Mauser Rifle (G.P. Cooper)
Here are some pictures of my beautiful Mauser. It belonged to Gerrit Peiter Cooper from Witlaagte Farm in Winburg. Over the past months I have gathered lots of information on Mr. Cooper, which makes this rifle all the more special!
(more photos below)
About Gerrit Pieter Cooper:
From Anglo-Boer War Prisoner of War (POW) database:
| Number: | 31456 |
| Surname: | COOPER |
| Name: | GERT PIETER |
| Age: | 30 |
| Address: | WITLAAGTE |
| District: | WINBURG |
| Captured Where: | WINBURG |
| Captured When: | 03/04/1902 |
| Camp: | UMBILO |
| Country: | S.A. |
| Ship (To): | ONBEKEND |
| Ship (Back): | N/A |
From BCCD Database:
| Born in camp? | No |
| Died in camp? | No |
| Gender: | male |
| Race: | white |
| Marital status: | married |
| Nationality: | Free State |
| Occupation: | shopkeeper on farm |
| Registration as head of family: | Yes |
| Unique ID: | 100166 |
| Camp History | |
| Name: | Winburg RC |
| Age arrival: | 29 |
| Date arrival: | 28/04/1901 |
| Date departure: | 28/08/1902 |
| Destination: | Winburg |
| Farm History | |
| Name: | Witlaagte |
| District: | Winburg |
| Status | |
| Type: | Oath of neutrality |
| Notes: | 18 May 1900, Winburg |
| Relationships | |
| Mr Gerrit Pieter Cooper | |
| is the husband of Mrs Helen Margaret Cooper (Helen Marg) | |
| is the father of Miss Mary Cooper | |
| is the father of Miss Theunsina Cooper | |
| is the son of Mrs Theunsina Cooper | |
| Sources | |
| Title: | SRC 90 Winburg CR |
| Type: | Camp register |
| Location: | Free State Archives Repository |
| Reference No.: | SRC 90 |
| Notes: | p.27 |
Images from p. 27 of the Camp book:
From Winburg’s War by Johannes Gerhardus Boje (University of Pretoria), October 2009:
p. 156: “Edwin Harvey Osmond had stores at Rietfontein and Witlaagte and he and his storekeeper, Gerrit Pieter Cooper, filed pages and pages of an account book recording goods taken from them between May 1900 and May 1901 by Commandants de Villiers, Wessels, Erwee, Haasbroek and John Maree, Captain Nel, Field Corenets Olivier and du Plessis and on behalf of the commandos of Generals Froneman and De Wet.”
p. 206: “Andries Nicholas Bornman of Blydschap, Gerrit Pieter Cooper of Witlaagte, Cornelis Benjamin Cronje of Goliathshoogte, Petrus Cornelius Pelser of Luipaardsfontein OWB, Jacob Francois Smit of Klipdrift OWB and Roelof Petrus Swanepoel of Goede Hoop surrendered because they considered the struggle to be hopeless.”
p. 321: “George Thomas Norris of Ventersburg and Gerrit Pieter Cooper of Witlaagte were found guilty of mutinous and seditious conduct for intimidating men who were about to take the oath of allegiance”
Other’s from the Witlaagte Farm that were sent to concentration camps:
| Persons on Farm | |
– Click the Name for full details
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More photos from the Mauser:
Vertroue in God en die Mauser 