The Somme Chronicles: South Africans on the Western Front

Boer Boy is the touching true story of a ten-year-old farmboy’s traumatic but fascinating experiences during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902.

When Charles du Preez and his father were discovered hiding in the mountains of their eastern Free State farm, they were taken prisoner by the English and transported in open coal trucks to Durban. From there they began a harrowing journey aboard the SS Aurania to the prisoner-of-war camps of Umballa and Solon in India, where Charles was the youngest inmate. Back in South Africa, Charles’s mother and siblings, apprehended while fleeing the Khakis during Lord Kitchener’s destructive ‘scorched-earth’ campaign, were interned in the infamous Winburg concentration camp.

Based on an account Charles wrote later in life as well as other notable oral and documentary sources, including a diary kept by Charles’s mother during the war, Boer Boy tracks the Du Preez family’s wartime experiences. It culminates in Charles and his father’s repatriation to South Africa, where the family was reunited and returned home to the ruins of their farm to start again.

Enthralling, poignant and richly informative, this is a valuable addition to the history of the Anglo-Boer War.

ISBN 978 1 77022 138 3 (print)
ISBN 978 1 77022 116 1 (ePub)
ISBN 978 1 77022 117 8 (PDF)

Also published by Zebra Press

Brothers in Arms

Chris Schoeman

Dutch expatriates joined the Boers, their reasons ranging from loyalty to their common ancestry to strong anti-British sentiments and a search for adventure.

Brothers in Arms documents the trials and tribulations of these volunteers – most of them unaccustomed to the harsh landscape and climate of South Africa. Quotations and personal anecdotes from their diaries and memoirs vividly bring to life their hardships on commando, the thunder and chaos of battle, and the trauma of comrades falling around them.

Some of the prominent figures in the book are Cornelius van Gogh, brother of the painter Vincent van Gogh; the Dutch artist Frans Oerder, who became the Transvaal’s first official war artist; Jochem van Bruggen, four-times winner of the coveted Hertzog Prize for Afrikaans literature; and Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen, who played rugby for South Africa in 1896 and later served as South African ambassador in The Hague.

Brothers in Arms covers the full spectrum of the Hollanders’ roles as soldiers at the various battle fronts, ambulance personnel and military attachés, and their life in prisoner-of-war camps overseas.

ISBN 978 1 77022 340 0 (print)
ISBN 978 1 77022 342 4 (ePub)
ISBN 978 1 77022 343 1 (PDF)

Also published by Zebra Press

Angels of Mercy

Chris Schoeman

After the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, hundreds of women left their countries for South Africa, some in search of adventure, others with a genuine desire to help the victims of war. They came from all over the world – from Britain and its colonies, and from pro-Boer countries in Europe. But, whatever their origins, they all came to live and work under harsh conditions that were foreign to them.

Angels of Mercy tells the story of twelve of these brave women. Hailing from England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, some worked as nurses on the frontline, while others came to teach Boer children in the concentration camps.

Based on personal diaries and letters, as well as other wartime sources, this fascinating and inspiring book tells of their trials and tribulations as they dealt with the dangers of war, the extremes of the environment, and the sad eyes of the dying men under their care. Theirs are stories of compassion and courage.

ISBN: 978 1 77022 499 5 (print)
ISBN: 978 1 77022 500 8 (ePub)
ISBN: 978 1 77022 501 5 (PDF)

Also published by Zebra Press

Angels of Mercy

Chris Schoeman

In October 1899, the twenty-four-year-old Winston Churchill sailed for South Africa as war correspondent for the Morning Post to report on the Anglo-Boer War. When he returned the following year, it was as a military celebrity.

This book follows Churchill’s footsteps across South Africa and gives his impressions of the places he visited, the landscapes he saw, the people he encountered and the events he was involved in.

Churchill’s South Africa covers the future statesman’s travels across the Great Karoo and through the green hills of Natal, his capture by the Boers, his escape to Delagoa Bay and his triumphant return to the Natal front as an officer in the South African Light Horse. It recreates the drama of the Battle of Spioen Kop and the relief of Lady-smith, and describes Churchill’s experiences during the British advance through the Free State and the Transvaal, before returning to England as a Boer War hero.

Enlivened with photographs and with quotations from Churchill’s pen, this beautifully produced volume documents the travels of a key historical figure in South Africa at a critical time in its history.

ISBN: 978 1 92054 547 5 (print)
ISBN: 978 1 77022 532 9 (ePub)
ISBN: 978 1 77022 533 6 (PDF)