110 Years Since the Boer War

[Alfacentori]

Boer War remembered 110 years on


Audio: Boer War without national memorial on 110th anniversary (AM) (http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/audio/am/200910/20091010-sam-10-boer-anniversary.mp3)
Related Story: Battle for recognition of Boer War sacrifice (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/10/2710399.htm)


Today marks the 110th anniversary of the start of the Boer War in South Africa.
About 16,000 Australians fought in the war and over 600 of them were killed - Australia's third largest loss in conflict.
Australian War Memorial historian Peter Burness says people tend to overlook the point that more Australians were killed in the Boer War than in the conflict in Vietnam.
"The Boer has probably been lost in the midst of history but it was a very important war, it was a large war, and one in which Australia was heavily involved," he said.
"The troops we sent there were mainly mounted men, a lot of them from the country districts - they usually fought on horseback over long distances, almost riding those poor horses to death, and fighting a very nasty guerrilla war.
"We lost more killed in the Boer War in the period of two-and-a-half years than we did in 10 years in Vietnam."
Half of those deaths were in battle, the rest due to accidents and disease.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/12/2710994.htm

Alfa

[Dinges]

Thanks for the post Alfa. Very interesting.

[JJHH]

Respect to the small groups of boer guerillas who kicked British ass several years in a distinguished manner.

[Britishhawk]

Respect to the small groups of boer guerillas who kicked British ass several years in a distinguished manner.

Nicee wunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

[Robert.V]

Respect to the small groups of boer guerillas who kicked British ass several years in a distinguished manner.


Wholeheartedly agree.

[BlisteringFreakachu]

Respect to the small groups of boer guerillas who kicked British ass several years in a distinguished manner.

As I recall, both had about 6,000 combat deaths, but compounded with the fact that the Boers, who for a while, fought a guerilla war (which is generally hard to manage with conventional forces) had their livelihoods destroyed, their farms burned, were forced into concentration camps (where nearly 30,000 were lost), and lost all of their territory, ceding it to the British crown, I wouldn't call it a Boer victory, nor would I say that their "accomplishments" given the circumstances were remarkable.

[Sada]

I wouldn't call it a Boer victory, nor would I say that their "accomplishments" given the circumstances were remarkable.
Fact is that after the war and under british dominion, boers could keep a high status in that dominion and with a smooth transition they shared the government, isn´t it remarkable?

[JJHH]

nor would I say that their "accomplishments" given the circumstances were remarkable.

The fact that the name 'Commando', after the raiding and assault style of Boer 'Kommando' units of the Second Boer War, was introduced in the British Army in WW2 says enough their accomplishments.

[Victis Honor]

The boer war also one fo the reason why the netherlands stayed neutral in WW1.

[oldsoak]

Despite the fact that SA went to war in the trenches ?

[Cpl Kat]

nor would I say that their "accomplishments" given the circumstances were remarkable.

On the one hand we have the army of the mighty British Empire with professional soldiers, and on the other hand we have simple farmers (that is what Boer means) with no military training.

The fact that the Boer commando's held their own against the British for so long is indeed remarkable, especially considering what the British did to the Boer women and children.

[oldsoak]

Nothing remarkable at all.
Think Afghanistan, think of the problems the allies are having there and then take a damn good look at SA. Do you really think that a 19th century power could seriously engage in CRW and wrap it up just like that ?
The removal of Boers from their farmland and into camps was possibly the cleverest thing ever in winning the war.

[baboon6]

Despite the fact that SA went to war in the trenches ?

Exactly. I really don't think it was a factor. The Netherlands would have stayed neutral in WW2 as well if they hadn't been invaded by the Germans.

[Pete031]

Yeah, this is the 110th anniversary of Paardeburg celebrated to this Day by the
Royal Canadian Regiment... There is a Ball and everything.

The RCR have two Battle honors on their colors from the Boer war.

[oldsoak]

If it hadnt been for a shady character called Rhodes, we'd probably never have fought the second Boer war. If anyone wants to read about how you can lie, cheat and steal your way to the top and get nations involved in a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives in SA - read about Mr Rhodes. It shows how money and greed can trump advice from British diplomats and get blokes killed.

[wilhelm]

Despite the fact that SA went to war in the trenches ?

It was by no means a sure thing. Actively siding with the British empire caused a huge amount of discontent.

There was in fact open rebellion due to large sectors of the population who had lost loved ones in the British concentration camps, or had lost their farms in the scorched earth policy refusing to have anything to do with the empire.

This is the reason why only volunteers served overseas in both world wars.

[wilhelm]

If it hadnt been for a shady character called Rhodes, we'd probably never have fought the second Boer war. If anyone wants to read about how you can lie, cheat and steal your way to the top and get nations involved in a war that cost hundreds of thousands of lives in SA - read about Mr Rhodes. It shows how money and greed can trump advice from British diplomats and get blokes killed.

I completely agree with you about Rhodes.

However, there was a lot of backing from many in the British political sphere for him and his goals, especially once the largest gold deposits in history were discovered.

[oldsoak]

Indeed - IIRC, led to the president of the Boer republic saying it was the "worst news possible" on being told. Led to the Boer war too, despite the British military governor seeing through Rhodes attempts to get the UK involved.

note - Rhodes got involved with a failed uprising in the Transvaal which led to the first Boer war - which in turn set the stage for the 2nd.

[wilhelm]

Indeed - IIRC, led to the president of the Boer republic saying it was the "worst news possible" on being told. Led to the Boer war too, despite the British military governor seeing through Rhodes attempts to get the UK involved.

note - Rhodes got involved with a failed uprising in the Transvaal which led to the first Boer war - which in turn set the stage for the 2nd.

Correct. I wonder if there is a modern day equivalent of CJ Rhodes ... someone who wields as much power as he did financially and politically together? Granted, the conditions are different today ..... I wonder where Rhodes was placed in the pecking order of wealthiest private businessmen in the world at the time? Certainly I doubt many, if any, had his political clout.

[baboon6]

Indeed - IIRC, led to the president of the Boer republic saying it was the "worst news possible" on being told. Led to the Boer war too, despite the British military governor seeing through Rhodes attempts to get the UK involved.

note - Rhodes got involved with a failed uprising in the Transvaal which led to the first Boer war - which in turn set the stage for the 2nd.

If you're talking about the Jameson Raid, that was in 1895, between the two Anglo-Boer Wars; the first Anglo-Boer War was in 1880-81.

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

[oldsoak]

@wilhelm
You have to bear in mind that democracy and politics are very much products of the time.
Then, the idea of colonialisation and imperialism was not the bete noir it has become nowadays. Politics was still very much the playground of the well-to-do and the idea of what is good for business is good for the state was very much the view amongst the superpowers. While it is no longer possible for a single individual to hold that much power as Cecil Rhodes, it is entirely possible that a group of private individuals could as the CEO's of a company. Indeed, De Beers still has considerable influence in the selling of diamonds - to the extent that they managed to ensure Australia did not sell all its diamonds on a free market and thereby undercut their controlling position in the market.

[oldsoak]

@baboon6
- I stand corrected. Wi****ersrand gold strike wasnt until 1886.

[Beast of war]

83178 de boeren kommando'sp-)

[JJHH]

83177 de boeren kommando'sp-)

Such a great picture needs to be posted in high resolution.. ;)

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8602/afrikanercommandos2.jpg (http://img508.imageshack.us/i/afrikanercommandos2.jpg/)

[3YES]

Such a great picture needs to be posted in high resolution.. ;)

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8602/afrikanercommandos2.jpg (http://img508.imageshack.us/i/afrikanercommandos2.jpg/)
are they armed with lee metfords?

[oldsoak]

Might be Long LE.
Long LE's and LM's were used by Boers - captured from the British. IIRC, they were not universally liked, the sights being more difficult to adjust than the Mausers, and while Mausers had parts and ammunition available in every corner of S Africa, the .303 was a British military round. It also lacked the ability to be loaded with a clip of ammuntion, unlike the Mauser .The LM barrel eroded rapidly when the then new cordite ammunition was used, resulting in introduction of the Enfield barrel.

[drevil5000]

This picture was taken in 1904 in my home town, it was taken after a shooting competition.

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk220/drevil5000/Ancestors.jpg

[oldsoak]

Lots of Lees there. Where was this ?

[drevil5000]

Lots of Lees there. Where was this ?

It was taken in Maclear in the Eastern Cape.

[Rudolph]

Nice thread!

[JJHH]

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

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

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

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

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

[JJHH]

Good article written in Dutch (sorry just for the Dutch and Afrikaners) by the Dutch Army Museum about Dutch volunteers in the Boer War:

http://www.collectie.legermuseum.nl/sites/strategion/contents/i004527/arma33%20nederlandse%20vrijwilligers%20in%20de%20boerenoorlog.pdf

I especially like this part of the article. A textbook example of guerilla tactics.



[...]een zeer gebruikelijke strijdwijze van de Boerencommando's: plaatsnemen op de hoogten (koppes), de vijand beschieten en bij serieuze tegenstand en gevaar van omsingeling zo snel mogelijk te paard wegkomen.


Translated:



[...]a very common way of battle by the Boer commando's: taking place on heights and fire upon the enemy and to get away as quickly as possible when opposition is fierce and danger of encirclement is imminent.


The guerrilla operations by T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) were adapted from Boer tactics like the one above.

[oldsoak]

Eh ? That sort of tactic is as old as the hills. Its very difficult to counter without high mobility. US troops would have been familar with that from the Indian wars.

[Skukuza]

Vrystaat...

[Stevey1]

Nothing remarkable at all.
Think Afghanistan, think of the problems the allies are having there and then take a damn good look at SA. Do you really think that a 19th century power could seriously engage in CRW and wrap it up just like that ?

Indeed. The make-up of conventional military tactics in that period made counter-guerilla action very costly as well. I once read a quote from an American correspondent on the Boer War who said that the British would be losing far less men if they were 'less brave' -time and again charging up hills after the Boers and getting picked off.

Of course, the upshot of the conflict for the UK was the fact that the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 (having taken onboard the lessons of the Boer War) was one of the best military formations ever fielded and gave the Germans a very bloody nose for such a small force.

[Wally1967]

Took this pic 2008 Winter June @ Lilydale Australia

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e160/HNBC/IMG_0225.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e160/HNBC/IMG_0224.jpg

[Rudolph]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_smuts#The_Old_Boers

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

"On 11 October 1899, the Boer republics invaded the British South African colonies, beginning the Second Boer War (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Second_Boer_War). In the early stages of the conflict, Smuts served as Kruger’s eyes and ears, handling propaganda, logistics, communication with generals and diplomats, and anything else that was required.

In the second phase of the war, Smuts served under Koos de la Rey (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Koos_de_la_Rey), who commanded 500 commandos in the Western Transvaal. Smuts excelled at hit-and-run warfare (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Hit-and-run_tactics), and the unit evaded and harassed a British army forty times its size. President Kruger and the deputation in Europe thought that there was good hope for their cause in the Cape Colony. They decided to send General de la Rey there to assume supreme command, but then decided to act more cautiously when they realized that General de la Rey could hardly be spared in the Western Transvaal.

Consequently, Smuts left with a small force of 300 men while another 100 men followed him. By this point in the war, the British scorched earth policy (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Scorched_earth) left little grazing land. One hundred of the cavalry that had joined Smuts were therefore too weak to continue and so Smuts had to leave these men with General Kritzinger. With few exceptions, Smuts met all the commandos in the Cape Colony and found between 1,400–1,500 men under arms, and not the 3,000 men as had been reported. By the time of the peace Conference in May 1902 there were 3,300 men operating in the Cape Colony. Although the people were enthusiastic for a general rising, there was a great shortage of horses (the Boers were an entirely mounted force) as they had been taken by the British. There was an absence of grass and wheat, which meant that he was forced to refuse nine tenths of those who were willing to join. The Boer forces raided supply lines and farms, spread Afrikaner propaganda, and intimidated those that opposed them, but they never succeeded in causing a revolt against the government. This raid was to prove one of the most influential military adventures of the 20th century and had a direct influence on the creation of the British Commandos (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/British_Commandos) and all the other special forces which followed. With these practical developments came the development of the military doctrines of deep penetration raids, asymmetric warfare (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Asymmetric_warfare) and, more recently, elements of fourth generation warfare (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Fourth_generation_warfare).

To end the conflict, Smuts sought to take a major target, the copper-mining town of Okiep (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Okiep). With a full assault impossible, Smuts packed a train full of explosives, and tried to push it downhill, into the town, where it would bring the enemy garrison to its knees. Although this failed, Smuts had proven his point: that he would stop at nothing to defeat his enemies. Combined with their failure to pacify the Transvaal, Smuts' success left the United Kingdom with no choice but to offer a ceasefire (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Ceasefire) and a peace conference, to be held at Vereeniging (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Vereeniging,_Gauteng)."

[Rudolph]

Black Week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Week) is a phrase frequently used in the popular press (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Journalism) to mark periods of a few days when a string of similar unfortunate events occur. Its celebrity usually fades to be replaced by another Black Week a few years later. However, a few Black Weeks have acquired an historical notoriety.

One of the periods which still retains the name was 10 (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/10_December)-15 December (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/December_15) 1899 (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/1899), during the Second Boer War (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Second_Boer_War) when the British Army (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/British_Army) suffered three humiliating defeats by the Boer Republics (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Boer_Republics) at the battles of Stormberg (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Battle_of_Stormberg)(690), Magersfontein (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Battle_of_Magersfontein)(948) and Colenso (http://www.militaryphotos.net/wiki/Battle_of_Colenso)(1,138), with 2,776 men killed,wounded and captured.

The Boers suffered during the same period some 286 killed, wounded and captured.

December 1899: The Battle of Magersfontein – The Second Boer War (http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=126180&highlight=magersfontein)

Good book from the Australian POV: Tommy Cornstalk : being some account of the less notable features of the South African war from the point of view of the Australian ranks (http://www.archive.org/details/tommycornstalkbe00abboiala) (1902)

[oldsoak]

with all due respect Rudolph, asymetric warfare was carried out Jeb Stuart and various Union and Confederate raiders in the ACW - and theres stuff goes back beyond that. Very little in terms of hit and run raids is really new.
Had Churchill ,by some quirk, decided to call the Commandos Rangers instead - after the Rogers Rangers formed during the French and Indian war - would this article attribute as much to the Boers ?

[matthew.manhorn]

Respect to the small groups of boer guerillas who kicked British ass several years in a distinguished manner.

Agreed, can't believe that concentration camps are invented by good ol' Britons

[oldsoak]

Agreed, can't believe that concentration camps are invented by good ol' Britons

They were'nt. The term is British, the concept has been done since antiquity. If you have a troublesome populace you either kill everyone ( not good for raising taxes afterwards ) or you deport them and concentrate them in areas where you can keep an eye on them.
Try looking at US reservations - and "tent cities" used by the French in Algeria in the 1830's. Or even the deportation and entrenchment of ethnic groups by the Assyrians, Persians , Romans etc.

[JJHH]

Agreed, can't believe that concentration camps are invented by good ol' Britons

In the past other nations have installed concentration camps as well but the British made massive use of concentration camps in South Africa as a response to the attacks of the Boer commandos. Thousands and thousands of Boer wives and children died under terrible conditions in British concentration camps. This was one of the reasons why Holland decided to stay neutral in World War 1.

[oldsoak]

In the past other nations have installed concentration camps as well but the British made massive use of concentration camps in South Africa as a response to the attacks of the Boer commandos. Thousands and thousands of Boer wives and children died under terrible conditions in British concentration camps. This was one of the reasons why Holland decided to stay neutral in World War 1.

Was it ? I have my doubts. Holland had no treaty with any of the powers involved. I really fail to see how a country the size of Holland having a border with a country the size of Germany would want to do anything other than either join the German camp or stay neutral. The same attitude prevailed prior to the German invasion of WW2.

[JJHH]

Was it ? I have my doubts. Holland had no treaty with any of the powers involved. I really fail to see how a country the size of Holland having a border with a country the size of Germany would want to do anything other than either join the German camp or stay neutral. The same attitude prevailed prior to the German invasion of WW2.

Yes it was. The Dutch had a distate for the British until 1940, when Germany violated Dutch neutrality by invading Holland.

In the Second Boer War, 2000 Dutch volunteers fought alongside the Boers. The Dutch had a strong sympathy for the Boers since they were descendants of Dutch colonists.

[oldsoak]

So you are telling me that Holland would have gone to war with Germany in WW1 if the Boer wars had not happened ? for what reason ?
I put it to you that no Dutch government in its right mind would go to war with an imperial Germany- the foremost continental superpower. They would have gained nothing and ended up like Belgium. I cannot imagine them being that stupid. With no real navy to speak of , a small army and dependent of the sea for trade - how the hell did they think they'd survive the first onslaught ? It would have been a Beau Geste at best with horrifying results for the Dutch populace.
The whole idea that the Boer wars stopped Holland from joining alongside the French and British simply because of the Brits ignores the reality of the political and military situation facing the Dutch in WW1.

[baboon6]

So you are telling me that Holland would have gone to war with Germany in WW1 if the Boer wars had not happened ? for what reason ?
I put it to you that no Dutch government in its right mind would go to war with an imperial Germany- the foremost continental superpower. They would have gained nothing and ended up like Belgium. I cannot imagine them being that stupid. With no real navy to speak of , a small army and dependent of the sea for trade - how the hell did they think they'd survive the first onslaught ? It would have been a Beau Geste at best with horrifying results for the Dutch populace.
The whole idea that the Boer wars stopped Holland from joining alongside the French and British simply because of the Brits ignores the reality of the political and military situation facing the Dutch in WW1.

The Belgians didn't exactly join either world war by choice either, only because the Germans invaded them- like the Dutch in WW2. I agree with the rest of your post, the idea that the Dutch would have declared war on Germany in 1914 under any circumstances other than being invaded is to me ridiculous.

[oldsoak]

Exactly that - the knowledge of what happened in Belgium would have concentrated the minds in the Hague wonderfully.

[JJHH]

Regarding the British concentration camps, Stanford has an interesting section on its website containing scans of official British documents:

Concentration Camps during the South African / Boer War, 1899-1902
http://library.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/boers.html

[drevil5000]

http://www.youtube.com/v/5WyF8KaVyt8

[Violet Fashion by Mindy]

This war has some significance to our family. On my mothers side, my great grandmother who was taken from her family being the last full aboriginal of her tribe never had a birth certificate. So they could only work out her age when she said she was 6 years when the war started.

[JJHH]

http://www.youtube.com/v/5WyF8KaVyt8

Quote:

"We were a company of 109, when we were all through there was only 17 of us left"

Heavy casualties...

[OrangeWolf]

I don't think the Netherlands didn't go to war because of the Boer Wars, but it just added up to widespread distrust of the British intentions. Either way I am glad we didn't join World War 2. Judging from what little I know about my family generations back, they were very pro-Afrikaner.

I have deep respect for the Afrikaners who resisted British rule during the Boer Wars, and even moreso for foreign volunteers especially the Dutch. Failing to destroy the Afrikaners the concentration camps were established, and families whose men did not surrender were more and more deprived from food. I did however read in this extensive book the Covenant that women in the camps threatened to kill those who surrendered. The whole camps are probably the blackest page in South African history :(

Afrikaners from the Cape also fought on the British side btw, and let's not forget those black nations and coloreds fought on both sides, and they too suffered in the camps.

Some of the Boers used the tactic of faking surrender, showing up with a white flag yet still fire. But I do suppose the whole idea of conventional warfare according to certain rules is dead when you burn everyone's farms and force their women and children into malnutrition. I did also read floggings after capture did sporadically happen on both sides

Op ‘n perd kom hy aan, die leeu van die Wes-Transvaal! (On a horse he comes, the lion of West Transvaal) :)

[JJHH]

Interesting (and shocking) part from a book titled "March of the Titans - A History of the White Race" on the Boer Republics and British Rule.



The First Anglo-Boer War 1881-1882
The Boer Republics were primarily agriculturally based, and also, compared to the British ruled Cape, comparatively poor. The discovery of diamonds in the interior - in a region claimed by both the British and Boers, called Griqualand West, caused a fresh wave of White immigration from Europe, mainly British but also small numbers from other European nations, including a group of European Jews who were soon to wield great influence in the affairs of the region. The influx of British settlers caused the already strained relations between the Boer Republics and the British to deteriorate. The Boers were not only politically weak but also militarily divided, with the result that the British were able to annex the Transvaal Republic in 1877 with a tiny force which met no resistance at all. Within a few days, the British flag was hoisted in the Transvaal capital, Pretoria, (named after the Boer leader at the battle of Blood River) and British rule was extended into the interior without a shot being fired. It took three years and a Herculean effort on the part of three young Boer leaders to organize their people and to motivate them into fighting the British occupation of the Transvaal: eventually in 1881, a Boer rebellion finally broke out. The British were unexpectedly badly beaten by a Boer army at the battle of Majuba in February 1881, and the British then announced that they were prepared to restore self-government to the Transvaal. One of the young Boer leaders of the rebellion, Paul Kruger, was elected president of the once again independent Boer republic in 1883.

Second Boer Republic in Natal
In the far north of Natal, in land previously agreed as belonging to the Zulus, a small Boer population established themselves after providing military assistance to one of the Zulu factions which came to dominance in Zulu politics: this republic of Northern Natal was eventually to join up with the larger Boer Republic of the Transvaal, giving the latter access to the coast for the first time.

The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902
The discovery of gold in the southern Transvaal in 1886, caused a new wave of British and European Jewish immigrants to come flooding into the Transvaal. The number of immigrants swelled: in certain areas like Johannesburg, the city founded at the center of the gold bearing reef, British and other non-Boer elements greatly outnumbered the Boer population. The Boer Republic refused to grant the new immigrants voting rights, correctly foreseeing the loss of political power, and this "Uitlander" ('Foreigner") question was to serve as the spark for the Second Anglo-Boer war of 1889 - 1902, the one that is most often remembered in the annals of history. After protracted negotiations between the British government at the Cape, headed by one Cecil John Rhodes, and the Boer president, Paul Kruger broke down, a small Uitlander rebellion broke out in Johannesburg. Simultaneously a small private English militia under the leadership of one of Rhode's adjutants, actually invaded the Transvaal Republic. The invasion and rebellion were quickly suppressed by the Boer forces, but the die had been cast; war between the Boer Republics and the British was thereafter inevitable.

Boers Strike First
Sensing that war was near, the British began moving troops up to the borders of the Orange Free State and Transvaal Republics, and started preparations to ship out further troops from Britain. The Transvaal President, Kruger, sent an ultimatum to the British administration in the Cape to stop the troop build up or the Boers would regard it as an act of war (which it of course was). The British ignored the ultimatum, and in October 1899, the Boers went over to the offensive, launching two ****ged invasions in British ruled Natal and the Northern Cape. The White population figures of the Boer Republics at this stage of the proceedings make interesting reading: in total the White population of the Transvaal and Orange Free States State was just over 200,000, and together with 2,000 Boer sympathizers recruited from Natal and the Cape, the Boer armed forces in total were never more than 52,000 at any one stage in the three year war which followed. The British in the other hand had 176,000 soldiers alone in the Cape by the end of 1899, and by the end of the war itself had deployed 478,725 soldiers in the field: nearly twice as many military personnel as the entire Boer population, men, women and children included.

Initial British Defeats
At first the war went well for the Boers: several British defeats followed one another in quick succession, created by the skillful use of trenches by the Boers and unconventional mobile tactics. Another advantage, exploited to the hilt by the Boers, was their modern semi-automatic Mauser rifles - a gift from the German Kaiser - while the British still had manual loading Lee-Enfield rifles as their main infantry armament. The Boers laid siege to three towns inside British held territory: Mafikeng and Kimberley in the Northern Cape and Ladysmith in Natal. It was however in besieging these three towns that the Boers lost their chance of winning the war. Initially the plan had been to strike down into Natal and seize the port of Durban, whilst simultaneously seizing the large ports in the Cape (Port Elizabeth and eventually Cape Town itself) thereby preventing the British from sending in more troops. However, the main Boer force became bogged down besieging what were in reality relatively unimportant military targets, and the British were able to land many thousands of troops in the country unmolested.

Inevitable British Victories due to overwhelming numbers
Eventually the sieges of all three towns were lifted and the British then pressed home their military superiority, occupying Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, and Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, in quick succession. The British then expected the Boers to surrender after the fall of their major cities: but instead the remaining Boer forces - now numbering only some 26,000 - started a hit and run guerrilla war which was to last from 1900 to 1902. Operating in the open veld, the Boer guerrillas could rely on provisions and support from the rural Boer community, and as a result the British occupation only extended as far as the range of their guns: as soon as they moved out an area it was quickly re-occupied by Boers, who then waged a highly effective campaign of sabotage and raids against British columns.

Scorched Earth and Concentration Camps
By mid 1900, the Second Anglo-Boer War had been raging for well over a year: the overwhelming British force had occupied all the major towns and centers of the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, and the Boers had been forced to resort to hit and run guerrilla tactics in the open veld. The Boers continued to inflict defeats upon the British in this way: so much so that eventually the war was to cost the British government £191 000 000 (191 million Pounds - a fortune by 1901 standards, and many hundred times that amount today). By mid 1900, however, the British had become exasperated with the military situation: the Boers seemed to be able operate with impunity in the veld: a new course of action was decided upon. In the last months of 1900, the British began to build what eventually became 45 separate concentration camps, established to systematically remove women and children from their farms to prevent them aiding and supplying the Boer soldiers ("burgers") in the field.

The British ironically justified rounding up thousands of women and children - something unprecedented before in any other war which the British Empire had fought. So it was that the British started not only rounding up as many Boer women and children as they could, but also destroying the farms, their only source of survival. The evacuation of the farms was accompanied by the burning and dynamiting of all farm houses and buildings. Poultry, sheep and cattle were slaughtered, the houses looted and all fruit trees, grain or other crops burned down. This is not to say that all the British undertook this task with relish: many ordinary British soldiers were themselves appalled at what they were ordered to do. Transported in open wagons, and sometimes in open flatbed trains, the Boer women and children so evacuated were taken to the camps which were scattered all over the country, from Howick in Natal through to Kroonstad in the Orange Free State. The terrain upon which the camps had been built was poorly chosen: exposed to the elements and under supplied. Too many people were assembled in too short a time without adequate preparation. The administrative personnel and medical services were inadequate, the rations unsatisfactory; there were dishonest contractors and inefficient officials who were unable to cope with the epidemic of measles and pneumonia which broke out. The wave of evacuees soon overwhelmed the inadequate preparations the British had taken. Up to October 1901, the number of inmates in the 45 camps increased to 118 000 Whites and 43 000 non-Whites. The death rate was 344 per thousand amongst the Whites; at one stage in the Kroonstad camp the death rate was 878 per thousand. Eventually 27,927 Boers died in the camps, of whom 4177 were adult women and 22,074 were children under the age of 16. Since the entire Boer population in both republics was just over 200,000, the mortality rate meant that just under 15 percent of the entire Boer population was wiped out. Such a figure is of genocidal proportions. These figures are even more revealing when the actual combat fatalities for the entire war are reviewed: some 7091 British soldiers died, while on the Boer side some 3990 burgers were killed, with a further 1081 dying of disease or accident in the veld. Twelve percent of Boer deaths were battle related; six percent died from other causes while on commando; 17 percent were adults in the camps and 65 percent were children under the age of 16 years. It has been estimated that without this loss, the White population of South Africa would have been as much as a third larger than what it eventually became.

Boer Surrender
Although the guerrilla war itself was reasonably successful - with one Boer commando under the able guerrilla leader general, Jan Smuts, raiding so deep in the Cape that they came within sight of Table Mountain in Cape Town - the pressures brought to bear by the concentration camp issue forced them to eventually surrender or face total extermination. In 1902, the Treaty of Vereniging brought the war to an end, and Britain formally annexed the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

http://iluvsa.blogspot.com/2009/11/march-of-titans-history-of-white-race_04.html

[oldsoak]

Just to add relevance to those figures, child mortality in the Uk was 156 per 1000 in the period 1896-1900.

[nemowork]

Another advantage, exploited to the hilt by the Boers, was their modern semi-automatic Mauser rifles - a gift from the German Kaiser - while the British still had manual loading Lee-Enfield rifles as their main infantry armament.

Semi-auto?

Weird how long ago this all is, at the same time talking to my grandmother about her watching the troops coming off homecoming trains after the Boer war at the station where her father worked.

[oldsoak]

Semi Auto mausers ? - only in pistols.
The Boers Mausers had clip loaded magazines for their rifles during the war which allowed a faster reload. UK did not adopt that until later. One side had the faster bolt action and bigger magazine capacity, the other had the faster loading mag.

[JJHH]

Semi Auto mausers ? - only in pistols.
The Boers Mausers had clip loaded magazines for their rifles during the war which allowed a faster reload. UK did not adopt that until later. One side had the faster bolt action and bigger magazine capacity, the other had the faster loading mag.

Indeed, the Boer's "Plezier Mauser" was charger feeding.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/5872/rsplezier071907c.jpg (http://img508.imageshack.us/i/rsplezier071907c.jpg/)



Plezier Mauser

In the Boer War, wealthy burghers' sporters were the terror of the kopies.

By Richard Venola

"Vertrou in God en die Mauser!" was the battle cry of citizen soldiers as they protected their democracies against the Evil Empire of the age--and they had little else to trust in besides God and their Mauser rifles.

At the turn of the last century, the pink spots checkering schoolroom globes represented Britain's ever-expanding acquisitions. In southern Africa two small republics, the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal), had unfortunately found new mineral wealth while being sandwiched between several British colonies.

The tough, Afrikaans-speaking residents of these two fledgling republics had fended off the larcenous Brits less than two decades before and saw that they were going to have to do it again. Unable to afford a single mass purchase, the governments bought state-of-the-art Mausers at a discount rate and then resold them to members of the militias at cost.

A Boer farmer could buy a standard 1895 Mauser, identical to the ones used by Spain to flog U.S. troops in Cuba, at a cost of three pounds, Sterling. A thousand rounds of 174-grain ammo went for just over six pounds.

For the wealthy burghers in the booming mining towns, the 1895 service rifle was rather pedestrian. Since war hadn't yet been declared, they wanted something that could be used for sporting purposes as well. Private and small-volume purchases were made, and the special sporting rifles were made available for about five quid.

The result was one of the most beautiful military rifles ever, the Pleasure Mauser. Based on the same 1895 small-ring action and superb 7x57mm cartridge, the Plezier Mausers were fitted with a precision, tapered 28-inch octagonal barrel. The rear sight is a short ladder and the front winged and windage adjustable. The stock is clearly a sporting design, with a semi-pistol grip, fine checkering, cheekpiece and Schnabel fore-end. The front sling swivel is silver-soldered to the barrel in the manner of African hunting rifles. Alongside the receiver are distinctive flats standing out from the gentle curves.

When war broke out in the fall of 1899, coarse Boers left their farms and bourgeois Burghers the comfort of their townhomes, both to go "on commando." British-held towns were sieged and relief columns introduced to some harsh realities.

Poor men hunting meat for their families become efficient marksmen, by learning either to stalk close or to stretch their ability with a rifle. In the case of the Boers, they did both. It is appalling to think of the carnage at such places as Colenso and Spion Kop, where men with such talents used rapid-firing rifles to fire at massed bodies of troops--with what is still arguably the most effective cartridge ever.

Gradually, however, the British pressed (as they do) stubbornly on, and the Boers fell back. By this point, unit commanders had learned who could shoot and who could not and which rifles shot more accurately. Many egos were wounded and humiliations doled out as the leaders of the increasingly fragmented commandoes ordered the Burghers to "temporarily" trade their beautiful, accurate Pleziers with the better marksmen.

If, say, the Minutemen were to make a group purchase of Colt M-16s and the wealthier members opted for Les Baer Varminters, the effective difference between them would have been the same.

Boer marksmanship during the guerrilla phase entered the status of legend, and British sentries' worst nightmare was the specter of the lone, hungry Boer with his Mauser. Kipling wrote both prose and verse in honor of Boer marksmanship. His poem "Two Kopjes" laments the frustration of British troops in trying to move through the small flat-topped hills that dot the veldt. The Boers used mutually supporting, highly accurate enfilade fire to consume columns of British light horse.

Kipling helped nurture the legend of Boer marksmanship in Piet, writing:

An' when there wasn't aught to do
But camp and cattle-guards,
I've fought with 'im the 'ole day through,
At fifteen 'undred yards;
Long afternoons o' lyin' still,
An' 'earin' as you lay,
The bullets swish from 'ill to 'ill
Like scythes among the 'ay.

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featured_rifles/plezier_071907/#cont

[JCR]

So you are telling me that Holland would have gone to war with Germany in WW1 if the Boer wars had not happened ? for what reason ?


Dutch-German relations until 1940 were superb, and especially dutch-german relations in the days of the empire.
The Hohenzollerns and the House of Orange were related, and they still owned land in Germany.
Actually the house of Orange-Nassau still owns a few castles in Germany where they come from (Nassau and a few others).
Protestantism also was a strong bond between prussia and the dutch, with the dutch being seen as something like the founding fathers of protestant nations.
It wasn't without a reason that the Kaiser fled to the Netherlands in 1918.


Sadly, WW2 spoiled that special relationship, but today relations aren't that bad again, even if this is due to football and alcohol, not protestantism and nobility :D

[OrangeWolf]

Dutch-German relations until 1940 were superb, and especially dutch-german relations in the days of the empire.
The Hohenzollerns and the House of Orange were related, and they still owned land in Germany.
Actually the house of Orange-Nassau still owns a few castles in Germany where they come from (Nassau and a few others).
Protestantism also was a strong bond between prussia and the dutch, with the dutch being seen as something like the founding fathers of protestant nations.
It wasn't without a reason that the Kaiser fled to the Netherlands in 1918.


Sadly, WW2 spoiled that special relationship, but today relations aren't that bad again, even if this is due to football and alcohol, not protestantism and nobility :D

Protestantism, football, beer whatever it takes Germany and the Netherlands should have the warmest relationships of all nations :hug:.

Anyway did anyone read The Covenant, it also has an entire chapter about the Boer War and the events leading to the Boer War? It combines non-fiction with fictious characters though.

In the end I am afraid the British would just have won due to the fact they were superior in number, they were pouring in masses of soldiers into Southern Africa. But I guess killing and starving children and women in camps is an easier way to hit your opponent.

[oldsoak]

There is a certain mythology around the 7x57 mauser - I've had a look at an original and while its a worthy rifle, I suspect if the sides were forced to swap rifles, the results would be much the same. Indeed, Boers used captured British rifles just as British scouts also used Mausers - Mausers were readily available commerially throughout SA and its surrounds - and cheap.
The problem lay with the tactics. The British army was not large, and it was a tool of empire used to fighting massed attacks - something the Boers did not do. It was forced to fight a guerilla war against highly motivated and mobile troops in unfamilar country. The SA had to do the same in the Apartheid years, and even with the advantages of modern mobility and knowledge of the bush, they did not find it an easy task.

[wilhelm]

The average Boer, or farmer, was taught from as a young boy to shoot accurately and make every shot count. When you are shooting for the pot, and you are an impoverished farmer, ammunition is expensive and wasting it can be ill-afforded.

[oldsoak]

Exactly. Its not the rifle, its the marksman.

[wilhelm]

Exactly. Its not the rifle, its the marksman.

Sort of like the British and Germans using poachers in the sniper role back in the day... patience and good markmanship.

[Cohaagen]

Many people tend to get very puffed-up and enthusiastic about the Boers for sticking one on the chin of them evil Britisher imperialists, until they find out that they were the progenitors of the SA nationalists that implemented Apartheid. Americans like them because it appeals to their own institutionalised myths about rugged frontiersmen who were good with a rifle - the fact that Boers were largely illiterate, ignorant, strangers to sanitation, and had repulsive views towards black people is by-the-by when you're getting into a good bit of hero-worship. They haven't disappeared, either. A quick look through Roger Ballen's book about the dorps in rural SA reveals as much.

[oldsoak]

Speaking as someone is proudly a Brit, I do think thats a little unfair on the Boers - they were products of their time. Their views and beliefs were not that different from most Europeans migrants who were trying to make a better living be it in Canada, Australia , NZ or S Aftrica. It might be argued that the feeling of marginalisation contributes to resistance to change. What happened in later years is another story.
As for being illiterate etc, that was true of the poor everywhere, especially in a country devoid of infrastructure as S Africa was in those days. Yes, there is in my humble opinion a lot of mythology on either side, but theres also truth, and we have to be even handed on this.

[Obelix]

the fact that Boers were largely illiterate, ignorant, strangers to sanitation, and had repulsive views towards black people

And I take it that your opinion is that these characteristics you so eloquently list were exceedingly rare in Britain and continental Europe during this era...

[wilhelm]

the fact that Boers were largely illiterate, ignorant, strangers to sanitation, and had repulsive views towards black people is by-the-by when you're getting into a good bit of hero-worship.

Ahhh .... an apologist for the high death rate in the camps has arrived. The same rubbish that was spouted by the camp apologists before the British public realised what was going on and were horrified by it.

What were prevailing attitudes worldwide at the time? Pray, do enlighten us. Was there a class sytem in place still in Europe? Could women vote? Was colonialism still extant.

Care to give us some hard statistics concerning the "hygiene, sanitation, ignorance and literacy levels" amongst the Boers, rural and urban, please? From independent sources please. Or should I just report you as a troll who clearly wants to flame a good and worthwhile topic? On your first post.

Your choice.

[oldsoak]

Funnily enough, the British public seemed remarkably blind sided to the less than wonderful conditions enjoyed by its lower classes in the slums of industrial cities in the Victorian era. The high mortality rate there being statistically "evened" out by those living in better conditions elsewhere. Its a little odd that ones ancestors were suffering from consumption and malnutrition in obscurity in the UK while educated society protested the suffering of the Boers in a land far away.
We have to view the past without the sentimentality or the moral conscience of the present. In time to come, even our current values may yet be found wanting.

[CMNot]

Anachronism stalks the poor historian oldsoak. Conditions for the urban poor in Victorian Britain were appalling.

[wilhelm]

We have to view the past without the sentimentality or the moral conscience of the present. In time to come, even our current values may yet be found wanting.

I have no doubt about it.

Reading recently about conditions in the East End during Jack the Rippers reign brings home the full scope of what it meant to to be poor in London only a decade before the Boer War. Certainly though, other great metropolis such as New York had areas of similar degradation.

I certainly agree with you about the dangers of using todays moral compass to judge the past, in a general way however.

Good virtue is timeless however.:)

[Switek]

One of my favorite military related song... I do not understand almost anything but it's really moving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlHqKJyo3GQ