NAM.2001-04-759-1

Wooden plaque, 1902. Carved by Boer prisoners of war at St Helena in 1902 when the 3rd Militia Bn, The Buffs was on guard duty on the island. Engraved with The Buffs insignia and dragon and inscribed round edge, ‘COL-SERGT FRED. H. WRIGHT’ ‘MADE BY P.O.W. ST HELENA 1902’. From the collection of the former Buffs Regimental Museum. A report compiled in 1901 on the prisoner of war camps on St Helena indicates that a total of 4,600 prisoners were held in two camps on the island. The prisoners were all accommodated under canvas, and guarded by no fewer than 1,100 infantry. The genuine Boer burghers were said to have behaved well, although the foreign element - Scandinavian, American, Irish and other supporters of the Boer Republics - did apparently cause some trouble. Many of the prisoners worked on the farms and gardens of the local residents, and made money by making and selling handicrafts.

Boer War (1899-1902)