207pp. Softcover. Illustrated. Presentation inscription by author.
Light scuffing to cover edges, otherwise very good throughout.
Prolific military history author, Pat Rundgren, brings back to life the heroes of the battle of Talana fought in Dundee 108 years ago in his new book.His third book, 'The Colonials at Talana: The Colonial medal roll for the Queen's South Africa medal with Talana bar', is aimed at the medal collector.
"A collector wants to know the person who won the medal. What kind of a person was he? Did he have a family? Was he a hero?," said Pat.His previous books on the battles of Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana have been met with a fair bit of controversy.
Especially his account of Rorke's Drift: What really happened, had the purists reaching for their own rifles to take a few shots at the author.Pat's research claimed the Zulu attack on the garrison was nothing more than a 'cattle raid'.
"Sure, there was heroism but with only one British soldier dying for every hour that battle was fought, one can hardly call that an intense battle."That book has sold over 2 000 copies and was a hit in especially the United Kingdom.
His new work on The Colonials at Talana, is not as stormy, although some well-known local names, like Charles Willson, do not get off so lightly.
Get the book and see why!Says Pat: "My new book is about those ordinary citizens of Dundee who were caught up in the maelstrom of war. Civilians with little and often no military training, volunteered to "do their bit" and in so doing, found themselves awarded with a Queen's South Africa medal with a "Talana" clasp to remind them of these harrowing and trying times.According to British Battles and Medals, a soldier qualified for the "Talana" bar to his Queen's South Africa medal if he was "north of an east and west line drawn through Washbank Station" on 20 October 1899.
The book is thus aimed specifically at the medal collector, since every true enthusiast strives to find out something about 'the man behind the medal". It's like resurrecting a man who has been dead for 100 years. Suddenly he breathes again - he becomes a person with human frailties and strengths, instead of a dead and dusty name on some faded parchment in the museum archives.
The Rev. Gerard Bailey, the surprisingly militant and jingoistic priest of St. James' Anglican Church, recorded the relief of the town as follows:"Tuesday May 15 (1900). Relieved! Again safe and sound under British rule!I was out and about by 5:30 a.m. It was a bit misty and I could not see far. I had had a small tree cut down the previous day for a flagstaff and was soon fastening to it the flag I had been in hiding for the past seven months. "Seven months yesterday since that same flag had served as General Penn-Symons' shroud. A hole was dug just outside the General's grave for the flagstaff. I was eager to hoist aloft, but I thought it wiser to be cautious and bide awhile. "There was no knowing where the wily Boer might be hiding. At 7 o'clock a "spider" and a couple of horses came along towards the church.
It was the last of the Boers. I recognised the telegraph clerk; he pulled up. I bade him goodbye and wished him luck.About 8:30 a.m. my coloured gardener came rushing up. He had seen three soldiers. "Up with the flag then". There wasn't a breath of wind, not a breeze for her to wave to. Quite disappointing, but there she was, aloft and proud, the supreme symbol of our freedom, and the end of the weary waiting.
Not many minutes had passed before I was shaking hands with the first man to enter Dundee - Major Henderson.' In the "History of the Hattingspruit Farmer's Association 1904 - 2004":"The farmers in the district suffered considerably. The fluid nature of the war led to indiscriminate appropriation of livestock and property by all and sundry. One farmer and storekeeper, Walter Stein of the farm "Flint" on the Buffalo Flats (Nyanyadu) recalled a Boer commando, which commandeered supplies from his shop.
When the commanding Boer saw what had been taken, he ordered numerous bags of salt, meal and other supplies off-loaded for the Stein family's use. In 1939 Walter's wedding photograph was returned by a member of a family that found it in its possession, and who apologised for the Boers having inadvertently taken it during the war".We are slowly but ever so surely losing our colonial history in these politically correct days.
Before that information is swept away by the winds of change, this book is an attempt to put together an autobiographical Medal roll of as many of the Dundee citizens and colonial troops who fought on the British side at the battle of Talana. If the truth were told, most of them were in the vicinity but were probably just onlookers.I have also added those personalities who were involved in actions around Dundee at approximately the same time.
Extremely colourful characters, they had a major influence in the development of the town. This Roll therefore includes those who, for various reasons, had some connection to the town but who may not have qualified for the "Talana" bar.
- Binding Condition: Very good
- Overall Condition: Very good
- Size: 283mm x 206mm x 12mm
- Sold By: Booktown Africana
- Contact Person: Chris Shelton
- Country: South Africa
- Email: [email protected]
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