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British (Received Pronunciation - RP, BBC) South African (General)Transcript
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Theo, welcome back to the Anglo Boer War pod. Cost will be your host days later. The surface it takes us to Christmas 90 No. One and the better off alone cope basically him in the free state, where General Christian David catches the British off guard on the top of a 200 foot high copy. We will also hear how the opposition party leader, Lloyd George in England narrowly escapes. Being lynched as a probe were Britt and a night of extreme violence. The wobble that Chamberlain, the liberal unionist leader into Alfred Millner were most worried about. Head began back in England. The taxpayer was now fully aware that they were finding a war in South Africa that appeared never ending. The Times newspaper had led a revolt against the government. As we heard in previous podcasts, Lord Kitchener was ignored as he complained about the fact that most of the new soldiers arriving in South Africa could neither ride nor shoot straight. That was nothing new in the eyes of the British public, that hood that excuse since October 18 99 and it was now wearing extreme Ethan, Parliament had bean prorogued until after the New Year, but marching expenditure and public anger Mart force government to go in decision again at such a late date. In the year Winston Churchill was pro government, it was also warning about what he called a disquieting situation, which, in his words, Woz as Mementos as it was two years ago, there was public discussion about a new war Ministry with suggestions that really soldiers would lead it along with more hardcore in period ists. Like Lord Roseberry, Chamberlain was particularly nervous about Roseberry when it came to his own political position. The probe will lobby was in full voice, and this, ironically, helped shield the government when an incumbent political party has a nationalist and imperialist value chain, and the opposition seeks to assail its weaknesses by radical invective, the spies very nature forces neutrals and moderates onto the side of the nationalist, and a period is position. And so it waas in England, at the tail end of the 1901 individuals who spoke about making peace on any terms were Harang and in the imperialist media, and the Conciliation Committee was jeered at as the stop. The war party meetings were broken up violently and none more so than the night Lloyd George spoke of Birmingham Town Hall in December 1901 He had consistently delivered an antiwar message for most of the year, and he had done so at a variety of places, from the Cambridge Union to the Pitted from Edinburgh to London. But Birmingham was a different place. It was Chamberlain's diocese who took the opportunity to seek revenge for the attacks on with this source. Chairman's personal honor. When Lloyd George arrived, he made his way through the seeding mob outside the hall without being molested, mainly because they couldn't recognize him. Four brass bands were outside, playing patriotic airs and marches, while merchants shouted half bricks threepenny to throw it, Lloyd George merrily. They offered their heart breaks for a song. Lloyd George climb the stairs to the platform in these same half bricks For then thrown through the windows, 1200 were broken along the street was George. You hadn't said a word was now in danger of being killed. The enraged mob yield probe. Kill him! Kill the traitor, journalists wrote of the screaming women, the noise of the police blowing their whistles. The crash or falling masonry and smashed windows, the furniture flying around the room. Lloyd George only escaped with his life by slipping away disguised as a policeman bank in South Africa. The words were a way of these attempts to support the accords, but it was a CZ. Though the newspaper reports came from another planet for the British soldier, the same applied. They were trapped inside Block Alice is seven men to a blockhouse with African support. 70,000 men in a ll by now lying awake at night listening to the sound of the felt waiting for the wire. Booby trips to be tripped by passing bulls on horses, firing off rounds into the dark and waiting for the train which passed every day or second day, bringing food, water and ammunition to the east of Johannesburg. General Louis Botha had found a sweet spot near the Swaziland border. We had Iran, 1000 men, but the British generally had improved their strategy and reusing black and bull intelligence officers who knew the land well. General Rawlinson was relying on colonel ordinary rules. Samson, who was an ex gold miner and ex commander of the imperial laterals when it came to strategic ups three times in the previous few weeks. Well, Sampson had led Rawlinson to booze or bang on the top of the lager, as Rawlinson described it in letters as he had captured a total of 756. The British lost only three men. At the same time, things were going badly for the bulls in the East entrance fall. One incident, in particular, highlighted how well the British run are fighting, at least in that part of the theater. As you'll hear in a while, things were not going as swimmingly for the British based in the Free State, particularly as they bumped up against the General Christiane debate on the 10th of December 1901 a Tuesday, Rawlinson and, Well, Simpson re tracking a group of booze in the Eastern Transvaal. As usual, the intelligence officer knew that the secret to beating the Bushes was art brewing them. So a lightning raid was planned with 2000 mounted men. This was no ordinary unit. However, there were 450 black soldiers involved, all on ha spect all extremely well trained troops that will Simpson was funding himself this meant the British government didn't have to explain why they were paying black soldiers in a war that was supposed to be quite early. We strike the road all right soon after midnight, but there was not a sign of a spore on it. So return north towards trick odds. Maintain. It was 3 30 when the African boys that will Simpson had sent on returned to say the bulls were all there, Rawlinson wrote later, a tremor of excitement ran through the mounted troops of they jostled forward, then became silent. I got the second mounted infantry up quickly on my right whilst our sent Colonel Bim Boesch Stuart off well to the lift. The British have been writing all night, but they were imbued with renewed energy, knowing the quarry was so close. It was summer and that dawn begins early. It was just light enough at 3:45 a.m. As they, Kristen arise and the entire bull larger lay before them around 800 yards away, the mountain infantry let go a cheer and who poop, which must have bean a rude awakening to the longer a few odd shots. The wizards of one or two bullets and the whole of our line of over 2000 mounted men set off at a gallop, yelling with delight. The bulls win are trapped between the two franking units as well. The more the bulls shot, the more we yelled. My orders were that none of the men were on any account to stop the lager. There was to be no looting of wagons or waiting to shoot. Our objective was to be the mounted bulls, and the gun we heard was with them. The British knew now that they needed to strike straight towards the most highly mobile off the bullfighters, as thes were the most dangerous. I don't think I've seen a prettier or more exhilarating sight than that wasin the gray of dawn, Am I all streaming away just like a pack of hounds and giving tongue like a red Indians? We have a good long gap off nearly seven miles. The British horses were in good health and easily caught up to the bud's 53. You were taken prisoner. Six cutaways for was shot dead, while the M I had one casualty and officers slightly wounded in the leg. Then an ominous note from Rawlinson. The stand cost the bulls 16 killed, for our men were angry and shot freely when they got closer. It's generally believed that the bulls were shot after surrendering or in the process of surrendering. When your blood is up in the heat of battle, things are hard to control. Still, both sides were conducting themselves in a similar manner at this point in the wall. A few days later, Officer in command of British troops in South Africa, Lord Kitchener, realized that the Eastern Transvaal Boers had been largely crippled and sent Rawlinson and, well, Sampson to the Free State help track down Christiane debate. But he would have the last laugh, at least on Christmas Day. He became or were of the change of British tactics around this time. At the heart of the northeastern corner of the few state is in our Pilger of three small towns. Lindley busy him and rates all grouped in a triangle 40 miles or on 75 kilometers across. After Harbin, aging for a few months, general debate, as we heard last week, was itching to find his brother Pete. It may be Christmas, but he was itching to find him for the wrong reasons. You see, his brother was now fighting for the British as one of general under the scrutineers national scouts, a turncoat if it wanted to kill him. He also wanted to take revenge on the British generally, and the place he did. It was near Bethlehem and ironically on Christmas Day. As Thomas Pakenham says. Indeed, this opportunity was a Christmas present from the local British commanders. It was all because of the Black Houses, which debit, disdained but on this occasion offered him a target. The reason was simple. The weakest point in a line of block houses was always the last one. It's the most vulnerable point on the incomplete line because it is un supported and engineers would still be working on them. And so it was then that just before Christmas, General Rundle had half completed the eastern edge of the great line, 160 kilometers long, which is being built from the rail here, did Harry Smith to link up with the line from crew and stuck. The line had reached a place called Tree of Fontaine, a farm There are 25 miles east orbital. Him Randall made the mistake of allocating a weak force to protect the building. They were weakened, top and quality. Worse, he had further weaken them by breaking up the unit into four groups. The main force comprised of 400 yeoman re and two guns and encamped at Home Corp This was a 200 foot knob of a hill commanding the Convoy road from the south. Randall's own force included a 270 strong group off the Grenadier Guards, 60 mounted infantry and a gun, which he plunked down beside the wagon road. 130 other infantry members of the East Yorks, regarding the actual head off the broadcast line, and a regiment off 400 Irregulars or the Imperial Laterals, were stationed at L'Anse River Bridge, 13 miles east in Chapter 33 of his book, The Three Years Wall Debate Rights. It was time that I accomplished something further, and I determined that the next blow I should strike should be a heavy one,