Hiedelberg history: A look back at the whisky train bombing
A festival is held annually in remembrance of the event.
During the Anglo-Boer War, the Boers blew up various railway lines to prevent the British from moving to different locations.
According to reports, one such bombing happened in Heidelberg.
After the capture of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Lydenburg by Lord Robberts, the railways became the lifeline for the British as it was quicker to move around by train than by horse.
Commandant Fanie Buys tasked Brothers Jack and Gert van der Heever to blow up the railway line between Standerton and Heidelberg in 1900.
The area where the railway lines were to be blown up was in Val, which is just outside Balfour. The brothers were given the task of burying a bag of gunpowder between the railway lines and to wait for the train to pass to blow it up.
As the train passed through, the charges were ignited and the train derailed.
Unbeknown to the Boers, whisky was being transported on the train.
The celebrations that followed included a lot of whisky being consumed. The British soldiers taken prisoner during the incident were also given whisky and there were celebrations aplenty.
While Jack was drunk he asked Petrus Killian if he could marry one of his daughters after the war.
The Van der Heever brothers later became prisoners of war and were sent to Bermuda. In 1902 they returned to South Africa.
Jack worked as a drill sharpener and blacksmith near Balfour.
Jack married Maria Killian (daughter of Petrus). In later years, Jack purchased part of the farm at Boschkop from Petrus.
In 1938, at the age of 55, Jack Van den Heever was crippled by rheumatism. He spent the next 15 years confined to a wheelchair.
Jack Van der Heever died in 1953 at 70 and is buried in Heidelberg.
In 2012, a granite plaque was unveiled to commemorate the historical happening.
There is a yearly festival in Val to mark the event.
Jack Van den Heever wrote a book about their night waiting for the train and what happened afterwards. The book was named Op kommando onder Kommandant Buys.
A family member of Gert and Jack van der Heever was CM van den Heever, a famous writer and 1942 Hertzog prize winner.
• References: Heidelberg Heritage Association and https://samilitaryhistory.org/
