Episode 62 - The honourable French Colonel Villebois-Mareuil and his personal war

This week its Frenchman Georges Villebois-Mareuil whose military exploits echoed the wars of the 19th Century, particularly the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. Villebois-Mareuil even spent time in what became known as Vietnam, fighting in French-Indo-China, and in Europe in the mid-to-late 1800s. But it was in Africa where he really excelled including fighting as a commander in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. He was admired by the Boers and became known as “Die Franse Kolonel” - The French Colonel. We’ve already heard about the Irish, the Americans, Canadians, Scots, Australians, New Zealanders, Germans, Scandinavians of all types, Dutch, and Portuguese soldiers who were active in the anglo-Boer war. There were Mexicans too, and Spaniards. This was a precursor to the terrible World Wars which shattered the 20th Century - and in many ways - those fighting were practicing for what seemed to be an inevitable cataclysm only fourteen years later. World War One was an inexorable calamity, and the Anglo-Boer war one of the early military steps taken by these nations. There were other international brigades in South Africa similar for example to those who fought on both sides in the Spanish Civil War. Some of the international cadres involved in the Boer war were mercenaries, some were romantics who believed in causes, others were adventurers. Perhaps one of the more complex was French Colonel, Georges Villebois-Mureuil - a swashbuckling veteran soldier of the Prussian wars who ended up dying in a battle during the Anglo-Boer war.