place where cecil d'arcy FLH died

Subject: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:53 pm

i have just finished reading cecil d'arcy' biography , and it states that the location of where he died was marked by an iron cross before being stolen, all that remains are apparently the screws that held it to the rock face.
any info?

Posts : 2308 Join date : 2010-07-02 Age : 43

He died in October 1881, the actual date is not known, but between 8 August & 28 December in the Arnatola Forest.

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Tue Jan 04, 2011 11:27 pm

those anyone know if the location is still readily known i.e photos

Posts : 747 Join date : 2009-10-18

Where is the Arnatola Forest. Nothing coming up on Google Earth. (Never herad of it) Anyone Know. Or did impi make it up. scratch

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 60 Location : UK

Where is the Arnatola Forest. Good question. I can't find it either. Been looking for ages. (Anyone know)

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Wed Jan 05, 2011 5:22 pm

according to his biography its near king williams town... and easily regognisable?

Posts : 1604 Join date : 2009-09-21

Not sure if this helps. But there is a refrence to Arnatola here.

On 9 March, five days after his arrival in Kingwilliamstown, and just days after Cunynghame’s departure for England, Thesiger was informed that a huge Ngqika force had eluded the patrols guarding the eastern approaches into the Amatolas, and reached the sanctuary of their former mountain stronghold. With the bulk of the army that Cunynghame had created policing the ravaged homeland of the Galekas, the only troops Thesiger could deploy in the Amatolas, were a few colonial commandos and the 2/24th, which was at that very moment disembarking at the port of East London. He gave the command of the Arnatola sector to Colonel Evelyn Wood, one of the special services officers who had accompanied him to South Africa.

Source:
Military History Journal
Vol 5 No 6 - December 1982
The Last Frontier War
by Dr Philip Gon

Subject: Where Cecil D'arcy FLH Died Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:14 am

hi all.
I checked the Index in ' From Midshipman To Field Marshall by Evelyn Wood .
Page 7 . He refers to it as the Amatola Mountains .
Page 9 . Next day I started with my interpreter , Paliso , who had accompanied me from the Amatola district , Kaffraria
Page 27 -28 . '' The incessant work , however , now began to tell on me , and my glands swelled as they had done when I was
overworked in the Amatola Mountains ''
There is also a referance on page 85 which is MISSING from my copy !! :lol!:
cheers 90th.

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:56 pm

according to the biography his place of death is half a mile off the right hand side of the road from keiskama's hoek to stutterheim, 5-6 miles beyond st.mathews mission.

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Thu Jan 06, 2011 9:17 pm

As far as I am aware, Cecil D'Arcy (nephew of Robert D'Arcy) became a bit of a recluse and in 1881, he wandered off into the Amatola bush (near Keiskammahoek in the eastern Cape) and he died in a cave. His remains were subsequently recovered and he is buried in King William's Town.
Regards, Ken

Posts : 1095 Join date : 2009-01-14 Location : East London

Hi Ken. I read he fake his own death..

"He is also considered South African, though he probably considered himself British or Anglo-Irish. The Independent newspaper in London reported that the Captain famously faked his own death. "No longer is anyone likely to imitate Captain Henry Cecil Dudgeon D'Arcy of the Frontier Light Horse, who, having been awarded the VC in the Zulu wars, turned to drink. Later, a body wearing his clothes was found in a cave and, this being the pathology of a century ago, presumed to be his. Only many decades later was it learnt that D'Arcy had found a dead man lying in the snow, changed clothes with him, and gone to Natal, and lived out the rest of his life under an assumed name. He was once recognised in 1925, but swore his discoverer to the secret, which the man kept until D'Arcy died. "

But it appears no one knows why?

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Fri Jan 07, 2011 4:41 am

I'll dig around in my notes and try to find an answer.
Regards, Ken

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:57 pm

i personally am inclined that faking his own death is as ian knight put it : to be considered as such stories like lord lucan or the nana sahib

Posts : 2594 Join date : 2009-04-24

Quote :: is as ian knight put it

Ouch!!!!!

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:16 pm

i heard there was a picture of cecil darcy in the john young collection from the 1860's taken in kingwilliamstown??

Subject: Re: place where cecil d'arcy FLH died Fri Apr 12, 2013 11:14 pm

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Montrose Standard 26 May 1882

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The Graphic 26 January 1878

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North British Daily Mail 25 January 1882

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The Amatola Hiking Trail

The Amatola Trail is reputedly the toughest and best hiking trail in South Africa. A Six day and five night hiking trail starting at Maden Dam near King Williams Town, traversing the incredible Amatola Mountains and ending in the iconic village of Hogsback. The trail is truly amazing and very strenuous so one needs to be prepared, however the views, remoteness, pristine indigenous forest and endless waterfalls make it one of, if not the, best hikes in South Africa. You must be fit and capable of hiking a minimum of 10 hours a day, never knowing what Mother Nature might throw at you.

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Natal Witness Tuesday 16th August 1881
Mysterious Disappearence of Captain D'Arcy V.C.
Search Parties sent out
His coat found
(per Webster's Agency)
Kingswilliamtown Aug 15th
The several search parties sent out by the Magistrates of Kriskama Hoek, Middle Drift and Stutterheim have not yet suceeded in finding Captain Cecil D'Arcy; but on Friday a party of school Kaffirs brought his overcoat to St Mathew's Mission Station having found it near the spot where he was last seen on Sunday 7th inst. A party of searchers left here again on Saturday afternoon.

12.5pm
Capt Cecil D'Arcy was on a visit to the Rev. Faberer, St Mathew's Mission Station, Kriskama Hoek, and on the 7th inst disappeared. Hundreds of natives as well as civilians and bodies of the Cape Mounte Rifles have been searching for him since. Up to this time (12 o'clock) he has not been found. His coat was found last Saturday on the bank of a river. Great excitment in this town and much sympathy with his relatives.

Natal Witness
Captain D'Arcy
Search Abandoned as hopeless
(per Websters Agency)
Kingswilliamtown Aug 17th
The special Magistrate of Kaiskama Hoek reports to the Civil Commissioner here that, having thoroughly searched all the country in his neighbourhood, he relinquishes with regret any further search for Capt D'Arcy, believing it to be hopeless.

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Natal Witness 29th October 1881
It is reported at Kingswilliamstown, that Captain D'Arcy who so mysteriously disappeared a short time ago has been seen lately in Fauresmith, but very little credence can be placed on the statement.

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