When the myths are so stupid, you have to lie…

Throughout the decades of National Party rule, the myths of the Boer War went largely unchallenged in South Africa – but the times, they are a-changing, and the Apartheid-era fairy tales are finally being exposed as the rubbish they are. Seeing that time is running out for their nonsense of innocent victimhood, the last Defenders of these Myths find themselves holed-up in a bunker, Berlin ’45 style, desperately fighting a doomed and pointless last-ditch action, resisting the inevitable demise of their treasured National Party dogma.

One can tell that even they know they are trying to defend the indefensible, as they have had to resort to blatant lies to keep their comfort blanket of myths alive:

We know that when the ‘MC’ is ‘in the house’ we will be treated to some entertaining nonsense, so this rubbish came as no surprise – thought it was remarkable that he managed to pack quite so many falsehoods into just two sentences:

• The invading Boers did not stop after ‘encircling the British forces on their borders’ – that is, quite simply a lie.

• Mafeking and Kimberley were close to the frontier (though there were only very small numbers of troops in them), but the Imperial forces which were ‘encircled’ at Ladysmith were not ‘on the border’ – so that is another lie. And Christ alone knows how the siege of the tiny, remote one-horse town of Kuruman fits into this self-serving fantasy.

• In reality, the invading Boers did ‘go deeper’ – so that is a third lie.

• The ‘official plan’ actually envisaged the Boers capturing Duban and the other ports[i] – so that is his fourth lie in two sentences – that is pretty impressive, even by the shocking standards of the ‘MC’.

The funny thing about Heunis’ lies is that they are so easily disproven, that he must have known he was not going to get away with them. Perhaps spewing out such things would go unchallenged at an AWB convention, or at the sort of braais True Believers hang out at, but his rubbish was quickly shattered by the estimable Peter Dickens:

Fought on 23 November 1899, the Battle of Willow Grange was, of course, the most southerly battle fought in Natal during the Boer invasion, and thus essentially marks the ‘high water mark’ of the Boer invasion of the Colony – though elements got even further south, down as far as Mooi River.[ii] A glance at a map (which is clearly something the ‘MC’ has never done) will show the reader that the Boers most certainly did not ‘stop after encircling the British forces on their border’ and did indeed ‘go deeper’:

The areas shaded green show those parts of Natal invaded and occupied by the Boers. Willow Grange is at the bottom of the map, marked with a ‘9’. Two lies shattered with a single map – and here’s another one, just so there’s no doubt:

The first Boers to invade Natal crossed the border at Volksrust on 12 October 1899[iii] – which meant that, by the time their forces got to Mooi River almost six weeks later, they had pushed South some 150 miles into Natal.

Of course, and even when presented with this inconvenient reality, the increasingly-frazzled ‘MC’ felt the need to have a final attempt to squeal that up is down, and black is white, and treated the amused audience to this surreal outburst:

As you can see – and using an emoji to show his academic credentials – the ‘MC’ was still desperately trying to pretend that the Boers ‘stopped’ and ‘didn’t go deeper’… but only if you (for some reason) assume their starting point as being the positons they later defended at the Tugela River – which were, of course, deep inside Natal. Oh, and even then, he is still pathetically tying himself in knots, by saying that they had ‘stopped’ and ‘didn’t go deeper’ as they only went on another 50km beyond the territory that they had already invaded in someone else’s country.

Of course, this would be every bit as stupid as saying that Hitler’s invasion of the USSR in 1941 wasn’t a real invasion, as the Germans ‘stopped after encircling Soviet troops on the border’, and ‘didn’t go deeper’… but – err … well – only if you count their start line as being the Soviet land they had captured in the first few months – oh, and only if you then conveniently ignore that they then carried on even further beyond the territory they already occupied in someone else’s country.

It is unsurprising that the ‘MC’ ran away after Peter Dickens pointed out his abject stupidity to him (yet again).

And a final map which shows that the invading Boers did not ‘stop’ and did indeed ‘go deeper’ on all fronts. The reader will note the vast areas of Natal and British Bechuanaland which were occupied and annexed by the invading Boers, the position of Kuruman, and the invasion of the Cape Midlands. This should be enough to clear up any lingering doubt that the ‘MC’ was lying.

So why did he do it?

It is very difficult to believe that Heunis is so utterly ignorant that he has never heard of the Battle of Willow Grange, the Siege of Kuruman, or the invasion of the Cape Midlands (which featured the Battle of Stormberg). So, assuming he is aware of at least one of these events, why would he lie, and pretend that the poor, innocent, invading Boers only ‘encircled British troops on the border’ and then – like the pious, blameless, and misunderstood souls they were – ‘stopped’, and ‘didn’t go deeper’?

The only explanation is that, for all the time he spends hanging about in Boer War facebook groups and playing dressing-up, the ‘MC’ clearly has absolutely no interest in the study of History, and is only concerned with defending the Apartheid-era myths.

And if he has to lie to keep his much-loved comfort blanket of fables staggering on a bit longer, then so be it.

NOTES: 

[i] But don’t take my word for it, this is what Jan Smuts – ie. the man who finalised the invasion plans – told his son (and biographer): he envisaged ‘the Boers to strike down swiftly at Durban and the other ports upon the outbreak of hostilities, in order to prevent the British landing reinforcements. That phase completed, the mopping up of troops in the country would begin’ – see: Jan Christian Smuts by his son, p. 90, quoted in O’Connor, A Short Guide to the History of South Africa, 1652-1902

[ii] Amery, The Times history of the war in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol.2, p.311

[iii] Maurice, History of the War in South Africa, Vol.1, p.124