From Boer War To World War

Author : Spencer Jones
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780806189611

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From Boer War to World War by Spencer Jones Pdf

The British Expeditionary Force at the start of World War I was tiny by the standards of the other belligerent powers. Yet, when deployed to France in 1914, it prevailed against the German army because of its professionalism and tactical skill, strengths developed through hard lessons learned a dozen years earlier. In October 1899, the British went to war against the South African Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, expecting little resistance. A string of early defeats in the Boer War shook the military’s confidence. Historian Spencer Jones focuses on this bitter combat experience in From Boer War to World War, showing how it crucially shaped the British Army’s tactical development in the years that followed. Before the British Army faced the Boer republics, an aura of complacency had settled over the military. The Victorian era had been marked by years of easy defeats of crudely armed foes. The Boer War, however, brought the British face to face with what would become modern warfare. The sweeping, open terrain and advent of smokeless powder meant soldiers were picked off before they knew where shots had been fired from. The infantry’s standard close-order formations spelled disaster against the well-armed, entrenched Boers. Although the British Army ultimately adapted its strategy and overcame the Boers in 1902, the duration and cost of the war led to public outcry and introspection within the military. Jones draws on previously underutilized sources as he explores the key tactical lessons derived from the war, such as maximizing firepower and using natural cover, and he shows how these new ideas were incorporated in training and used to effect a thorough overhaul of the British Army. The first book to address specific connections between the Boer War and the opening months of World War I, Jones’s fresh interpretation adds to the historiography of both wars by emphasizing the continuity between them.

Author : Colin D. Heaton,Anne-Marie Lewis
Publisher : Casemate
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2014-01-19
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781612001760

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Four-War Boer by Colin D. Heaton,Anne-Marie Lewis Pdf

This “fascinating” biography of a South African-born warrior provides a window into a full century of military conflicts(Adam Makos, New York Times–bestselling author of A Higher Call). Four-War Boer traces Pieter Krueler’s highly colorful life from the Second Boer War, where he first served as a fourteen-year-old scout, to his service in World War I with the German army in East Africa to the Spanish Civil War to World War II, this time with the Allies, and on into the latter part of the twentieth century, when he served as a mercenary during the 1960s Congo Crisis. Later, in his eighties, he became a civilian trainer for the original Selous Scouts of Rhodesia and, later still, a trainer for South African commandos. The book follows Krueler through a remarkable career that included, among other adventures, leading native African soldiers on extremely dangerous missions in the Belgian Congo; volunteering as a mercenary during the Spanish Civil War, during which he worked with the Pyrenees Basque movement; serving as a coast watcher to keep South Africa safe from German incursion; and fighting alongside Michael Hoare during the 1960s Congo Crisis. A chapter is devoted to the formation of Rhodesia’s highly elite Selous Scouts, along with highlights of several previously classified missions. This material includes a wealth of new information, and breaks the secrecy surrounding Rhodesian and South African special operations, as unveiled through the experience of a man who was a founding father of counterinsurgency in Africa. Based on six years of historical research through hard-to-find secondary and published primary sources, as well as extensive interviews with Krueler himself, and interviews with German officers and others who knew and worked with him, this biography is filled with extensive first-person testimony that gives it the immediacy of a memoir.

Author : Michael Somerville
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2019-12-19
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1912866250

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Bull Run to Boer War by Michael Somerville Pdf

The American Civil War is often said to have predicted the way in which later wars such as the Boer War and the First World War would be fought. As a result the British Army has been criticised for not heeding its lessons, a view that can be traced back to the 1930s.This book challenges that long-held view, and demonstrates that the responses to the lessons of the war in the British Army were more complex, better informed, and of higher quality, than normally depicted.Key to this new interpretation is that it takes a nineteenth century perspective rather than pre-supposing what the British should have seen based upon hindsight from the South African veldt or the Western Front trenches. It demonstrates that strategists and policy-makers reacted to the changes in the nature of warfare suggested by American experience, looks at how officers in the cavalry, infantry, artillery and engineers applied their observations in America to the technical and tactical issues of the day, and even examines the war's influence on the development of aeronautics.In studying how the Civil War changed the Late Victorian British Army, the book provides insight into its learning process, and concludes that although sometimes flawed, its study of the American Civil War meant that it was better prepared for the wars of the twentieth century than previously acknowledged.

Author : Eversley Belfield
Publisher : Leo Cooper Books
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : History
ISBN : IND:30000045132663

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The Boer War by Eversley Belfield Pdf

Reissued at a time when South Africa faces another turning point in its history, this account of the Boer War, first published in 1975, sets out and explains the complex workings and issues of a war that was for Britain in many ways the prelude to World War I.

Author : Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 143 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2014-06-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781472810175

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The Boer War 1899–1902 by Gregory Fremont-Barnes Pdf

Victorious in its previous campaigns in Africa against native armies, Britain now confronted an altogether different foe. The Boers proved to be formidable opponents, masterfully compensating for inferior numbers with grim determination, resourcefulness and strong religious faith. Their mobility, expert use of cover, and knowledge of the terrain, in which they employed powerful long-range magazine rifles, gave them initial advantages. By contrast the British suffered from inadequate transport, insufficient mounted troops and poor intelligence. Despite marshalling the immense resources of their empire, the British were to be severely tested in a war which one general described as 'the graveyard of many a soldier's reputation'.

Author : Thomas Pakenham
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : South African War, 1899-1902
ISBN : 1868420744

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Boer War Illustrated by Thomas Pakenham Pdf

Author : Fransjohan Pretorius
Publisher : A to Z Guide Series
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : South African War, 1899-1902
ISBN : 0810876299

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The A to Z of the Anglo-Boer War by Fransjohan Pretorius Pdf

The devastating war that raged upon the South African veldt between 1899 and 1902-the first of the 20th century wars-was small in comparison with the World Wars. Yet it remains a war with many revealing facets with regard to military, political, and social issues. The conflict between the British Empire and the Boer settlers was in many ways a precursor to what was to come. It saw vast changes in the organization, tactics, and weapons used by the British army; it had far-reaching effects on the white political structure in the country; and it stimulated Afrikaner nationalism, which may partly explain the introduction of apartheid. The A to Z of the Anglo-Boer War presents the history of this war, which is also known as "the South African War," "the Boer War," and "the Transvaal War." This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries covering a wide range of military, social, cultural, and political topics. Whether reading about black involvement in the war or repatriation and compensation after the war, this reference presents the latest in research on this important conflict.

Author : Byron Farwell
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 920 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2009-09-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9781783830619

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The Great Boer War by Byron Farwell Pdf

The story of the battle for independence from the British Empire in South Africa by “a vivid chronicler of military forces, generals, and wars” (Kirkus Reviews). The Great Boer War (1899-1902), more properly known as the Great Anglo-Boer War, was one of the last romantic wars, pitting a sturdy, stubborn pioneer people fighting to establish the independence of their tiny nation against the British Empire at its peak of power and self-confidence. It was fought in the barren vastness of the South African veldt, and it produced in almost equal measure extraordinary feats of personal heroism, unbelievable examples of folly and stupidity, and many incidents of humor and tragedy. Byron Farwell traces the war’s origins; the slow mounting of the British efforts to overthrow the Afrikaners; the bungling and bickering of the British command; the remarkable series of bloody battles that almost consistently ended in victory for the Boers over the much more numerous British forces; political developments in London and Pretoria; the sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley; the concentration camps into which Boer families were herded; and the exhausting guerrilla warfare of the last few years when the Boer armies were finally driven from the field. The Great Boer War is a definitive history of a dramatic conflict by the author of Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, “a leading popular military historian” (Publishers Weekly).

Author : Martin Bossenbroek
Publisher : Seven Stories Press
Page : 464 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2018-01-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781609807481

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The Boer War by Martin Bossenbroek Pdf

The Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) is one of the most intriguing conflicts of modern history. It has been labeled many things: the first media war, a precursor of the First and Second World Wars, the originator of apartheid. The difference in status and resources between the superpower Great Britain and two insignificant Boer republics in southern Africa was enormous. But, against all expectation, it took the British every effort and a huge sum of money to win the war, not least by unleashing a campaign of systematic terror against the civilian population. In The Boer War, winner of the Netherland's 2013 Libris History Prize and shortlisted for the 2013 AKO Literature Prize, the author brings a completely new perspective to this chapter of South African history, critically examining the involvement of the Netherlands in the war. Furthermore, unlike other accounts, Martin Bossenbroek explores the war primarily through the experiences of three men uniquely active during the bloody conflict. They are Willem Leyds, the Dutch lawyer who was to become South African Republic state secretary and eventual European envoy; Winston Churchill, then a British war reporter; and Deneys Reitz, a young Boer commando. The vivid and engaging experiences of these three men enable a more personal and nuanced story of the war to be told, and at the same time offer a fresh approach to a conflict that shaped the nation state of South Africa.

Author : Sir Winston S. Churchill
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2013-10-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781472520838

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The Boer War by Sir Winston S. Churchill Pdf

On October 11th,1899 long-simmering tensions between Britain and the Boer Republics - the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic - finally erupted into the conflict that would become known as the Second Boer War. Two days after the first shots were fired, a young writer by the name of Winston Churchill set out for South Africa to cover the conflict for the Morning Post. The Boer War brings together the two collections of despatches that Churchill published on the conflict. London to Ladysmith recounts the future Prime Minister's arrival in South Africa and his subsequent capture by and dramatic escape from the Boers, the adventure that first brought the name of Winston Churchill to public attention. Ian Hamilton's March collects Churchill's later despatches as he marched alongside a column of the main British army from Bloemfontein to Pretoria. Published together, these books are a vivid eye-witness account of a landmark period in British Imperial History and an insightful chronicle of a formative experience by Britain's greatest war-time leader.

Author : Andrea Hetherington
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2018-04-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473886780

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British Widows of the First World War by Andrea Hetherington Pdf

Widows of the Great War is the first major account of the experience of women who had to cope with the death of their husbands during the conflict and then rebuild their lives. It explores each stage of their bereavement, from the shock of receiving the news that their husband had been killed, through grief and mourning to the practical issues of compensation and a widow's pension. The way in which the state and society treated the widows during this process is a vital theme running through the book as it reveals in vivid detail how the bureaucracy of war helped and hindered them as they sought to come to terms with their loss. Andrea Hetherington also describes often overlooked aspects of bereavement, and she features many telling first-hand accounts from the widows themselves which show how they saw their situation and how they reacted to it. Her study gives us a fascinating insight into the way in which the armed services and the government regarded war widows during the early years of the twentieth century.

Author : G. D. Scholtz,Gert Daniel Scholtz
Publisher : Protea Boekhuis
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : South Africa
ISBN : 1919825126

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The Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 by G. D. Scholtz,Gert Daniel Scholtz Pdf

This concise history of the Anglo-Boer War, a prize-winning work which was originally written in Afrikaans, is the ideal book for those who want an overview of the military fortunes of the two warring parties. Now richly provided with maps and illustrations, it is one of the most accurate short histories of this important three-year war. The author, G. D. Scholtz, was a Afrikaner historian of great stature, who saw the Anglo-Boer War as a struggle for liberation, a fight for Boer freedom and independence. His original text has been sensitively translated into English by historian Bridget Theron, who is a lecturer at the University of South Africa. It is an accessible work that may provide echoes to the American wars of independence.

Author : Jay Stone,Erwin A. Schmidl
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Military art and science
ISBN : 0819166529

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The Boer War and Military Reforms by Jay Stone,Erwin A. Schmidl Pdf

This volume contends that the Boer War had a far greater impact upon British military reform than previously appreciated. The study concludes that had there not been the Boer War then quite possibly the First World War might have turned out differently. To support this judgment the Boer War is itself examined in terms of its impact on numerous and diverse fields of military concern. Co-published by arrangement with Atlantic Research and Publications, Inc.

Author : Candice Millard
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 418 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2017-05-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9780307948786

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Hero of the Empire by Candice Millard Pdf

From the bestselling author of Destiny of the Republic, this thrilling biographical account of the life and legacy of Wintson Churchill is a "nail-biter and top-notch character study rolled into one" (The New York Times). At the age of twenty-four, Winston Churchill was utterly convinced it was his destiny to become prime minister of England. He arrived in South Africa in 1899, valet and crates of vintage wine in tow, to cover the brutal colonial war the British were fighting with Boer rebels and jumpstart his political career. But just two weeks later, Churchill was taken prisoner. Remarkably, he pulled off a daring escape—traversing hundreds of miles of enemy territory, alone, with nothing but a crumpled wad of cash, four slabs of chocolate, and his wits to guide him. Bestselling author Candice Millard spins an epic story of bravery, savagery, and chance encounters with a cast of historical characters—including Rudyard Kipling, Lord Kitchener, and Mohandas Gandhi—with whom Churchill would later share the world stage. But Hero of the Empire is more than an extraordinary adventure story, for the lessons Churchill took from the Boer War would profoundly affect twentieth century history.

Author : Deneys Reitz
Publisher : Fireship Press
Page : 280 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2010-08-01
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781935585831

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God Does Not Forget by Deneys Reitz Pdf

"One of the greatest war books ever written." "A vivid, unforgettable picture of mobile guerrilla warfare." In 1899 a 17 year old boy by the name of Dennys Reitz volunteered to fight for his country, South Africa, against the British. He could ride and shoot with the best of them, so he was quickly assigned to a Boer Commando Unit-one of the highly mobile light cavalry units that were driving the British crazy. Outmanned, outgunned, and under-supplied, the Boer commandos nevertheless checked the British at almost every turn. They became masters of lightning attacks, night fighting, and ambushes, only to disappear to strike again somewhere else. Reitz was in it from beginning to end, and participated in nearly every major battle. His descriptions of war and adventure have come to be regarded as among the best in the English language. After the fighting was over, Reitz chose to live in Madagascar rather than remain in South Africa under British rule; and it was from there that he wrote this book. But his exile did not last. His old commander talked him into returning to his homeland to help build the new dominion. To this task, he brought the courage and leadership he had learned as a commando, eventually becoming a Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and South African High Commissioner to London. He also fought bravely on the Western Front during WW-I-for the British.