Sign of the De La Rey Street in Leiden

Jacobus De La Rey (1847-1914) was a general in the Boer army in South Africa. De La Rey was pulled out of relative obscurity by a recent song by Bok Van Blerk: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LIgIF9nfyc

De La Rey was also known as the Lion of West Transvaal.

The Boers are descendants of Dutch settlers and a wave of sympathy swept the Netherlands during the Boer Wars. Queen Wilhelmina sent a ship to get Paul Kruger out of Africa. In Europe, Kruger tried to get support for the Boer cause. In the end it didn't help the Boers in their struggle against the British.

The sympathy for the Boers did result in streets in the Netherlands being named after Boer leaders. You can find these streets in many Dutch cities in neighbourhoods usually called Transvaal.

Relations between the Boers and the Netherlands became strained after the Second World War due to apartheid. Hopefully cultural ties will become stronger now.