TOPIC:

My Dutch and Afrikaner friends, please consider sharing photographs of your collection items on this site. As it stands, one has to wade through pages and pages about that most ubiquitous of all ABW memorabilia (the QSA medal) before encountering something with a ZAR or OVS angle. If this trend persists we run the risk that an unsuspicious site visitor could come to the conclusion that the Rooineks won that war.

LOL...... The problem is outside of the ZAR and OVS there is not much to find as collectables...... But then again does anyone really win a war......

Mike

Everhard,

Hopefully members from down south will answer your call.

Here in the UK there seems to be limited appetite for collecting items from the Boer side. I have never really understood this, though I should imagine financial constraints may play a part. Also, as Mike points out, the relative scarcity of such material outside South Africa makes collecting Boer items more challenging - perhaps too challenging for those who need a regular fix!

I suspect the acquisitions policies of UK museums don't help. For instance, the National Army Museum will not accept pieces from "the other side" unless there is a direct connection with an identified British soldier.

A rare parian bust of de Wet was offered on eBay UK last week, with a starting bid of £120. I have only seen one other example in 45 years of collecting, yet the seller (an Afrikaner ex-pat) doesn't seem able to get shot of it (the listing ended without any bids or offers). I don't get it.

Personally, I am equally drawn to collectables from both sides.

Neville

..

Yes gentlemen, the finances form the greatest constraint. Unless you win the lottery!!
So, personally I focus on specific units, battles etc.

However, I do find balance by reading avidly accounts from the Boer side of the great argument.
Who could argue against "Commando" by Deneys Reitz being one of the most informative and exhilarating accounts of the Boer experience?

Other recent reads include "Bullet in the Heart" Beverley Roos-Muller; "Forgotten Protest: Ireland and the Anglo -Boer War" Donal McCracken (Irish Brigade) and just about to start on a couple of tomes about Russian involvement with the Commandos.

So, Everhard, I do hope that your appeal bears fruit with more posts of the Boer contribution.

Steve

Steve, Neville, thank you for your reactions to my partly tongue in the cheek remarks. I just would like to see a bit more Boer-Brit balance on the forum. I realise that the language barrier works one way as most non-Anglican collectors master English but not many Anglicans can read a document written in Dutch or early Afrikaans. By providing translations, we allow exposure to both sides of the story and let members draw their own conclusions. Chris Ash, who wrote the over-hyped Kruger, Kommandos and Kak, professed not to understand Dutch or Afrikaans and evidently penned his missive without consulting much untranslated material that describe events from Boer perspective. The result is 560 pages of toe-curling anti-Boer sensationalist jingo. Suffice to say that at $ 17,95 it is great value if you are pro Boer and happen to suffer from low blood pressure. As for Steve’s remarks about financial constraints, with a bit of digging there are still inexpensive “Boer” treasures to be found on the various (on-line) auctions. This is partly because the market for Boer material is smaller due to the mentioned language barrier. For example, I am presently researching for a write up on this site a letter in Dutch by Piet Joubert to the officer in charge of Yzer Fort Hendrina. The letter, which is historically interesting, was recently bought in a well published auction for half the price of a London parking ticket.