Episode 114 - Sarah Raal "the lady who fought" is bloody but unbowed

Episode 114 - Sarah Raal "the lady who fought" is bloody but unbowed

This week’s episode is dominated by a young woman who we heard about last week called Sarah Raal. While some of her exploits have been exaggerated for Nationalist reasons years after the Boer War, there’s no doubt that she was extraordinary by any measure. Remember she is in her early twenties and escaped from Springfontein Concentration Camp outside Bloemfontein heading to join her four brothers who were fighting with Commandant Nieuwoudt who was part of General Herzog’s commando in the Free State. It’s around November 1901 when she joins the commando, and immediately is thrown into the thick of action. Nieuwoudt and his men and one women head off to a place called Boomplaas. “I was apprehensive about going there as it was the scene of my previous capture” she writes in her biography published in English in 2000. The commando ended up in the small settlement of Excelsior which was only to become a town in 1910, well after the war ended. This is where Sarah caught sight of the mountains to the East which loomed in purple and grey tones, and appeared malignant. “The imposing mountains frightened me, they looked so mysterious and full of unknown danger that I felt as if some misfortune may befall us at any moment…” she writes. That was around 50 miles due east of Bloemfontein and the Sarah’s life became increasingly more desperate in the coming weeks. She was to face numerous skirmishes fighting alongside her Boer brothers, and as you’ll hear, Sarah became a target for the British who realised there was a woman fighting against them.

Avsnitt(143)

Episode 111 - Lord Kitchener and the Brat hunt a starling while de Wet broods at Blijdskap

Episode 111 - Lord Kitchener and the Brat hunt a starling while de Wet broods at Blijdskap

The scenes have shifted recently between the war in South Africa and the effect of the war in England. The press has begun to turn against the government with vitriolic attacks on war hero Sir Redver...

3 Nov 201920min

Episode 110 - General Buller flayed by the press as Botha pulverises Benson at Bakenlaagte.

Episode 110 - General Buller flayed by the press as Botha pulverises Benson at Bakenlaagte.

It’s time for reflection - and to talk about General Louis Botha who’s invasion into Natal fizzled out leading to his commando being forced to flee Lord Kitchener’s columns back to the Eastern Transva...

27 Okt 201920min

Episode 109 - Borrius loses an eye and Smuts is forced to split his force

Episode 109 - Borrius loses an eye and Smuts is forced to split his force

This week we pick up where we left General Jan Smuts and his commando as they writhed about in pain having eaten from a plant that they failed to prepare properly and had poisoned about half the 250 m...

20 Okt 201919min

Episode 108 - The Commando laid low by "Hottentots Bread" within striking distance of Port Elizabeth

Episode 108 - The Commando laid low by "Hottentots Bread" within striking distance of Port Elizabeth

This is an important week - it is the 120 anniversary of the start of the Boer War - which formally began on 12th October 1899. This week saw the Anglo-Boer War Museum in Bloemfontein host a conferenc...

13 Okt 201918min

Episode 107 - Churchill doubts Kitchener & Colonel Scobell butchers Lotter in a sheep shed

Episode 107 - Churchill doubts Kitchener & Colonel Scobell butchers Lotter in a sheep shed

It's early Spring 1901 and in England there are now serious doubts about how the British Army is going about its campaign in South Africa. Winston Churchill had been elected as an MP for Oldham partly...

6 Okt 201920min

Episode 106 - The 17th Lancers survived the Charge of the Light Brigade but not the Rijk Section

Episode 106 - The 17th Lancers survived the Charge of the Light Brigade but not the Rijk Section

This is September 1901 and it's been a wet Spring so far. The weather has caused trouble for both Jan Smuts and Louis Botha - but things are about to improve for Smuts after his daring raid into the C...

29 Sep 201919min

Episode 105 - General Louis Botha stumbles & sleet causes chaos for Jan Smuts

Episode 105 - General Louis Botha stumbles & sleet causes chaos for Jan Smuts

An incredible turn of events was taking place after a few icy months of winter - the Boers were waking up like hibernating bears and there would be a sudden escalation in incidents across south Africa...

22 Sep 201919min

Episode 104 - A hunchback leads Smuts to safety & Captain Gough's fatal cavalry charge

Episode 104 - A hunchback leads Smuts to safety & Captain Gough's fatal cavalry charge

It’s mid September 1901 and Jan Smuts is about to face one of the most challenging moments in his illustrious career. He was only 28 at this point, yet was to achieve so much in the next few weeks a...

15 Sep 201920min

Populärt inom Utbildning

rss-bara-en-till-om-missbruk-medberoende-2
historiepodden-se
det-skaver
nu-blir-det-historia
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
rss-viktmedicinpodden
johannes-hansen-podcast
not-fanny-anymore
alska-oss
allt-du-velat-veta
roda-vita-rosen
rss-sjalsligt-avkladd
sektledare
sa-in-i-sjalen
i-vantan-pa-katastrofen
rss-beratta-alltid-det-har
rss-max-tant-med-max-villman
rss-basta-livet
dumforklarat
psykologsnack