Although in history books the significance of the Anglo Boer War
pales by comparison with the two World Wars that followed, during
the first half of the Twentieth Century it was at the root of a
national crisis in South Africa. Memories of Kitchener’s Scorched
Earth policy and the consequent suffering of women and children in
concentration camps, together with Germany’s support for the Boer
cause, led to a large section of the Afrikaner population rejecting
the Smuts Government’s decision in 1939 to declare war against
Germany and to talk of a coup d’etat.
The radical rift that that arose between the rival political
groups, even within families, provides the backdrop to the story
while it traces the radically divergent paths taken by two brothers
as they follow their youthful passions amidst the anger, division,
bitterness and grief of the times. The scene is set when the
brothers, Pierre and Jan Rousseau, engage in a bloody fistfight
over a teenage girl, Deidre, at Coffee Bay, a Wild Coast resort on
South Africa’s eastern seaboard. The brothers’ relationship
deteriorates further when war breaks out and they choose opposing
sides in the conflict.
Jan and his university roommate Marius pledge allegiance to the
Stormjaers, a militant wing of an Afrikaner political organisation.
Following their participation in several incidents of sabotage,
including an attempt to blow up a troop train, Jan is posted to a
trading store near Coffee Bay to join a team that is supplying
U-boats. While there, he studies the local ethnic language and
gains a better understanding of the Xhosa people, their customs and
culture. Later, in a poignant scene, he helps to rescue survivors
from a torpedoed vessel and a young black soldier who grew up on
the farm with him dies in his arms.
Meanwhile, Jan’s older brother Pierre sees active service with the
South African Air Force in North Africa. When the British Eighth
Army invades Southern Italy his plane is shot down and he is
sheltered and nursed by a peasant family. He recovers from his
injuries and manages to walk the ninety-odd miles over mountainous
terrain to the Allied lines and return home.
A romantic thread runs through it. Unknown to Pierre, Deidre, had
undergone a backyard abortion. While in North Africa he receives a
Dear John letter from his girlfriend, Lisa, followed by a letter
from Deidre expressing her condolences about the death of his
father. They begin to correspond and despite a steamy relationship
he has with the beautiful daughter of his Italian hostess, he and
Deidre eventually marry. Meanwhile Lisa accompanies Jan’s mother on
a visit to him in detention camp, which leads to them planning to
marry when he is released.
The story reaches a climax with a fire-fight when Pierre, Deidre
and a recuperating sailor set up an ambush in a cove for a U-boat
crew and their local suppliers. Three of the four-man crew and a
wounded supplier manage to escape, the Germans back to their
submarine and the supplier up the coast. The escapee is Jan. He is
captured, charged with high treason and sentenced to life-long
detention.
There’s a twist in the tail when it’s discovered the father’s Will
is invalid and that Pierre, who was his adopted son, is not the
heir to the family farm as intended. However, Jan elects to follow
a legal career and on his release the two couples become
reconciled. In the final chapter each couple reflects on the impact
that the War has had on them and their lives.
General
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