Episode 60 - The heroic Canadians of Lieliefontein and Boer hero General Fourie falls

Episode 60 - The heroic Canadians of Lieliefontein and Boer hero General Fourie falls

We’re still riding with the Canadians in the area around Belfast in the Eastern Transvaal, which is a short distance away from South Africa’s all important coal mines. Last week we heard how the icy rain had lashed Smith-Dorrien’s 1200 strong column as it tried to rid the region of a large Boer commando based at the nearby town of Carolina. That was a column of various English, Scots and Canadian units. He’d been forced to retreat after the effects of weather and Boer firepower at Witkloof and buried one of his top officers called Chalmers, but that didn’t deter Smith-Dorrien. A few days after his men arrived back in Belfast, bedraggled and ragged, he was planning a new offensive against the Boers. The first tragic expedition was merely a dress rehearsal for the battle of Liliefontein. The purpose of the second expedition was identical to the first. To destroy all the farms suspected of harbouring the Boer commandos who had been blowing up railway lines and committing other acts of sabotage. The British also wanted to lure the large Boer Carolina commando out of their lair along the Komati River and into battle. On the 6th November Smith-Dorrien once again set out under cover of darkness as he did last week but unlike the first expedition, there was no icy rain, no fog, no mist. It was in perfect weather that his column set off with temperatures even in the early evening in the mid-20s centigrade. There was one important difference this week. Smith-Dorrien had learned his lesson when it came to splitting up his force and the 1200 men moved as one unit.

Avsnitt(143)

Episode 87 - The sad story of Gert Bezuidenhout (12)& Deneys Reitz starts his Quixotic Cape Quest

Episode 87 - The sad story of Gert Bezuidenhout (12)& Deneys Reitz starts his Quixotic Cape Quest

This week we spend some time with Johanna van Warmelo and Deneys Reitz, the former who starts a new position as a nurse in a Concentration Camp at Irene outside Pretoria, and the the latter who has ju...

19 Maj 201916min

Episode 86 - General Louis Botha grows despondent while Reitz plays cat and mouse with the English

Episode 86 - General Louis Botha grows despondent while Reitz plays cat and mouse with the English

We’ve reached May 1901 and surprisingly, General Louis Botha is trying to reach out to Lord Kitchener who is the British Army commander of the over 240 000 troops in South Africa. Botha wants specia...

12 Maj 201918min

Episode 85 - Emily Hobhouse mobilises against the "gigantic blunder" of the Concentration Camps

Episode 85 - Emily Hobhouse mobilises against the "gigantic blunder" of the Concentration Camps

It’s the first week of May 1901, and winter has come early in South Africa. As I mentioned last week, at this point social activist Emily Hobhouse was on board a ship heading for England after exper...

5 Maj 201919min

Episode 84 - Captain Phillipps frets about Tommy Atkins & New Zealanders learn a Maori War Cry

Episode 84 - Captain Phillipps frets about Tommy Atkins & New Zealanders learn a Maori War Cry

This week, we’ll track a Londoner who rode with Rimington’s Tigers then there’ll be a quick story about a Maori who arrived in South Africa during the war to fight, but also carried a Violin. At the ...

28 Apr 201920min

Episode 83 - Boer Secret Service Spy Johanna van Warmelo and the Petticoat Commando

Episode 83 - Boer Secret Service Spy Johanna van Warmelo and the Petticoat Commando

In this episode Easter Sunday had come and gone on the 7th April and for most combatants stretched across the vastness of the South African veld, it was characterised by fear and loathing. The concent...

21 Apr 201920min

Episode 82 - Aborigine trackers, the Great Comet Viscara and the case of Gideon Scheepers

Episode 82 - Aborigine trackers, the Great Comet Viscara and the case of Gideon Scheepers

Deneys Reitz had broken his own leg in a freak accident and was still hobbling about, his compound fracture causing some pain. General de la Rey ordered him to a small medical camp behind the lines ne...

14 Apr 201917min

Episode 81 - Black participation in the Boer War and Reitz breaks a leg

Episode 81 - Black participation in the Boer War and Reitz breaks a leg

Deneys Reitz will experience a terrible wound to his leg and we will probe an issue that caused much gnashing of teeth - the role of Black South Africans in the war. A quick note for my American list...

7 Apr 201920min

Episode 80- A Boer Rodeo near Swart Ruggens & General Bindon Blood makes his dashing appearance

Episode 80- A Boer Rodeo near Swart Ruggens & General Bindon Blood makes his dashing appearance

When we ended last week, Deneys Reitz had rejoined General de la Rey along with his Dopper companions, and had been regaled by the prophet, van Rensburg in late March 1901. The General was aware tha...

31 Mars 201917min

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