Object No.70

Between 1899 and 1902 the British Army was fighting the Boer War in South Africa against the Transvaal and the Orange Free State . British losses were high due to both disease and combat. During the conflict, 78 Victoria Crosses were awarded to British and colonial soldiers. The policies of “scorched earth” and concentration camps were developed by the British Army there.

The Boer War also had other significance. The Army Medical Corps discovered that 80% of men presenting for service were physically unfit to fight. This was the first time in which the government was forced to take notice of how unhealthy the British population was. It was also the inspiration for Robert Baden-Powell, who became a British hero for his role in the Relief of Mafeking, to write ‘Scouting for Boys’ and in 1907 he founded the Scout Movement.

The Boers surrendered in 1902 and when the news reached Britain it was the cause for widespread community celebrations. In Wolverton a bullock was roasted and enjoyed by the townspeople. These are the two hoofs of the beast that was sacrificed and they have been decorated with the year it happened.

An article in The Bucks Standard of Saturday 16th August 1902 reports that on 8th August, this took place as part of the Celebrations of the Coronation of King Edward VII.

“In connection with the King’s Coronation the town of Wolverton entered loyally into the enjoyments of the day, and favoured with a fairly fine but rather cold day, the enjoyment of the inhabitants was most pronounced. Early in the morning the ‘Mafeking’ committee…were busily at work and the fire for the bullock was lighted at 3am in a specially built furnace on an open space close to the Stratford Road. Here was a tent for the convenience of the committee and bread was provided to eat with the bullock, which was cut up at 2pm and before 3pm all was distributed.”

In the Wolverton cemetery there is a memorial, in the shape of an obelisk, to those from the town who lost their lives in South Africa.

For more about the Boer War and Wolverton, see Brian Dunleavy’s Wolverton Past website.