There seems to be something about the surname ‘Pretorius’ that makes those blessed with it completely incapable of understanding the Boer War – or, indeed, pretty much anything else. I was made aware of the latest example of this bizarre phenomenon earlier today, when a friend who sent me these screen shots from Facebook:
Now, to any normal person, this is photo of rather a moving monument to a very brave young man who – despite being from a privileged background – gave his life for Queen and Country in the Boer War.
However, the subject of the Boer War attracts a lot of distinctly abnormal people, and it swiftly drew comment from one of the thickest of the Pretoriuses (Pretoriusi?):
As we have long known, Andries Pretorius is motivated entirely by Apartheid-era propaganda, and doesn’t have the first clue about the Boer War. Even still, one would have hoped even one as ignorant as he might have heard of a couple of other conflicts, called ‘The First World War’ and ‘The Second World War’. If so, one is left to assume that Pretorius also describes the Canadians who fought in the two World Wars as men who ‘volunteered to go and shoot at the residents of a foreign country, and deprive them of their freedom’?
And if not, why not?
Just as in the Boer War, Canada sent men thousands of miles across the globe to help defeat aggressive, expansionist powers that had invaded their neighbours. And yet, as Pretorius so laughably squeals, no ultimatum was issued to Canada in either World War, nor was her territory threatened.
Indeed, it gets worse for poor old deluded Pretorius, as – by his (ahem) logic – he must also denounce those South Africans who bravely fought in the two World Wars (and, indeed, the Korean War) as men who: ‘volunteered to go and shoot at the residents of a foreign country, and deprive them of their freedom’.
This is the level of sheer willful ignorance that the more blinkered and thick-headed Defenders of the Myth are happy to display online.
10 Comments
I thought the callous old git was talking about the Voortrekkers !
Oh no, Colin – surely you know that, in the wacky world of the True Believers, invading and taking over someone else’s land is always ‘purely defensive’ when the Boers (and only the Boers) do it!
To my point below, he could have been talking about the SADF. Seems in his world Afrikaners venturing into ‘black’ people’s lands and shooting them up is perfectly OK, no ultimatum required – it really does betray the jumbled up nature of these minds who haunt Boer War social media groups.
I do wonder if Andries Pretorius is a SADF veteran, I really do. Because by his logic many of us who served in the South African armed forces from 1966 to 1989 happily went into Angola to shoot Angolans and deprive them of their freedom … and the Afrikaner Nationalists didn’t even bother offering an ultimatum, let alone a declaration of war.
Who knows… nothing I’ve read from him suggests that he has any knowledge about military matters whatsoever…
He really does come up with some howlers … a gift that keeps giving.
Dont forget Pete, in 1976, at the behest of the USA, South Africa invaded Angola. So, were trying to do their bit for the free world, as the Russians had handed the country to the MPLA without any kind of an election.
Norm, I have since learned that ‘Skutter’ Pretorius here is indeed a SADF veteran, in which case his rather callus remark on the service of this Canadian officer is out of shape with what he should have learned in the army, and highly disrespectful to he ‘English’ okes who fronted up to save his hairy Afrikaans arse when the shit hit the fan … so that makes him a SADF ‘wannabe’ in addition to a Neo-Nationalist troglodyte.
Neo nationalist troglodyte. Made me smile. Cavemen had their place in history, but, a long time ago 🙂
Add Comment