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'Old Enough To Fight' by Dan Black and John Boileau. Primarily about Canada's underage soldiers of the Great War this excellent book also covers the boy soldier tradition and we get six pages, including two illustrations, on Canadian boys in the ABW - Douglas Williams and Edward McCormick.

Amazing, the book relates the attempt by a nine year-old boy to enlist in 1916, in order to be with his father who was overseas. He was sent home to get his mother's permission and, amazingly, she gave it, signing a letter. Thankfully, he was rejected.

There's much sadness in some of the accounts of the boys' experiences in battle, as you'd expect. Well-written, with some astonishing photos - how on earth did some of these children get to the front? - even though it's in no way ABW-specific it's well worth looking for.

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I encountered the book "Plumer's Men" by Robert S. Burrell (ISBN 13:978-1-920169-55-8) upon AMAZON some time ago. I should note that I have no financial connection with - or interest in - AMAZON apart from buying the occasional item on-line. I have always had an interest in the Relief of Mafeking and I set it aside for holiday reading.
The author of the book makes some interesting remarks in his Preface; that the events leading up to the Relief have been forgotten because the relief forces did not suffer the devastating setbacks that happened elsewhere. He also commented that media coverage on the Rhodesia front was under represented (there being only a single Reuter's man embedded - and he was anyway injured); no Churchills or Conan Doyles!
Burrell also comments that he has attempted to clarify Hickman's narrative ("Rhodesia Served the Queen" Vols 1 and 2) and honestly admits that "many gaps" remain.
This book is soft-bound and some of the illustrations are occasionally a bit muddy. The author explains that the original intention was to print in full colour and reasons of cost led to black-and-white.
I regard the book as being a useful addition to my shelves.
Regards IL.

Best book on the ABW is a trilogy by Deneys Reitz called Adrift on the Open Veld. A lot of insight into the hardships and day to day life.

A farmer in the Orange Free State has privately published a small, but remarkable book on the Boer War It is:

With Saint Barbara in South Africa. Field Notes of the Anglo-Boer War. By Captain Otto von Lossberg, Battery Commander of the Boer Artillery.

The book contains several interesting prefaces and postscripts about von Lossberg, with explanations of the circumstances and the family members who saw to the book's publication. The 'Field Notes' themselves give what is perhaps a unique insight into the events and personalities of the War by a foreign officer serving with the Boers. Captain von Lossberg was a German artillery officer who emigrated to the United States, where he was described as a "prominent military journalist". His 'Field Notes' were published in German in 1903, and now for the first time they can read in English.

I found the book both very interesting and very informative.

Other remarkable facts about this book are that it is available only from the man who had it published, and some copies are still available from him at no cost.

It is clearly inappropriate to publish this man's name and contact details on an open forum, so anyone interested in acquiring a copy should send me an e-mail or Private Message and I will pass on the relevant information to them.

Brett

Good heavens Brett, quite frankly, I do think Hauptmann Von Lossberg would have sounded rather more suitably Wagnerian.

My "go to " book is the "Veterinary History". To my mind a much under quoted reference. Not only is Smith an excellent writer and knowledgeable too but he presents the war in a different perspective.





Here is his description of Sanna's Post. The devastation. Imagine a 1000 odd corpses littering the battlefield.