The Project Gutenberg eBook, With Botha in the Field, by Eric Moore Ritchie

Title: With Botha in the Field

Author: Eric Moore Ritchie

Release Date: May 9, 2005 [eBook #15802]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH BOTHA IN THE FIELD***

E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Carol David, Debra Storr,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

WITH BOTHA IN THE FIELD Photo: Leon Lerson, Johannesberg BY MOORE RITCHIE With Five Diagrams and Eighty-two Illustrations mostly by the Author LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON FOURTH AVENUE AND 30TH STREET, NEW YORK BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS 1915

J.B.

LIEUTENANT, HIS MAJESTY'S IMPERIAL FORCES,

IF THIS SHOULD CATCH THE EYE OF:

CHER AMI,--TO YOU:

IN MEMORY OF DAYS.

YOURS,

M. R.

Frontispiece: The only photo of the meeting of General Botha and General Smuts in the field just before Windhuk was taken

FOREWORD

The ungentle reader (upon whom a malediction) will discover that this little book is not by any means exhaustive. But the gentle reader may find it to be what I hope it is. For him I wrote it.

Europe at the present time is lacerated in the greatest war of which man has knowledge. Compared with the doings in the Eastern and Western Fronts, in the Austro-Italian Theatre, or in the Dardanelles, the campaign of South Africa must take a modest place.

My idea is simply to make clear to the public (for example, all names I mention will be easily found on my diagrams, drawn from a German fully detailed map, the best of the South-West African Protectorate in existence) of gentle and patriotic readers something of the latter-day work of a gentleman and a patriot, justly famed amongst peoples with whom integrity and honour are still esteemed sovereign virtues.

"The Nonggai," Pretoria, S. Africa, August1915.

CONTENTS

PART I

CHASING THE REBELS

I KEMP AND BEYERS II DE WET III KEMP'S ESCAPE IV FOURIE

PART II

THE CAMPAIGN OF SOUTH-WEST AFRICA

I THE PRELIMINARY CANTER II THE FIRST TREK INTO THE NAMIB DESERT III THE RECORD TREK TO WINDHUK IV THE LAST PHASE

APPENDIX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

The Author

The only photo of the meeting of General Botha and General Smuts in the field just before Windhuk was taken

General Botha's Bodyguard leaving for the Front

Diagram of Campaign

Group of Rebel Leaders [Transcriber's note: missing from original]

Rebels rounded up after the capture of De Wet [Transcriber's note: missing from original]

The last pursuit of Kemp. Flying column crossing the Orange River after him

Troops returning to Pretoria after Nooitgedacht. December 16, 1914

Diagram of Nooitgedacht

General Botha's train leaves the Orange Free State after the crushing of the Rebellion

Exhausted Troops after defeating De Wet in the Orange Free State

Leaving Pretoria. General Botha's Bodyguard departing

Kits aboard. The Troops departing for the Front

Camp of the Bodyguard at Groote Schuur

Brothers in Arms. The British Navy and Botha's Bodyguard fraternised aboard. Many of the latter are, of course, pure South African

Boxing aboard. En route to German South-West Africa

Awaiting landing from the Transport

Trekking over the terrible Sand Dunes near the Coast, German South-West Africa