Arthur Conan Doyle and the Boer War

I like this quote of his about the boers.. disclaimer I have some boer blood myself.. “Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. Take this formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances under which no weakling could survive, place them so that they acquire exceptional skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman, and the rider. Then, finally, put a finer temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual, and you have the modern Boer—the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. Our military history has largely consisted in our conflicts with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have never treated us so roughly as these hard-bitten farmers with their ancient theology and their inconveniently modern rifles.”

Also now known as the South African war, since many black South Africans also took part in the hostilities and were interned. It was the most significant historical event in South African history.

An interesting fact is that approx 450 000 horses died during the conflict(!) https://jsava.co.za/index.php/jsava/article/view/147 https://www.bwm.org.au/horses.php

> Desperately thirsty men were now drinking contaminated water from old abandoned wells and from the River Modder.

‘Modder’ means ‘mud’ in Afrikaans and Dutch, which certainly doesn't sound like a river you would want to drink from. :)

This is not related to the Boer War specifically, but I was excessively amused when the BBC's last Sherlock Holmes series (set in the modern era) proved faithful to the original by opening with Dr. Watson's return home from the war in Afghanistan.

Geopolitics. Go figure.

I live near the Modder River mentioned in the article. Currently working on an AI system that predicts the dam levels in the Modder River.

When I went on safari to Madikwe, north of Johanessburg the local families were always light heartedly teasing me, because I was British.

One example being on a tour there was a scrapped Land Rover Defender at the side of the trail that had broken down a while ago. They said "never drive anything British, if you want to survive in the bush".

Land Rover quality aside, a bloody war should warrant a bit more than teasing.