Pat Hi1 There may be some locals from SS West that would have more knowledge but There were definately no POW's Italian or otherwise in 1860. The !st Boer war ran from 1880 to 1881 which was largely confined to the old Transvaal, then the 2nd Boer was much more lengthy from 1899 to 1902 which engulfed the whole country of what is today South Africa. These wars were largly what today would be called freedom struggles; the reasons were complex and great and terrible were the results, as in any war. It was a war which Britian never forgot as the great power of the time they got a bloody nose at the hands of relatively few local antagonists. For genealogists there is a rich and wonderful history surronding this period in SA's history. There is an excellent Boer War archive both in SA and in Kew in the UK. The Italian POW's were sent to SA dunring the 2nd WW my own family had a few on the family farm, my mom told stories of how they would gather in and play instruments and sing beautiful Italian songs in the evenings after work on the farm. many of these POW's returned to SA after the war and settled all over the country bringing with them their varied skills in all fields of endevour. As you say their building skills were employed all over and many of them were skilled stonemasons too.. Your Mom may have heard of the AWB not the ABW and it stands for the "Afrikaans Weestands Beweging", The Afrikaner Resistance Movement , a very small but vocal group that featured for a while in the early 1990's but largley ignored by the rest of the country. I'm not absolutley sure but the Lourensford bridge was on the main route between Cape Town and the road along the route that goes over the mountains and along the so called Garden route and when built was undoubtabley an important crossing. Neville ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Frykberg" <patfryk@clear.net.nz> To: <south-africa-cape-town@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2012 5:00 AM Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN] Old Bridge Somerset West >I have had a query thus: > "My father's parents came from Somerset West. He has told me that the > bridge was built in 1860 by Italian prisoners-of-war and has been recently > renovated. Can you find out more. Was that the Boer war?" > Her story has been terribly garbled and misunderstood and as so often > happens gets distorted and muddled in the minds of those who have it only > on hearsay. Sadly she knows very little about SA. > > Well from my own personal experience I know Italian POWs were sent down > to SA after SA troops invaded Abyssinia in WW2. Possible some later too > from Libya. Many of these POWs did a lot of work on farms, built at least > one church in Nigel, and generally many were on parole. There was no war > with Italy in 1860! She has clearly heard vaguely of the ABW. > > Please would someone tell me about Somerset West's bridge over I think the > Lourens River? > I have done some googling which has photos of a stone bridge and taverns. > etc. But I can't find a good history of the town. I do know it is > stunningly beautiful part of the Cape. > > Many thanks for any help and information > > sincerely > Patricia Frykberg > Havelock North > New Zealand > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Thanks Neville. And it wasn't MY mom thank goodness. But an English lady who asked me this question. Thanks though for caring enough to put it all right. Pat -------------------------------------------------- From: "Neville and Margaret" <jimmyjamjar@cybersmart.co.za> Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 4:35 AM To: <south-africa-cape-town@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN] Old Bridge Somerset West > Pat Hi1 > > There may be some locals from SS West that would have more knowledge but > There were definately no POW's Italian or otherwise in 1860. The !st Boer > war ran from 1880 to 1881 which was largely confined to the old Transvaal, > then the 2nd Boer was much more lengthy from 1899 to 1902 which engulfed > the whole country of what is today South Africa. These wars were largly > what > today would be called freedom struggles; the reasons were complex and > great > and terrible were the results, as in any war. It was a war which Britian > never forgot as the great power of the time they got a bloody nose at the > hands of relatively few local antagonists. For genealogists there is a > rich > and wonderful history surronding this period in SA's history. There is an > excellent Boer War archive both in SA and in Kew in the UK. > > The Italian POW's were sent to SA dunring the 2nd WW my own family had a > few > on the family farm, my mom told stories of how they would gather in and > play instruments and sing beautiful Italian songs in the evenings after > work > on the farm. many of these POW's returned to SA after the war and settled > all over the country bringing with them their varied skills in all fields > of > endevour. As you say their building skills were employed all over and many > of them were skilled stonemasons too.. > > Your Mom may have heard of the AWB not the ABW and it stands for the > "Afrikaans Weestands Beweging", The Afrikaner Resistance Movement , a very > small but vocal group that featured for a while in the early 1990's but > largley ignored by the rest of the country. > > I'm not absolutley sure but the Lourensford bridge was on the main route > between Cape Town and the road along the route that goes over the > mountains > and along the so called Garden route and when built was undoubtabley an > important crossing. > > Neville > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pat Frykberg" <patfryk@clear.net.nz> > To: <south-africa-cape-town@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2012 5:00 AM > Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN] Old Bridge Somerset West > > >>I have had a query thus: >> "My father's parents came from Somerset West. He has told me that the >> bridge was built in 1860 by Italian prisoners-of-war and has been >> recently >> renovated. Can you find out more. Was that the Boer war?" >> Her story has been terribly garbled and misunderstood and as so often >> happens gets distorted and muddled in the minds of those who have it only >> on hearsay. Sadly she knows very little about SA. >> >> Well from my own personal experience I know Italian POWs were sent down >> to SA after SA troops invaded Abyssinia in WW2. Possible some later too >> from Libya. Many of these POWs did a lot of work on farms, built at least >> one church in Nigel, and generally many were on parole. There was no war >> with Italy in 1860! She has clearly heard vaguely of the ABW. >> >> Please would someone tell me about Somerset West's bridge over I think >> the >> Lourens River? >> I have done some googling which has photos of a stone bridge and taverns. >> etc. But I can't find a good history of the town. I do know it is >> stunningly beautiful part of the Cape. >> >> Many thanks for any help and information >> >> sincerely >> Patricia Frykberg >> Havelock North >> New Zealand >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1424 / Virus Database: 2433/5087 - Release Date: 06/22/12 >