Desmond Latham The Anglo-Boer War

The Anglo-Boer War

The Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 saw the British Empire at the height of its power facing a small band of highly mobile Boers in South Africa. The war introduced the world to the concentration camp and is regarded as the first war of the modern era where magazine rifles, trenches and machine guns were deployed extensively. British losses topped 28 000 in a conflict that was supposed to take a few weeks but lasted three years.
Occasionally English South Africa Education
143 Episodes
100 – 120

Episode 43 - General Hunter hunts de Wet and Canada loses a famous son

The conventional war has ended and the guerilla war has begun. The next few episodes will explore the actions of various leaders as they criss-crossed the South African countryside. But its not a romantic gallop, there are moments of unbelievable pain and suffering on all sides. The British soldiers were…
15 Jul 2018 20 min

Episode 42 - Beautiful scenery please pass the ammunition

It’s early July 1900 and we’re into the phase of this conflict that is characterised by small Boer forces roaming the veld, hiding out and then striking weak points in the British line. And in a country the size of South Africa, many weak points are to be found. The…
8 Jul 2018 22 min

Episode 41 - An earthquake strikes as the Battle of Diamond Hill unfolds

We’re up to episode 41 of the series and Lord Roberts and the British army have taken control of most of South Africa. In this episode we’ll hear about the last pitched conventional battle of the Anglo-Boer war, Diamond Hill. It’s also unique for the fact that an earthquake struck…
1 Jul 2018 16 min

Episode 40 - Making Lord Kitchener’s acquaintance as de Wet’s farm burns

It’s the morning of 10th June 1900, and we’re riding with General Christian de Wet who is about to make Lord Kitchener’s acquaintance far from the capital Pretoria, where Lord Roberts has bivouacked with his 16 000 troops, expecting the Boers to quit fighting. But they don’t. In the Free…
24 Jun 2018 21 min

Episode 38 - Roberts marches into Pretoria but de Wet assaults Roodewal

For those who’ve followed this story from our start in October you know that we’re tracking the weeks of the war itself, and it’s now the first week of June 1900. This moment is what Lord Roberts has been waiting for - the triumphant march into the Transvaal Capital Pretoriathus…
10 Jun 2018 20 min

Episode 37 - Johannesburg falls to the British

We are into week 37 of this series and Johannesburg lies before Lord Roberts’ army. But he’s using a Velvet Glove which in retrospect is one of the biggest bungles of his career. While he frets over the details in Johannesburg, Colvile is given a severe case of bloody nose…
3 Jun 2018 21 min

Episode 35 - Mafeking becomes a verb

It’s been a brutal seven months but for the English, they are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or so it appears, because as the joke goes, the light at the end of the tunnel could be an oncoming train. The Boers are falling back…
20 May 2018 23 min

Episode 34 - Crossing the Vaal and a Finishing Touch in Mafeking

The ongoing march north by Lord Robert’s army continues, and also swing around to Mafeking just before Plumer’s relieving force arrives because the Boers have a surprise in store for the towns’ commander in chief, Lord Baden-Powell. The British had accomplished half their journey to Pretoria, and it was obvious…
13 May 2018 25 min

Episode 33 - Lord Roberts takes Kroonstad & the Canadians march

Mafikeng is still besieged, but columns of British soldiers are advancing on the town from both the North and South. The Boers are falling back across both the Free State and Natal fronts. President Steyn of the Free State is about to retreat still further north from his temporary capital,…
6 May 2018 20 min

Episode 32 - The English swarm over South Africa

This is episode 32 - the English swarm over South Africa. I have borrowed the title from a Chapter in Christian De Wet’s book published in 1902 called "Three Years War" and this week we will prepare to march with British Army commander in chief Lord Roberts towards his goal,…
29 Apr 2018 24 min

Episode 30 - Black & White Man’s war and scouting the place of stones

It’s April 1900, the new century is four months old. Lord Roberts has halted after seizing the Orange Free State Republic capital Bloemfontein, and General Buller had finally liberated Ladysmith in Natal. In the North West of South Africa is this small town called Mafeking. Its there that the Colonel…
15 Apr 2018 23 min

Episode 28 - Journalists take Bloemfontein but typhoid breaks out

This week we’re traveling to the Orange Free State Republic capital Bloemfontein with Lord Robert’s army - and its not something to boast about. The capture of the town is known as a one-off - its the first and last time that journalists seized a capital in the midst of…
1 Apr 2018 22 min

Episode 27 - Oom Paul Kruger evades capture at Poplar Grove

The Anglo-Boer war, embarked upon by both sides with confidence, was now to be maintained by faith and we shall see how that faith was expressed, and by whom .. and what became of it. One of these men of faith was Transvaal President, Oom Paul Kruger. Although well into…
25 Mar 2018 19 min

Episode 26 - Ladysmith relieved and Buller makes film history

This week I thought we’d concentrate on the town of Ladysmith in Natal which had been besieged by the Boers for over a hundred days by February 1900. It was also the town from which nearly 13 000 British troops had been unable to escape, hemmed in by a force…
18 Mar 2018 21 min

Episode 25 - Hlangwane, Monte Christo and a key to unlock Ladysmith

After spending some time in the West where Kimberley has been relieved and Free State Boer General Cronje had surrendered with 4000 Burghers after a fortnight of retreat, entrenching and then being bombarded at Paadeberg Drift our gaze shifts back to Natal in the north east. Twenty six Kilometers outside…
11 Mar 2018 20 min

Episode 24 - Cronje surrenders to Lord Roberts

It’s February 1900 and things have begun to change in South Africa. The British Army corps which so far has found itself flailing against an enemy steeped in the concept of mobility and able to exploit the leadenfooted leadership of the imperial entitled upper class has started to gain the…
4 Mar 2018 17 min
100 – 120