On the 2nd of March a council of war at Poplar Grove gave Theron permission to form a Scout Corps, consisting of about 100 men, to be called the"Theron se Verkenningskorps" (Theron Scouting Corps) and subsequently known by the initials TVK. Curiously, Theron now advocated the use of horses rather than bicycles, and each member of his new corps was provided with two horses. Koos Jooste was given command of the Cycling Corps.

Theron achieved a certain notoriety in his remaining few months. The TVK were responsible for destroying railway bridges and captured several British officers. As a result of his endeavours a newspaper article, 7th April 1900, reported that Lord Roberts labelled him "the chief thorn in the side of the British" and had put a bounty on his head of £1 000, dead or alive. By July Theron was considered such an important target that the Theron and his scouts were attacked by General Broadwood and 4 000 troops. A running battle ensued during which the TVK lost eight scouts killed and the British lost five killed and fifteen wounded. Theron's catalogue of deeds is vast considering how little time he had left. Trains were captured, railway tracks dynamited, prisoners freed from a British jail, he had earned the respect of his men and his superiors.

On the 4th September 1900 in the Gatsrand, near Fochville, Commandant Danie Theron was planning an attack with General Liebenberg's commando on General Hart's column. Whilst out scouting to discover why Leibenberg was not at the agreed position, Theron ran into seven members of Marshall's Horse. During the resultant fire fight Theron killed three and wounded the other four. The column's escort was alerted by the firing and immediately charged up the hill, but Theron managed to avoid capture. Finally the column's artillery, six field guns and 4.7 inch navel gun, were unhitched and the hill bombarded. The legendary Republican hero was killed in an inferno of lyddite and shrapnel³. Eleven days later, the body of Commandant Danie Theron was exhumed by his men and later reburied next to his late fiancee, Hannie Neethling, at her father's farm of Eikenhof, Klip River.

Commandant Danie Theron's death earned him immortal fame in Afrikaner history. On learning of Theron's death, De Wet said: "Men as loveable or as valiant there might be, but where shall I find a man who combined so many virtues and good qualities in one person? Not only had he the heart of a lion but he also possessed consummate tact and the greatest energy... Danie Theron answered the highest demands that could be made on a warrior"¹. South Africa remembered its hero by naming their School of Military Intelligence after him.

References:

1. Fransjohan Pretorius, Life on Commando during the Anglo-Boer war 1899 - 1902, Human and Rousseau, Cape Town, 479 pages, ISBN 0 7981 3808 4.

2. D. R. Maree, Bicycles in the Anglo Boer war of 1899-1902. Military History Journal, Vol. 4 No. 1 of the South African Military History Society.

3. Pieter G. Cloete, The Anglo-Boer War: a chronology, J.P van de Walt, Pretoria,351 pages, ISBN 0 7993 2632 1.

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