Museum Africa

Commandant General Louis Botha during the Anglo-Boer War

Museum Africa

Prime Minister Louis Botha during the First World War

The Times History of the War, Volume I, 1914; Wikimedia Commons

General Jan Smuts as minister of defence

South African Archives; Wikimedia Commons

Brigadier General Henry Timson Lukin

Bildbestand der Deutschen Kolonialgesellschaft in der Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main; Wikimedia Commons

Major General Victor Franke

Karsten Herzogenrath

Von Heydebreck (in white on the left) and the Mountain Gun Battery of the South-West African Schütztruppe in Okahandja in 1903

Wikimedia Commons

A mounted Schütztruppen

Koloniales Bildarchiv, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main

Schütztruppe training for battle, circa 1907. Horses were trained to lie prone to provide cover for their riders under fire

Source unknown

South African mounted troops crossing Raman’s Drift, on the way to Sandfontein

Adam Cruise

Major von Rappard’s grave at Sandfontein

Adam Cruise

Today a modern lodge sits on the site of the Battle of Sandfontein. The koppie can be seen in the background

Museum Africa

De Wet, De La Rey and Botha before the rebellion

Source unknown

Jan Kemp (left) and Manie Maritz (far right) pose at Keetmanshoop before the attack on Upington

Source unknown

Maritz and his brigade head for Upington flying the Vierkleur

Museum Africa

Botha on board the Erna Woermann on his way to South-West Africa. From left to right: Captain Esselen, General Botha, Captain Griffiths and Lieutenant Colonel Collyer, Botha’s chief of staff

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the National Library of South Africa, Cape Town

Botha’s bodyguard leaving for the front

South African National Museum of Military History

Factory pilot Willy Trück (centre) with the LFG Roland in the background

South African National Museum of Military History

Lieutenant Fiedler (left) standing in front of the LFG Roland

Tsumeb Museum

Lieutenant Fiedler’s Aviatik is railed to the front at Aus

Tsumeb Museum

Von Scheele’s Roland biplane used in South-West Africa

Koloniales Bildarchiv, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main; Wikimedia Commons

Aerial bombing of a South African military camp at the Tsaukaib railway station, by Fiedler, 17 December 1914

Adam Cruise

Feral horses at Garub today, ancestors of those used by the Boer mounted commandos a hundred years ago

Adam Cruise

Remnants of the old railway line at Garub. Aus is behind the ridge in the background

Adam Cruise

The Commonwealth war graves at Aus

Adam Cruise

The Commonwealth war graves at Gibeon, with Gibeon Station in the background

The McGregor Museum, Kimberley, South Africa

Botha standing behind his carriage at Nonidas. Collyer has his back to the camera

The Times History of the War, Volume VII, 1916; Wikimedia Commons

Crossing the desert was perilous, not just because there was insufficient water. Gun carriages were continually getting stuck. Here a British heavy artillery 4.7-inch naval gun is being pulled out of the sand by a team of oxen

Adam Cruise

The Swakop River Canyon in the Namib Desert between Nonidas and Goanikontes

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy NLSA

South African soldiers trekking over the terrible sand dunes as they cross the desert near the coast

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy NLSA

Desperate men scratched in the dirt of the Swakop riverbed looking for water

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

When they did find sufficient water, the soldiers collected it in these bags

Adam Cruise

First World War cartridges found along the Swakop River, 100 years after the war

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Botha (seated) and his staff reconnoitre near Riet

The McGregor Museum, Kimberley, South Africa

Burghers laying the narrow-gauge railway from Rössing to Jakkalswater

The McGregor Museum, Kimberley, South Africa

The South African graves (including that of the 62-year-old signaller) at Trekkoppies, a result of the unsuccessful German offensive

Museum Africa

A Herero patrol in South-West Africa

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Captured German infantry

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Botha and Smuts meeting in the field at Potmine, just before Windhoek was taken

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

The capture of Windhoek. The mayor of Windhoek surrenders his town to Botha

Museum Africa

Sergeant Digby types out the terms of the German surrender of South-West Africa

Adam Cruise

The narrow-gauge train that took the German command to Kilo 500, seen here at the Tsumeb Museum

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Franke (left) and the German staff surrender at Kilo 500

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Botha (second from the right in the background) chats to Franke during the German surrender at Kilo 500. Collyer stands facing the camera in the foreground, left of centre

Adam Cruise

The author at the Khorab Memorial

Source unknown

Mission accomplished. General Botha takes German South-West Africa

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Botha and his sons returning to the Union after the conquest

Eric Moore-Ritchie, With Botha in the Field, courtesy of the NLSA, Cape Town

Botha receives a standing ovation as he addresses the crowd at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 30 July 1915, after successfully concluding the campaign