A real piece of history

[RobD]

Carved Boer War rifles are quite abundant, and have been documented in 3 volumes of "Carvings from the Veldt" by Dave George, who lives in Australia. The original trend for carving started among the Boers. They owned their kit, and named it to prevent it getting mixed up or swiped. Soon the names and carvings became very elaborate, and the practice was encouraged by Gen. Louis Botha, who holds his densely carved Boer Mauser carbine in photos from Natal taken in Dec 1899. Australians began to mimic the practice on the troop ships home. It's very unusual to find a British or Canadian rifle carved, though Australian and NZ ones are well known. Among Boer rifles it is possible to recognise certain hands who were expert carvers and did several rifles in the same style. What I like about carved Boer rifles is that they sometimes enable the owner to be identified, and can be matched to their service record or medal.