Trekking On: A Boer Journal of World War One

by Deneys Reitz

On the 31st of May, 1902, the war in South Africa came to an end after three adventurous years.

Now Reitz would join the war in Europe.

Following his father’s example, Deneys Reitz refused to accept the terms of the peace treaty and went into exile, on Madagascar.

After four years of trials and adventures, Reitz recounts how his former commander, J. C. Smuts, eventually persuaded him to return home to help rebuild their country.

A long and troubled process, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War South Africans were further divided by the September 1914 rebellion.

Serving alongside Smuts once more, Reitz describes an oft-overlooked theatre of the war as they continued their campaign into Germany’s African Colonies.

Continuing immediately from Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War, Reitz’s stirring memoir carries him towards the Western Front and the final years of the war, fighting with the British, but not for them.

Deneys Reitz (1882-1944) was a Boer solider, lawyer, author and politician. After commanding the 1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front, at the end of the First World War he returned home, later becoming a member of the South African government. Trekking On is the second of three volumes he wrote about his life.


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Genres: Africa, South Africa, Nonfiction, History

310 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2016

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant follow up book by Reitz after his Boer War experiences in Commando. This begins with him being back in South Africa after exile in Madagascar and with the split of the old Boer leaders over the start of World War 1 and South Africa joining the British side just more than a decade after being enemies, and these politics between the Unionists and the Nationalists also comes out in the book. Reitz again had a very colorful service record during the war, he was part of suppressing the Rebellion of 1914 in South Africa, fought in the German Southwest and East African campaigns and then on the Western Front where he was wounded twice and ended up commanding a battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers towards the end of the war and ending up doing occupation duty in Germany after the war.

Like in Commando he really takes you along for the journey and his descriptions of the events happening around him is very vivid, as this was written in 1933 with the events still relatively fresh in his mind. He himself was a brave man and this is a highly recommended book to see what the war was like from a great writers' perspective.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific read. I relish reading of conflict from a true leaders view point.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The man writes in a candid, humble and concise manner. Everything about him reminds me of David Smiley (Albanian Assignment). There is a duty and it has to be carried. He recognised this for both himself and his enemies. The horrors he faced would be unacceptable to those of today. Those like Deneys Reitz had an inner strength - a strength in their own minds - duty first.

[Keath Gaitskell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great sequel to Commando. Reitz's life was an incredible adventure and worthy of a movie or two. The book is easy to read, and his style is simple, which keeps the momentum going with ease. The brevity of his writing style makes his descriptions of the carnage of 1918 somehow even more horrific, and one wonders how you experience what he did and still remain sane. Highly recommend this book to anyone wanting an eyewitness account to the devastating events of 1914-1918.

[Nicolas de Wet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insanely good read! Must read for any South African who’d like to understand post Boer War SA, and the early years of Union. Reitz’s writing style makes this book impossible to put down.

[Tim De Wet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quintessential tale of a human being who has experienced more than his share of the horror of war,but comes away with a stronger belief in the essential good of most of humankind.A brave,canny and resourceful soldier who always strives to do his duty,he generally bears no malice against those trying their best to kill him (and there are many close shaves),and recognises that the humans he is pitted against are merely reciprocating what he is doing from the vantage point of their own perceived duty...

[MR RH LEONARD · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic tail.

This is a very good read old chap. Deneys Reitz, a Dutchman fighting for the British in ww1. What a conflict that was. A book that must be read, but first read Commando by Deneys Reitz. He is a true hero a man of great, strength, courage and intelligence. His demand of English in writing these books is exemplary.

[Alistair Daynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rare gem of a book, lasting 100+ years and still so so strong. Simply written, incredible storytelling and a life that was lived beyond what I believed was possible. It’s as though Deneyz Reitz lived an extraordinary life just to write a book about it. Well played

[D.M. Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic

Reitz is once again at war, first of all in East Africa then in Europe.
He was a remarkable man and a good writer, giving a clear picture of contemporary attitudes and of the horrors of war.
Well worth reading.

[Dan Hopkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent!

It is truly extraordinary just how many times the author narrowly escaped death. I counted him as listing about 63 times that shells landed very near to him, sometimes killing others nearby, as well as bullets and other explosions

[Tony Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with a real feeling of what the troops on the ground went through

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is well written and his style is engaging. I thought the accounts of South African history - the Boer War, the 1914 rebellion the German West Africa and German East African campaigns were very interesting. But I found the second half of the book rather tedious. Here the author deals with the trench warfare in France during WWI in a manner which makes it more a list of engagements than the horror it was. It lacks a detailed description of conditions so as to create the atmosphere for the reader. Perhaps 3.5 stars is more accurate.

[Garth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the Boer War, Deneys Reitz serves in the First World War.

Interestingly, his book intersects with some of the incidents my grandfather wrote of in his personal diaries in the same campaigns.

[Willie Laing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice read

You have to been to war to appreciate this work. Enjoyed it but some maps would make it easier to follow