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During the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), the British operated concentration camps in the South African Republic, Orange Free State, the Colony of Natal, and the Cape Colony. In February 1900, Lord Kitchener took command of the British forces and implemented controversial tactics that contributed to a British victory. [3]
' Second Freedom War ', 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, [8] Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa.
During the Second Boer War, the British government established prisoner-of-war camps (to hold captured Boer belligerents or fighters) and concentration camps (to hold Boer civilians). In total, six prisoner-of-war camps were erected in South Africa and around 31 in overseas British colonies to hold Boer prisoners of war. [7]
Boer women and children in a Second Boer War concentration camp in South Africa (1899–1902). A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups, on the grounds of state security, or for exploitation or punishment. [1]
Many Boers had German ancestry and many members of the government were themselves former Boer military leaders who had fought with the Maritz rebels against the British in the Second Boer War. The rebellion was put down by Louis Botha and Jan Smuts , and the ringleaders received heavy fines and terms of imprisonment.
Boer civilians watching British soldiers burn down their homestead, Second Boer War.. British war crimes are acts committed by the armed forces of the United Kingdom that have violated the laws and customs of war since the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, from the Boer War to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
Harry Harbord "Breaker" Morant (1900). Peter Joseph Handcock (1900). Lieutenant G.R. Witton, Bushveldt Carbineers (1901). Pardons for Morant, Handcock and Witton, three Australian soldiers, were sought from their court-martial convictions for the murder of Boer prisoners-of-war and local civilians during the Second Boer War.
The Cape government mobilised the Colonial Forces to guard railways and other lines of communication, while the British Army struggled to relieve the besieged towns. Later, units were assigned to British formations in the field, and one was detailed to escort Boer prisoners of war to Saint Helena and Ceylon.