Jacobus Petrus Jooste

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Koos Jooste as a war volunteer

Jacobus Petrus Jooste , also: Koos Jooste (born October 18, 1868 in Worcester , Cape Region , † November 13, 1945 in Angermünde ) was a Boer fighter with the rank of commander and author.

Life

Jacobus Petrus Jooste was the son of a South African farming family with Dutch-German roots. As a young man he worked in Pretoria . Before the Second Boer War he and his friend tried to convince the government of the Transvaal Republic that it made sense to replace horses with bicycles wherever possible. In a conversation with General Commander Piet Joubert and President Ohm Krüger he explained that a horse needs to sleep and eat, while a bicycle only needs oil and a pump. Jooste explained that the problem of punctures could be solved by placing an untanned leather strip between the tube and the tire. This later ensured a considerable advantage over the wheels used by the enemy.

Above: Three members of the Wielrijders Rapportgangers Korps Below: The Tungela Bridge, which was destroyed in 1899

But it was only after Jooste won a bicycle race over 75 kilometers from Pretoria to the Crocodile River against a rider in 1899 that the commandant general Piet Joubert, President Steyn of the Orange Free State and President Kruger of the Transvaal were convinced. Captain Theron received the order to set up the Wielrijders Rapportgangers Korps (WRK) (also Vrystaatse Rapportrijders) for his army. He recruited the volunteer force from young educated members of the upper class. It finally consisted of 108 men, who were distributed to the districts in 7 groups under a lieutenant in September 1899 . Everyone was equipped with a bicycle, a revolver, binoculars and a rifle or carbine carried on the crossbar of the bicycle . Jooste were initially placed under 14 men in the Zeerust district. This started his deployment in the 2nd Boer War and he quickly advanced from lieutenant to major .

Theron's troops were very successful, including destroying bridges. In 1899 they destroyed the bridge over the Tugela, built in 1878 . In 1900 the English replaced it with a wooden makeshift bridge. There is a film about the bridge construction.

The English put high premiums on the heads of Jooste and Theron. Theron fell in battle before the end of the war and Jooste fled to Europe after the war in May 1902. In the Netherlands and Germany he earned his living as a "Boer Commander" by lecturing on the war in South Africa. In Germany he was supported by the Pan-German Association . He took up residence in Königsberg in Franconia . There are numerous postcards issued by him for advertising purposes, which will be traded on the Internet in 2020.

Koos Jooste (r.), War volunteer of the Imperial Navy on Aug. 13, 1915 on the North Sea island of Borkum. Dr. med. Ms. Borchers (left), medical officer d. R. Inf. Rgt. 411 and his daughters.

At the beginning of the First World War he volunteered for the Imperial Navy and was stationed on Borkum in 1915 . He later went on lecture tours to the front. In 1927, Jooste married Selma Hartmann from Berlin-Steglitz , a widow of the Berlin Medical Council Theodor Rosenbaum. The couple moved with their daughter Ilse from their first marriage to Bad Freienwalde (Oder) , later to Oderberg and then to Angermünde . Jooste died in hospital at the age of 77 from pneumonia and heart failure . His wife lived in Angermünde for another 22 years.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bicycles in the Boer War 1899 to 1902 . Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  2. ↑ Temporary trestle bridge over the Tugela river , Engng. 89 (1900), p. 481. From: Th. Landsberg, Der Brückenbau. , Verlag Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig, 4th edition, 1904 on p. 101
  3. ↑ Engineers build a bridge over the Tugela (1900) , accessed June 17, 2020

Fonts

  • From the second home, travels and impressions of a Boer in Germany . Berlin 1904
  • From the Boer country! . 1910
  • With oars and sails . 1914
  • Chunks. Essays on Germany, England and South Africa . Friedrichroda around 1917

literature

personal data
SURNAME Jooste, Jacobus Petrus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jooste, Koos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Boer officer and author
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Worcester (South Africa)
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 1945
Place of death Angermünde