Author Topic: The boer war... (Read 1668 times)

lazs2 · « **on:** January 07, 2006, 09:41:19 AM »

"The Great Anglo-Boer War" by Farwell

Hardly talked about. I'm reading about it again in a little more depth than the footnotes we got in school..

Pretty much the brits came up with a really bad trumped up reason to invade the Orange free states and the Transvaal Boer regions (the Boers wouldn't let brits become Boer and vote and there was.... gold).

The Boer were farmers and had no military except for militia.. Every man from 16-60 (often undr and over those ages) was in the militia (sound familiar?) .

They were loosely organized in "comandos" and could elect their leaders... other than that... they were totaly independent... they could leave their group and join another if they didn't like the way it was going...

Every Boer was a crack shot and horseman and they all owned their own modern military rifles...

The American indian has been cridited for being the finest light cavalry but these Boers rivaled them...

The Militia beat back severl huge colored tribes in several wars and easily won the first war they fought with the brits (first Boer war) humiliating the british army....

They won most of the early battles against the brits in the second Boer war but the brits overwhelmed em and.... a new tactic... Boer women and children were rounded up and put in concentration camps...

The Boer were an ethnic mixture of the blood of Dutch, German, french, Scots and Irish and spoke their own language. Large rough and tough men skilled in the way of the rifle and horse.

lazs

Interesting read.

lazs2 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2006, 09:42:56 AM »

Oh... one of the things the brits did when they couldn't goad the Boer into walking out on the "negotiations" to prevent war (the Boer did not want war) was to declare that...

All Boer citizens were to disarm.

lazs

Jackal1 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2006, 12:32:17 PM »

Just another example of what a bunch of common riflemen can do when the chips are down..................also a prime example of why we should never let ourself be disarmed under any circumstances.

beet1e · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2006, 01:10:42 PM »

Lazs, if you liked that, you might also like the story about the Zulu Wars, and the way the 140 strong British garrison at Rorke's Drift defended its position against swarms of Zulu Warriors. It was made into a cracking film in 1964, which had Michael Caine in it. The incident took place c1879, some 20 years before the Boer Wars. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/empire/zulu_01.shtml

lazs2 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2006, 02:13:18 PM »

wasn't like 900 brits killed by the zulus just a little before that battle at the drift?

I am enjoying the Boer war but I have to admit that my sympathies are with the Boers. I admire their courage. It seem that the brits squandered their scotts infantry in the boer wars. Fighting the Boers was not at all like fighting the zulu.

The Boers defeated the zulus and other tribes earlier also.

lazs

FUNKED1 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2006, 02:36:43 PM »

Around here we just hunt boers, and they don't fight back. Limeys were trying to do it without guns or something????

StarOfAfrica2 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2006, 04:42:07 PM »

Those are boArs Funked. Hehe. The boErs were a little different. Then of course you have the boREs, who might not seem dangerous but can be much more subtle. They simply lull you to sleep and then attack.

Yeager · « **Reply #7 on:** January 07, 2006, 06:30:14 PM »

There is movie from 1980 about three aussie officers being tried for murdering boers during the 2nd boer war. Movie is called

'Breaker' Morant

They executed these officers (one named Morant) for war crimes after they were told to kill some captured boers by superior officers.

Great movie!

DREDIOCK · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2006, 01:12:28 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by beet1e
Lazs, if you liked that, you might also like the story about the Zulu Wars, and the way the 140 strong British garrison at Rorke's Drift defended its position against swarms of Zulu Warriors. It was made into a cracking film in 1964, which had Michael Caine in it. The incident took place c1879, some 20 years before the Boer Wars. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/empire/zulu_01.shtml

Great. absolutely outstanding movie!

Pei · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2006, 03:21:08 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by Jackal1
Just another example of what a bunch of common riflemen can do when the chips are down

"Whatever happens, we have got
The Maxim gun, and they have not." - Hillaire Balloc

Furball · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2006, 06:27:44 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by lazs2
wasn't like 900 brits killed by the zulus just a little before that battle at the drift?

IIRC (big if) the General in charge (Chelmsford?) made a monumental f* up (many in fact) and got ambushed in a big way.

Spurred on by the victory, the Zulu's attacked the small 100 man garrison at Rourkes drift with about 5,000 men and lost.

It is still the record for the amount of VC's won.

Swoop · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2006, 06:40:31 AM »

Yeah them were the days, when the British army fought tribesmen and no-one else. If you saw someone in a skirt you shot em! Sharpened mango fruit can be a dangerous weapon.

Suave · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2006, 08:09:21 AM »

I saw an interesting "Secrets of the Dead" episode where they postulated that the reason the British were over run by Zulu warriors is because their rifles created a smoke screen. I can't remember the name of that famous rifle, but it did use a heavy charge, and it predated smokeless powder.

They were able to disprove the theory of the lack of ammo because of the number of smashed open ammo boxes lying around at the scene. They even went pretty in depth into the zulu warrior culture and zulu shamanism during the period. It was some good TV.

While we're on the subject. A story of a historical situation of a good infantry, actually they were cav scouts, leader who overcame overwhelming odds by applying fundemental infantry tactics is the account of the battle of Beecher's Island. Do a search on it. There are some good articles if you can find them.

beet1e · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:25:33 AM »

Suave - one report I read said that although there was no shortage of ammo, a special key or tool was needed to open the ammo boxes, and only a few designated men had it. During battle, they were unable to open boxes of ammo because they couldn't find anyone who had the key.

storch · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2006, 09:46:31 AM »

the battle at rorke's drift is an example of how a small number of well lead and disciplined troops with good weapons and a good defensive position can defeat seemingly overwhelming numbers. the Brits were armed with the Martini-Henry rolling block single shot .450 cal rifle. The Brits commenced to volley fire on the attacking zulus at approximately 1000 meters. At 400 meters in volley fire the martini-henry rifles cut large swaths of men down and at 200 meters the projectiles reportedly were going completely through one warrior and striking the guy behind him. the withering fire prevented the zulus from coming in close enough to attack with their stabbing spears. after the second day of fighting King Cetaswayo of the zulus, satisfied with his victory at Isandhwala on the previous day, called off the attack. the brits buried 350 zulu dead and an estimated 300 more died from their wounds. the victory was was won by the outstanding leadership and the discipline of the men who faced what must have been an frightening situation to find yourself in. if "courage is not letting those around you see your fears" these guys certainly had it down.

Author Topic: The boer war... (Read 1668 times)

storch