One of the favourite squeals of True Believers is that the Boer War was so extraordinarily long, and so outrageously expensive, that it ‘almost bankrupted the British Empire’. Though shouting things like that makes a certain sort of...
I was recently made aware of a classic outburst from an especially ignorant True Believer. Seemingly a fellow called Anton Lombaard took to one of the Facebook Boer War echo chambers to proudly trumpet his complete lack of knowledge of the Boer...
‘…when one remembers the condonation upon the part of the British on the use of their own uniforms by the Boers, of the wholesale breaking of paroles, of the continual use of explosive bullets, of the abuse of the pass system and of the red...
Over the last few years, there has been a steady trickle of books and articles which have started to challenge the lingering National Party myths / self-serving version of the Boer War, and I am sure that even the most fanatical Defenders of the...
I was recently made aware of an online discussion featuring one of the more blinkered and ignorant of the True Believers. A character called Pieter Cloete was endeavouring to promote a book he had written – a work so poorly researched[1] that it...
Defenders of Apartheid-era Myths love to tell one another that I am ‘wrong’, though never trouble themselves to explain where, why and how. One entertaining True Believer was recently called out on his incessant online claims, and asked to...
I’ve often thought it would be fun, just for a day, to see the world through the eyes of a True Believer. How bizarre it must be to be cursed with an uncontrollable urge to twist and turn, and tie oneself in knots, in a fevered – and increasingly...
This plaque is the sort of thing one sees dotted about in South Africa, and which subtly maintain the Boer War myths: Unfortunately, this description of the action at Kalkheuwel is rather poorly-written and inaccurate, meaning that a visitor will...
Richard Steyn is at pains to claim his biography about Milner was not written to continue the vilification of the man, and I do not doubt that he set out with honourable intentions. I must admit, however, that I feared the worst when I read, on...
This is the sort of thing that True Believers like to send one another: Needless to say, none of this utter nonsense is referenced, and there is zero evidence that either quote is genuine. Given that Montgomery made his name in the North African...
After a couple of years of work, The Boer War Atlas is about to hit the shelves: Working from modern-day maps to ensure topographical accuracy, the Atlas covers pretty much every significant action in both the conventional and guerrilla phases of...
I came across this online article recently: https://www.anglotopia.net/british-history/great-events-british-history-bitter-legacy-british-imperialism-boer-wars/ As the site where it comes from claims to be one for people who ‘love...
Chris Ash © 2017 All Rights Reserved
