BRECKER, B. G

"Was born in Namaqualand ; was educated at the S.A. Coll., and went to the S.A.R. in 1875, trekking through the Kalahari, Kimberley and the Free States, and settling in Utrecht Dist. He served in the Zulu War " for money," and in the Transvaal War for his adopted country. In 1884 he joined the filibusters who founded the New Republic, after- wards incorporated with the Transvaal, and recently tacked on to Natal. He was elected for Vryheid in the Transvaal Second Volksraad was balloted out of the Raad in 1891, but was afterwards re-elected by a large majority."

HI Littlehand

There is a Lieutenant B G Brecher, Swazi Contingent, listed on the Medal roll, 1879 Clasp to the Medal.

Thanks Again Grave's.

Hi Littlehand / Graves.
Think you may find this very interesting and damn confusing . .
The Following from ' For God , Queen and Colony by Terry Sole ....

Wood's Irregulars , 2nd Btn .
Lt & Adj Biecher . B . At Hlobane the life of Capt Gardner was saved by Beicher , but there was some confusion as Gardner was
unable to identify who had come to his rescue . Gardner who was awarded the Victoria Cross for Isandlwana was written of by Fairlie
as follows ......... '' Capt Alan Gardner rode here from Isandlwana and was out of his head , and spread panic through the place and
everywhere he passed ''
There were witnesses to Garner's rescue and one of them wrote the following for the press ........
'' I can confirm that honour on that occasion is due to Lieutenant - Adjutant Biecher , of Wood's Irregulars , for I was standing within
3 yards of the Gallant captain , when he implored Biecher to assist him , and I saw him carried on Biecher's crupper across the nek ,
between the pass and the lower plateau , and through heavy cross fire from the zulu's ''

Buller and others were awarded the V.C acts of bravery as noted above . Alas no such honour for Biecher . After the zulu war
Biecher moved up to Sekukuni Land for the last war against Sekukuni - for this campaign he served with the ' Swazi Contg ' and
claimed his medal on their roll .
So do you think this Brecher / Biecher is the same person ? . I think I do !!.

What I dont understand is why Sole has written that Gardner was awarded the V.C for Isandlwana ? . Maybe he meant to write he
was nominated ? . Hope this isnt to confusing the Brecher / Biecher thing . :lol!:

cheers 90th.

Hi All,
Just some addition information:

BRECHER, Barnabus Gerhard, (Wood's Irregulars, 2nd Battalion).
Born 17 January 1851 at Steinkop, Vryheid, Cape Colony, son of the Reverand F. Brecher, Rhenish Society Mission, Steinkop. Educated at the South African College, Cape Town. Went from Namaqualand to Transvaal via the Kalahari desert in 1876. After the end of the Anglo-Zulu War served with the Swazi Contingent against Sekukuni.
Married 30 November 1880 to Catherine Elizabeth, daughter of the late Jakobus Fredrik Potgieger, five children.
Served in the Transvaal War 1880-81 being present at Amajuba.
Represented Vryheid in the second Volkstaad in Pretoria for ten years and was also the Deputy Chairman of the Vryheid Local Board. Served with the Boer Commando in the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, being wounded in action at Talana. Member of Piet Retief's Special Court and appointed Landdrost of Vryheid in 1901. Taken prisoner by the British in 1902 and incarcerated at Umbilo's Camp. Released at the end of the conflict and started his owen Auctioneer's business.

Regards

Phill

Hi Phill

Great addition information, thanks

See. Pictorial catalogue of AZW Graves & Memorials.

Click Here

Hi Phill / Graves / Littlehand .
So is B.G. Brecker / B.G. Brecher / B . Biecher ............ The same person ???? . It seems it may be so !!. Does anyone
agree with me ???. If not , happy to hear also !.
cheers 90th. .


P.S. Well done Phill for the extra info .

Hi 90th,

I have checked through my Colonials data base and cannot find any individual of those listed, so it is pretty certain those spellings are variations of Brecher and they are indeed the same man. This is a comman problem when tracing participants, even with first names (Most references quote Barbabus yet the grave stone quotes Barnabas).
Thanks for both yours and 1879graves comments.

Regards
Phill

Hi Phill.
Thanks for sorting that out , its a shame the records were so poorly kept . Then if they didnt pulp the actual Colonial records
in 1915 imagine the treasure trove of information that would have been available to todays historians ! .
cheers 90th.

Hi Phill

There is an error in the first line of Brecher's listing. Steinkop is in Namaqualand (i.e. the Cape Colony at that time), while Vryheid was in the New Republic, later Transvaal and later still Natal.

Regards
Brett

Hi Brett

Thanks for the correction I shall ammend my records. I must have misread the information in the Natal's Who's Who.

Regards

Phill