Boer Boy: Memoirs of an Anglo-Boer War Youth
Nov 2010 · Penguin Random House South Africa
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256
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About this ebook
Boer Boy is the touching true story of a ten-year- old farm boy’s traumatic but fascinating experiences during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
When Charles du Preez and his father were discovered hiding in the mountains of their eastern Free State farm, they were taken prisoner by the English and transported in open coal trucks to Durban. From there they began a harrowing journey aboard the SS Aurania to the prisoner-of-war camps of Umballa and Solon in India, where Charles was the youngest inmate. Back in South Africa, Charles’s mother and siblings, apprehended while fleeing the Khakis during Lord Kitchener’s destructive ‘scorched earth’ campaign, were interned in the infamous Winburg concentration camp.
Based on an account Charles wrote later in life as well as other notable oral and documentary sources, including a diary kept by Charles’s mother during the war, Boer Boy tracks the Du Preez family’s wartime experiences. It culminates in Charles and his father’s repatriation to South Africa, where the family was reunited and returned home to the ruins of their farm to start again.
Enthralling, poignant and richly informative, this is a valuable addition to the history of the Anglo-Boer War.
When Charles du Preez and his father were discovered hiding in the mountains of their eastern Free State farm, they were taken prisoner by the English and transported in open coal trucks to Durban. From there they began a harrowing journey aboard the SS Aurania to the prisoner-of-war camps of Umballa and Solon in India, where Charles was the youngest inmate. Back in South Africa, Charles’s mother and siblings, apprehended while fleeing the Khakis during Lord Kitchener’s destructive ‘scorched earth’ campaign, were interned in the infamous Winburg concentration camp.
Based on an account Charles wrote later in life as well as other notable oral and documentary sources, including a diary kept by Charles’s mother during the war, Boer Boy tracks the Du Preez family’s wartime experiences. It culminates in Charles and his father’s repatriation to South Africa, where the family was reunited and returned home to the ruins of their farm to start again.
Enthralling, poignant and richly informative, this is a valuable addition to the history of the Anglo-Boer War.
Boer Boy is the touching true story of a ten-year- old farm boy’s traumatic but fascinating experiences during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
When Charles du Preez and his father were discovered hiding in the mountains of their eastern Free State farm, they were taken prisoner by the English a...
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About the author
Chris Schoeman was born in Somerset East and has master’s degrees in history from the universities of Port Elizabeth and Colorado State. He has worked as a historian and journalist, and has authored and co-authored several books. His recent books include Boer Boy, Brothers in Arms, Angels of Mercy, Churchill’s South Africa, The Historical Karoo, The Somme Chronicles and The Unknown Van Gogh.
Chris Schoeman was born in Somerset East and has master’s degrees in history from the universities of Port Elizabeth and Colorado State. He has worked as a historian and journalist, and has authored and co-authored several books. His recent books include Boer Boy, Brothers in Arms, Angels of Merc...
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