The Boer Commandos or "Kommandos" were volunteer military units of guerillamilitia organized by the Boer people of South Africa. From this came the term "commando" into the English language during the Second Boer War of 1899-1902 as per Costica Andrew.
In 1658, war erupted between the Dutch settlers at Cape Colony and the Khoi-khoi. In order to protect the settlement, all able bodied men were conscripted. After the conclusion of this war, all men in the colony were liable for military service and were expected to be ready on short notice.
By 1700, the size of the colony had increased immensely and it was divided into districts. The small military garrison stationed at the Castle de Goede Hoop could not be counted on to react swiftly in the border districts, therefore the commando system was expanded and formalized. Each district had a Kommandant who was charged with calling up all burghers in times of need. In 1795, with the First British Occupation and again in 1806 with the Second British Occupation, the commandos were called up to defend the Cape Colony. At the Battle of Blaauwberg (6 January 1806), the Swellendam Commando held the British off long enough for the rest of the Batavian army to retreat to safety.
Under British rule, the Cape Colony continued to use the commando system in its frontier wars, in addition to regular British imperial troops. Boer commandos fought alongside Fengu, British settlers, Khoi-khoi and other ethnic groups in units which were often mixed. Light, mobile commandos were undeniably better-suited than the slow-moving columns of imperial troops, for warfare in the rough frontier mountains. However, tensions often arose in the Cape's government over the relative merits and control of these two parallel military systems.[1]
During the Great Trek, this system was used and remained in use in the Boer republics. Both republics issued commando laws, making commando service mandatory in times of need for all male citizens between the ages of 16 and 60. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) the Boer commando formed the backbone of the Boer forces.
After the declaration of peace in 1902, the commandos were disbanded. They did re-form themselves in clandestine "shooting clubs". In 1912, the commandos were re-formed as an Active Citizen Force in the Union Defence Force. This system was in operation until 2005, when all commandos were disbanded again.
Boer Commando with captured British prisoners during the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902)
Each commando was attached to a town, after which it was named (e.g. Bloemfontein Commando). Each town was responsible for a district, divided into wards. The commando was commanded by a kommandant and each ward by a veldkornet or field cornet (equivalent of a senior NCO rank)
The veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers, but also for policing his ward, collecting taxes, issuing firearms and other materiel in times of war. Theoretically, a ward was divided into corporalships. A corporalship was usually made up of about 20 burghers. Sometimes entire families (fathers, sons, uncles, cousins) filled a corporalship.
The veldkornet was responsible to the kommandant, who in turn was responsible to a general. In theory, a general was responsible for four commandos. He in turn was responsible to the commander-in-chief of the republic. In the Transvaal, the C-in-C was called the Commandant-General and in the Free State the Hoofdkommandant (Chief Commandant). The C-in-C was responsible to the president.
Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time, such as vleiskorporaal ("meat corporal"), responsible for issuing rations.
The commando was made up of volunteers, all officers were appointed by the members of the commando, and not by the government. This gave a chance for some commanders to appear, such as General Koos de la Rey and General C. R. de Wet, but also had the disadvantage of sometimes putting inept commanders in charge. Discipline was also a problem, as there was no real way of enforcing it.
The various Boer republics did not all have the same command structure.[2]
Weaponry
Before the Second Boer War, the republics' most popular rifle was the .450 Westley Richards, a falling-block, single-action, breech-loading model rifle, with accuracy up to 600 yards. Some were marked "Made Specially For Z.A.R.".[3] These were similar to the Martini-Henry Mark II rifles used by British troops.[4][5] A book about the war (J. Lehmann's The First Boer War, 1972) offered this comment about the Boers' rifle: "Employing chiefly the very fine breech-loading Westley Richards - calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually - they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline".[6]
Mauser 1895 bolt action rifle (at the Auckland Museum)
For the Anglo-Boereoorlog ("Anglo-Boer War"), Paul Kruger, President of the South African Republic, re-equipped the army, importing 37,000 of the latest Mauser Model 1895 rifles[7] and some 40 to 50 million rounds of 7x57 ammunition.[8] The Model 1895 was also known as "Boer Model" Mauser [9] and was marked “O.V.S” (Oranje Vrij Staat) just above the serial number.[10] This German-made rifle had a firing range exceeding 2,000 yards. Experienced shooters could achieve excellent long-range accuracy.[11] Some commandos used the Martini-Henry Mark III, since thousands of these had also been purchased; the drawback was the large puff of white smoke after firing which gave away the shooter's position.[12][13]
Roughly 7,000 Guedes 1885 rifles were also purchased a few years earlier and these were used during the hostilities.[14]
Others used captured British rifles such as the "long" Lee-Metford and the Enfield, as confirmed by photographs from the era.[15][16] When the ammunition for the Mausers ran out,[17] the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee-Metfords.[18][19]
Regardless of the rifle, few of the commando used bayonets.[20][21]
Australian troops with a QF 1-pounder Maxim auto cannon captured from the Boers, circa 1901
The best modern European artillery was also purchased. By October 1899 the Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns, including four 155 mm Creusot fortress guns[22] and 25 of the 37 mm Maxim Nordenfeldt guns.[23] The Boers' Maxim, larger than the Maxim model used by the British,[24] was a large caliber, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute; it became known as the "Pom Pom".[25]
^Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Guns of the Boer Commandos". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
^Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Guns of the Boer Commandos". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
^Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Guns of the Boer Commandos". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
^Association, National Rifle. "An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Guns of the Boer Commandos". An Official Journal Of The NRA. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
^Hall, Darrell (1999). The Hall Handbook of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press. pp. 13–17. ISBN9780869809495.
Sources
Wessels, André (2000). "Afrikaners at War". In Gooch, John (ed.). The Boer War: Direction, Experience and Image. London: Cass.
Bester, R. (1994). Boer Rifles and Carbines of the Anglo–Boer War. Bloemfontein: War Museum of the Boer Republics.
January 31, 2023
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Not to be confused with Commando System South Africa or Kommandokorps The Boer Commandos or Kommandos were volunteer military units of guerilla militia organized by the Boer people of South Africa From this came the term commando into the English language during the Second Boer War of 1899 1902 as per Costica Andrew KommandoActive1850s 1902Country South African Republic amp Orange Free StateBranchMilitiaTypeGuerilla fighter Military volunteerEngagementsBoer Wars Xhosa Wars Contents 1 History 2 Structure 3 Weaponry 4 List of Boer Commando units 4 1 Orange Free State 4 2 Transvaal 5 See also 6 References and notes 6 1 SourcesHistory Edit Boer Commando in action during the First Boer War 1881 In 1658 war erupted between the Dutch settlers at Cape Colony and the Khoi khoi In order to protect the settlement all able bodied men were conscripted After the conclusion of this war all men in the colony were liable for military service and were expected to be ready on short notice By 1700 the size of the colony had increased immensely and it was divided into districts The small military garrison stationed at the Castle de Goede Hoop could not be counted on to react swiftly in the border districts therefore the commando system was expanded and formalized Each district had a Kommandant who was charged with calling up all burghers in times of need In 1795 with the First British Occupation and again in 1806 with the Second British Occupation the commandos were called up to defend the Cape Colony At the Battle of Blaauwberg 6 January 1806 the Swellendam Commando held the British off long enough for the rest of the Batavian army to retreat to safety Under British rule the Cape Colony continued to use the commando system in its frontier wars in addition to regular British imperial troops Boer commandos fought alongside Fengu British settlers Khoi khoi and other ethnic groups in units which were often mixed Light mobile commandos were undeniably better suited than the slow moving columns of imperial troops for warfare in the rough frontier mountains However tensions often arose in the Cape s government over the relative merits and control of these two parallel military systems 1 During the Great Trek this system was used and remained in use in the Boer republics Both republics issued commando laws making commando service mandatory in times of need for all male citizens between the ages of 16 and 60 During the Anglo Boer War 1899 1902 the Boer commando formed the backbone of the Boer forces After the declaration of peace in 1902 the commandos were disbanded They did re form themselves in clandestine shooting clubs In 1912 the commandos were re formed as an Active Citizen Force in the Union Defence Force This system was in operation until 2005 when all commandos were disbanded again Structure Edit The Commando assembled from Pretoria in 1899 Boer Commando with captured British prisoners during the Anglo Boer War 1899 1902 Each commando was attached to a town after which it was named e g Bloemfontein Commando Each town was responsible for a district divided into wards The commando was commanded by a kommandant and each ward by a veldkornet or field cornet equivalent of a senior NCO rank The veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers but also for policing his ward collecting taxes issuing firearms and other materiel in times of war Theoretically a ward was divided into corporalships A corporalship was usually made up of about 20 burghers Sometimes entire families fathers sons uncles cousins filled a corporalship The veldkornet was responsible to the kommandant who in turn was responsible to a general In theory a general was responsible for four commandos He in turn was responsible to the commander in chief of the republic In the Transvaal the C in C was called the Commandant General and in the Free State the Hoofdkommandant Chief Commandant The C in C was responsible to the president Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time such as vleiskorporaal meat corporal responsible for issuing rations The commando was made up of volunteers all officers were appointed by the members of the commando and not by the government This gave a chance for some commanders to appear such as General Koos de la Rey and General C R de Wet but also had the disadvantage of sometimes putting inept commanders in charge Discipline was also a problem as there was no real way of enforcing it The various Boer republics did not all have the same command structure 2 Weaponry EditBefore the Second Boer War the republics most popular rifle was the 450 Westley Richards a falling block single action breech loading model rifle with accuracy up to 600 yards Some were marked Made Specially For Z A R 3 These were similar to the Martini Henry Mark II rifles used by British troops 4 5 A book about the war J Lehmann s The First Boer War 1972 offered this comment about the Boers rifle Employing chiefly the very fine breech loading Westley Richards calibre 45 paper cartridge percussion cap replaced on the nipple manually they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline 6 Mauser 1895 bolt action rifle at the Auckland Museum For the Anglo Boereoorlog Anglo Boer War Paul Kruger President of the South African Republic re equipped the army importing 37 000 of the latest Mauser Model 1895 rifles 7 and some 40 to 50 million rounds of 7x57 ammunition 8 The Model 1895 was also known as Boer Model Mauser 9 and was marked O V S Oranje Vrij Staat just above the serial number 10 This German made rifle had a firing range exceeding 2 000 yards Experienced shooters could achieve excellent long range accuracy 11 Some commandos used the Martini Henry Mark III since thousands of these had also been purchased the drawback was the large puff of white smoke after firing which gave away the shooter s position 12 13 Roughly 7 000 Guedes 1885 rifles were also purchased a few years earlier and these were used during the hostilities 14 Others used captured British rifles such as the long Lee Metford and the Enfield as confirmed by photographs from the era 15 16 When the ammunition for the Mausers ran out 17 the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee Metfords 18 19 Regardless of the rifle few of the commando used bayonets 20 21 Australian troops with a QF 1 pounder Maxim auto cannon captured from the Boers circa 1901 The best modern European artillery was also purchased By October 1899 the Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns including four 155 mm Creusot fortress guns 22 and 25 of the 37 mm Maxim Nordenfeldt guns 23 The Boers Maxim larger than the Maxim model used by the British 24 was a large caliber belt fed water cooled auto cannon that fired explosive rounds smokeless ammunition at 450 rounds per minute it became known as the Pom Pom 25 Other weapons in use included Mauser C96 pistol Colt Single Action Army revolver Remington Model 1875 revolver Remington Rolling Block rifle Winchester rifle Vetterli rifle Krag Jorgensen rifle Kropatschek rifle Lee Enfield 26 Lee Metford 27 Martini Henry 28 Guedes rifle 29 List of Boer Commando units EditThe following Boer commandos existed in the Orange Free State and Transvaal 30 Orange Free State Edit Bethlehem Bethulie Bloemfontein Boshof Bothaville Brandfort Caledon River Edenburg Fauresmith Ficksburg Frankfort Harrismith Heilbron Hoopstad Jacobsdal Kroonstad Ladybrand Lindley Parys Philippolis Rouxville Senekal Smithfield Thaba Nchu Ventersburg Vrede Vredefort Wepener Winburg Transvaal Edit Amsterdam Bethal Bloemhof Boksburg Carolina Christiana Elandsfontein Elands River Ermelo Fordsburg Germiston Heidelberg Jeppestown Johannesburg Klerksdorp Krugersdorp Lichtenburg Lydenburg Marico Middelburg Piet Retief Potchefstroom Pretoria Rustenburg Standerton Swaziland Utrecht Vryheid Wakkerstroom Waterberg Wolmaransstad Zoutpansberg ZwartruggensSee also EditCommando Kommando Military history of South Africa Mounted infantry South African Commando System First Boer War Second Boer War Xhosa Wars Transvaal Civil WarReferences and notes Edit RD staff 1996 Xhosa Wars Reader s Digest Family Encyclopedia of World History The Reader s Digest Association Angloboerwar website Archived 2009 07 26 at the Wayback Machine https www labuschagne info small arms htm Small Arms of the Boer War http samilitaryhistory org vol052fm html Firearms and Firepower First War of Independence 1880 1881 https www bbc co uk history british victorians boer wars 01 shtml Boer Wars http samilitaryhistory org vol052fm html Firearms and Firepower First War of Independence 1880 1881 https www americanrifleman org articles 2016 6 1 the guns of the boer commandos The Guns of the Boer Commandos Bester 1994 p page needed Wessels 2000 p 80 The Model 1893 95 Boer Model Mauser Shooting Times Retrieved 2016 03 18 https www shootingtimes com editorial longgun reviews st boermodel 201007 99362 The Model 1893 95 Boer Model Mauser https books google ca books id kWuuAAAAQBAJ amp pg PA93 amp dq second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser 5D amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwji aKNwqHkAhVrUt8KHbJuAf84ChDoAQhIMAU v onepage amp q second 20boer 20war 20 20weapons 20artillery 20commandos 20 20Mauser 5D amp f false The Rocky Road to the Great War The Evolution of Trench Warfare to 1914 page 93 https www tactical life com firearms second boer war rifles 6 Rifles Used by the Afrikaners During the Second Boer War https books google ca books id WfovAQAAIAAJ amp q second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser 5D amp dq second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser 5D amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwjM68WbvqHkAhVtZN8KHVyuA4oQ6AEITzAG Life on Commando during the Anglo Boer War 1899 1902 page 81 https www tactical life com firearms second boer war rifles 6 Rifles Used by the Afrikaners During the Second Boer War https www americanrifleman org articles 2016 6 1 the guns of the boer commandos The Guns of the Boer Commandos https www bbc co uk history british victorians boer wars 01 shtml The Boer Wars Second Boer War https www americanrifleman org articles 2016 6 1 the guns of the boer commandos The Guns of the Boer Commandos https books google ca books id 0dlBAAAAYAAJ amp q first boer war weapons artillery burghers Westley Richards amp dq first boer war weapons artillery burghers Westley Richards amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwicq568u6HkAhWhl AKHQEvBn4Q6AEINTAC Five Hundred Years A History of South Africa page 330 https books google ca books id xbKdCwAAQBAJ amp pg PA38 amp dq second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser 5D amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwjM68WbvqHkAhVtZN8KHVyuA4oQ6AEINDAC v onepage amp q second 20boer 20war 20 20weapons 20artillery 20commandos 20 20Mauser 5D amp f false Mauser Military Rifles page 39 https books google ca books id CVy4AQAAQBAJ amp pg PT98 amp dq boer war did not use bayonets commando amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwja4sXzuKPkAhXLZd8KHexDCLsQ6AEIPjAD v onepage amp q boer 20war 20did 20not 20use 20bayonets 20commando amp f false The Boer War Direction Experience and Image https books google ca books id xbKdCwAAQBAJ amp pg PA38 amp dq boer war did not use bayonets boer commando amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwiOga2yuaPkAhXGq1kKHTs3B7oQ6AEIKjAA v onepage amp q boer 20war 20did 20not 20use 20bayonets 20boer 20commando amp f false Mauser Military Rifles page 37 https books google ca books id cgMwAQAAIAAJ amp q second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser Martini Henry amp dq second boer war weapons artillery commandos Mauser Martini Henry amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwjq aWbw6HkAhUmmeAKHbB2CQYQ6AEIUDAG From Belmont to Bloemfontein the western campaign of the Anglo Boer War page 22 Wessels 2000 p 80 https books google ca books id cNnSDFv7J1IC amp pg PA56 amp dq second boer war Boer 27s Maxim Nordenfelt amp hl en amp sa X amp ved 0ahUKEwjq97LgyqHkAhVmm AKHdf4DcUQ6AEIMzAB v onepage amp q second 20boer 20war 20Boer s 20 20 20Maxim Nordenfelt amp f false Doing Canada Proud The Second Boer War and the Battle of Paardeberg page 56 http www smallarmsreview com display article cfm idarticles 2490 SOUTH AFRICA S NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MILITARY HISTORY Association National Rifle An Official Journal Of The NRA The Guns of the Boer Commandos An Official Journal Of The NRA Retrieved 2022 12 11 Association National Rifle An Official Journal Of The NRA The Guns of the Boer Commandos An Official Journal Of The NRA Retrieved 2022 12 11 Association National Rifle An Official Journal Of The NRA The Guns of the Boer Commandos An Official Journal Of The NRA Retrieved 2022 12 11 Association National Rifle An Official Journal Of The NRA The Guns of the Boer Commandos An Official Journal Of The NRA Retrieved 2022 12 11 Hall Darrell 1999 The Hall Handbook of the Anglo Boer War 1899 1902 Pietermaritzburg University of Natal Press pp 13 17 ISBN 9780869809495 Sources Edit Wessels Andre 2000 Afrikaners at War In Gooch John ed The Boer War Direction Experience and Image London Cass Bester R 1994 Boer Rifles and Carbines of the Anglo Boer War Bloemfontein War Museum of the Boer Republics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boer Commando amp oldid 1134016445, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
