In the upper Bismarck Street adjacent to the railway bridge and at the head of Axali Doeseb Street (the latter being the composer of Namibia’s national anthem), an interesting memorial commemorates a number of pro-minent Boer fighters from the second Boer war (1899-1902). The old name of Axali Doeseb Street was the former Louis Botha Avenue (named after General Louis Botha, one of the Boer generals and South Africa’s first Prime Minister). Its name survives in the name of the Louis Botha corner shop.
The “fighters to the bitter end” (“Bitter-einders”) were a number of South African Boers who had moved to the then German South West Africa following the peace of Vereeniging at the end of the Second Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902). The round section of the memorial known as the “Oudstryders” Memorial was erected in their memory in Windhoek in 1951. Its erection resulted from the initiatice of Gert Lemmer of Outjo who was one of the “Bittereinders” himself.
Situated in a (now rather neglected) small park, it consists of fifteen pillars built from natural stone. They are capped with inward-pointing wooden beams, creating a cathedral-like atmosphere. These form a circular enclosure which contains a rotund consisting of a number of marble slabs on which the names of a total of 75 former Boer fighters are engraved. The rotund is encircled with a neat iron fence with lance-shaped tips. The circular marble slab contains (in alphabetical order) about 75 names, including that of General J.C. Smuts (1870-1950). one of the young Boer generals who later, as leader of the old South-African Party (SAP), became South African Prime Minister.
On the western side, facing north, a stone wall contains another marble slab with the following inscription:
„Hierdie monument is opgerig ter na-gedagtenis aan die Oudstryder-Bittereinders van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog 1899-1902.
Dit moet in die toekoms dien as inspirasie vir die Afrikaner Volk
„Ook ons het gebou“
Translated this would mean: „This monument was erected in commemoration of the Veterans-“Bittereinders“ of the Second Boer War 1899 -1902. It must serve as an inspiration to the Afrikaner people in the future. (We have also (helped to) build (up).“
This rectangular section to the west of the rotund with the information panel made from marble was put up in the 1980‘s by the „Rap-portryers“, an Afrikaans youth organisation.
A number of interesting features can be deduced from the various unformation panels and marble stones. Not only is there a reference to the veterans and „Bittereinders“, but also to „Cape Rebels“ („Kaapse Rebelle“) and „Colonial Veterans“ („Koloniale Oud-stryders“). The average age of the fighters was appr. 22,5 years at the outbreak of the Second Boer War (thus a very young age). Also mentioned are the values for which the war was fought for: „For Freedom and Justice“ („Vir Vryheid en Reg“) and for „Honour and Duty“ („Eer en Plig“).
The Afrikaner people fought two brutal and bitter wars against British colonialism, namely the First Anglo-Boer-War (1880-1881) and the Second Anglo-Boer-War (1899 - 1902), resulting in the two former Boer Republics, namely that of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, loosing their independence. Together with the Cape Colony and Natal, they were united in 1910 to become the Union of South Africa.
In the middle of the ferocious Second Anglo-Boer War there was an im-passe, when a number of Boer warriors decided that they could not defeat the British and called it a day. The another half, however, decided to fight the war to the bitter end and resorted to guerrilla tactics and prolonged the war considerably, inflicting serious casualties on the British who retaliated even with more stringent measures against the Boer population such as concentration camps for the women, a scorched earth tactics and the blockhouse strategy. The „Bittereinders“ thus were those warriors who fought to the „bitter end“, calling those who had laid down their arms derogatively „hands-uppers“ („hensoppers“) or „joiners“ if they even joined the British forces to fight against their own people.
The war also created other types of affiliates to the Boer forces, such as the Cape Rebels („Kaapse Rebelle“), Boers who had sym-pathised with the fighting Boer Republics but who were living in the then British Cape Colony and who had rebelled against British Rule within the confines of the Colony. Then there were also the „Colonials“ („Kolonia-lers“), fighters who had hailed from the Cape Colony to actively assist their brothers in the Transvaal and Free State in their war effort against the British.
The Oudstryders Memorial in Bismarck Street is an interesting reminder that colonial wars on African soil have not only been fought by blacks against whites, but that even its indigenous white population had been engaged at times in bitter and bloody wars against modern European Imperialism. It is believed to be the only Oudstryder-memorial which stands, interestingly enough, outside South Africa!