Adolf Schiel

Adolf Friedrich Schiel (19 December 1858 – 8 August 1903)[1] was an officer in the South African Republic's military forces during the Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902.[2]

Adolf Schiel
Adolf Schiel photographed by Jan van Hoepen
Born(1858-12-19)19 December 1858
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany
Died8 August 1903(1903-08-08) (aged 44)
Bad Reichenhall, Germany
OccupationFarmer, Soldier
A trade card depicting Colonel Schiel

Biography

Born in Frankfurt-am-Main on 19 December 1858,[1] Schiel was conscripted into the Prussian Army, serving as a cavalry trooper.[3][4] He came to South Africa in 1878, settling in Natal. There, he took up farming and was later appointed head of the prisons service. In 1898 he was commissioned a lieutenant colonel and charged with supervising construction of a fortress adjacent to Johannesburg Prison. On the eve of war Schiel was given permission to form a Boer Commando composed, primarily, of his former prisons staff. Schiel was wounded and taken prisoner during the Battle of Elandslaagte on 20 October 1899.[5] He returned to Germany following the war where he published his autobiography, 23 Jahre Sturm und Sonnenschein in Südafrika ("23 Years of Storm and Sunshine in South Africa"), and later died on 8 August 1903 in Bad Reichenhall of the wounds he had received at Elandslaagte.

Legacy
  • NSG Colonel Schiel, a noted shooting club in Frankfurt named after Schiel.[6]

References
  1. Schiel, Adolf Friedrich: Official and Officer, South African Roll of Honour
  2. Jooste, L (1986). "Foreigners in the defence of South Africa". South African Journal of Military Studies. 16 (2): 23–24.
  3. Look, Ron (2011). Hill of Squandered Valour: The Battle for Spion Kop, 1900. Casemate. p. 33. ISBN 978-1612000077.
  4. Biggins, David (2004). Elandslaagte: An Account of the Battle and Medal Roll for the Queen's South Africa Medal 1899-1902. Token Publishing. p. 41. ISBN 1870192575.
  5. Gomm, Neville (December 1971). "The German Commando in The South African War of 1899-1902". Military History Journal. South African Military History Society. 2 (2). Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  6. "Niederräder Schützengesellschaft "Oberst Schiel" 1902 e.V." oberst-schiel.de. NSG Colonel Schiel. 2004-10-04. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2015.

Further reading
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.