Bushveldt Carbineers
Bushveldt Carbineers

Author: George Witton

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781846773358

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A war without pity on the South African veldt George Witton was a member of the Bushveldt Carbineers-a mounted, highly mobile unit trained to hunt down its Boer counterparts of the Commandos during the Boer War at the turn of the 20th century. Theirs was no 'gentleman's war' which took account of for fair play and the rules of war-it was a 'kill or be killed' existence of ambushes, night attacks and summary executions in which neither side could claim non-participation. War became a personal business for Witton and his fellow Carbineers-Morant and Handcock-as brother officers were found murdered and brutalised and prisoners were caught bearing their personal effects. Matters came to a head with the infamous courts-marshal of some of the Bushveldt Carbineers and the execution of some and imprisonment of others in a scandal that rocked the British Empire and struck to the core of the relationship between the mother country and one of its most loyal colonies.

Zombie Myths of Australian Military History
Zombie Myths of Australian Military History

Author: Craig A. J. Stockings

Publisher: UNSW Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1742230792

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In this fascinating account, leading Australian military historians tackle 10 of the most enduring historical zombies, or national myths, that have staggered their way through the halls of military history for more than 200 years. From Aboriginal resistance and invasion to Australia’s recent involvement in East Timor, this record disproves the incorrectly memorialized and so-called gallant deeds of past Australian servicemen. Provocative and opinionated, this record attempts to correct the historical record.

Breaker Morant
Breaker Morant

Author: Peter FitzSimons

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 2020-10-27

Total Pages: 876

ISBN-13: 0733641318

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The epic story of the Boer War and Harry 'Breaker' Morant: drover, horseman, bush poet - murderer or hero? Most Australians have heard of the Boer War and of Harry 'Breaker' Morant, a figure who rivals Ned Kelly as an archetypal Australian folk hero. But Morant was a complicated man. Born in England and immigrating to Queensland in 1883, he established a reputation as a rider, polo player and poet who submitted ballads to The Bulletin and counted Banjo Paterson as a friend. Travelling on his wits and the goodwill of others, Morant was quick to act when appeals were made for horsemen to serve in the war in South Africa. He joined up, first with the South Australian Mounted Rifles and then with a South African irregular unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers. The adventure would not go as Breaker planned. In October 1901 Lieutenant Harry Morant and two other Australians, Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton, were arrested for the murder of Boer prisoners. Morant and Handcock were court-martialled and executed in February 1902 as the Boer War was in its closing stages, but the debate over their convictions continues to this day. With his masterful command of story, Peter FitzSimons takes us to the harsh landscape of southern Africa and into the bloody action of war against an unpredictable force using modern commando tactics. The truths FitzSimons uncovers about 'the Breaker' and the part he played in the Boer War are astonishing - and finally we will know if the Breaker was a hero, a cad, a scapegoat or a criminal.

British Foreign Policy and the Anglican Church
British Foreign Policy and the Anglican Church

Author: Timothy Blewett

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-08-27

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 135195461X

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Whilst the views of leaders within the Church of England are frequently canvassed during periods of national crisis, little attention has been devoted to finding out whether there are Church perspectives on contemporary foreign policy issues. The Church of England has not been regarded as an actor with a strong input into international affairs, preferring to speak out on domestic and individual issues. Yet world politics present fundamental ethical dilemmas which call for careful deliberation and the Church has a role to play both in shaping the debate and arguing for particular policy directions. To what extent is national policy shaped by underlying Christian values. Do the campaigning efforts of faith groups really exert influence and guide the development of state policy? This book seeks to elucidate whether there are particular Christian perspectives on the role that Great Britain should play in the world today. It investigates the role that the Church of England has played in contemporary foreign policy issues: including the use of force - intervention, counter-terrorism and arms sales - and overseas trade, aid and debt forgiveness. The book brings together senior individuals from within the Church, academia and non-governmental organisations to investigate these various ethical dilemmas.

The Big Book of Australia's War Stories
The Big Book of Australia's War Stories

Author: Jim Haynes

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1760872660

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A unique collection of poignant, horrific, sad and sometimes dryly humorous stories and tales about wartime experiences of Australian's on the front lines, in the air and on the sea. 'The bravest thing God ever made,' said a British officer of the insubordinate Aussies at Gallipoli. And before the Normandy invasion, Field Marshal Montgomery's chief of staff remarked, 'I only wish we had the Australian 9th Division with us this morning'. But there is more to the Australian experience of war than heroic endeavour and bravery. Jim Haynes has rediscovered stories that are as harrowing as they are uplifting, as strange as they are brutal and as heart-breaking as they are humorous. From Federation to the Vietnam War, from our first VC winner to our hundredth, this sweeping overview of Australia's military adventures both overseas and at home is a guide to understanding how this nation's role in the twentieth century's major conflicts unfolded as each war ebbed and flowed. These stories have formed Australia's collective memory of war. Some battles and campaigns are household names, although their historical significance may have been lost. Others are barely remembered now but are part of our history and deserve to be retold. These are the accounts, recollections and legends that explain Australia's wartime reputation. They demonstrate the extraordinary courage, resilience, stoic humour, personal heroism and sacrifice that created the mythology of the Aussie 'digger' - the soldiers, sailors, nurses and flyers who did things their own way and earned the undying respect of both their allies and their enemies.

Brothers in Arms
Brothers in Arms

Author: Chris Schoeman

Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa

Published: 2012-10-30

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1770223428

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At the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, a large number of Hollanders and Dutch expatriates joined the Boers, their reasons ranging from loyalty to their common ancestry to strong anti-British sentiments and a search for adventure. Brothers in Arms documents the trials and tribulations of these volunteers – most of them unaccustomed to the harsh landscape and climate of South Africa. Quotations and personal anecdotes from their diaries and memoirs vividly bring to life their hardships on commando, the thunder and chaos of battle, and the trauma of comrades falling around them. Some of the prominent figures in the book are Cornelius van Gogh, brother of the painter Vincent van Gogh; the Dutch artist Frans Oerder, who became the Transvaal’s first official war artist; Jochem van Bruggen, four-times winner of the coveted Hertzog Prize for Afrikaans literature; and Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen, who played rugby for South Africa in 1896 and later served as South African ambassador in The Hague. Brothers in Arms covers the full spectrum of the Hollanders’ roles as soldiers at the various battle fronts, ambulance personnel and military attachés, and their life in prisoner-of-war camps overseas.

Brisbane
Brisbane

Author: Dr William James (Bill) Metcalf

Publisher: Brisbane History Group & Boolarong Press

Published: 2022-06-14

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1922643440

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Brisbane: Utopian Dreams and Dystopian Nightmares tells the stories of little-known, and rather peculiar aspects of Brisbane’s colourful history. Eleven Brisbane authors from the 19th and 20th centuries wrote about how wonderful, ‘utopian’, Brisbane could be — or how dreadful, ‘dystopian’, it could also be. Some writers imagined a future utopian Brisbane where inequality has been eliminated, where everyone is prosperous, living in the most beautiful city with wide, tree-lined boulevards, wonderful opera-houses and museums, bubbling fountains and grand squares. They saw Brisbane becoming the centre of the civilised world, a model for humanity. Other writers depicted Brisbane as having been annihilated, violently wiped off the face of the earth except for a few stone ruins overgrown with lantana. These dystopian images saw Brisbane residents enslaved in a racial nightmare, beset with poverty and violence, their lives being precarious at best. What led to these utopian and dystopian visions? Who were the visionaries? What do they tell us about a little-known part of Brisbane’s quirky history? These are images of a wonderful or dreadful Brisbane that never eventuated — but could have. This well-illustrated book reveals all in a witty, but sometimes disturbing way.