Commando: Boer Journal of the Boer War (Faber paper-covered editions) [Paperback]

Deneys Reitz (Author)

Book Description

Series: Faber paper-covered editions | Publication Date: February 13, 1975

1929. Deneys Reitz, who is now one of General Smuts's political lieutenants and a warm supporter of the British Commonwealth, fought through the South African War as our enemy. He enlisted on the outbreak of the war as a boy of seventeen and went through it to the bitter end. His father was President of the Orange Free State, and after peace was concluded he and his family went into exile. Later he returned to his own country; and later still fought in the Great War on the side of the Allies, first in West and South Africa, and then in France, where he was severely wounded, and where he came to command the First Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. Commando abounds in interesting sidelights and portraits-Kruger, De Wet, Smuts, Kitchener. One of the most remarkable passages gives us a glimpse of the young Winston Churchill as prisoner of war in Pretoria. It is difficult to speak of this book in anything short of a string of superlatives. The spirit of it is magnificent; the uncomplaining courage of the boy-fighter rouses memories of all the stories down the ages about unrecking devotion to an ideal. And not one of them is a finer one than this.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber (February 13, 1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571087787
• ISBN-13: 978-0571087785
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,416,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Commando and the Deneys Reitz Trilogy, November 24, 2000

By 

K. I. Pantling (NORWICH, NORFOLK United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Commando: Boer Journal of the Boer War (Faber paper-covered editions) (Paperback)

Commando is the first and best known of the Deneys Reitz trilogy. It autobiographically tells the story of his part in the Boer War. He started as the sixteen year old son of a prominent Boer politician and ended with him joining Jan Smutts on his raid on Port Elizabeth. This is a story of guerrilla warfare based on minimal resources, for instance they used to visit the abandoned camp sites of British Columns just to pick up ammunition that the Tommies had dropped. They then used this to attack the very soldiers who had dropped it.

However, at the end of the Boer War Reitz was unable to accept British rule and went into exile and this is where the second volume, Trekking On starts. After a disastrous effort at hauling freight by ox cart in Madagascar which nearly cost him is life, Reitz is persuaded by Smutts to return to South Africa where he regains his health and enters local politics. At the outbreak of W.W.II Reitz joins the South African Army and takes part in the putting down of the Maritz rebellion and the campaigns in East Africa. Once the Germans are defeated in Africa he travels to England and , having decided firmly which side he would prefer to be on, joins the British Army as a private. Following a chance meeting with Smutts in London he experiences a dizzying rise in rank and ends the war, after seeing much action as the Colonel of a famous Scottish regiment.

The final book in the trilogy, No Outspan, covers Reitz's life in South African politics between the wars and concludes with him as Deputy Prime Minister of South Africa sitting on an advisory panel to Winston Churchill. in London. During this time he is visited by an Englishman who returned to him the Mauser rifle he took from him when Reitz became his prisoner during the Boer War. The last time I heard this rifle is still in the possession of Reitz's son and is regularly shot by him.

The Trilogy has been published by Wolfe Publishing as a one volume set in recent years and if you see a copy for sale, grab it!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vivid personal recounting of first major war of 20th Century, October 7, 2005

By 

Ian Muldoon (Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Written by a teenager, albeit, a resourceful, fit, intelligent son of a farmer and distinguished South African, it recounts in considerable detail the honourable soldiering on horseback and mule of young Deneys Reitz. His many encounters with the enemy; the harsh weather, difficult landscape, starvation and disease on a guerilla operation that lasted over two years, is testament in part to luck, but also to his survival skills, marksmanship, courage and tenacity. A great read which should be read with some advantage in conjunction with The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating account of the 1900 Boer War in South Africa, January 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (South Africa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Commando: Boer Journal of the Boer War (Faber paper-covered editions) (Paperback)

Deneys Reitz joined the Boer forces fighting against the English in the 1900 / 02 Boer War in South Africa. While still in his late teens he fought in the famous battles of Spionkop and Nooitgedacht and took part in the seige of Kimberley. His book is an account of the mobile "commando" war and is compelling for its humanity and the historical perspective it gives of a war in which the civilian dead matched those who died in action and a war in which guerrilla tactics were used for the first time.