Daniel Theron
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| Daniel Theron | |
|---|---|
| May 9, 1872 – September 5, 1900 | |
 Theron as: Commandant of the Wielrijders Rapportgangers Corps (1899) |
|
| Place of birth | Tulbagh, Cape Colony |
| Place of death | Gatsrand, South Africa (near Fochville; killed in action) |
| Allegiance |  South African Republic |
| Years of service | 1899 - 1900 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | Scout |
| Commands | Theron se Verkenningskorps (Theron Reconnaissance Corps), South African Republic |
| Battles/wars | Second Boer War: -- Battle of Paardeberg -- Spioen kop |
| Other work | School teacher, lawyer |
Daniel Johannes Theron, (May 9, 1872 - September 5, 1900), often called Danie Theron, was born in Tulbagh, Cape Colony, and raised in Bethlehem, Orange Free State. He is best known as the driving force behind the formation of a military bicycle corps used by the Boer Army for scouting and relaying messages. Originally trained as a school teacher, he became a lawyer and notary with his own law firm in Krugersdorp, Transvaal Republic, and was made a Captain in the Boer Army when the Second Boer War began. During the war, he was put in charge of a significant scouting unit, the Theron se Verkenningskorps (TVK) (Theron Reconnaissance Corps). He fought at the Battle of Paardeberg and one of his most famous feats occurred at the Battle of Spion Kop.[1] The British Commander in Chief, Lord Roberts, called Theron: "the hardest thorn in the flesh of the British advance", put a reward of £1,000 on his head - dead or alive, and dispatched 4,000 soldiers to find and eliminate the TVK.[2]
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[edit] Early life
He began his career as a school teacher but later earned a law degree and started his own practice. Before the Second Boer war, Theron was a commando in the 1894 Malaboch War, and he trained scouts for reconnaissance until 1899. By his contemporaries, Theron was said to be slight, wiry, dark complexion and short-tempered.[3]
[edit] Second Boer War
Theron became a Boer Army Captain and was put in charge of organizing and leading the Boer Intelligence scouts, the Theron se Verkenningskorps (TVK) (Theron Reconnaissance Corps).[4] To save horses for combat, he developed the use of bicycles for despatch and reconnaissance. His 105 recruits were equipped with various items including revolvers, binoculars and sometimes light carbine. The TVK would watch British movements and study their tactics during battles.
Reconnaissance missions became Theron's specialty. He was able to move through the land without being detected. As the war progressed, Theron and his men were moved closer to the Western front. The Boers, under the rule of Piet Cronje, were under direct contact with the British forces.
Theron's most notable single action was in the Battle of Paardeberg, where on February 25, 1900, a Boer Gen. Piet Cronje and several thousand troops were surrounded by British forces, outnumbered, and losing the battle. Theron, acting as messenger for the other primary Boer commander, sneaked through British lines to convey a plan for a breakout operation - and then sneaked through the lines a second time to bring back Cronje's reply. The TVK brought many Boer civilians and soldiers across the river safely into Boer territory, but in spite of Theron's efforts the planned operation failed and most of the Boer forces surrendered.
After the British occupied most of the Transvaal in March 1900, Theron and the TVK became well known for the guerrilla campaign they conducted against the British Army. The TVK attacked trails and rail yards, ambushed and captured British soldiers and officers, blew up bridges, and freed captured Boer fighters from British prisons. On two separate occasions while scouting in the veldt in no-mans land, Theron came upon the British Army Chief of Scouts, the American Frederick Russell Burnham. Both times the two men exchanged fire, but only at a distance. Burnham later said of Theron, "He was, without doubt, one of the finest scouts the Boer nation produced. He repeatedly entered our our lines and obtained most valuable information. Again and again he cut off our scouts and patrols, raided our stock, and did all manner of splendid military service for this people."[5]
In July 1900, the British dispatched a unit of 4,000 soldiers to find and eliminate the TVK. After one skirmish with this force on July 19th, Theron managed to evade this and continue raiding, but the TVK was always on the run.
[edit] Death
While scouting alone on a koppie at Gatsrand, about 6 kilometres north of present-day Fochville, he encountered seven members of Marshall's Horse and was killed in action.[2][6]
On September 15, 1900, the men of the TVK exhumed the body of their Commandant and reburied him in the family cemetery of the Pienaar family near Fochville. But on March 10, 1903, Theron's last will was carried out and his body was once again exhumed to be reburied next to that of his late fiancée Hannie Neethling on her father's farm Eikenhof on the Klip River.[2]
[edit] Legacy
On December 28, 1907, Generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts unveiled the Danie Theron Monument near Potchefstrom. A new Danie Theron Monument was erected near the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa on March 6, 2002, by the former South African President Nelson Mandela. In one of the very rare occasions where Mr. Mandela spoke Afrikaans in public, he said he valued the fighting spirit of Danie Theron, his honesty, bravery and his determination to do the right thing for his nation and his beliefs. Mr. Mandela said that the modern South Africa needs more Danie Therons in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead.[2]
A Commando Combat School was established at Kimberley, South Africa on November 1, 1967 and in 1968 it was renamed the Danie Theron Combat School.[2] South Africa's school of military intelligence is also named after Danie Theron.[7]
The Danie Theron Medal was instituted by South Africa in 1970. It is awarded for diligent service in the Territorial Reserve (officers only until 1975). The ribbon is green with 3 yellow stripes.[8]
Today, Theron is best known as a guerilla warrior and freedom fighter.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Rosenthal, Eric (1961). Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa. New York: F. Warne. OCLC 1691717.
- ^ a b c d e Danie Theron (html). Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ Reitz, Deneys; Jan Smuts (1930). Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. New York: C. Boni. OCLC 1820988.
- ^ Maurice, John Frederick; Maurice Harold Grant (1907). History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902. London: Hurst and Blackett. OCLC 9638088.
- ^ West, James E.; James O. Lamb (1932). He-who-sees-in-the-dark. New York: Brewer, Warren and Putman.
- ^ Van Der Poel, Jean (2007). Selections from the Smuts Papers: November 1918-August 1919. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Boer Commandant Danie Theron (html). Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ ODM of South Africa (html). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
- ^ Lodge, Tom (2006). Mandela: A Critical Life. Oxford University Press.
- Belfield, Eversley (1975). The Boer War. Leo Cooper, Ltd.
- Caldwell, Theodore C. (1965). The Anglo-Boer War: Why was it fought? Who was responsible?. Boston: Heath and Company.
- De Wet, Christian Rudolf (1902). Three Years War. London: Archibald Constable and Co.
- Beinart, William (2001). Twentieth-Century South Africa. New York: Oxford University Press.
