JCH 2011 Volume 36 Issue 2

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/2537

Browse

Browsing JCH 2011 Volume 36 Issue 2 by Author "Pretorius, Fransjohan"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Deneys Reitz se deelname aan die Anglo-Boereoorlog
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2011) Calitz, Gerhard; Pretorius, Fransjohan
    One of the most remarkable books on the Anglo-Boer War is Deneys Reitz’s Commando: A Boer journal of the Boer War (London, 1929). It is based on his memoirs written in 1903 in Dutch. This paper takes these two sources into consideration and tells the story of how Deneys Reitz joined the Pretoria Commando at the age of 17 and how he participated in all the phases of the war. It is not the story of an officer or a professional soldier, and it focuses on Reitz’s view of the war. It says very little of military strategy and tactics. The war is seen from his unique perspective. It provides reasons for the war, the way the Boers fought, their weaknesses, the horrors of battles, the Boers’ lack of discipline and the quality of some of their commanders. Reitz provides a description of the war that starts with the mobilisation of the Boer forces in September 1899, and continues with the siege of Ladysmith and all the battles that he participated in. It provides perspectives on what it was to be a guerrilla fighter, and on the shortage of ammunition, food, clothes, horses, etc. – in short, life on commando. The book is written in simple language, but it is extremely realistic and has become a classic in the literature of the Anglo-Boer War. The purpose of this article is therefore to provide a short overview of Reitz’s involvement in the Anglo-Boer War.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Deneys Reitz se deelname aan die Anglo-Boereoorlog
    (Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2011-09) Calitz, Gerhard; Pretorius, Fransjohan
    One of the most remarkable books on the Anglo-Boer War is Deneys Reitz’s Commando: A Boer journal of the Boer War (London, 1929). It is based on his memoirs written in 1903 in Dutch. This paper takes these two sources into consideration and tells the story of how Deneys Reitz joined the Pretoria Commando at the age of 17 and how he participated in all the phases of the war. It is not the story of an officer or a professional soldier, and it focuses on Reitz’s view of the war. It says very little of military strategy and tactics. The war is seen from his unique perspective. It provides reasons for the war, the way the Boers fought, their weaknesses, the horrors of battles, the Boers’ lack of discipline and the quality of some of their commanders. Reitz provides a description of the war that starts with the mobilisation of the Boer forces in September 1899, and continues with the siege of Ladysmith and all the battles that he participated in. It provides perspectives on what it was to be a guerrilla fighter, and on the shortage of ammunition, food, clothes, horses, etc. – in short, life on commando. The book is written in simple language, but it is extremely realistic and has become a classic in the literature of the Anglo-Boer War. The purpose of this article is therefore to provide a short overview of Reitz’s involvement in the Anglo-Boer War.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Konsentrasiekampe vir swart vlugtelinge in die Heidelbergdistrik gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog
    (Faculty of the Humanities, University of the Free State, 2011) Pretorius, Willem; Pretorius, Fransjohan
    In the 1970s the phenomenon of black concentration camps in the Anglo-Boer War began receiving attention by historians. Despite the limited information available about the four black concentration camps in the Heidelberg district it is possible to form a picture of the experiences of the camp inhabitants, albeit with the assistance from official British documents – sources “from above”. Initially, the British authorities paid little attention to the black concentration camps. After the Native Refugee Department had taken over the control of the black concentration camps in June 1901, conditions improved. The establishment of black concentration camps was based on two principles, namely to ensure that sufficient labour was made available to the British army and to prevent black people from giving logistic or intelligence support to the Boer commandos. In the process the camps had to be self-sufficient. Large numbers of black men found employment in the army. On some of the deserted Boer farms blacks were agriculturally active, producing sufficient staple food for their own use. The poor health services in the black concentration camp at Heidelberg, where a high death rate occurred, improved to such an extent after June 1901 that there was a decrease in the number of deaths, making the death rate lower than that of the white concentration camp in the town.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Konsentrasiekampe vir swart vlugtelinge in die Heidelbergdistrik gedurende die Anglo-Boereoorlog
    (Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, 2011) Pretorius, Willem; Pretorius, Fransjohan
    In the 1970s the phenomenon of black concentration camps in the Anglo-Boer War began receiving attention by historians. Despite the limited information available about the four black concentration camps in the Heidelberg district it is possible to form a picture of the experiences of the camp inhabitants, albeit with the assistance from official British documents – sources “from above”. Initially, the British authorities paid little attention to the black concentration camps. After the Native Refugee Department had taken over the control of the black concentration camps in June 1901, conditions improved. The establishment of black concentration camps was based on two principles, namely to ensure that sufficient labour was made available to the British army and to prevent black people from giving logistic or intelligence support to the Boer commandos. In the process the camps had to be self-sufficient. Large numbers of black men found employment in the army. On some of the deserted Boer farms blacks were agriculturally active, producing sufficient staple food for their own use. The poor health services in the black concentration camp at Heidelberg, where a high death rate occurred, improved to such an extent after June 1901 that there was a decrease in the number of deaths, making the death rate lower than that of the white concentration camp in the town.