The Men Who Would Not March: The Surrender of Concordia, Namaqualand, 4 April 1902

by David Thomas

A pall of fear hung over the prosperous copper-mining fields of Namaqualand in early 1902. A Boer army under General Jan Smuts relentlessly advanced into Namaqualand from the south. Scattered and stretched over the vast expanse of South Africa, the British Army had no hope of stopping them. The British feared reprisals from the Boers for the plundering and destruction of Boer farms in the republican territories of the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

The majority ‘coloured’ population were terrified by the way the Boers had massacred coloureds at the Leliefontein mission station, ruthlessly shooting anyone whom they suspected of working for the British. The coloured population of the mining village of Concordia was in danger, because the menfolk, who in everyday life were mine labourers, had willingly joined a ‘dad’s army’ type of Town Guard raised by the British under martial law. Under orders to march the 15 kilometres to the stronghold of O’okiep when the Boers approached, these men mutinied and stayed in the town to protect their families.

192 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: This profile contains more than one author. Those listed below have multiple books listed on GoodReads.

David Thomas (2^): GR author, historical books about Camborne, Cornwall, England
David Thomas (3^): anthologies, mostly horror
David Thomas (4^): British professor specializing in Christian-Muslim relations
David Thomas (5^): GR author who collaborates on autobiographies
David Thomas (6^): art
David Thomas (7^): math and other educational books
David Thomas (8^): Director of Family Counseling at Daystar Counseling
David Thomas (9^): GR author, memoirs that are vastly different
David Thomas (10^): Theatre & Performance Studies
David Thomas (11^): French poetry
David Thomas (12^): Australian history professor
David Thomas (13^): Former name of Tom Cain, now Diana Thomas
David Thomas (14^): Poet who is a mental health worker from Ohio
David Thomas (15^): British archivist
David Thomas (16^): American, The Ethics of Human Development
David Thomas (17^): musician,lead singer of Pere Ubu
David Thomas (18^): Poet from Michigan, goes by “King David”
David Thomas (19^): cookbooks
David Thomas (20^): children’s books about animals from 1940s-1960s
David Thomas (21^): Welsh, non-fiction
David Thomas (22^): GR author of Worst Wizard
David Thomas (23^): GR author, “micro-fiction”
David Thomas (24^): GR author of the Michael Manners Dream Sequence series
David Thomas (25^): books about the tango
David Thomas (26^): GR author of Luna
David Thomas (27^): books about narcissism
David Thomas (28^): “The Art of Personal Spiritual Warfare” series of books
David Thomas (29^): Dutch children’s books
David Thomas (30^): bee keeping
David Thomas (31^): riddle books
David Thomas (32^): The Night Hunters series
David Thomas (33^): books from 1910s-1940s about typesetting
David Thomas (34^): Print on Demand books
David Thomas (35^): English to ... dictionaries
David Thomas (36^): American retired videogame critic
David Thomas (37^): adult

Reviews

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only was this a well written and well edited book, but extremely interesting and informative; well sourced. Curiosity about our familial roots can send us to many places, figuratively and in reality. (I'm currently on that same journey.)

Having been born and formatively raised in Apartheid South Africa, we learned "approved history" as opposed to FACTUAL history. In reality, though, the same can be said for ALL colonized countries. History is told and recorded by the victors, NOT the vanquished. To me this book represents a microscopic look at the colonized world as it existed during that period of global history, and the collective state they are in today (an unadulterated mess). From the standpoint of the STORY itself, a century later and at a completely different point in global time/history, proves my point. Given the backdrop of economic, societal and political influence at play, the stain on Captain Phillips' name was bound to occur.

I commend the author and his "assistants" in their search for information and TRUTH; even the author's speculations are based on information, or lack thereof, from and FOR both sides of the coin. Captain Phillips came alive! Given the character ascribed to this man, it was inevitable under the circumstances, that the decision was taken to surrender rather than uselessly expend human lives and material in a lost cause. I would have done the same!

My immediate family was forced to leave SA in December 1969, I was 9.5years old. This story, for me, is a fantastic example of "hidden" history; the conqueror's version that dominates the conquered's for decades/centuries thanks to it's "APPROVED HISTORY" status. I learned things that would make, in my mind, the ascendancy of the Nationalist Party (NP) & Apartheid inevitable in post WWII South Africa. (Smuts was a brilliant tactician on & off the battlefield).

My rating is based on ALL mentioned above, including the fact that it was a very entertaining read to follow the journey of discovering WHO Captain Phillips the MAN was and the legacy he left behind in the CHARACTER of his descendants. Based on same, I'd recommend this as a teaching tool to elucidate the discrepancies in "History" (based on "to the winner goes the spoils"). In today's world "Justice is blind", so should history be.

[De Wet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent chunk of Namaqualand war history, aiming to change a few long held beliefs about the nature of the surrender of Concordia in 1902 and the actions of some of the role players. Not necessarily riveting writing, but interesting nonetheless.