Episode 78 - American blockhouses from Cuba and the enigma that was the pro-Boer John Tengo Jabavu
The Anglo-Boer War17 Mars 2019

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.

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Episode 23 - Kitchener, Cronje and the Battle of Paardeberg

Episode 23 - Kitchener, Cronje and the Battle of Paardeberg

The siege of Kimberley has been lifted and the enigmatic and colorful General French and his 5000 strong cavalry are in charge of the city. The Boers have withdrawn just in time to avoid being caught ...

25 Feb 201820min

Episode 22 - The relief of Kimberley

Episode 22 - The relief of Kimberley

We’re up to Episode 22 in this series, and this week the story shifts to Kimberley itself. Earlier - around podcasts 2 and 3, I described how this town was really in the hands of the de Beers Mining c...

18 Feb 201822min

Episode 21 - Lord Roberts’ Steamroller

Episode 21 - Lord Roberts’ Steamroller

After the last few weeks of skop skiet and donder - which means kick, shoot and beating (In Afrikaans) - we’re shifting our gaze back to the Western Reaches of South Africa, back towards the Cape and...

11 Feb 201824min

Episode 20 - The Acre of Death part 3

Episode 20 - The Acre of Death part 3

It’s 24th January 1900 and the battle of Spion Kop has been under way for ten hours. More than 1000 British soldiers are casualties and the entire senior officer corps on the summit of the mountain ar...

4 Feb 201823min

Episode 19 - The Acre of death, Spion Kop part 2

Episode 19 - The Acre of death, Spion Kop part 2

This week we continue with the battle of Spion Kop and as you’ll hear, its a battle that horrified those who took part with its hand-to-hand fighting, terrible artillery barrages and massacre of Briti...

28 Jan 201825min

Episode 18 - The Acre of death – the Battle of Spion Kop part 1

Episode 18 - The Acre of death – the Battle of Spion Kop part 1

It's January 1900 and we're at the eponymous battle of Spion Kop. In part one of the two part coverage of the battle, we will take a look at preparations for the battle and discuss the tactics. Righ...

21 Jan 201820min

Episode 17- The centipede approaches Spion Kop

Episode 17- The centipede approaches Spion Kop

We have arrived at the most momentous battle of the Boer War, the Battle of Spion Kop. Its notoriety continues to this day with war buffs traveling to the steep sided hill half an hours drive South We...

14 Jan 201814min

Episode 16 - Winston Churchill escapes but Spion Kop looms

Episode 16 - Winston Churchill escapes but Spion Kop looms

Winston Churchill who had been captured near Chieverley on the railway line between Escourt and Ladysmith in October and was lucky not to have been shot on the spot. While ostensibly working as a war...

7 Jan 201817min

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