As Des Latham said in his podcast (Anglo Boer War Podcast) - the British though the Boers to be Europeans so expected them to fight like Europeans. They were not, they were Africans and fought like Africans.
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As Des Latham said in his podcast (Anglo Boer War Podcast) - the British though the Boers to be Europeans so expected them to fight like Europeans. They were not, they were Africans and fought like Africans.
incredible how boer fighting style even carried through to the border war against communist battle doctrine
just read cuito book, good god those were some tough boytjies!
It can well be "Bedoelde Land". In brooding over this I also remember having a discussion with someone who affirmed it.
As to the fighting technique, the African circumstances led to the development of the guerilla warfare of the Boers. Without all the background of "proper" (ie: traditional European) warfare, the Boers did what logic dictated: kill and don't be killed.
Then there might be a few words spoken about Boer mentality - I think it might have an influence :g:
The Boers soldiers were family men with responsibility to many back home while the British had scrapped up the crud of society and dressed up in uniforms and sent out to fight without any care except themselves. ( not the officers). This dynamic makes a huge difference in the way one will fight.
Yes, and the Boers were not trained in regular warfare the way the European soldiers were.
There is an interesting piece taken from a diary of a Dutchman who was at the siege of Mafeking. He is very critical about the strategies used by the Boer commanders. However, against the above mentioned nackground it makes sense.
When Genl. Cronje later bragged about his great success at Mafeking (referring to the siege), Genl De La Rey remarked that "The way I see it, 500 brits kept 7000 men under your command busy for months". Cronje was a poor strategist and leader, despite being quite popular. His popularity/fame arose from his participation at Majuba, where he did not really influence anything.