Ever since Kruger, Kommandos, and Kak was published back in 2014, I have always been amused by the hysterical rage it produced in certain quarters… mainly those quarters inhabited by people who resolutely refused to read it. This swivel-eyed...
It always amazes me just how little many of those who write about the Boer War know about military history in general, and the British army in particular. Pakenham, for example, had clearly never heard of the old ‘3 to 1’ rule-of-thumb needed for...
We are constantly told – with thinly-disguised delight – that only ‘a handful’ of Boers ‘took on the British Empire’ (and, err, lost). Were the Boers outnumbered by the British army? Eventually, yes – though certainly not at first, as they...
‘The worst crime of war is to make war. To initiate a war of aggression is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime. It contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole’.[1] – and yet, an especially...
In a comment on a recent blog article, one person queried my analysis of the deeply flawed republican plan to attack and invade British territory, by (sarcastically?)[1] asking, ‘so, Kruger should have just done nothing?’ My response was to say...
‘A double tide of armed men was now pouring into Southern Natal. From below, trainload after trainload of British regulars were coming up to the danger point, feted and cheered at every station. Lonely farmhouses near the line hung out their...
The race to be the most pig-ignorant online True Believer is a crowded field, but one contender has recently pulled clear of the pack: The level of foolishness needed to equate ‘being given tents to live in’ (plus food, medical care, education...
One of the most entertaining of the online True Believers is a fellow called John Elsegood. This figure of fun can always be relied on to provide a bit of hilarity and, somewhat remarkably, his qualifications for holding forth about the Boer War...
We had fired our salvo, and the Finns had replied with artillery fire of their own. De facto, the war had begun. There is, of course, another version of the facts: it’s said that the Finns started shooting first and that we were compelled...
The National Party Myth True Believers are an endlessly entertaining crew, and I recently stumbled across this perfect exemplar of their trademark combo of dishonesty and stupidity: Given that, in the real world, I rely on ‘official Brit data’ to...
I was recently made aware of a rather flattering ‘review’ of Eating Bananas which appeared on Facebook, and which was written by one of the most well-respected experts on South African military history: My military history interest...
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