Silence of the Guns

Silence of the Guns PDF Author: Louis Changuion
Publisher: Protea Boekhuis
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
After the unsuccessful Jameson Raid of 1896 the Kruger government realized how vulnerable the South African Republic was. Four forts were therefore built around Pretoria. For each fort a 155-mm gun was bought from the firm Schneider et Cie in Le Creusot, France. When the Anglo-Boer War erupted in 1899 these guns were taken from Pretoria to be used against the British at the sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley. After the relief of these towns and especially after the Boers adopted guerrilla tactics, the Long Toms became a burden, because they could not easily be moved about. The result was that the Boers destroyed the Long Toms to prevent the guns being taken by the enemy. Several myths and legends about these four guns had their origin during the war. And, as is so typical with folklore, it is often difficult to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction about the Long Toms, especially as accounts have come to us through the years by means of oral tradition. Were they really as formidable as the Boers made them out to be? Did they really outclass the British guns - in range as well as in accuracy and effectiveness? And what happened to them eventually? Why are there today no Long Toms to be seen anywhere? How did they disappear? Were they destroyed by the Boers themselves and, if not, what happened to them after the war? Is there, as rumor has it, one lying somewhere in a hidden kloof where it was dumped by the Boers - still waiting to be found? What happened to their remains? Why are the remains nowhere to be seen? Is there still a complete Long Tom somewhere in England?

Silence of the Guns

Silence of the Guns PDF Author: Louis Changuion
Publisher: Protea Boekhuis
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
After the unsuccessful Jameson Raid of 1896 the Kruger government realized how vulnerable the South African Republic was. Four forts were therefore built around Pretoria. For each fort a 155-mm gun was bought from the firm Schneider et Cie in Le Creusot, France. When the Anglo-Boer War erupted in 1899 these guns were taken from Pretoria to be used against the British at the sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley. After the relief of these towns and especially after the Boers adopted guerrilla tactics, the Long Toms became a burden, because they could not easily be moved about. The result was that the Boers destroyed the Long Toms to prevent the guns being taken by the enemy. Several myths and legends about these four guns had their origin during the war. And, as is so typical with folklore, it is often difficult to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction about the Long Toms, especially as accounts have come to us through the years by means of oral tradition. Were they really as formidable as the Boers made them out to be? Did they really outclass the British guns - in range as well as in accuracy and effectiveness? And what happened to them eventually? Why are there today no Long Toms to be seen anywhere? How did they disappear? Were they destroyed by the Boers themselves and, if not, what happened to them after the war? Is there, as rumor has it, one lying somewhere in a hidden kloof where it was dumped by the Boers - still waiting to be found? What happened to their remains? Why are the remains nowhere to be seen? Is there still a complete Long Tom somewhere in England?

Arms of the Anglo-Boer War

Arms of the Anglo-Boer War PDF Author: Ron Bester
Publisher: Covos Day
ISBN: 9781919874425
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Book Description
Compiled by a team of experts in the field of military collectibles, this comprehensive volume is a must have for all passionate collectors of Boer War memorabilia. This ultimate collector's guide is the very first title of its kind and deals with the arms used by both forces in the Anglo-Boer War. From bayonets to field artillery, this is the preeminent reference work on collecting the weapons of this turn-of-the-century conflict, and it is sure to occupy a place of honor on collectors' shelves for years to come. In addition to chapters on the organization of British and Boer forces, as well as Boer battle tactics, readers will encounter discussions of weaponry broken down by type. Chapters include: British Military Rifles, British Handguns, British Swords, British Bayonets, British Lances, Boer Longarms, Boer Handguns, and Boer Swords and Bayonets. For collectors and lovers of South African military history, this is sure to be an indispensable volume.

Small Arms of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902

Small Arms of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 PDF Author: Ron Bester
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Firearms
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description


The Boer War

The Boer War PDF Author: Thomas Pakenham
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781841880143
Category : South African War, 1899-1902
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Originally published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson in 1979, an illustrated narrative of the Boer War, written by the author of SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA.

The Boer Wars (2)

The Boer Wars (2) PDF Author: Ian Knight
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781855326132
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
On 11 October 1899 the Second Boer War between the British and the Boers began. The war saw the most powerful professional army in the world pitted against the unconventional tactics of the undisciplined Boers. Although the Boers were finally forced to surrender in May 1902 the war had taken its toll on their opponents who lost some 8,000 troops killed in action with a further 13,000 dying from disease. This book covers the organisation, uniforms and very different tactics involved in the conflict, from guerrilla warfare to a final war of attrition that the Boers could not hope to win.

The Great Boer War

The Great Boer War PDF Author: Byron Farwell
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783830611
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 920

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Book Description
The story of the battle for independence from the British Empire in South Africa by “a vivid chronicler of military forces, generals, and wars” (Kirkus Reviews). The Great Boer War (1899-1902), more properly known as the Great Anglo-Boer War, was one of the last romantic wars, pitting a sturdy, stubborn pioneer people fighting to establish the independence of their tiny nation against the British Empire at its peak of power and self-confidence. It was fought in the barren vastness of the South African veldt, and it produced in almost equal measure extraordinary feats of personal heroism, unbelievable examples of folly and stupidity, and many incidents of humor and tragedy. Byron Farwell traces the war’s origins; the slow mounting of the British efforts to overthrow the Afrikaners; the bungling and bickering of the British command; the remarkable series of bloody battles that almost consistently ended in victory for the Boers over the much more numerous British forces; political developments in London and Pretoria; the sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley; the concentration camps into which Boer families were herded; and the exhausting guerrilla warfare of the last few years when the Boer armies were finally driven from the field. The Great Boer War is a definitive history of a dramatic conflict by the author of Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, “a leading popular military historian” (Publishers Weekly).

From Boer War to World War

From Boer War to World War PDF Author: Spencer Jones
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806189614
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
The British Expeditionary Force at the start of World War I was tiny by the standards of the other belligerent powers. Yet, when deployed to France in 1914, it prevailed against the German army because of its professionalism and tactical skill, strengths developed through hard lessons learned a dozen years earlier. In October 1899, the British went to war against the South African Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, expecting little resistance. A string of early defeats in the Boer War shook the military’s confidence. Historian Spencer Jones focuses on this bitter combat experience in From Boer War to World War, showing how it crucially shaped the British Army’s tactical development in the years that followed. Before the British Army faced the Boer republics, an aura of complacency had settled over the military. The Victorian era had been marked by years of easy defeats of crudely armed foes. The Boer War, however, brought the British face to face with what would become modern warfare. The sweeping, open terrain and advent of smokeless powder meant soldiers were picked off before they knew where shots had been fired from. The infantry’s standard close-order formations spelled disaster against the well-armed, entrenched Boers. Although the British Army ultimately adapted its strategy and overcame the Boers in 1902, the duration and cost of the war led to public outcry and introspection within the military. Jones draws on previously underutilized sources as he explores the key tactical lessons derived from the war, such as maximizing firepower and using natural cover, and he shows how these new ideas were incorporated in training and used to effect a thorough overhaul of the British Army. The first book to address specific connections between the Boer War and the opening months of World War I, Jones’s fresh interpretation adds to the historiography of both wars by emphasizing the continuity between them.

The Victorian Soldier in Africa

The Victorian Soldier in Africa PDF Author: Edward Spiers
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719061219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This book re-examines the campaign experience of British soldiers in Africa during the period 1874-1902. It uses using a range of sources, such as letters and diaries, to allow soldiers to 'speak form themselves' about their experience of colonial.

The Boer War 1899–1902

The Boer War 1899–1902 PDF Author: Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472810171
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Victorious in its previous campaigns in Africa against native armies, Britain now confronted an altogether different foe. The Boers proved to be formidable opponents, masterfully compensating for inferior numbers with grim determination, resourcefulness and strong religious faith. Their mobility, expert use of cover, and knowledge of the terrain, in which they employed powerful long-range magazine rifles, gave them initial advantages. By contrast the British suffered from inadequate transport, insufficient mounted troops and poor intelligence. Despite marshalling the immense resources of their empire, the British were to be severely tested in a war which one general described as 'the graveyard of many a soldier's reputation'.

Queen Victoria's Wars

Queen Victoria's Wars PDF Author: Stephen M. Miller
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108490123
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Offers a revised and updated history of thirteen of the most significant British conflicts during the Victorian period.