As expected, almost a fortnight later, and still no True Believers have had the courage to accept my previous challenge, and to dispute any of the inconvenient facts I presented in a recent blog article:
https://www.chrisash.co.za/2025/10/02/c-s-lewis-and-the-cowardice-of-the-true-believers/
In fact, none even dared take me on directly at all, despite the link to the blog being shared by a few people on various Boer War Facebook sites. The best that my gaggle of detractors managed was for one of them to compare me to Holocaust denier, David Irving… while pretending he wasn’t comparing me to Holocaust denier, David Irving:
It is remarkable that, even though it is obvious the True Believers could not deny any of the facts I raised, none had the honesty, integrity, or morale courage to admit and accept they have willingly swallowed NP propaganda. Instead, like the good sheep they are, they are determined to keep their blinkers on, and continue to slavishly spew out the same. This should leave no one in any doubt that these fellows have absolutely no interest in historical reality, and all that matters to them is keeping the myths of the Boer War staggering on a little longer:
In any case, as no one was brave enough to play before, let’s make it a little easier for them this time.
One of the favourite excuses for Kruger starting the Boer War by invading British territory in 1899 is that the British army was ‘massing on the border’, and thus (we are asked to believe), Kruger’s long-planned-for invasions of Natal and the Cape were in no way whatsoever aggressive or expansionist. Indeed, they were – or so we are frantically assured – purely and entirely innocent ‘defensive’ invasions… of someone else’s territory.
The True Believers – egged-on by their High Priests – have repeated these lies so often, that some might even believe them, so I challenge them to name all the dozens of British Divisions and Brigades which were ‘massed on the borders’ of the republics on 11 October 1899, and where exactly they were.
In fact, I will make it even easier for them, as I have covered this fallacy in previous articles:
https://www.chrisash.co.za/2024/04/15/massing-on-the-other-side-of-the-border/
https://www.chrisash.co.za/2024/09/11/massing-on-the-border-more-maps/
As I showed in the articles above, the reality is that, in the Cape, the only British troops anywhere near the borders of the republics was half-a-battalion of the 1st Loyal North Lancashires which defended Kimberley, and the other half-a-battalion of that regiment, which was further down the line, defending the railway at Orange River Station, along with half-a-battalion of the 1st Royal Munsters. In case anyone without a military background is confused, splitting a battalion between two places about 75 miles apart, so as to try to defend as much of a frontier as possible, is the exact opposite of ‘massing’:
Anyone capable of reading a map will see that the small garrisons scattered to hold the important railway junctions of De Aar, Naauwpoort and Stormberg were no where near the border.
Further north, the half-battalion-sized Protectorate Regiment defended Mafeking from about 7,000 or 8,000 Boers. Even further north still, the half-battalion-sized Rhodesia Regiment[i] was also strung out, attempting to cover hundreds of miles of frontier and facing some 1,700 Boers.
Down in Natal, most of the 8th Infantry Brigade[ii] had been moved up from Ladysmith to defend the coal mines at Dundee (after pressure was applied by the Natal Government, and completely contrary to the wishes of the British army).[iii] Again, splitting HM Forces in Natal between the long-established garrison town of Ladysmith (where the 7th Infantry Brigade remained) and Dundee is the exact opposite of ‘massing’.
Furthermore, and perhaps needless to say, anyone who can read a map will grasp that, though Dundee was indeed fairly near the border of the Transvaal, it was at the end of a branch-line. Thus moving a small number of troops to defend it cannot logically be considered a prelude to an invasion, or – indeed – an aggressive act.
So, in summary and despite the comforting fantasies of the True Believers, there was no ‘massing on the border’ by the British army. In reality, there was only a thin screen of a few half-battalions scattered across the vastness of what is today the Northern Cape, attempting to cover thousands of square miles of territory; two under-strength irregular regiments covering the extensive frontiers of both the Bechuanaland Protectorate and Rhodesia; and less than a brigade, hastily-deploying to defend the coal mines at the end of a branch-line in Natal. And, what is more, even these paltry, scattered forces were deployed to take up defensive, blocking positions, in response to the threat of invasion from the republics.
With all this said, the challenge is simple:
Do the True Believers accept what I have said above in terms of the deployment of British forces in the theatre in October 1899, and if not, why not?
If not, please give us details of all the countless British Infantry Divisions and Cavalry Brigades you desperately want us to believe were ‘massing on the borders’.
For bonus points, please confirm which regiments formed these untold masses of Divisions?
And who commanded these vast ‘invasion forces’?
So I am really looking forward to seeing a detailed, full-referenced, rebuttal of my claims from the True Believers, something along the lines of:
‘You are wrong. On 11 October, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Infantry Divisions were at De Aar, under the command of General Rhubarb-Custard. The 4th and 5th Infantry Divisions were at Charlestown, under General Plum-Duff, and the 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions, plus 1st Cavalry, and 2nd and 3rd MI Divisions were all at Kimberley, under General Apple-Crumble – here are my references’.
Spoiler alert:
This will not happen, as there simply were no such ‘massed’ divisions, no matter how much the True Believers desperately wish them into existence. Alas, admitting that inconvenient reality is a bridge too far for the increasingly frazzled Defenders of the Myth, so instead they will scream, squeal, stamp their feet, deflect, compare me to a Holocaust-denier, and generally do anything other than accepting my simple challenge. The brighter ones clearly know they have been backed into a corner, and realise that, as soon as they acknowledge they are lying through their teeth, and there were no hordes of British troops poised on the frontiers (champing at the bit to invade the poor, innocent and defenceless republics), then the rest of their lies, myths and excuses come crashing down.
But, nevertheless, I eagerly await the normal panic-stricken excuses they come up with for avoiding this simple, straight-forward challenge… just like they frantically avoided my last simple, straight-forward challenge.
NOTES:
[i] Maurice, History of the war in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol.1, p.51
[ii] The fourth battalion of this brigade, the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers, had not even arrived in South Africa by the time the Boers started the war
[iii] Maurice, History of the war in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol.1, p.47
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