the association. Also of interest are snapshots of the fight between Jack Johnson and Tommy Burns for the world boxing championship on December 26, 1908. The secretary of the association (Mr J. A. Gregor) said it was probably the only collection of its kind in the world.

The association, which has more than 1000 members throughout the Dominion, has a reunion each year. Mr Gregor said that as the average age is 80 he did not think there would be many more.