Heidelbergers of the Boer War

Heidelbergers of the Boer War is the remarkable story of the people of the South African town Heidelberg.
Uys, Ian
07-0042
0-620-04882-4
In stock
used
€39.00 *

Title: Heidelbergers of the Boer War
Author: Ian Uys
Publisher: Ian Uys
1st edition. Heidelberg, South Africa 1981
ISBN 0620048824 / ISBN 0-620-04882-4
Original hardcover and dustcover, 13x22 cm, 277 pages, many b/w photos

Condition:

Very good. Clean and fresh inside. Book was signed by Ian Uys in 1985.

Description:

This is the story of the people of Heidelberg. The men, women and children who lived in the shadow of the Suikerbosrand mountains and on the banks of the Blesbokspruit. Although predominantly Boers, they were from all nationalities and walks of life. When war clouds loomed the people of this small dorp stood together, fought and died together, and will be remembered for the manner of their so doing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle referred to the Heidelberg Commando as the corps de elite of the Boer forces, and well he might have for the Heidelbergers fought in every campaign in which the Transvaal forces were engaged from 1850 to 1902.

Through these pages we capture the triumphs and disasters of the Heidelbergers during the cataclysmic South African War. Through them we gain an added insight into what it was like to fight for the Boers, whether in conventional or guerrilla warfare. We experience the humour as well as the pathos of these remarkable people caught up in the last of the gentlemens' wars. This book is factual, and is based on the books, letters, diaries and memories of the Heidelbergers. It should be read, not only by military historians, but by all those who wonder about the character of the South Africans of today, descendents of men and women such as the Heidelberger.

Content: Heidelbergers of the Boer War

Acknowledgments
Foreword
Chapter
Appendices
Bibliography
Glossary and Abbreviations
Index
Into war
The Natal front
Freestate Fiasco
Heidelberg Occupied
The Train Wreckers
Arrests and Deportations
Fighting on
Gentlemen Soldiers
Corps of scoundrels
Howich 'Refugee Camp'
The Witkop Commando
Beginning of the End
Prelude to Defeat
Drives and Devastation
The Merebank Burgher camp
The Bittereinders
Surrender and its Aftermath
The Heidelbergers
Epilogue