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Few of the young of Pretoria realise that Winston Churchill, the British
statesman who who rose to prominence during the Second World War, was
imprisoned in their town during the South African War of 18991902. Older
Pretorians will chuckle at the mere mentioning of the name, and with a
knowing twinkle in their eyes reply: ³And he swam the mighty Apies River.
Some claim that Churchill himself told the story during his lecture tour through the United States after his
escape. In his carefully constructed despatches to London's Morning Post tha t earned the newspaper a fortune,
Churchill does not mention this feat. In his biography, My Early Life, of
1930, imaginative Churchill greatly elaborated on his adventures in South
Africa. His having swam the Apies River, however, he did not claim. But his
tales are not short of incidences that did not happen as he let his readers
believe they did, and indeed, did not happen at all.
Scaling the wall surrounding the prison yard and making his way through enemy territory to Portuguese East Africa was not considered by the British
military to be a great feat. Yet Winston Churchill, who was largely unknown
to the people of Britain before he arrived in South Africa, was hailed by
the press as having achieved one of the greatest military escapes that had
thus far been recorded. That two privates escaped from the State Model
School by climbing the very same wall a few days before Churchill did, he
conveniently overlooked in his biography. But the non-combatant officer knew
how to keep his readers captivated, and writing about his thrilling experiences so convincingly that no doubt about his daring exploits where
likely to arise.
When researching Winston Churchills adventures in South Africa for a book, the stories he had so masterly told about his adventures during the South
African War in My Early Life, left me puzzled. I knew that much of what he
had written could not have happened the way he said they did. What followed
was a careful examination of the exploits of the then largely unknown young
man whose first and foremost ambition in South Africa was to be awarded the
Victoria Cross. What emerged is a man very different from the hero the
British hailed at a time when the war was not going well for them and this
paved his way into politics.
The fact that the correspondent recorded details of events that only happened in is mind, few people cared to know. The line between truth and
imagination is often so finely woven that someone not thoroughly familiar
with the conditions and circumstances of the times will not distinguish
between the two. Also, there are writers who have, on occasion, interpreted
Churchill's accounts in such a way that complete new versions of his
original writings emerge. And there are biographers and historians who have
accepted such fabrications as fact. I suppose it can be argued that it
doesn't really matter if the truth is bent a little here and there for the
sake of dramatisation, self-glorification, saleability or whatever other end
needs to be served in the cause of literary license.
To lay the blame solely at Churchill's door for misrepresenting certain situations, however, would not be fair. Interpretations of events may have
been manipulated, and altered by deliberately leaving out pertinent details,
but often it is the editors who unquestioningly accepted Churchillıs skill
with the pen who are to blame for distortions of facts. An example is
Churchill's account concerning rodents in the stable of the Witbank mine in
which he was hiding. He stated that he had no fear of rats as such. But
according to a newspaper report in The Star of 1922 by John Howard, the
manager of the mine where he had found refuge, Churchill nonetheless
insisted that he would rather the Boers recapture him than spend another
night in his hiding place with the squeaking animals pouncing on him. His
benefactors were obliged to find alternative accommodation for him. But ignoring these seemingly minor details, the Witbank News later printed a
feature according to which Churchill is supposed to have spent close to two
weeks in the mine. During this time he is said to have amused himself by
enticing the rats to come closer by offering them scraps of the food, Howard
had brought to him, hidden in a shirt. Churchill himself stated in his
biography that the mine manager took him to the shaft below the winding-weel, and
down we shot to the bowels of the eart.The new mine of the Travaal and
Delagoa Bay Collierie was only about 20 metres deep, but once he had left the cage, he was taken Othrough a pitchy
labyrinth with frequent turns, twists, and alterations of level, and finally stopped in a
sort of chamber where the air was cool and fresh.
According to Howard, Churchill spent two days and one night in the newly laid-out stable before he was
accommodated in the mine managerıs house. .
The most startling misrepresentation of Churchillıs escape, however, is the famous OWanted dead or alive
posterı. Churchill reproduced this hand bill, together with an English translation in My Early Life of 1930, and
this illustration has been reproduced since in a number of autobiographies
on Churchill written by eminent historians without questioning its true
origin. The author of the Oposter was a Dutch immigrant, Loodewyk de Haas,
who was a member a Peace-keeping unit in Pretoria. When he was informed
about Churchill's escape and instructed that he and his two assistants had
to help find and apprehend the fugitive, he wrote the note as a kind of joke
on a sheet of paper and stuck it at the door in his office. When the Brtish occupied Pretoira on 6 June 1900, the note aroused
the curiosity of an officer and found its way to London. A few years later
it was offered to Churchill as a kind of souvenir. He paid £5 for the
hand-bill presented to him in an oaken frame and in 1930 he had it reproduced in his biograhy My Early Life. Its was portrayed as an
authentic document issued by the Boer authorities, and a translation was
added to it, giving the impression that the handwritten note and the typed
text formed the original dead or alive warrant. After the outbreak of the
Second Woorld War De Haas, who then lived in England, in a letter addressed
to Churchill, drew the attention to him having written the note almost five
decades earlier. The lively correspondence between Churchill and the former
secretary of the peace-keeping unit that ensued, during a crucial of the
wear, included 14 letters written by the Hollander.
One may wonders what the outcome of the correspondence between Churchill and De Haas had been, and whether De Haas was Osilencedı about the delicate
matter. It is unlikely that the truth will ever become known. The truth
whether Churchill did swim the Apies River, however, is not difficult to
establish. At the time of Churchillıs escape, some 25 million litres of
water gushed down its course every day. During the rainy season, between
October and April, the currents could be seen transforming themselves into
forceful torrents. They would frequently cause damage to the homes and
gardens of those living along its banks, and on more than one occasion
caused the loss of livestock and human lives. But during Churchill's stay at
the State Model School as a guest of the Boer government, no floods were
recorded. Once he had crossed the little bridge he made his way to Muckleneuk Hill about a mile distant where he awaited a goods train that,
according to a time table he had studied in De Volksstem in the library of
the State Model School, was to arrive at 11:10 at Pretoria station. When
the train pulled out of the station, Churchill, hidden from the driver at
the bent in the line jumped onto one of the track before they gathered speed
to make his way to Witbank, and from there to Delagoa Bay (Maputo) and back
to Natal.
Churchill was never awarded a Victoria Cross. His stories, and most what
has been written about him still makes good reading, but the time that the
records are set straight is long overdue if only to do justice to the
Boers whose country the British invaded, and who had never resorted to
written Odeath or alive warrants. The day after Churchill's escape, his
official release signed by General Joubert arrived at the State ModelSchool. Both
President Kruger and Joubert had said that the correpondent was of no value to them, and the Boer
general gave instruction not to waste time in trying to capture the man. Indeed, time has come for the truth to be
known.
R224.00
Contact Details:
Be My Guest Publishers, PO Box 40689, Arcadia 0007
e-mail: mbg@lantic.co.za
www.ericbolsmann.co.za
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"French Footprints in South Africa"
by Eric Bolsmann
This beautifully illustrated book on the French who have left their footprints on the shores below Table Mountain as early as 1530, and that was
50 years before Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the Cape and 122 years
before the Dutch planted their flag at Table Bay is not only a must for all
francophiles, but will be an invaluable document of a much neglected aspect
of South Africaıs colourful history in any reference library.
Never before has the subject of the French in South Africa, from these
early times to the present been as thoroughly researched as Eric Bolsmann
has done. In French Footprints in South Africa the author relates many of
the impressions the early visitors and settlers from France left for
posterity. He examines the contributions these individuals made to South
Africaıs history, culture and life, and continues his account by detailing
the exploits of adventurers and eminent explorers, of soldiers and sailors,
of the first trained architect practising in Cape Town before he died a
broken man. Bolsmann does not neglect to look critically at the supposedly
enormous contributions the Huguenots made to the South African way of life
and in general and the South African wine industry in particular. It may
come as a surprise to many when, in dispelling many myths about the French
at the Cape, Bolsmann devotes a chapter to Pietermaritzburg, the capital of
KwaZulu-Natal, which has a historical French connection that surpasses all
other towns in South Africa.
The 254-page numbered hard-cover collectors' edition is available at
R445,00, VAT and postage included (RSA only), and the 260 page soft-cover
editions sells at R275,00 VAT and postage included (RSA only).
Contact details:
Contact Be My Guest Publishers, P.O. Box 40689, Arcadia
0007, Pretoria
e-mail: bmg@lantic.net
www.ericbolsmann.co.za
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"The Pretoria Art Museum - The German Contribution - "
by Eric Bolsmann
Eric Bolsmannıs book on the German contribution to the Pretoria Art Museum
Collection is in every respect an extremely well-researched and most
attractively accomplished work. It shows the authorıs clear appreciation of
the artistic qualities of the works by these German artists, and also an
erudite understanding of the historical context in which the works were
executed and acquired by the Art Museum. The biographies of the artists
provide extremely valuable source material. The book is certainly a cultural
and historical document of high importance since it illustrates in a very
persuasive manner the dynamic influence of German artists, and South African
artists of German origin, in shaping our present multifaceted South African
culture. It explores a subject which is little known or appreciated and it
is certain to arouse much interest among scholars, art lovers and students
here and abroad.
Eric Bolsmann is an esteemed author and established artist. His publications are on art and history and have won him much acclaim. This
present work on the German contribution has high merit and its publication,
to my mind, is exceedingly important.
Prof. Marius Wiechers BA LLD Council Member of the Art Association Pretoria
Emeritus Professor of Law and former Vice Chancellor and Principal of the
University of South Africa
The Pretoria Art Museum - The German Contribution
Hard cover, full colour, 200 pages
R 250,00 Vat and postage included (RSA only)
Contact details:
Contact Be My Guest Publishers, P.O. Box 40689, Arcadia
0007, Pretoria
e-mail: bmg@lantic.net
www.ericbolsmann.co.za
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