Author: J. D. Kestell

John Daniel Kestell (1854-1941) was a Dutch Reformed minister who trained at Stellenbosch and Utrecht and went to war in 1899 as chaplain to the Harrismith commando, staying in the field until the surrender. Close to President M. T. Steyn and General Christiaan de Wet, he was widely known as Vader Kestell, and afterwards served as rector of Grey University College and chaired the commission that produced the first Afrikaans Bible. His war memoir "Met de Boeren Commando's" appeared in English as "Through Shot and Flame". His co-author D. E. van Velden was secretary to the government of the South African Republic, took the stenographic notes of the negotiations, and translated and published the English edition.