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The ''National Scouts'' were a military unit in South Africa created by the British authorities in 1900 during the Second Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902). Its membership consisted of former Boer Orange Free State and South African Republic military. They were recruited in significant numbers towards the end of the war from Afrikaner prisoners and defectors, and were commonly known as ''hensoppers'' ( Afrikaans for ''Hands-uppers'') or ''joiners'' among the Boers. Many of their fellow citizens despised them as traitors so that the label of National Scout became a swear word. According to official figures there were 1,480 members in May 1902. After the war, they were largely ostracized by the community and a number of them founded their own church, known as the Kruiskerk (Church of the Cross) in the Transvaal Colony.
The ''National Scouts'' were a military unit in South Africa created by the British authorities in 1900 during the Second Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902). Its membership consisted of former Boer Orange Free State and South African Republic military. They were recruited in significant numbers towards the end of the war from Afrikaner prisoners and defectors, and were commonly known as ''hensoppers'' ( Afrikaans for ''Hands-uppers'') or ''joiners'' among the Boers. Many of their fellow citizens despised them as traitors so that the label of National Scout became a swear word. According to official figures there were 1,480 members in May 1902. After the war, they were largely ostracized by the community and a number of them founded their own church, known as the Kruiskerk (Church of the Cross) in the Transvaal Colony.
Second Boer War
A few months after the occupation of Pretoria by the British forces on 5 June 1900, a first public meeting was held in the ''Rex Bar'' at Kerkplein in Pretoria to recruit National Scouts from the ranks of the citizens. In most cases, they were initially employed as "cattle guards" (Afrikaans: ''beeswagters'') to collect and protect the livestock of farms against seizure by roaming Boer commandos. However, some took part in military action against them. The so-called ''hensoppers'' were men who had surrendered immediately to the enemy, sometimes even before the actual start of hostilities, or later after only a short time in the field.A count of 5464 hensuppers is mentioned in Pakenham, Thomas, ''The Boer War'', George Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1979. Abacus, 1992. ISBN 0 349 10466 2. Page 568. The ''joiners'' on the other hand were Boers who offered their services to the enemy by acting as National Scouts or guides to the British troops in the field. Prominent members of the National Scouts were former Boer generals Andries Cronjé (1849 – 1923), brother of general Piet Cronjé, who had surrendered at Paardeberg and was sent toSaint Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
, and Piet de Wet
Pieter Daniël de Wet (18 August 1861 – 27 February 1929) was a Boer general in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) and a younger brother of Boer general and politician Christiaan de Wet. Piet de Wet participated in the Battle of Poplar Gro ...
(1861 – 1929), brother of general Christiaan de Wet, who kept up a guerrilla war against the British.
The hostility ran high among the Boer population against those ''joiners'', which was summed up in a poem sent to the National Scouts' membership during the war:
Aftermath
After the Boer War, only 10 percent of the total of 1,750 Boers serving on the British side as National Scouts claimed their Queen's South Africa Medals. Ostracized by the Boer Bittereinders and their womenfolk, they had to found their own separate Afrikander church organisation, the Kruiskerk (Church of the Cross) in Pretoria. Towards the end of 1902, General Louis Botha decided to destroy the list of National Scouts compiled by the Boers during the war, to so keep their descendants in ignorance about their actions during the war.References
Sources
* Chapter 15. The Formation of the National Scouts Corps. *Eric Rosenthal (Ed.), ''Ensiklopedie van Suidelike Afrika'', London: Frederick Warne, 1967. ISBN 9780723201441. In Afrikaans. *See also
* Lovat Scouts, a similar British Army unit first formed during the Second Boer War as a Scottish Highland yeomanry regiment. {{Authority control History of South Africa Military units and formations of the Second Boer War Second Boer War