Herinneringsmedaille op de Boerenoorlog, van L. Tröger
medaille
The gazetted regulations that stipulated actual service until 31 May 1902 excluded many men who had fought on the Boer side, such as the members of the various foreign units and potentially also the Natal and Cape rebels. Many early applications from overseas volunteers were unsuccessful since the members were not actually in the field at the end of the war. The first medal was awarded on 28 October 1921.In later years these rules were interpreted more loosely and the eventual requirement for the award of the medal was proof that the applicant had fought against the British without surrendering or taking either parole or the oath of allegiance prior to 31 May 1902. This resulted in medal awards to those previously excluded men.
While nearly one hundred thousand Burghers took up arms in the Republican Forces during the war, a relatively small percentage of those who had served were awarded the medal, probably due to the period of almost twenty years that had elapsed between the end of the war and the institution of the medal, as well as the fact that the medal had to be applied for. Only approximately 13,800 medals were awarded.
Of the medals that were eventually awarded to members of the various foreign units who fought on the Boer side, at least ninety went to members of the Hollander Corps, about forty to members of the Scandinavian Corps, more than twenty to the German Commando, ten to the Foreign Legion under General de Villebois-Mareuil and five to the Irish Brigade. Nineteen medals were awarded to women, of which two were school teachers who had served as voluntary nurses while the rest were trained nurses.