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The Horns of the Beast - The Swakop River Campaign and World War I in South-West Africa 1914-15 (Paperback)
Loot Price: R487
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The Horns of the Beast - The Swakop River Campaign and World War I in South-West Africa 1914-15 (Paperback)
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List price R604
Loot Price R487
Discovery Miles 4 870
You Save R117 (19%)
Expected to ship within 9 - 15 working days
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In December of 1914, veteran Boer commander General Louis Botha
landed his forces on the coast of German South West Africa to
finish off the colony's Schutztruppe defenders. In August, the
South Africans had started off badly with a disastrous battle at
Sandfontein and an internal rebellion that could have torn the
Union of South Africa apart. Botha's campaign would eventually lead
to victory, but it would not be easy. Overshadowed and largely
forgotten by the battles in Europe, this was one of the more
distant and now almost forgotten episodes of World War I. But from
August 1914 to July 1915, a small German force of 4,000 faced
nearly 75,000 Allied troops of the Union of South Africa, Britain,
and colonial Rhodesia in a fight that was pivotal in the history of
southern Africa. This loss on the battlefield would cost Germany
her most prized african possession and prove to be an important
milestone in the history of the country that would eventually
become Namibia. Britain was so concerned about the threat the
German protectorate of South West Africa posed to the Empire that
it requested its dominion, the Union of South Africa, occupy the
territory's ports and destroy its powerful wireless stations. South
African leaders were eager to take on this `urgent Imperial
service' to expand their own territory. When the Germans
capitulated nearly a year later, it was the first Allied victory of
the war and a rallying point for the United Kingdom. It was a
terrible place to fight a war. Invading troops wondered why anyone
would want to live in the place, let alone fight over it. Vast
deserts barred easy entry to the country; the bones of animals and
humans scattered across the surface attested to their lethal
nature. The South Africans had to feed and water over 100,000
horses and oxen where little fodder existed and after the Germans
had sabotaged many of the water points. Meanwhile, the Germans were
looking over their shoulders as the native peoples they had long
mistreated tried to settle old scores through ambushes and sniping.
Using primary sources, on the ground research, and accurate maps
and charts of the battles, the author sheds new light on the
operations of the South African Army in its first foreign war and
the Schutztruppe defense of German South West Africa. The book also
demonstrates the terrible cost of miscalculations by politicians
and military leaders on both sides.
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