
Arthur Conan Doyle and the Boer War - benbreen
https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/arthur-conan-doyle-and-adventure-boer-war
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paulus99
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.”

~~~
kitd
A similar sentiment about South African rugby players; you may score more
points than them, but you never actually _beat_ them :)

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Synaesthesia
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://jsava.co.za/index.php/jsava/article/view/147)
[https://www.bwm.org.au/horses.php](https://www.bwm.org.au/horses.php)

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Freak_NL
> 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. :)

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fennecfoxen
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.

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FreekNortier
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.

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mothsonasloth
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.

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sdwa
So what should WWII warrant today?

