South African politician (1882?1944)
Deneys Reitz
(1882?1944), son of
Francis William Reitz
, was a
Boer
warrior who fought in the
Second Boer War
for the
Boer Republics
against the
British Empire
. After a period of exile in
French Madagascar
he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In the
First World War
he fought for the
Union of South Africa
against the
German Empire
, and then was an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions. In later life he was a politician. Deneys Reitz was educated at
Grey College, Bloemfontein
.
While in exile in Madagascar, he wrote about his experience of the Second
Boer War
(1899?1902). When it was eventually edited and published in 1929 as
Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War
, it still had the freshness and detail of an account written soon after the war. The account is unique in that he was present at virtually every major event of the war.
Second Boer War
[
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]
At the age of 17, while visiting his father in
Pretoria
, at the start of the
Second Boer War
, the Field-Cornet's office said he was too young to fight and refused to enlist him. He met his father with the President of the
Transvaal
,
Paul Kruger
, who took him straight to the room of the
Commandant-General
Piet Joubert
. Joubert personally handed him a new
Mauser
carbine
and a
bandolier
of
ammunition
. He and one of his brothers then joined the Boer forces
"by virtue of having thrown our belongings through a carriage window and climbing aboard"
.
During the initial phase of the War, he fought several battles, including the engagement at Surprise Hill (
Vaalkop
) and in the Boer
victory at Spionkop
. After a string of Boer defeats in
set-piece warfare
and the British capture of
Pretoria
, Reitz was one of the fighters who remained in the field. He joined
General Smuts
who decided to conduct
guerrilla
operations, not in the territories of the Boer republics, but in the
Cape Colony
. They faced immense difficulties, both from British forces and from nature, and when the majority did break through to the Cape they were on their last legs.
Battle of Elands River
[
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]
On 17 September 1901, Smuts' commando encountered the
17th Lancers
in the vicinity of
Tarkastad
. Smuts realised that the Lancers' camp was their one opportunity to re-equip themselves with horses, food and clothing. A fierce fight, subsequently to be known as the
Battle of Elands River
, took place, with the Lancers being caught in a cross-fire and suffering heavy casualties. Stunned by the onslaught, the remaining Lancers put up a
white flag
. Reitz encountered Captain Sandeman, the Lancers' commander, and his
lieutenant
Lord Vivian
among the wounded.
[2]
In his book
Commando
, Reitz recounts how Lord Vivian pointed out his
bivouac
tent and told him it would be worth his while to take a look at it. Soon, Reitz, who that morning had been wearing a grain-bag, riding a foundered horse, and carrying an old
Gewehr 1888
rifle with only two rounds of ammunition left, was dressed in a
cavalry
tunic and riding
breeches
, with a superb
mount
, a
Lee-Metford
sporting rifle, and full
bandoliers
.
[3]
Reitz reports that he met Lord Vivian again in London in 1935, on excellent terms.
[4]
(
Thomas Pakenham
, in his introduction to the 1983 Jonathan Ball edition of
Commando
, reports a more elaborate story. In this touching account, Vivian overcame Reitz's reluctance to take the spoils of victory, and presented Reitz's original rifle to him in London in 1943.
[5]
As Vivian died in 1940 this is impossible.
[6]
)
At the end of the war, after remarkable adventures, Smuts' commando had made itself a relatively comfortable base in the west of the Cape Colony and was besieging the garrison of
Okiep, Northern Cape
.
Defeat and exile
[
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]
Reitz formed part of the negotiating delegation from his commando, given passage to meet the delegates from the other commandos still in the field. He reports that
"nothing could have proved more clearly how nearly the Boer cause was spent than these starving, ragged men clad in skins or sacking, their bodies covered in sores, from lack of salt or food, and their appearance was a great shock to us, who came from the better-conditioned forces in the Cape."
Reitz's father was among the signatories of the surrender, but only in his official capacity; he refused to sign himself and was given two weeks to settle his affairs in Pretoria before leaving the country. Deneys felt that he had to stand by his father and so also refused to sign. He left for Madagascar with his brother, where they eked out a living convoying goods by ox-transport
"hard work in dank fever-stricken forests and across mountains sodden with eternal rain"
. In his spare time there he wrote
Commando
, dated 1903 but not published until 1929.
[4]
Return to South Africa, active service, and public life
[
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]
On the advice of his wartime commander,
Jan Smuts
, he returned to South Africa in 1906. The
malaria
he had contracted in Madagascar had so severely affected his health that he collapsed unconscious upon his return to South Africa. He was nursed back to health over three years by Jan Smuts' wife, Isie. He then completed his studies and in 1908 in
Heilbron
began his successful career as a lawyer. In 1914 he helped Smuts suppress the
Maritz Rebellion
in the
Orange Free State
, and he served on Smuts' army staff in the "German West campaign" (in the German colony of
German South West Africa
) and in the "German East campaign" (in
German East Africa
) where he rose to command a mounted regiment. On the
Western Front
during
World War I
he commanded the
First Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
in 1918, after being wounded in late 1917 while serving with 6/7th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. He led his men to the
Rhine
after the
Armistice
, as detailed in his book
Trekking On
.
He joined Smuts'
South African Party
, becoming the member of the
House of Assembly of South Africa
for
Bloemfontein
South, defeating
Colin Steyn
of the
National Party
by 101 votes in the first of their three contests for this seat. His principles during his political career included loyalty to General Smuts, loyalty to the British Empire as guarantor of South African freedom, and harmony between Dutch and English South Africans. He opposed the
Ossewa Brandwag
organisation, which planned to take control of South Africa as soon as Britain had been crushed.
[4]
In 1920 he married
Leila Agnes Buissine Wright
(Cape Town, 13 December 1887 - Cape Town, 29 December 1959). She was a social reformer, an outspoken advocate of women's rights and suffrage for women, and the first woman member of the Assembly (representative for Parktown in Johannesburg, 1933?1944).
On 3 August 1920, Steyn again stood against him in the same constituency. Reitz won again, this time with a majority of 141. In the general election of 1921, Reitz and Steyn contested Bloemfontein South once more. This time Steyn was returned with a majority of 47.
When the Smuts government fell in 1924, Reitz returned to his law practice. In subsequent years he visited the
Kalahari
,
Kaokoveld
, the
Belgian Congo
and
Angola
. His last book,
No Outspan
(1943), describes this period.
The South African Party formed a coalition government with the National Party in 1933, next year establishing the
United Party
. In this government Reitz accepted the office of minister of agriculture and irrigation, later minister of agriculture. In 1939, he became Minister of Native Affairs and Deputy
Prime Minister
until 1943, when he was appointed as South African
High Commissioner
to
London
, where he served until his death in 1944. The photograph shows Reitz as Minister of Native Affairs visiting British army camp Aldershot, 22 November 1939.
He is buried south of
Mariepskop
, approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the
Blyde River
Canyon in
Mpumalanga
.
The Free State town of
Deneysville
is named after him. His law firm,
Deneys Reitz Inc
, became a leader in South Africa, and in 2011 merged with an international law firm.
Published works
[
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]
Three volumes of an autobiography:
- "
Commando: A Boer Journal Of The Boer War
", first published in Great Britain in 1929,
ISBN
0-571-08778-7
- Trekking On
(1933), dealing with the Boer War through World War I, and
- No Outspan
(1943), which covers life in South African politics between the wars and concludes with him as Deputy Prime Minister of South Africa.
Also published in one volume:
- "The Trilogy of Deneys Reitz", by Deneys Reitz, Wolfe Publishing Co., 1994 (Reprint),
ISBN
1-879356-39-2
Other works:
- "God Does Not Forget: The Story of a Boer War Commando"
- "The Long Way Home"
- "No Outspan"
References
[
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]
About Reitz
[
edit
]
- Martin Bossenbroek:
The Boer War
(Transl. by Yvette Rosenberg) Auckland Park (S.A.), Jacana, 2015.
ISBN
978-1-4314-1049-1
.
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