The Swiss in the former South West Africa, by Oskar T. Berner

The Swiss in the former South West Africa, by Oscar T. Berner. Swiss Club Namibia: Windhoek, Namibia 1998; ISBN 9991675019 / ISBN 99916-75-01-9

The Swiss in the former South West Africa, by Oscar T. Berner. Swiss Club Namibia: Windhoek, Namibia 1998; ISBN 9991675019 / ISBN 99916-75-01-9

Images taken from 'The Swiss in the former South West Africa': Oscar T. Berner. ISBN 9991675019 / ISBN 99916-75-01-9

Images taken from 'The Swiss in the former South West Africa': Oscar T. Berner. ISBN 9991675019 / ISBN 99916-75-01-9

Oskar T. Berner: Even before the German colonisation got under way, we already encounter a few Swiss in the in the former South West Africa, but only a limited number found the courage to venture into the unknown land before the First World War.

Oskar T. Berner  

Most of them were employed by German enterprises or by the German administration which, on principle, never distinguished between Germans, Austrians and Swiss. This makes it much more difficult today to locate any Swiss citizens who are distinguishable only by their origin from any Germans bearing the same name. Immigration improved in the 1920's, when the world-wide depression forced many compatriots to look for a new life elsewhere. Unfortunately, we possess only sparse records for the years before 1965 regarding the number of Swiss resident in South West Africa, as the Consulate in Cape Town, which was responsible for the Swiss in South West Africa, did not distinguish between Swiss citizens living in that country and those living in the Cape Province. Reliable figures are, therefore, only available from 1965 onwards. Although emigration entails moving considerable numbers of people from continent to continent, in Africa alone, which was never an important target for emigration, there lived, in all these years, almost 20,000 Swiss citizens, emigrants nearly always infiltrate into the target countries singly or, at most, in family groups. This explains the almost total lack of documentation concerning their interests and further fate. This piece of work is meant to be a contriution - even if it concerns only a small and relatively unimportant country - towards further research in this direction. Swiss soldiers and mercenaries have been in demand for many centuries in all parts of the world, and so it is not surprising to also find a few of them in South West Africa. One of the few Swiss who joined the German Schutztruppe has already been mentioned: the lieutenant LEUTENEGGER. When the Herero rebellion broke out in 1904, he joined the Company of Major Franke in Karibib, where he had been occupied as an engineer on the construction of the Otavi railway. During the battle for Omaruru in January/February 1905. Lcutenegger commanded the guns of Major Franke's troops (Ref. O. Hintrager: Südwestafrika in der deutschen Zeit, P.56). Probably another Swiss was Josef BROGLIE or BROGLE who served as a voluntary horseman in the 3rd Reserve Company during the defence of South West Africa against the invading South African troops in World War I. He was killed in action at Dörstamp (Kiriis West) on 16 April 1915 (Ref. Dr. H. von Oelhafen: Der Feldzug in Südwest 1914-15, P.132). A son of Carl Wilhelm Walser, Cyrus William WALSER, born 1889. was serving with 'B' Company of the 2nd Kimberley Regiment in the same campaign, but on the opposite side, and took part in a fight at Trekkopies. He later followed General Smuts to German East Africa as a lieutenant but was shot leading his men over a rise straight into an ambush by German askaris. His grave is in the military cemetery at Dodoma, Tanganyika. And finally we find a true 20th century Swiss mercenary in the person of Major Jacques SIMON, of Berne. After having served in the French Foreign Legion, he joined the Uendarmerie of Moïse Tshombe's Katanga as a First Lieutenant and fought against UN troops. He then came to South West Africa where, as an armed ranger, he conducted successful operations against poachers in the north of the country. Simon later accepted a temporary post with the South African Army as a major instructing anti-terrorist units. He then joined the newly-established South West Africa Territorial Force as a sergeant, rising to staff sergeant within a year. In 1969 Simon met Dr. August Juchli of Kreuzungen in Swakopmund and found a 37,000 ha farm for him in the Pre-Namib where he established the Tsaobis Leopard Nature Park, a private game reserve. Major Simon was a foundation member of the Swiss Club, established in 1969 in Windhoek, and leader and instructor of its shooting section. He died of cancer in October 1983 and received a military funeral in Windhoek. [...]

This is an excerpt from the book: The Swiss in the former South West Africa, by Oscar T. Berner.

Title: The Swiss in the former South West Africa
Author: Oscar T. Berner
Publisher: Swiss Club Namibia
Windhoek, Namibia 1998
ISBN 9991675019 / ISBN 99916-75-01-9
Softcover, 15x21 cm, 160 pages, 80 photos, 4 illustrations, Text: English; German

Berner, Oskar T. im Namibiana-Buchangebot

The Swiss in the former South West Africa

The Swiss in the former South West Africa

A chronicle with short biographies of Swiss emigrants in the former South West Africa.

Die Schweizer im ehemaligen Südwestafrika

Die Schweizer im ehemaligen Südwestafrika

Eine Chronik der Schweizer Einwanderer im ehemaligen Südwestafrika.

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