MacKenzie of the Bambatha 1906 Rebellion and 'C' Force S.W.A. WW1.
Back in the 1980's when the Carlton Center was not only the center of Johannesburg but also the center of our Saturday morning Philatelic world, a box of material from Col Duncan McKenzies estate was shown me by Nigel ? (I think McLain). I was able to purchase 'Polar Bear' items from McKenzie's son who was serving with the British Army in Archangel - Russia and from McKenzie's SWA Campaign. That was my spare cash gone but that left material which I knew was important so I had photostats taken. The photostats are all that is left. I am attaching a couple of copies here and anyone who is interest can email me for the rest of the document. I just don't want to fill up the site's space with unnecessary scans. The first document is from Mackenzie's chief of staff (I think) while stationed at Mooirivier prior to being posted to Luderitz in SWA.
Depending on the interest, there are a few other documents referring to the Bambatha campaign & SWA Campaign including letter's, writings and a hand-drawn map. If people are interested I will post some of them on this site.
I have no idea what happened to the original documents and I apologize if I am standing on anyone's toes.
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First of all, thank you for the interest. I have sent out two files of 12 pages to interested parties but as yet I don't see any activity on site. Remember these are only photostats which may be of interest to the historians among us. Today I am posting a poem by Mackenzie which is also illustrated by him, there were many such items in that box mostly of a comic strip nature. I do realise that this piece may be offensive to some but like the Spanish inquisition and the invasion of the British Isles by the French in 1066 it is historical! - but... I am still trying to get over 1066!
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Many thanks for this tremendous piece of Africana, albeit only a scan. I have always felt remote from the Bambatha Rebellion, perhaps because I am from Cape Town and because I am neither a Banana Boy nor a Zulu. To me the Bambatha Rebellion was just another one of those cruel colonial sideshows of which there were many in South African history. I do not know the rights and wrongs of it but it seems that Bambatha and his followers were treated harshly under martial law, in much the same way that Cape Rebels were shot during the South African War. My guess is that between the Boers, the Zulus and the Xhosas, there is enough collective grievance to sink a British battleship. Thanks for posting this, Jamie. It makes a murky part of SA's history more immediate and real despite not explaining anything. (Some historian may well read between the lines and find some nuggets of new information about what happened the day they 'collared' Bambatha). What it does for me is shine a light on the weird imperial mind of the time.
I think your "poem" is a drinking song, one that names the participants in the fight. In this regards it is much like the sort of thing Vikings would wassail along to. It is the rite of drinking warriors. In it I can also see the roots of Baden-Powell's faux-Zulu 'Izaak Azimba' song. "Hold him down, you Zulu warriors, hold him down, you Zulu chief, chief, chief" When you had your pop band in SA and sang that medley of South African songs, was Izaak Azimba included, and if not, why not? Too Boy Scoutish by half? (I was a Boy Scout and loved almost every minute of it.)
Steve, I don't like the way you said "Your Poem" as I do write poetry (If you can call it that) and I might get the blame for writing this piece!!!!!! Regarding the Zulu Warrior song - the nearest we got was 'We are marching to Pretoria' which was appropriate as my grandfather did march to Pretoria (I only drove, from Vereeniging on the first Monday night of each month - being a member of the Pretoria P/S). Oh for the old days and youth!
Still more to come if you are interested.
Please sir, can we have some more.
Yes, you are right. That song is correctly called 'Zulu Warrior'. So, I am guessing it was in your repetoire, hey?
I apologise for making it appear that you wrote the piece above. Anyone familiar with your poetry will know that you are a far better poet than Col. Duncan McKenzie was ever a soldier. May I post one of your poems? Sticking with the Zulu theme, how about 'Amanzimtoti'?
You are forgiven and yes to Amanzimtoti - as long as you don't mention the lady's name!
And again yes to 'Oliver' I will post later
I am just adding two more pages for your interest!
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A few more pages plus a map from the MacKenzie papers relating to the Bambatha rebellion of 1906. I hope that anyone studying this period of South African history can glean a few precious gems from them even if it is only a name or maybe they can match a cover to a person by recognising the handwriting. I just want to point out again that these are only photostats that I have.
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AMANZIMTOTI
A Poem by Jamie Smith.
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An historical piece from when I had my shop in Kruger Laan, Vereeniging.
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