Do you believe in ghosts? Had you asked me that question 30 years ago the answer would have been an unequivocal No. However, after 31 years managing and developing Talana Museum now I would have to qualify that answer. Too many visitors to this museum have seen, felt or experienced something which cannot be explained. Col Gunning who died going up the donga on the slopes of Talana hill, walks around near the cemetery and stands under one of the gum trees. Yes you can pooh pooh the idea, but when visitors ask who the man in the khaki uniform is we get out the photographs and ask them to identify who the person is they have seen. Too many people have identified the same photo. Two British soldiers stand around in the vicinity of the smith cottage. Walk up Talana hill with us on the 20 October each year. On the anniversary of the battle the ghosts definitely walk with us. Strange feelings have been identified in certain areas – and I hadn’t told anyone that they were passing the original military cemetery. At the gap in the stone wall Lt Pechell and Taylor can be seen crouching down, taking cover from the Boer rifle fire. Visitors have burst into tears at the sight of soldiers dying in front of them at the top of the donga. In this area many soldiers were killed as they came out of the cover provided by the donga and into the full force of the Boer rifle fire. Over the years a number of local people had asked me if I had ever heard the Boer horsemen ride across the battlefield. Apparently they come back on to the battlefield to pick up their dead and wounded. One evening on the anniversary of the battle a couple of years ago a group of “ghost hunters” and cynics sat quietly in the dark on the plateau on Talana hill. Would we hear or see anything? I watched as one person sat up straight and sniffed the air and then in a stage whisper said “ I can smell horses”, another person burst into tears as “horses have just walked past me and I don’t believe in ghosts, I just came for the walk and the fun of it.” On one of the annual ghost walks the most amazing images of British soldiers standing among the crowd was captured on camera. I have a British officer standing over my shoulder listening to the tale of the battle in which he died – I do hope that I got the story correct and that he wasn’t grading my performance. Each year on the anniversary we lay a wreath in memory of those men who died here, some of them only 18 years old. 56 of the British soldiers are buried in the cemetery at the museum, 1 British soldier is still on the top of Talana hill and so is 1 Boer. The British soldier was struck by lightning and died in the middle of 1900. Boer casualties were originally buried on the top of Talana hill but were re-interred under the clock tower of the Dutch reformed Church in 1929 – all except for 1, whose family did not want his remains disturbed. These unquiet souls have walked this battlefield since their deaths here 114 years ago. In the vicinity of the museum soldiers have been seen on horseback at sunset, they have been known to knock on doors of homes and still quietly wander across the peaceful lawns of the museum. Come to the Talana Live weekend from 18-20 October this year when we commemorate the events that happened here all those years ago. Maybe you might also feel something that will stir you to think about those young men who died on the slopes of Talana hill. Contact Talana Museum, Dundee 034 -2122654 or e-mail [email protected] or visit our web site talana.co.za for information about the Talana Live weekend programme and our annual Ghost Walk on the 20 October each year. Pam McFadden Curator Talana Museum
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 07:18:10 +0000
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