Book title: Brothers in Arms
Subtitle: Hollanders in the Anglo-Boer War
Author: Chris Schoeman
Imprint: Zebra Press
Publisher: Randomhouse Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2012
ISBN 9781770223400 / ISBN 978-1-77022-340-0
Hardcover, dustjacket, 15x23 cm, 256 pages, numerous b/w photographs
At the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, a large number of Hollanders and Dutch expatriates joined the Boers, their reasons ranging from loyalty to their common ancestry to strong anti-British sentiments and a search for adventure. Brothers in Arms: Hollanders in the Anglo-Boer War documents the trials and tribulations of these volunteers - most of them unaccustomed to the harsh landscape and climate of South Africa. Quotations and personal anecdotes from their diaries and memoirs vividly bring to life their hardships on commando, the thunder and chaos of battle, and the trauma of comrades falling around them.
Some of the prominent figures in the book are Cornelius van Gogh, brother of the painter Vincent van Gogh; the Dutch artist Frans Oerder, who became the Transvaals first official war artist; Jochem van Brüggen, four-times winner of the coveted Hertzog Prize for Afrikaans literature; and Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen, who played rugby for South Africa in 1896 and later served as South African ambassador in The Hague. Brothers in Arms covers the full spectrum of the Hollanders' roles as soldiers at the various battle fronts in the Anglo-Boer War, ambulance personnel and military attaches, and their life in prisoner-of-war camps overseas.
Introduction
The Hollanders in South Africa
The Hollander Corps
The Battle of Elandslaagte
The Natal Campaign
The Foreign Legion
Theron's Scouts and Hindons Corps
Riding with General De Wet
With Smuts in the Cape Colony
Commando Life
Experiencing Battle and Death
Dutch Military Attaches
The Dutch Ambulances
Innocent Blood
Prisoners of War
The Hollanders Remembered
Appendices:
I Members of the Original Hollander Corps
II Hollanders Who Fought with the B oers
III Hollander Corps Casualties: Elandslaagte
IV Roll of Honour: Hollander Casualties 1899-1902
Notes
Bibliography
Index