The Boer War: Army, Nation and Empire

[Rudolph]

Interesting piece I'm gonna try finish tonight. Discusses the rise of Afrikaner nationalism from the ashes of the Boer War. The author is a professor at the University of Cape Town.

The Boer War: Army, Nation and Empire
South Africa's Post-Boer, Boer War
by Bill Nasson

Almost a century ago, Rudyard Kipling, that most ironic bard of the British Empire, despaired of the Boer War as a bad business, plainly and bleakly, 'No End of a Lesson'. Britain had prevailed in its imperialist war to crush the white colonial nationalism of independent Boer republican communities, but it had been a costly job. London's colonial war effort was characterised by humiliating military reverses, an increasing financial burden, and a rising moral fuss within domestic Liberal and other anti-war opinion over the rigour of its internment policy and other anti-guerrilla tactics which inflicted great suffering upon Boer civilians, especially women and children. The Transvaal and Orange Free State Boer Republics, products of nineteenth century migrant settler state-formation in Southern Africa, lost a bitter struggle to maintain their separatist independence from the influence and authority of the Crown. For their radical anti-British-imperialist leadership, the war was a disaster, for it broke what one scholar has nicely termed the Irish or 'Sinn Fein variety of Afrikaner nationalism',as the die-hards or bittereinders could not long sustain a will or the means for a fight to the end. The war also signified more than nationalist defeat. Horrendously high mortality rates in British concentration camps, and the loss of perhaps as much as 20 percent of the tiny Boer republican populations, meant that it represented a form of historical trauma for Afrikaner society, the depth of which imperial and other English-speaking historians have perhaps rarely fully recognised.

Ideologically, the war left an immediate fissure within early-twentieth century Afrikaner society, divisions which began to bite very soon after the signing of the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging, and which were more or less bound to result from the kind of Boer-republican 'people's war' which had been fought. At one ascendant pole, there was an accommodationist, pragmatic Afrikaner war veteran leadership, now reconciled to getting into bed with imperialism, and appreciative of the gains to be made in moving on from the bitter legacy of war to forge an inclusive Afrikaner-English white political nation. At another, there were either bittereinders who had jibbed at acceptance of a negotiated peace, or a sulky clump of those who had gone down to defeat, but had in a sense surrendered conditionally, bristling for any fighting opportunity to restore a shattered republican vision by other means. From the start, this restive and militant Afrikaner nationalist constituency defined itself in relation to harrowing memories of the notorious camps and scorched earth of 'The English War', flexing a combative identity against the imagined ethnic and cultural blood sacrifice of the conflict. 'By creating thousands of martyrs for the cause of the volk',and by in one way or another touching every Afrikaner community and family in the country, war and its memory became a prime and most exact register of 'Afrikaner-ness' in the twentieth century.


In social reach and human cost, the South African War was the biggest and most modern of the numerous pre-colonial and colonial wars which raged across the Southern African subcontinent. It is the war which today still counts in national memory, however narrow the historical context of that construction; other war memories slumber on through the transmission of nineteenth-century African oral tradition, in popular rural mythologies about Shaka and the Zulu kingdom, and in the odd dreams of regaining some tribal pastoral lost in nineteenth century settler frontier or land wars. There can be no question that these fleeting oral tracings of war valour or war suffering have left little imprint upon the historical consciousness of a modern white-ruled South Africa. British regiments have long had their Zululand monuments; only at the end of the 1990s is a memorial to Zulu warriors to be inscribed on the landscape of official cultural representations of warfare.


In any wide view, political memory of the South African War counts with fairly good reason. Generating a wealth of literature, this early twentieth century colonial war's literary epitaph remains unrivalled locally, this cultural deposit perhaps making it the modest South African equivalent of an American Civil War, a British Great War or even a Spanish Civil War. In part, that reflects the obvious contrast between the short and easy war that was imagined, and the lengthy and arduous war which was actually fought. It is, even more, an illustration of the degree to which, especially after 1902, the meaning of the war continued to be fought over between new Afrikaner colonial nationalists and unreconciled Afrikaner republicans. For the ruling elite of the new 1910 Union of South Africa, Anglo-Afrikaner reconciliation specifically required a moderation of bitter war memories; in benign nation-building rhetoric, the war became a tragedy or a regrettable imperial entanglement in that it had ruptured a natural Boer-British European settler unity. For the cosmology of disinherited and dissident republicans, on the other hand, the war was a grudge to be nursed in concentrated form. Not only had Britain trampled a republican 'nation' underfoot; ex-Boer generals like Louis Botha and Jan Smuts had become London's secondary demons, their silky collusion with imperialism nothing other than a stab in the back.And so, as in post-1939 Spain, a war of arms was now to continue as a memorialising war of words for those to whom the Anglo-Boer War became a massive building block of a patented 'Afrikaner' history, a contagious 'myth of national origin'.


That inflated war of words was certainly of considerable rhetorical importance to the balance of white political forces even into the early post-Second World War era, when the survival of cultivated memories of British concentration camp 'genocide' and cruel conquest through war remained indissolubly connected with the rise and eventual ascendancy after 1948 of a republican nationalist Afrikanerdom. As the emotive expression of a subordinate yet pugnacious national combination of classes, tilting at the political and economic citadels of South Africa's languid English establishment, Afrikaner war commemoration provided a moral legacy of heroic manly struggle and female fortitude and sacrifice. That reflection began in the 1900s, through pilgrimages to grave sites, the disinterring and ritual reburial of the remains of fallen combatants, the later creation of war memorials, such as the 1913 Vrouemonument or Women's Monument in Bloemfontein, a male-inspired shrine to female martyrdom, or the 1938 Cottesloe Boer Veterans' Monument in Johannesburg. Other components included the issuing of commemorative veterans' medals, regular wreathlaying ceremonies at camp sites, and more resurrectionary modes of expression, such as mounted parades by veterans under arms. However varied the form of this commemoration, it usually involved an inevitable transition from private or community bereavement to political symbolism through deft Afrikaner nationalist appropriation.

The demand of the political moment was explicit allegory. For the bittereinder Boer general Christiaan Beyers, therefore, the meaning of the Women's Monument lay in its utility as a condensed repository of 'memories' which could fertilise the future, preparing the soil for the rebirth of a free nation.In similar vein, the annual attendance of coteries of commando veterans or oudstryders and camp survivors provided a means of bringing home to an Afrikaner public the enduring feature of a national history: survivors and veterans bobbing along as symbols of an eternal Afrikanerdom, fleshy representatives of a gritty Afrikaner struggle for survival.

It is against this background that myths and patriotic messages expressed the message that the fatal clash between Briton and Boer was not to become just another miserable vestige of the brutalities inflicted by imperial conquest. As prominent nationalistic war poets like Jan Celliers, Eugene Marais and 'Totius' asserted after 1902, cathartic memories of the blood sacrifice of volkshelde or armed 'people's heroes' could kindle consciousness of a unified national identity and help to renew crucial dignity and purpose. It is perhaps not stretching things too much to see the war enshrined as the Verdun of Afrikaner society, or even as its 1905 mutiny against despotism. In this, Afrikaner nationalist writers and historians beavered away as hard as anyone to keep the war a live and burning issue within the vital social networks of religion, politics, family, and friendship.

In the first instance, in the immediate postwar years it was obviously necessary to construct a view of the republican struggle which countered the fairly ludicrous and often offensive portrayal of Boer society peddled by numerous imperialist writers. In the most vulgar of these depictions, the 'Boer' was a degraded rural layabout, an untidy pre-modern with no legitimate place in capitalist modernity, and a warring primitive who displayed cowardly or shifty fighting qualities in pursuing a criminal war against civilising progress. These stereotypes became refashioned or inverted in comic form by nationalist children's literature in the 1920s and 1930s: the Boer commando, depicted as a bearded toad which had hopped on to General Buller's mess table, would be transformed into handsome and dashing Albert Viljoen, a princely lion-heart who had easily outwitted plodding, slum-born British Tommies. But there was always more to such decorative representations than mere counter-history, or the swopping of mythologies. For influential popular historians such as Gustav Preller, a prominent former war correspondent on the Boer side, accounts of republican doings all served an overriding purpose—to awaken 'the' Afrikaner to the Truth of Their War of Freedom and Their National Mission.

Rest of the article... (http://www.defence.gov.au/army/ahu/docs/The_Boer_War_Nasson.pdf)

[loganinkosovo]

And some dummy thought he was the first to come up with that phrase and put it on a T-Shirt.....

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=71230&stc=1&d=1238204623

[Mu-Meson]

Very interesting read. Thanks Rudolph. Perhaps my reading comp is down a bit since that had some really hard to digest bits. eg:
As the emotive expression of a subordinate yet pugnacious national combination of classes, tilting at the political and economic citadels of South Africa's languid English establishment, Afrikaner war commemoration provided a moral legacy of heroic manly struggle and female fortitude and sacrifice.

[loganinkosovo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAhHWpqPz9A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DAfaqSCdME


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuiyM2dGiv4




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i-hy_0VWZ8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94-Pt7NFuvU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQRAHBl4_lc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8bhm7Gngkg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSox7HcHslA



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WyF8KaVyt8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0vh77WMd48


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxq4aspEJIU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSZH8He4sg

[Rudolph]

^
If that documentary is the British one it seems to be, it's very anti-British!!

[Rudolph]

Very interesting read. Thanks Rudolph. Perhaps my reading comp is down a bit since that had some really hard to digest bits. eg:

Well, the best I can do with:

"As the emotive expression of a subordinate yet pugnacious national combination of classes, tilting at the political and economic citadels of South Africa's languid English establishment, Afrikaner war commemoration provided a moral legacy of heroic manly struggle and female fortitude and sacrifice."

...is that it was quite a struggle to get the Afrikaner and English to form one nation after the Boer War, seeing as the English had a much higher standard of living [higher class], yet were seen as the "outsiders" compared to the Boers themselves. This "fight" to join the two was put aside, rather focusing on national identity of the Boers through remembering the sacrifices they had made to reach their current point to empower them to better themselves.

A bit like the defeated Germans after WW1 I'd imagine... except the Germans had no problem having to share their country with a majority of people they considered "outsiders", ie. natives in South Africa.

[kalamazan]

Rudolph!

Very insteresting article and extremelly object. I love to read about times gone by that so much influence had in our daily lives.

I have to agree with the author that the only way to give legitemacy to the existence of the Boer WARRIOR, AS SUCH, is to eternalize him as only a poet can do. Coming from Israel, by the way of Brasil....and my parents coming from Spain and Poland, makes me proud to be able to read and understand the issue a bit more deeply. Congrats and thanks for the provided info...


Kalamazan
PS: a warrior sees a chalenge in every chance, and a regular person sees a strugle between good and bad.

[nemowork]

^
If that documentary is the British one it seems to be, it's very anti-British!! What can i say, its those 10,000 things i'm not supposed to be that makes me certain of what i am! We lead by our bad examples :D

[ferguson]

That was an awfully interesting event and some study leading up to it is in order.
Politics and dirty dealings in the diamond resources are often glossed over.

"Washing of the Spears" about the Zulu movement is insightful as is reading on the Boer pioneers as well.

The fighting between Brits and Boers wa every bit as savage as with the Zulus.

The Boers were chatacterised by particularly fierce hard headed independence.

They were unprepared and unwilling to knuckle under to any new order.

The Brits exercised their characteristic disregard of anybody else's reality.

Lots of good reading on this fascinating period.

[Dinges]

Thanks for the clips Logan , I always wanted to see a British production on the war.


Read the article - quite a good read ( and difficult in some places! ). Can not agree with everything.

The milieu at the time of the war dictated how people acted and in the late nineteenth century the British was an Empire , and acted accordingly. This is the way they fought a war , on the day , on foreign soil , against an enemy of their cause.

But saying that as an Afrikaner who lost family in that war , who sometimes think of it painfully , we do not look back in anger and self-righteous fist of nationalism , nor looking for retribution and monetary reparations. It was war , an ugly beast of a war , but a war nonetheless.

Yes , there was the camps.
Yes , the first Geneva convention was signed.
Yes , it was Ugly.
Yes , it was all fueled with greed.

But which war is not.

It is part of my history as it is part of world history and that is where it should remain. To be learned from. And anybody , and I mean anybody afrikaner or not who even thinks of using the sad circumstances surrounding that war to advance themselves financially or politically will get an ear-full from me.

To me using sad circumstances as a political tool for advancement or justification of violence is spitting on the graves of the innocent.This is not meant at members or MP.net. But at stupid people in general. Trust me where I live there are a lot of them.

/Rant over.

I believe this is a very important part of history and should not be forgotten.

Now let us add a pic or two.

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/8396/boerguerrillacommandosb.jpg

[Dinges]

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/8233/redley2009.jpg

[el borracho]

As an American I can't help but draw comparisons to the US Civil War. Two distinct populations and cultures fighting each other, the controversy over post-war policy and the flag, etc. Difficulty in overcoming the past, some clinging to the "good old days" mentality while others wanting to move forward. Lingering resentment on both sides, and so on.

On an arbitrary note, it's unfortunate that the Prinzevlag has such negative connotations. The blue/white/gold (or orange) is very beautiful and unique among flag designs. While I respect the intent of the new flag, the artificial political correctness of it can't be ignored. In the American south there are many who are looking passed the old identity of the Confederate flag and are using it to honor everyone's heritage, black and white. Yes, the Prinzeflag flew under the apartheid regime, but it can also be considered to represent and endurance of blacks (and "coloreds") who under terrible circumstances managed to survive. But again, I'm a Yank and won't begin to pretend that I understand all of the social circumstances of South Africa.

[Rudolph]

As an American I can't help but draw comparisons to the US Civil War. Two distinct populations and cultures fighting each other, the controversy over post-war policy and the flag, etc. Difficulty in overcoming the past, some clinging to the "good old days" mentality while others wanting to move forward. Lingering resentment on both sides, and so on.

On an arbitrary note, it's unfortunate that the Prinzevlag has such negative connotations. The blue/white/gold (or orange) is very beautiful and unique among flag designs. While I respect the intent of the new flag, the artificial political correctness of it can't be ignored. In the American south there are many who are looking passed the old identity of the Confederate flag and are using it to honor everyone's heritage, black and white. Yes, the Prinzeflag flew under the apartheid regime, but it can also be considered to represent and endurance of blacks (and "coloreds") who under terrible circumstances managed to survive. But again, I'm a Yank and won't begin to pretend that I understand all of the social circumstances of South Africa.

I can't condone an extremist, especially at the end of apartheid, when one needed to look the other way, but these words by Willem Ratte really came alive for me:

"Were the Boers of 1880 called right-wingers, for resisting the imperialist British occupation? Then, as now, you had an alien regime lording it in Pretoria over our people, whose gutless president had betrayed and handed over his sovereign state. Then, as now, the new (neo) colonialist administration pretended to be God's gift to the supposedly 'dirty and dumb Dutchmen', and tried its best to smear the pro-independence party as only a few backward 'Don Quixotes tilting at windmills'. Our struggle has nothing to do with right or left ... this being incidental, like religion in the Irish-British conflict, but everything to do with a nation having an inherent right to be free."

For a more in-depth study of the man, I can refer everyone to:

Willem Ratte - The Legend (http://www.nordbruch.org/buecher/buch_ratte_engl.pdf), by Dr. Claus Nordbruch

^In the booklet you will see how his men also took up arms to defend Zulu indepedence against ANC-Xhosa aggressors.

[Johnny_H02]

Canadian Monuments & Graves of the 2nd Anglo-Boer War.
http://www.theroyalcanadianregiment.ca/gallery/gallery_sa_war_graves.htm

[ferguson]

Good link I omitted

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8141/boerwar.html

[a_very_ex_STAB]

Seeing as the Boers were busy colonizing the Blacks and stealing their land and resources all this Afrikaner whingeing about the evils of British imperialism seems hilariously hypocritical at the very least :roll:

Concentration camps with an infant mortality rate that was actually lower than that in England. How terrible.

[Rudolph]

Seeing as the Boers were busy colonizing the Blacks and stealing their land and resources all this Afrikaner whingeing about the evils of British imperialism seems hilariously hypocritical at the very least :roll:

Concentration camps with an infant mortality rate that was actually lower than that in England. How terrible.

I'm guessing you didn't bother reading the actual article about Afrikaner nationalism? But thanks in any case for ruining the thread.

That would in any case be quite hilariously hypocritical of you, considering the British were doing this to the Boers and the rest of Africa, India, etc. Much worse, and of a greater scope than we ever did. There's a good reason the British government was overturned after the Boer War. The British public felt ashamed at their leaders and their actions.

[a_very_ex_STAB]

I'm guessing you didn't bother reading the actual article about Afrikaner nationalism? But thanks in any case for ruining the thread.

That would in any case be quite hilariously hypocritical of you, considering the British were doing this to the Boers and the rest of Africa, India, etc. Much worse, and of a greater scope than we ever did. There's a good reason the British government was overturned after the Boer War. The British public felt ashamed at their leaders and their actions.

Hypocritical of me? How? I haven't colonized anyone or participated in the perpetuation of an apartheid regime :roll:

[Rudolph]

Hypocritical of me? How? I haven't colonized anyone or participated in the perpetuation of an apartheid regime :roll:

So, you actually had no point to your post at all, but to defend the British Empire, which was by any standard much worse than the Boers or apartheid regime?

If there was no apartheid... your logic rests on the fact that there was apartheid from 1948.

How does that change the worth of Boers' lives in 1899-1902?

[a_very_ex_STAB]

So, you actually had no point to your post at all, but to defend the British Empire, which was by any standard much worse than the Boers or apartheid regime?

No the point is you're no better. You seem to be rather slow on the uptake

[CMNot]

Very interesting read. Thanks Rudolph. Perhaps my reading comp is down a bit since that had some really hard to digest bits. eg:

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Academic articles are very rarely light and breezy, and usually take a good while to break up and digest. I'll try and get around to posting some of the ones I've had from JSTOR, although I am non too sure on the legal status of doing so.

[Rudolph]

No the point is you're no better. You seem to be rather slow on the uptake

The article I posted was written by a coloured South African, not a white. If you read it, you'll see it is about Afrikaner nationalism, not about the evil deeds of the British Empire.

This "arguement" was really needless, only one post related to anything personal, and that was Prion expressing sadness over the deaths of some of this descendents. He does have the right to express such an opinion!

I'm a practical person, with the British occupation of the Cape came the expansion of the Boers' influence, the eventual Union of South Africa. Britain has become the 2nd home for many wishing to leave SA under ANC rule, no one has anything bad to say about your people.

I'm being sincere.

[Dinges]

Seeing as the Boers were busy colonizing the Blacks and stealing their land and resources all this Afrikaner whingeing about the evils of British imperialism seems hilariously hypocritical at the very least :roll:

Concentration camps with an infant mortality rate that was actually lower than that in England. How terrible.


And I thought I struck quite a fair and even handed tone for discussion of a very important historical episode in the lives of all parties concerned. And you come up with this gem. Justification of actions by pointing fingers and apportioning blame.

[CMNot]

no one has anything bad to say about your people

I know you lie p-)

That said, the experience of my family and I in SA has always been massively positive. I've only ever had one problem, in a bar, and that was probably more to do with booze than history rofl

The point with Afrikaaner nationalism was to forge a cohesive front. They may have been farmers, but they were mostly definetly not dumb. They understood that the British applied a model to imperial rule; you don't colonise a quarter of the earth with 10 boats and a fistful of soldiers without a plan. It was a huge gamble but the pay off would have been significant if hostilities swung their way (which wasn't a pipe dream, to say the least).

Ultimately I think the Boer War could have had a lasting impact on WW1's military commanders had they bothered to pay some form of attention.

Another very good and fairly short book on the subject is 'Kommando' by Denys Reitz. Very engrossing primary source and a very interesting character.

[Rudolph]

I just don't like the fact that everytime the Boer War is discussed apartheid has to be brought up. I know the Boers fought the natives many times, and took much land from them, I'm not denying that. But how can anyone mention the Boer War without mentioning the internment camps - that was the winning strategy of the British? It's not to take a stab at the British, it's simple fact.

Keep events relevent, talk about Boer misdeeds up to 1902, further on is cheating. :)

[AmandlaEwetu]

The Boers got beaten by a bigger power(British Empire) after beating a lesser power(Bantu tribes)**** happens-pure Darwinism-arn't we in danger of looking at this through modern eyes

[wilhelm]

I just don't like the fact that everytime the Boer War is discussed apartheid has to be brought up. I know the Boers fought the natives many times, and took much land from them, I'm not denying that. But how can anyone mention the Boer War without mentioning the internment camps - that was the winning strategy of the British? It's not to take a stab at the British, it's simple fact.

Keep events relevent, talk about Boer misdeeds up to 1902, further on is cheating. :)

You've answered your own question. Feelings of guilt is why it is always brought up. I was living in the West Country at the time of the Boer War centenary and saw it first hand.

[Dinges]

Right , back to some pics.

http://img58.imageshack.us/img58/215/gandhiboerwar.jpg

The guy in the middle is Gandhi.

[Lazer]

The guy in the middle is Gandhi.

which row?

i didnt know ghandi fought in the boer war

[Dinges]

Middle row , third from right.

He did not fight in the war , the British used the Indian contingent as stretcher bearers and medics.

[Lazer]

sorry my mistake meant served

[a_very_ex_STAB]

LOL did some saffies go running to mommy 'cos of a nasty English man rofl

[Dinges]

President Paul Kruger. President during the war.

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/8779/paulkruger.jpg

[Rudolph]

LOL did some saffies go running to mommy 'cos of a nasty English man rofl

Very childish to say the least. Must say, I get along very well with all the other British members of the forum. That emoticon also says alot about the poster - it usually donates the lack of logic or substance in one's argument.

[Rudolph]

When Britain came calling South Africa's former Boer War generals were some of the first to sign up and fight the Germans:

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7982/genlouisbotha.jpg
General Louis Botha

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/3465/225pxjansmutsfm.png
Field Marshal Jan Smuts

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/8225/bothaandsmutsinuniforms.jpg
Gen. Louis Botha and Field Marshal Jan Smuts

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/4851/396pxmarthinustheunisst.jpg
M.T. Steyn: President of the Orange Free State

"I would rather lose the independence of the Free State with honor than retain it with dishonor".

[CMNot]

I'm writing a big chunk of my dissertation on the saffie soldier's experience of WW1, amongst others.

[Dinges]

I'm writing a big chunk of my dissertation on the saffie soldier's experience of WW1, amongst others.

European theater or African?

[CMNot]

European theater or African?

It is non-specific. The paper is focused on Commonwealth soldier's personal experiences; it ranges from ANZACs at Gallipoli, Indian participation in the Messopotamia campaign, the Canucks at Vimy and Saffies at Delville Wood. I will also take in any views from participants outside of those battles or campaigns to generally highlight the relationship between Commonwealth and British troops, their feelings towards the war, towards the enemy etc. What might have changed during the war, why it did if it did etc. All that kind of jazz.

I know it's straying OT, but if you have any book suggestions regarding the SA troops (or any of the nations, for that matter), it would be appreciated. I have a bunch of primary source from museums and libraries both here and in SA, but secondary background reading is always welcome as it helps fill out the picture, if you will. Plus, you can never know to much.

[Rudolph]

It is non-specific. The paper is focused on Commonwealth soldier's personal experiences; it ranges from ANZACs at Gallipoli, Indian participation in the Messopotamia campaign, the Canucks at Vimy and Saffies at Delville Wood. I will also take in any views from participants outside of those battles or campaigns to generally highlight the relationship between Commonwealth and British troops, their feelings towards the war, towards the enemy etc. What might have changed during the war, why it did if it did etc. All that kind of jazz.

I know it's straying OT, but if you have any book suggestions regarding the SA troops (or any of the nations, for that matter), it would be appreciated. I have a bunch of primary source from museums and libraries both here and in SA, but secondary background reading is always welcome as it helps fill out the picture, if you will. Plus, you can never know to much.

Cool! I did a modest write-up of Delville Wood (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=124898&highlight=delville).

Also be sure to get Springboks on the Somme (http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu_TK39RJngUAwDNXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByamlqaW9mBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMwRjb2xvA2FjMgR2dGlkAw--/SIG=13m35au3f/EXP=1238774090/**http%3a//www.litnet.co.za/cgi-bin/giga.cgi%3fcmd=cause_dir_news_item%26news_id=26755%26cause_id=1270) by Bill Nasson (same author as this OT). (Just in case you haven't already - he interviewed the last remaining soldier of Delville Wood for that book!)

The South African Military Journal has many articles on WW1 including Delville Wood.

http://samilitaryhistory.org/journal.html

[Dinges]

And if you are interested in the African theater:

http://www.imperial-research.net/gswa.htm

[CMNot]

Thanks for the links, and a nice little writeup you did there. I have 'Springboks on the Somme', but I'd never heard of the SAMJ, looks like it is an absolute goldmine. I commend them on making it open source as well, far to many journals are tucked away in pay per view land. I'm going to forward the journal link to my old man as well, he's an amateur Boer/Zulu war buff who will also greatly appreciate it.

[oldsoak]

Heres a question - a "what if"
Supposing the British leave the Afrikaaners alone ( valueable minerals not discovered and so the machinations of Rhodes dont take place ). What then ?
I put it to the forum that the resultant state eventually becomes a Rhodesia and then a Zimbabwe.
Why ? The British do a Kenya in the Cape and leave. The result is a white enclave within the Transvall/OFS effectively encircled. Rich resources and a minority white government and no direct access to the sea. what next ?

[Rudolph]

Heres a question - a "what if"
Supposing the British leave the Afrikaaners alone ( valueable minerals not discovered and so the machinations of Rhodes dont take place ). What then ?
I put it to the forum that the resultant state eventually becomes a Rhodesia and then a Zimbabwe.
Why ? The British do a Kenya in the Cape and leave. The result is a white enclave within the Transvall/OFS effectively encircled. Rich resources and a minority white government and no direct access to the sea. what next ?

As I said in my post, history is history, the British had overall a big effect on South Africa becoming a Union - both good and bad. Nothing is all bad in this world, just like Afrikaners were not all bad for South Africa. I'll also add that English South Africans had a lot of capital and that helped a lot in turning the country into Africa's industrial giant.

But I don't want to enter into a serious discussion about this in this thread, because it will detract from the current gist of it.

[Lazer]

the presidents of the old republics, how were they elected and how long did their terms last ??

[Rudolph]

the presidents of the old republics, how were they elected and how long did their terms last ??

Normal, yet cruder demoratic elections. Although only Boers were allowed to vote - no British, "Commonwealth" people's were allowed to vote, since they were considered uitlanders, and growing in numbers which threatened Boer supremacy. Wiki can answer your other question, Paul Kruger was president for 7 years. (two terms probably)

[MostlyHarmless]

Is now deceased PW Botha of any relation to the Boer war general?

[Rudolph]

Is now deceased PW Botha of any relation to the Boer war general?

Not a relation of Gen. Louis Botha, but:

"Botha was born on the farm Telegraaf in the Paul Roux district of the Orange Free State , the son of Afrikaner parents. He was the only son of Pieter Willem senior (a widower with four children) and Hendrina Prinsloo/de Wet (a widow with five children). His father, also named Pieter, fought as a commando against the British in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). During the war his mother was interned in a British concentration camp ."

http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/botha-pw.htm

During his early life he hated the British with a passion, he was even locked-up during WW2 for being part of an anti-British group in SA.

[Lazer]

at one of those places like koffiefontein??

[MostlyHarmless]

Thanks Rudolph, great website. I'm sure I'll be lost for the next hour on it. Botha and SA in general have a sort of bad rap in my part of the US. (Boston)

[baboon6]

at one of those places like koffiefontein??

Exactly. Both my grandfathers were up north while that faggot sat on his arse.

[playtym]

Ah, the good old Ossewa_Brandwag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossewa_Brandwag), basically a bunch of wannabe Nazi's who now mostly hang out on the Stormfront website. (http://www.stormfront.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=113)


http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/4995/ossewabrandwag16851655.jpg

[Rudolph]

^
Not that anyone knew what being a Nazi meant back then, to be fair. The camps, et al.

PW Botha should be respected for the following though:

“On 5 April 1966 Mr P W Botha was appointed as Minister of Defence and under his term of office introduced the most dynamic and far-reaching changes in the SADF in what can be viewed as the most critical era of National Defence and international arms embargoes. He achieved some very important successes, such as the introduction of an improved, more equitable national service system, the establishment of a viable South African armaments industry, the recruitment of women, Coloureds, Indians and Blacks as members of the Permanent Force and important organisational changes in the SADF. In 1966 four new command & control structures were introduced: the Supreme Command; the Defence Staff; the Headquarters: Joint Combat Forces, and Maritime Headquarters.”

http://samilitaryhistory.org/8/c08novne.html

[Lazer]

was the resistance to participation in the english war effort an attempt to join the axis powers or was it just an attempt to be unenglish?
seems to me like most of these people werent really pro germany but they probably felt that they didnt want to have to serve in the military to help england solve problems that didnt really concern south africa. i'm basing this on the impression i get from germanys lack of interest in the deep south. i mean its not like austria were germany sent agents to help set up an austrian nazi party and pave the way for anschluss.

also if it wasnt for smuts would there really have been support for the english from most south africans? remember that in 48 smuts even lost his own constituency!!! perhaps if the forerunners of the nats had been more politically united english south africans wouldnt have dominated early sa politics as much as they did. south africa only went to war with germany two weeks after england, since sa had defacto independance at the time and had the right to remain neutral if england went to war. well atleast technically speaking i'm not sure if the defacto independance really counted for much until after world war 2

[baboon6]

^
Not that anyone knew what being a Nazi meant back then, to be fair. The camps, et al.

PW Botha should be respected for the following though:

“On 5 April 1966 Mr P W Botha was appointed as Minister of Defence and under his term of office introduced the most dynamic and far-reaching changes in the SADF in what can be viewed as the most critical era of National Defence and international arms embargoes. He achieved some very important successes, such as the introduction of an improved, more equitable national service system, the establishment of a viable South African armaments industry, the recruitment of women, Coloureds, Indians and Blacks as members of the Permanent Force and important organisational changes in the SADF. In 1966 four new command & control structures were introduced: the Supreme Command; the Defence Staff; the Headquarters: Joint Combat Forces, and Maritime Headquarters.”

http://samilitaryhistory.org/8/c08novne.html

Fair enough, but look who he had as Chief of the Defence Force- Rudolph Christiaan Hiemstra, a Permanent Force officer who refused to serve in WW2, and was transferred to the civil service in 1941. (Personally I would have had him cleaning out the toilets at Zonderwater camp for the rest of the war). The Nats come in, Hiemstra is reinstated in the Defence Force, and less than 20 years later he is head of it. The wanker wasn't fit to lick the boots of men who had served in the war, never mind command them.

http://www.news24.com/Beeld/Suid-Afrika/0,,3-975_2154901,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolph_Hiemstra

More on SADF leadership in the 60s:

http://samilitaryhistory.org/8/c08novne.html

[Johnny_H02]

Another little tid-bit of Canadian Valour in the S.African War.



Award of The Queen's Scarf To
Private R.R. Thompson

This is to certify that Private R.R. Thompson, late, D Company 2 Royal Canadian Regiment was awarded the Queen's Scarf for bravery during the recent South African Campaign under the following circumstances: In July 1900, official notification was received by Colonel W.D. Otter, CB. ADC, Commanding the 2 Royal Canadian Regiment that Her Majesty the late Queen proposed awarding to a non-commissioned officer or man in each of the Colonial Contingents who might be nominated as having performed the bravest of act during the War a scarf worked or made by herself. The regiment was then stationed on the line of communications at Springs and Colonel Otter at once had the Staff and Officers Commanding Companies brought together for the selection of the non-commissioned officer or man to represent The Royal Canadian Regiment. After considerable discussion, the decision was made in favour of Private R.R. Thompson, late D Company, 2 Royal Canadian Regiment and his name was forwarded accordingly. The scarf was in due time received and given to Private Thompson.
The Particular acts upon which Private Thompson was selected were as follows:
First: Having on the night of Eighteenth-Nineteenth February 1900 kept Private Bradshaw who was left dangerously wounded at Paardeberg alive by the care and attendance bestowed upon him until he could be properly attended to.
Second: Having twice left the trenches on the morning of the capture of the Boer Laager at Paardeberg, the Twenty-seventh February 1900 at the imminent risk of his own life for the purpose of assisting wounded comrades lying some distance in front of the trenches.
Adjutant General
December 24th 1908
Ottawa
http://www.theroyalcanadianregiment.ca/honours_awards/queens_scarf.htm

[Rudolph]

^
You guys must post away. The commonwealth troops did most of the dirty work during the guerrilla period of the war and were as good as the Boers, except we had hometurf advantage.

There a very good article about some or other territorial police unit's COIN work against the Boers which I can't find right now...

[Rudolph]

Another little tid-bit of Canadian Valour in the S.African War.

An excellent book (free on-line) from the Australian perspective I read last year:

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=133151

[Johnny_H02]

^
You guys must post away. The commonwealth troops did most of the dirty work during the guerrilla period of the war and were as good as the Boers, except we had hometurf advantage.

There a very good article about some or other territorial police unit's COIN work against the Boers which I can't find right now...
There were allot of guys particularly in the 2nd Cdn. Contingent consisting of elements of the R.C.A., R.C.D & 1 C.M.R. & mentioned separately the Lord Strathconas Horse who were former NWMP (mostly in the two mounted units) constables veterans of patrolling hostile frontier land so going after Kommando's wasn't far off.

The 1st Contingent consisted of the RCR's and Artillery for the most part and functioned the same as any Imperial troops would. They were known to have developed a special relationship/comradship with the Gordon Highlanders during and after the battle at Paardeberg Drift. I read a book called "Kommando" by Deneys Reitz (spelled incorrectly) and it was fantastic.

[Rudolph]

There were allot of guys particularly in the 2nd Cdn. Contingent consisting of elements of the R.C.A., R.C.D & 1 C.M.R. & mentioned separately the Lord Strathconas Horse who were former NWMP (mostly in the two mounted units) constables veterans of patrolling hostile frontier land so going after Kommando's wasn't far off.

The 1st Contingent consisted of the RCR's and Artillery for the most part and functioned the same as any Imperial troops would. They were known to have developed a special relationship/comradship with the Gordon Highlanders during and after the battle at Paardeberg Drift. I read a book called "Kommando" by Deneys Reitz (spelled incorrectly) and it was fantastic.

Look out for Trekking On, covering his WW1 experiences, where he led one of the British units he fought during the Boer War, and No Outspan, also available as a trilogy.

[Johnny_H02]

He lead a Battalion of The Scots Fusilier Guards if I recall correctly. Though its possible I have things mixed up.

[baboon6]

He lead a Battalion of The Scots Fusilier Guards if I recall correctly. Though its possible I have things mixed up.

1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deneys_Reitz

[baboon6]

Look out for Trekking On, covering his WW1 experiences, where he led one of the British units he fought during the Boer War, and No Outspan, also available as a trilogy.

My parents have a first edition of this book, signed by Reitz. It belonged to my mother's father, who knew both him and Smuts.

[Rudolph]

My parents have a first edition of this book, signed by Reitz. It belonged to my mother's father, who knew both him and Smuts.

Wow! :)

My dad has a signed copy of Magnus Malan's autobiography! :)

[loganinkosovo]

Some pics........

Part 1

[loganinkosovo]

Some Picts.....part 2

[loganinkosovo]

Some Picts......part 3

[loganinkosovo]

Some Picts......part 4

[loganinkosovo]

Some picts......part 5

[loganinkosovo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rvz6O1vPWU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfk-lXC67MY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b8_etluZQ4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSM0OxKjn_I


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbNYVenb8NU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0vh77WMd48


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxq4aspEJIU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzSZH8He4sg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5WQnmf60PI

[Rudolph]

Thx. Good pics! Boer37.jpg is probably one of the most famous of the war...

[Johnny_H02]

1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deneys_Reitz
I stand corrected, thanks. I knew I had something mixed up.

[Krag]

I'm trying to locate some photos of Afrikaners armed with Norwegian Krag-Jorgensen rifles for an article I'm writing. If you have any could you post them here or contact me.

Baie dankie.

[drevil5000]

Seeing as the Boers were busy colonizing the Blacks and stealing their land and resources all this Afrikaner whingeing about the evils of British imperialism seems hilariously hypocritical at the very least :roll:

Concentration camps with an infant mortality rate that was actually lower than that in England. How terrible.

Actually the british spent a fair amount of time colonising the blacks in south africa too. Natal was where many blacks were located and it was under british control.

[Johnny_H02]

Aye, but they were worse off and as maltreated as the Civilian Boers were. The only difference was that nothing improved for them, nothing was reversed. I'm as pro-British Empire as one can be these days but there are moments where its hard to excuse what went on.