Episode 78 - American blockhouses from Cuba and the enigma that was the pro-Boer John Tengo Jabavu

Episode 78 - American blockhouses from Cuba and the enigma that was the pro-Boer John Tengo Jabavu

The ides of March were upon the British in South Africa as they continued chasing the ghost generals, Smuts, de la Rey, Beyers, de Wet across a cooling landscape that had begun its Southern Hemisphere Autumn in 1901. This week we’ll probe an American invention in Cuba called the Blockhouse chain as well as details of how journalist John Tengo Jabavu was publishing pro-Boer commentary against the wishes of both the British and most black intellectuals. We’ll return to his experiences later. The tactic of building a chain of forts is ancient, but the most recent examples before the Boer War came from the American War in Cuba. But this campaign had demonstrated that forts by themselves could not prevent guerrilla action and Lord Kitchener who was beginning to build them in South Africa knew that full well. Kitchener’s strategy therefore was to integrate the function of the fixed defensive units in fortified blockhouses with mobile attacking units on the drives. These began in January 1901, I’ve spoken about them in previous podcasts as the British tried herding or hustling the Boers into smaller areas of veld so that they could be overcome. Kitchener believed if the country could be divided into small areas by fortified lines, the Boers in each might be prevented from crossing to the next. His chessboard of maps across his HQ walls featured these regions with the addition of mobile columns that would be moved quickly by train from chess block to chess block while the blockhouses and barbed wire began to string out across the wide-open plains.

Episoder(143)

Episode 55 - The Concentration Camps installed and Winston Churchill wins in Oldham

Episode 55 - The Concentration Camps installed and Winston Churchill wins in Oldham

It’s October 1900, and Spring is a month old in Southern Africa. Some of the mountains in Basutholand (Lesotho) still have their snowy caps, but the temperatures are already climbing to 30 degrees in ...

7 Okt 201818min

Episode 54- The flimsy Oath of Neutrality collapses at the start of a Southern Spring

Episode 54- The flimsy Oath of Neutrality collapses at the start of a Southern Spring

It’s the end of September 1900, an already the Spring rains have come to parts of Southern Africa. It’s a time when the dull dusty winter air is cleared by these first thunderstorms which flush the at...

30 Sep 201820min

Episode 53 - An IED on a Transvaal railway line & London Times Shipping Records.

Episode 53 - An IED on a Transvaal railway line & London Times Shipping Records.

We are up to episode 53 and this week we’ll take a closer look at the use of Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs in the war. While not a new invention, a Scotsman fighting for the Boers used a new re...

23 Sep 201816min

Episode 52 - Politics in a time of war and Freda’s brother survives a storm of bullets

Episode 52 - Politics in a time of war and Freda’s brother survives a storm of bullets

This episode features what’s known as the Khaki election of 1900 in England, German mercenaries, Portuguese East Africa, and another update from the teenage schoolgirl called Freda who’s unique view ...

16 Sep 201818min

Episode 51 - The Australian view of an African war and President Kruger prepares to leave

Episode 51 - The Australian view of an African war and President Kruger prepares to leave

This episode will focus on Australia - their troops had already had a major impact on the war particularly as they joined the Canadians in the relief of Mafikeng. When the Anglo-Boer war broke out in...

9 Sep 201820min

Episode 50 - The Canadians repulse an attack while Uitlanders commit a war crime

Episode 50 - The Canadians repulse an attack while Uitlanders commit a war crime

The beginning of September 1900 is characterised by small skirmishes that continue to plague Lord Robert’s army in South Africa. It’s also the start of Spring - which came as a relief for the men who’...

2 Sep 201822min

Episode 49 - Total War destroys the ZARPS at Bergendal

Episode 49 - Total War destroys the ZARPS at Bergendal

We’re in the Eastern Transvaal where Lord Roberts large army mobilised once more in late August 1900 in order to march on Boer General Louis Botha. Robert’s had been joined by General Redvers Buller ...

26 Aug 201817min

Episode 48 - Boer emissaries find it cold in Russia while de Wet scrambles up the Magaliesberg

Episode 48 - Boer emissaries find it cold in Russia while de Wet scrambles up the Magaliesberg

This episode is dominated by a failed attempt by the Boers at international diplomacy, the continued zig zagging of General Christiaan de Wet, and Lord Roberts setting out his stall to attack Louis Bo...

19 Aug 201819min

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