Episode 141 - Peace!

In this episode General Buller makes a return and some of his slow moving tactics start paying off. Lord Kitchener complains after de Wet makes his escape with 2500 burghers, and the Canadians prepare to attack Louis Botha in the Eastern Transvaal. This war which was supposed to be over in a matter of weeks has now dragged on for 10 months and shows no signs of ending soon. This conflict is a precursor to many in the 20th Century where the civilians are part of the logistic support network for the defending national army. The Boers were receiving food, ammunition and transport from their countrymen and women across the length and breadth of South Africa Others, however, were cooperating with the British. Like Piet de Wet, Christiaan de Wet’s brother. Christiaan was a hero in the eyes of the Boers determined to fight on, and had led his division of 2500 men across the Vaal River into the Transvaal Republic. General Kitchener and Hunter were tracking him down, while Lord Methuen’s force was also searching for the fast moving Boer leader. The Canadians are attacked 11 times in 21 days east of Pretoria at a place called Nooitgedacht, and Louis Botha gets ready to relaunch his war against the British.

12 Elo 201818min

In July Lieutenant Hans Cordua who was a German, had led a plot to overthrown the British once they’d arrived in the Transvaal capital.   Lieutenant Cordua had fought for the Boers and was captured but later released on parole. He’d barely gained his liberty before he hatched a plot to assassinate Major Carl Barchard who as an officer of the West York Regiment. He also apparently planned to kill Lord Roberts who commanded the British army in South Africa.   The English were tipped off by a British agent who said Cordua would be dressed in British army uniform when he tried to kill Barchard, and that there would possibly be other assassins.   After a lengthy court martial, the German was found guilty and sentenced to be shot.   Cordua was brought before a ten-man firing squad after he’d written the last letter to his family. He preferred no blindfold, staring straight at his executioners.  Ready .. Aim .. Fire. After the execution it was found that seven of the ten rounds had penetrated his heart, so much for the theory that in a firing squad, only one rifle has a round - the rest blanks. It’s also to be noted that in shooting terms, this was quite an accurate grouping.   I found a San Francisco Call newspaper report into this incident published later, in 1903, which featured the headline “War Romance has sad ending” Court Martial Robs a Boer girl of her sweetheart…”   The story doesn’t quite end there. Apparently the sweetheart hired a hitman in Pretoria to climb through Major Blanchard’s window one night to kill him. Unfortunately for the sad Boer maiden, the hitman was expected and was shot dead by Blanchard who woke up with his window being raised, firing at the man at point blank range. Major Blanchard ended up in the USA and spent some time traveling about, spinning many a yarn about his experiences in South Africa.

5 Elo 201815min

That’s 45 weeks since the start of the war in October 1899. And this podcast series is following the weeks, so to speak. Right now, we’re in an interregnum. Not a dormant period and definitely not an hiatus. Boer General Christiaan de Wet still appears to have the initiative in the Free State, although only because he’s still free. But appearances can be deceptive because de Wet has a paltry 2500 men riding with him across the veld, while he’s being pursued by Lieutenant General Hunter with over 20 000. But Hunter is squaring off against a highly motivated and skilled enemy. The Boers regard the large British force as an illegal army, their families are adrift as refugees moving from place. Historically armies like this are notoriously difficult to overcome quickly, unless the invading force resorts to extreme tactics, such as those used by Genghis Khan. This is not possible in the modern era for obvious reasons. De Wet had retreated into the range of hills called the Rhenosterpoort dominated by a large Boer farm, which lies 35 kilometers away from the town of Potchefstroom. He had rested there for a few days while the English reinforcements marched steadily towards his lair. Meanwhile, Lord Roberts' wife, Nora, has arrived in Pretoria with their two children which was not what Queen Victoria had expected when she let it be known she preferred no "camp followers"...

29 Heinä 201820min

This is episode 44 and comes with a smattering of snow, ice and a little about what’s known as the Dragon Mountains - the Drakensberg. It’s also called the Barrier of Spears because the lava flow which created the escarpment 160 million years before has weathered away revealing sharp spear like peaks that ascend to over 10 000 feet. These are real mountains, and both British and Boer were rightly respectful of their power. Free State commander General Christiaan de Wet was based west of this barrier, and decided to break his force of 5000 men into 4 distinct groups. De Wet then headed off north west on the 15th July with the largest division, and President Steyn in tow, along with the specialist mercenary unit under command of Danie Theron. This cold foggy weather seeped westwards towards the Caledon and the Brandwater Basin. It was through one of these deep mists on the 19th July two of the Lovats Scouts, who were colonial troops being used by the British, managed to slip through Retief’s Nek. What they saw on the other side of the Brandwater Basin mountains was that the grass was burnt for miles. This could have been linked to the Boers who burned the grass in front of their trenches and defensive walls making it more difficult for the British troops advancing to use the vegetation as cover. Or it could just be nature, or the local Basutho people setting fire to the grass to increase the fertilisation of the harsh terriain before the rains of summer fell. Hunter couldn’t be sure what was behind this great burning. However, the two Scouts he’d dispatched had more information that was vital. They saw what they reported was a large Boer division at Naaupoort. We know that it wasn’t the entire Boer army, in fact General Christiaan de Wet had purposefully left what he thought was a relatively insignificant part of his army behind so that the British wouldn’t waste their time attacking what he called “such a paltry force” . He would also face off against his brother Piet and the confrontation did not end well...

22 Heinä 201819min

The conventional war has ended and the guerilla war has begun. The next few episodes will explore the actions of various leaders as they criss-crossed the South African countryside. But its not a romantic gallop, there are moments of unbelievable pain and suffering on all sides. The British soldiers were also to find their battles contradictory - not least being the political to-ing and fro-ing in their homeland while they marched back and forth on the harsh African veld. There were Australians, Irish, New Zealanders, Canadians too. For the Australians, the veld was a reminder of home in many ways, full of snakes that could kill and heat that sapped and drained. The Canadians were mainly frontiersmen who signed up partly for king and commonwealth, and partly for adventure. They were used to snow and cold, but here in South Africa, the sharp contrast between day and night in winter can cause rocks .. and men .. to crack. It was now midwinter. We’ll begin this week riding once more with Christiaan de Wet and the Free State commando which had been holed up in the mountains around the Caledon Valley. As we heard last week, Lieutenant General Hunter had arrived in Bethlehem which lies close to the Brandwater range - the Witterberge and the Rooiberge, on the Western arch of the Basutho or modern day Lesotho border. Further east the barrier of spears or the Drakensberg mountain range - the Dragon Mountains - rise steeply and are covered in snow most of winter. It’s a dangerous place to be caught outside without food, shelter and fire with the igneous rocks worn sharp and high by weather that is as extreme as anywhere. On the same day that Christiaan de Wet had given Hunter the slip from the Witterberge, Louis Botha had setup an attack on the Canadians who had just received their fresh Argentinian ponies east of Pretoria. The Canadian Mounted Rifles rejoined their brigade at Rietvlei Pass, northeast of the Transvaal Capital Pretoria, on the 15th July, and by sunrise the next day, they were in a skirmish. It was during this confrontation that another of the macabre co-incidences of this war took place. One of the Canadian officers who was well liked had just arrived back at the front after recovering from injuries. Lieutenant HL Borden was a tough Canadian soldier - the kind of soldier that the British were to rely on in the next war - the Great war of 1914-1918. He and another Lieutenant by the name of Birch wanted to get a better view of where the Boers were on the Tigerpoort ridge - so both stood up to see where the Mauser fire was coming from. Borden was the only son of Canada’s Minister of militia - or the army in common language. What happened next would resonate around the North American territory.

15 Heinä 201820min

It’s early July 1900 and we’re into the phase of this conflict that is characterised by small Boer forces roaming the veld, hiding out and then striking weak points in the British line. And in a country the size of South Africa, many weak points are to be found. The Transvaal government had relocated to the eastern town of Machadadorp which overlooks the escarpment down to the coast, what is known as the lowveld of the country. It’s beautiful - but also trecherous. The canyons and gorges are heavily wooded and steep, an entire army could hide out in these thick overgrown and deep valleys, and they did. Long rows of railway carriages constituted the new headquarters of the Transvaal government and its entourage of civil servants who had come from Pretoria. Boer commando Deneys Reitz and his brothers had made their way to Machadadorp after the Battle of Diamond Hill or Donkerhoek as its also known. They had ridden east for three days before finally finding a berth on a cargo train in Middelburg, but had to leave their horses behind. They reached Machadadorp early in the morning and found their father in one of the carriages. He was the Transvaal Secretary, EW Reitz, who worked alongside Oom Paul Kruger the president. One of Deney’s brothers, Arend, was in a Russian Field Hospital in Waterval Onder, which means Under Waterfall to translate correctly, in the lower slopes of the escarpment. Reitz senior welcomed his sons, then told them to seek comfort from the fact that the war was not over - he said look at George Washington -“ He too had fought for a seemingly lost cause but triumphed in the end”. The healthy Reitz brothers returned to the high plains heading west back to Middelberg where they collected their horses and joined a contingent of German volunteers, about 60 strong, led by an Austrian called Baron von Goldeck. This small unit was on reconnaisance for General Louis Botha who as we heard last week, who had gathered a force of 5000 together to continue the war against the British in the East of the country. The important fact to note here was that these 5000 were what Botha called Good Fighting Men, unlike a large number of burghers who had been half-heartedly defending their country against the British at times. But these Good Fighting men were not alone. In the West, the Orange Free State, like-minded boer Generals were at work. One was Christian de Wet, who’d been busy as we’ve heard. On the 8th July 1900, British Commander Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunters’ two thousand strong column plodded into Bethlehem in the East of the Orange River Colony as it was now called, close to the Basutoland Frontier - or modern day Lesotho. Hunter was moving with a few hundred Rimington’s Tigers, the English speaking colonial fighters, and the Black Watch, the Seaforth unit, and the Highland Light Infantry. They were veterans now, as were the Highland Yeomanry and the Lovat Scouts. And as they approached the town named after the birthplace of Jesus, their prayers were answered. It had taken weeks of marching through undulating veld, and the descriptions are very much like the Germans and French description of marching towards Moscow through the steppes. Week after week of unrelenting flatland which eventually played on the soldiers’ minds.

8 Heinä 201822min

We’re up to episode 41 of the series and Lord Roberts and the British army have taken control of most of South Africa. In this episode we’ll hear about the last pitched conventional battle of the Anglo-Boer war, Diamond Hill. It’s also unique for the fact that an earthquake struck the region east of Pretoria in the Transvaal Republic as the battle raged. The Free State Republic has fallen, so too the Transvaal Republic. But have they really? Their capitals have been seized by the British, but there are still thousands of Boer commandos willing to fight on. We heard last week how General Christian de Wet was making life difficult for Lord Methuen and others in the Free State, now our attention shifts back to the Transvaal and the area around the Capital Pretoria in particular. Boer President Oom Paul Kruger has fled to Machadadorp in the east along with his government, while back in Pretoria Burghers are trying to make up their minds about their next steps. The fighting is about to switch to unconventional warfare, guerilla warfare, and the Boers are gathering under the leadership of General Louis Botha. First he decided to face off against the British at a sweeping group of hills that formed a natural semi-circle called Donkerhoek which means Dark Corner. The English referred to this coming battle as Diamond Hill. This would conform to the recent style of fighting and was not strictly guerilla in tactics. With Lord Kitchener in the south trying to tie down General de Wet, the coming fight was left to Lord Roberts and General Hamilton.

1 Heinä 201816min

It’s the morning of 10th June 1900, and we’re riding with General Christian de Wet who is about to make Lord Kitchener’s acquaintance far from the capital Pretoria, where Lord Roberts has bivouacked with his 16 000 troops, expecting the Boers to quit fighting. But they don’t. In the Free State, General de Wet has been creating his own brand of guerilla warfare which the British realise suddenly is likely to extend the conflict at least for a few weeks. Once again they’re wrong - the war is about to extend for two more years and worse for the British, the new brand of highly mobile hit and run warfare has never been seen. Their response eventually is to design one of the most terrifying tools created by man - the concentration camp. Furthermore, the reason why this historic moment is so discernable from previous tactics of the same is the complexity of the Boer military structure and their complete dominance of the veld, the plains of South Africa. They’re the Sioux or Apache warriors of South Africa but with the latest weapons, heavily armed and mightily motivated, supplied surrepticiously and constantly moving. And de Wet is the master of his landscape, but he’s about to meet a man who eventually became one of the most hated in Southern Africa by Boer and even black South Africans - the man who was to perfect the idea of the concentration camp - Lord Kitchener. So its the morning of June 10th, and its winter in South Africa. Kitchener has around 15 000 men under his command, de Wet a few hundred. And the Boer commander is using the British weak link as his attack point - the railway line between the inland cities and the ports of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and East London. De Wet is in a quandry. If he continues to attack the railway line, eventually Kitchener will catch him or surround his little force, particularly on the open plains around Heilbron and Vredefortweg. There are no large ranges of mountains to use as strategic points, they lie further south east along the Drakensburg and the Lesotho border. So he must rely on his wits and false trails. He says in his book Three Year’s War: “I gave orders that the few wagons which we had with us should proceed in the direction of Kroonstad.. to the west of the line, once out of sight they were to turn sharply to the West and continue in that direction. This manoeuvre I hoped would serve to mislead the enemy, who was on the lookout for us…”

24 Kesä 201821min