Sarah Raal's guest appearances

Sarah Raal

The Anglo-Boer War

Theodore Roosevelt

John Rhodes

Hunter Hunts

Douglas Haig

Lord Kitchener

Paul Kruger

Major Vallentin

Jan Smuts

Lord Roberts

John Tengo Jabavu

Louis Botha

Lord Methuen

Gert Bezuidenhout

Deneys Reitz

Karel de Kock

OwlTail

This week General Christiaan De Wet who has been largely dormant for November awakens and begins to leer in the direction of the Cape once more while Sarah Raal continues to ride with Commandant Nieuwoudt and her three brothers but for how long? The presence of a woman fighting alongside the burghers in Nieuwoudt’s commando has become something of a problem for him. He’s worried that she’ll be killed while she simultaneously is creating propaganda for the Boers in her skirts and matching Lee Metford with a hat rimmed with gold, bandolier and serious attitude.The British are highly motivated to track her down so she has now attracting more columns to the Southern Free State. Nieuwoudt has tried already to suggest that she return to some kind of safety in a town  – but Sarah refused to listen as she knew it will be straight to a Concentration Camp which she dreaded.Niewoudt was also threading his way through thousands of British troops and the going become increasingly difficult.

This week General Christiaan De Wet who has been largely dormant for November awakens and begins to leer in the direction of the Cape once more while Sarah Raal continues to ride with Commandant Nieuwoudt and her three brothers but for how long? The presence of a woman fighting alongside the burghers in Nieuwoudt’s commando has become something of a problem for him. He’s worried that she’ll be killed while she simultaneously is creating propaganda for the Boers in her skirts and matching Lee Metford with a hat rimmed with gold, bandolier and serious attitude. The British are highly motivated to track her down so she has now attracting more columns to the Southern Free State. Nieuwoudt has tried already to suggest that she return to some kind of safety in a town – but Sarah refused to listen as she knew it will be straight to a Concentration Camp which she dreaded. Niewoudt was also threading his way through thousands of British troops and the going become increasingly difficult.

Episode 115 – Sarah Raal rides into a trap but the dormant General de Wet awakens

This week’s episode is dominated by a young woman who we heard about last week called Sarah Raal.While some of her exploits have been exaggerated for Nationalist reasons years after the Boer War, there’s no doubt that she was extraordinary by any measure. Remember she is in her early twenties and escaped from Springfontein Concentration Camp outside Bloemfontein heading to join her four brothers who were fighting with Commandant Nieuwoudt who was part of General Herzog’s commando in the Free State. It’s around November 1901 when she joins the commando, and immediately is thrown into the thick of action. Nieuwoudt and his men and one women head off to a place called Boomplaas.“I was apprehensive about going there as it was the scene of my previous capture” she writes in her biography published in English in 2000. The commando ended up in the small settlement of Excelsior which was only to become a town in 1910, well after the war ended. This is where Sarah caught sight of the mountains to the East which loomed in purple and grey tones, and appeared malignant.“The imposing mountains frightened me, they looked so mysterious and full of unknown danger that I felt as if some misfortune may befall us at any moment…” she writes.That was around 50 miles due east of Bloemfontein and the Sarah’s life became increasingly more desperate in the coming weeks. She was to face numerous skirmishes fighting alongside her Boer brothers, and as you’ll hear, Sarah became a target for the British who realised there was a woman fighting against them.

This week’s episode is dominated by a young woman who we heard about last week called Sarah Raal. While some of her exploits have been exaggerated for Nationalist reasons years after the Boer War, there’s no doubt that she was extraordinary by any measure. Remember she is in her early twenties and escaped from Springfontein Concentration Camp outside Bloemfontein heading to join her four brothers who were fighting with Commandant Nieuwoudt who was part of General Herzog’s commando in the Free State. It’s around November 1901 when she joins the commando, and immediately is thrown into the thick of action. Nieuwoudt and his men and one women head off to a place called Boomplaas. “I was apprehensive about going there as it was the scene of my previous capture” she writes in her biography published in English in 2000. The commando ended up in the small settlement of Excelsior which was only to become a town in 1910, well after the war ended. This is where Sarah caught sight of the mountains to the East which loomed in purple and grey tones, and appeared malignant. “The imposing mountains frightened me, they looked so mysterious and full of unknown danger that I felt as if some misfortune may befall us at any moment…” she writes. That was around 50 miles due east of Bloemfontein and the Sarah’s life became increasingly more desperate in the coming weeks. She was to face numerous skirmishes fighting alongside her Boer brothers, and as you’ll hear, Sarah became a target for the British who realised there was a woman fighting against them.

Episode 114 - Sarah Raal "the lady who fought" is bloody but unbowed

Episode 113 covers events happening in November 1901 with six months of the war and this podcast left to run. This week Deneys Reitz and his fellow Boers suddenly realise they should not be wearing British uniforms which they donned after running out of clothing. Lord Kitchener has issued a proclamation that any Boer found clad in British uniforms should be shot out of hand as a spy. We also hear about Sarah Raal - one of the Boer women who actively fought in the war and was eventually made a prisoner of war.Her story was captured at the time in various ways - not least by curious photographers who clustered around a railway line during her transit after being caught fighting as a commando member. Her courage and gall is legendary and has been somewhat buried over time.

Episode 113 covers events happening in November 1901 with six months of the war and this podcast left to run. This week Deneys Reitz and his fellow Boers suddenly realise they should not be wearing British uniforms which they donned after running out of clothing. Lord Kitchener has issued a proclamation that any Boer found clad in British uniforms should be shot out of hand as a spy. We also hear about Sarah Raal - one of the Boer women who actively fought in the war and was eventually made a prisoner of war. Her story was captured at the time in various ways - not least by curious photographers who clustered around a railway line during her transit after being caught fighting as a commando member. Her courage and gall is legendary and has been somewhat buried over time.