One of these was Désiré de Villiers, only 18 years old and a student at Victoria College, later to become the University of Stellenbosch. When war broke out, he hastened home, joined the Pretoria commando, and was killed after only two months in the field. He is buried in the Church Street cemetery in Pretoria in the de Villiers family section. Commandant Ben Bouwer evidently met Désiré in the lines around Ladysmith. He said that “efforts were made to enable him to stay back in some non-combatant capacity, offers which were declined without comment. He went to the front and among brave men became distinguished for his gallantry until he was killed in action…under circumstances of memorable heroism.”
