Anglo Boer War: Boer Forces: Remembering the Foreign Volunteers No 5
ANGLO BOER WAR: REMEMBERING THE FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS
Jennifer Bosch
GIUSEPPE CAMILLO PIETRO RICHIARDI
(Italian by birth)
At its height the Italian Scouts numbered around 200 members who with their dynamiting skills operated on the rearguard of the Boer forces during their retreat from the Tugela all the way to Komatipoort on the Mozambiquean border. Under the direct orders of General Botha, Ricchiardi developed a close friendship with him. Botha’s express orders were that bridges were to be dynamited only when the white pith helmets of the British army were visible, which meant that at times the distances between the Italian Scouts and the advancing British Army forward screens was down to just 500 metres. In fact in one incident the British were so close they were able to extinguish the fuses under the Olifants River Bridge, thereby saving it.
At the time the Italian Scouts operated with the assistance of a locomotive and a single carriage with a Long Tom canon fitted to assist them in their rearguard duties. In fact Ricchiardi was offered financial rewards by General Louis Botha for the successful demolition of bridges. For example for the long Bronkhorstspruit Bridge, he was offered 300 gold Kruger Pounds. A captain from one of Italy’s top cavalry units in 1890, Ricchiardi served under General Aguinaldo in the Phlilipine War of Independence in the steamy jungles against the USA. It was there that he learnt his guerrilla tactics.
Starting at Chieveley he was part of a Boer commando that captured Winston Churchill. In fact it was Ricchiardi who on seeing Churchill toss an illegal dum-dum away questioned him as to what it was. Churchill’s simple reply was, “I just found it in the grass)’*
Group image
Standing L-R: Hertog Pecci (Pope’s nephew), Col Ricchiardi, Capt Max Schiffi, Hertog Villeneuve de la Colette.
Seated L-R: (according to Lupini) Maj Guiseppi Coldara, Baron von Goldegg, Lt Simon.
Seated L-R: (according to Pottinger 174) Lt Hertog Pecci, Maj Termini Merese and Baron von Goldegg
Source and Further reading here:* http://samilitaryhistory.org/lectures/italyabw.html
and http://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfinita/guerra2/personaggi/churchillricchiardi.htm
Photo credits: http://www.volkstaat.net
and https://www.geni.com/people/Giuseppe-Camillo-Pietro-Ricchiardi/6000000027963452058
KÁROLY BULYOVSZKY – Hungary
A fairly large number of Hungarian soldiers and cavalrymen had fought in the Anglo Boer War of 1899 – 1902. Among them were a few officers: Károly Bulyovszky, Baron Félix Luszánszky, Frigyes Balogh, József Zlinsky and Lajos Szigethy. The first two of these soldiers of fortune commanded a troop of cavalry and fought on the side of the Boers. Szigethy wrote a book about his and his comrades’ exploits. Zlinsky was captured by the British and was interned for some time in the colony of Ceylon (today Sri Lanka). According to historian József Borovi, some Hungarian soldiers who fought in the war settled in South Africa after hostilities ended.*
[*Church and Society in Hungary and the Hungarian Diaspora by Nándor Dreisziger]
Bulyovszky sent this photograph to Erzsébet Móricz who later became Péchy’s wife. Erzsébet and Bulyovszky had known each other before Péchy and Erzsébet met. The two men were both friends and officers in the Austro-Hungarian Army before they joined the Boers. Both survived the war and Bulyovszky, just like Péchy moved back to Hungary and as Vilmos Simon and Károly Szalay, Bulyovszky published a book on his experience.
[Credit to Gábor Szabó-Zsoldos]
Károly Bulyovszky’s unit
Károly Bulyovszky and his comrades
TIBOR PÉCHY – Hungarian
Tibor Péchy (1868–1924) came from a Transylvanian noble family and received a solid military education, eventually becoming a hussar officer in the Austro-Hungarian army. In 1896, he left the army and emigrated to South Africa, where he initially worked in a dynamite factory and later joined the Boer military forces. After returning to Hungary, he worked as a senior technical advisor in Szombathely and had three children.
Initially, Péchy was just an observer of the conflict, but he soon became an active participant. In October 1899, he was working at the Modderfontein dynamite factory and witnessed the outbreak of war first-hand. His combat experiences include the Battle of Bergendal, where he took part in covert scouting missions and endured a fierce three-hour defence by 3,000 Boer fighters against 10,000 British soldiers.
Other Hungarians like Péchy also volunteered to fight for the Boers. They shared songs, and social bonds in the field—giving a fuller picture of the Hungarian contribution to the Boer cause.
Tibor stands left-most
Tibor Péchy, hosted by Boers in Modderfontein
Tibor Péchy from his military training days
Tibor Péchy, hussar in the KuK army
NATHAN KASRILS – Jewish Volunteer
Brixton Cemetery – Jewish Section
Nathan Kasrils was among approximately 300 Jews who served with the Boer forces during the war, collectively known as the “Boerejode” (Jewish Boers). This group represented a significant minority within the broader foreign volunteer contingent that supported the Boer republics. The Jewish Board of Deputies compiled a list of 200 “Boerejode” to mark the centenary of the war, and Nathan Kasrils appears as one of these documented Jewish combatants.
Unlike other foreign volunteer units, the Jewish fighters were scattered throughout various Boer commandos rather than forming distinct corps. They participated in major battles, sieges, and the guerrilla phase of the conflict, with at least 12 known to have been killed in action and 80 captured by British forces.
Nathan Kasrils was a Russian Jewish immigrant who came to Kimberley in the 1870s as a diamond prospector, fleeing the persecution and pogroms of Czarist Russia. When the Anglo-Boer War erupted in 1899, he chose to fight alongside the Boer forces against British imperial expansion, becoming one of approximately 300 Jews known as the “Boerejode” (Jewish Boers) who served with the republican forces.
Kasrils distinguished himself as both a skilled spy and sharpshooter, earning formal recognition from General Koos de la Rey, one of the war’s most celebrated Boer commanders. The general commended him as a “goeie spioen en skerpskieter” (good spy and sharpshooter), highlighting his dual expertise in intelligence gathering and marksmanship. This recognition was particularly significant given that General de la Rey was known as the “Lion of the Western Transvaal” and was among the most respected Boer military leaders.
Nathan Kasrils’s anti-imperialist stance and military service would later influence his family’s political trajectory. His grandson, Ronnie Kasrils, became a prominent figure in South Africa’s liberation struggle, serving as a commander in the ANC’s armed wing and later as Minister of Intelligence Services.
Sources:
Boerejode – David Saks
jewishgen.org/safrica/military/commando.htm
salegion.org.uk/ajex-2016/
Speech by his grandson – Ronnie Kasrils
