Episode 96 - Blundering into a British blockhouse, the Dirty Dozen break up
The Anglo-Boer War21 Jul 2019

Episode 96 - Blundering into a British blockhouse, the Dirty Dozen break up

It’s the third week of July 1901 and this winter has been cold even by the standards of South Africa’s high plains. As I’m writing this, snow has blanketed parts of the semi-desert known as the Karoo and it was no different then. And Deneys Reitz is close to this region. He had found a bolt hole near the Lesotho border where he’d been hiding out with a handful of fellow travellers and his German colleagues. They’d been able to bathe for the first time in months having found a copper cistern. Reitz recovered during his short stint of R&R and was itching to rejoin the war. By the end of June the small band led by Field Cornet Botha started back down the mountains heading towards the Orange River which is the border between the Free State and the Cape Colony. AS they descended they saw a rider approaching. It was a young man named Jacobus Bosman. He would have been shot as a traitor. But Mr Bosman said it was worth the risk, so Reitz and his German troop enlisted him. Unfortunately for Bosman, he should have listened to the advice for as we’ll see, his is not a happy ending. After three days of progress the Quixotic group, or the dirty dozen as Dutch historian Martin Bossenbroek calls them, are back on the flat open plains within sight of the Johannesburg-Bloemfontein railway line. By now Lord Kitchener’s blockhouse system is causing the Boer guerrilla army some problems because these are close together and crossing the railway line has become very difficult during the day.

Episoder(143)

Episode 135 - General de la Rey’s Mom turns 84 & the commandos run out of pap and vleis

Episode 135 - General de la Rey’s Mom turns 84 & the commandos run out of pap and vleis

While the Boer political and military leadership were huddled around a table in Lord Kitchener’s office, far off in the Northern Cape General Smuts and his commando had defeated the British at three s...

19 Apr 202018min

Episode 134 - Commandant Potgieter’s charge at the last battle of the Boer War, as Peace Talks begin

Episode 134 - Commandant Potgieter’s charge at the last battle of the Boer War, as Peace Talks begin

This is episode 134 and its April 1902. The Boer military and political leadership has been permitted by the British to travel to Pretoria by train and will meet with Lord Kitchener to talk peace. Al...

12 Apr 202019min

Episode 133 - Cecil John Rhodes dies and the Boers agree to Peace Talks

Episode 133 - Cecil John Rhodes dies and the Boers agree to Peace Talks

As we heard last week, the Netherlands government had decided by January 1902 that the South Africa war was no longer viable for the Boers. Even the latest successes in March where General De la Rey a...

5 Apr 202019min

Episode 132 -The Canadians last stand at Boschbult aka Harts River & the Hague suggests peace

Episode 132 -The Canadians last stand at Boschbult aka Harts River & the Hague suggests peace

There are a few more skirmishes and one more big battle after this period with its frustrations for the British and determination by the Boer die-hards or Bitter einders to continue their war against ...

29 Mar 202018min

Episode 131 -The Boers blow up a blockhouse & Lord Kitchener steams into Klerksdorp

Episode 131 -The Boers blow up a blockhouse & Lord Kitchener steams into Klerksdorp

General Jan Smuts and his commando have seized the small town of Springbok in the far northern Cape. As we heard last week, the town fell after a few hours of fighting and the surrender of the three ...

22 Mar 202019min

Episode 130 - Sniping and hand grenades in Springbok

Episode 130 - Sniping and hand grenades in Springbok

After the blood and guts we heard about last week, there is more of the same this time in the Northern Cape where General Smuts and his commando are sowing a certain degree of angst as he took control...

15 Mar 202023min

Episode 129 - Lord Methuen breaks a leg before Koos de la Rey executes soldiers

Episode 129 - Lord Methuen breaks a leg before Koos de la Rey executes soldiers

In this episode we will hear how General Koos de la Rey captures Lord Methuen in an act that will push Lord Kitchener over a psychological precipice. Remember when we ended last week I explained how ...

8 Mar 202025min

Episode 128 -The Leliefontein Massacre & de Wet runs into British trenches

Episode 128 -The Leliefontein Massacre & de Wet runs into British trenches

Episode 128 -The Leliefontein Massacre & de Wet runs into British trenches by Desmond Latham

1 Mar 202022min

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