Commando

by Unknown Author

Paperback

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Reviews

[Reader Clarence · Rating 5 out of 5]

COMMANDO: A Boer Journal of the Anglo-Boer War is the word-for-word account (in his English translation of 1929) of the young DENEYS REITZ, who, in 1899, then aged seventeen, enlisted in the Boer army to fight the British. This is the personal account of his experiences during the three years of the war, narrow escapes, highlights, and adversities, but also his interaction with prominent political and military figures of the time, such as President Paul Kruger, Boer generals Louis Botha, Koos de la Rey, Jan Smuts and British commander Lord Kitchener.
His breathtaking experiences make for captivating reading: being grazed by a bullet in the neck while scampering away from the enemy in Natal, or having a bullet hole through an ear of his horse in the Free State, understandably has made COMMANDO a South African classic. The personal and honest memoir through the eyes of this young warrior makes for a real good read.
This COMMANDO at hand is the 2024 so called ‘definitive edition annotated by [historian and Anglo-Boer War expert professor] Fransjohan Pretorius,’ which also attempts to turn the reading into that of a historical document. The annotation adds interesting information about people, dates and places by the ubiquitous Pretorius footnotes, correcting, contradicting, or sometimes even irritating advice about how the author ‘skilfully builds tension’ (90), sense of foreboding (38), or explaining how Reitz ‘altered his course … which was to save his life’ (105). This may distract the fun of reading the ‘story,’ the adventures in the memoir, but satisfy the serious reader who would appreciate supplementary information.
Overall a good read, but what I found serious missing was the absence of maps in this ‘definitive’ edition. Yes, where were the trenches of the Boers at the battles of Colenso and Spionkop (Spioenkop)? And also, the numerous footnotes to explain where the battles and skirmishes raged, or the location of mountains and rivers, makes hardly any sense for people who do not already have a thorough knowledge of the South African landscape. Thus said, COMMANDO still makes it an excellent and captivating memoir to be read.