Commando: An Illustrated Journal of the Boer War in South Africa

Gordon Bold: Commando is a fantastic account of what the 2nd Anglo-Boer War was like from a Boer perspective. Deneys Reitz (1882–1944), was a Boer commando, soldier, attorney, author, cabinet minister and High Commissioner of the Union of South Africa to the UK (1943-1944). Denys was the son of Francis William Reitz, a lawyer, politician, statesman, publicist, and poet.
Denys fought against the British during the 2nd Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) against the British Empire. After the war, exiled in Madagascar, he wrote about his experience of the Second Boer War (1899–1902). ‘Commando’ details his experiences, escapades and contacts of the conflict.
During WWI he fought for the Union of South Africa against the German Empire, commanding several battalions; on the Western Front he was in command of the First Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. He later served as a Member of the Union of South Africa Parliament and as Deputy Prime Minister (1939–1943), and South African High Commissioner (1943-1944)…
Much of what he has authored has been translated into English; Commando probably being his most famous.
I have read it before but I wanted a copy to add to my own personal library.

Australia on Nov 10, 2023

Anja Revelas: I wish they stocked this book in Afrikaans!

Canada on Jul 30, 2023

Pappashanga: This is a very readable book. It is remarkable how a civilized decent man took such satisfaction in shooting people.
It deals with Deneys Reitz’s role in the three year Boer War.
The lessons are to give up when you’ve lost. Nothing was achieved in the last two years except misery.
The racial attitudes of white superiority were ingrained as is apparent from the text.

United Kingdom on Jul 28, 2023

Joe: I could not stop reading this fascinating journal of a brave and clever young man. As a Boer descended it is very interesting to me to read how well the Boers and British soldiers got along when they were together in non-fighting situations, including looking after each other's wounded. Clearly Deneys Reitz was not exposed to the horrors of the British concentration camps - his mother died long before the war and his stepmother and younger siblings were sent to Holland before the war. Given this, and the fact that he spent the latter part of the war in the remote Northwest of South Africa in very good conditions to the Boer people's army in the Transvaal resulted in him not experiencing the horrors of tidings of deaths of wives, children and mothers from the British concentration camps and seeing the impact of that on the Boer fighters who were hungry, cold, sick and knowing that the British have burned and destroyed their farms to nothing, all in their imperialistic ambition to crush other Europeans and grab their gold.

Australia on Feb 20, 2022

The Shoulders of Giants: This text is in the public domain, so you can search for it and download digital copies for free without violating copyright, just not in this copyrighted edition. Author Deneys Reitz was still in his teens during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). He came from a wealthy connected family -- his father was president of the Orange Free State during the war -- but still he and his brothers volunteered to fight and at least Deneys suffered through to the bitter end. In this book we encounter famous Boer leaders like Jan Smuts (who writes the Introduction), Louis Botha, Christiaan de Wet, Koos de la Rey with his warrior-mystic Nicolaas Van Rensburg, Piet Joubert, Manie Moritz, and the "incredibly ugly" Paul Kruger. The author was present at many major battles, including Ladysmith, Spion Kop, and Elands River where the famous British 17th Lancers were badly defeated. He recounts, for example, use of the Creusot 6 inch "Long Tom" artillery, which his older brother helped crew; the challenges of the guerilla campaign waged in the final year or so of the war, during which the author was repeatedly wounded and had several horses shot out from under him; and the British policies of scorched...

United States on Jul 07, 2019

James Douglas: The Boer War is not particularly well documented, and books from the Boer perspective are especially difficult to find. Yes, the writing is somewhat dated, unsurprising considering it was written not long after the events described. But it is an honest and straight-forward, and informative, chronicle of one young man's experiences. Well worth reading.

United Kingdom on Jan 06, 2016

Roger John Maudsley: Reviewing a book by Colin Thubron, I asked, rhetorically, what drove him in his travels to some of the planet's most uncomfortable and depressing places. Reitz prompts a similar question: why does a man volunteer to spend his youth and early manhood fighting? Is it the example of others, the ideals, the adventure, the comradeship? And can any of these compensate for seeing comrades blown apart time and again.

The absence of the need for a reply is one of Reitz's great achievements. His chosen role is to describe with apparent total objectivity his experiences in conflicts of historic importance for Britain and subequatoriial Africa. How else but with the exclusion of self can such horrific events be described. And how else except in excruciating detail can such testimony be justified? A torn limb or exposed intestines, when suffered by those you messed with the night before, are not minor things. Through all these tribulations Reitz seems to keep his spirits up. He is always game to push on, to see the field of battle from a better viewpoint, to visit friends in neighboring positions. And all the while he must be keeping notes.

Reitz describes both the banal minutia...

United States on Feb 02, 2013