Another book to add to the list.
Viva os Boers! - This is a book for the connoisseur. Cultural historian Professor OJO Ferreira tells the story of a piece of concealed history: the strange experiences of Boers who surrender and spent the greater part of the Anglo-Boer War in Portugal.
The situation of the 1,019 internee Boers in Portugal was totally different to prisoners of war in St Helena, Bermuda, Ceylon or other corners of the earth. They had far greater freedom of movement than the prisoners of war, and were detained in far more comfortable circumstances.
They were shipped to Portugal as a result of an international treaty signed on July 29, 1899 in the Dutch city of The Hague. In terms of the treaty, a neutral power that allowed troops of a combating power on its territory, had to detain those troops as far as possible from the war front.
When a group of Boers surrendered at Komatipoort, moving into Mozambique, Portugal had been the farthest point the Portuguese colonial powers could think of.
The Boers were shipped to Portugal at great cost, where they remained for the duration of the war in buildings such as monasteries, barracks and other localities the authorities prepared for them.
Ferreira tells the story full of imagery and uses countless illustrations, photos and other references to cultural interaction.
The Portuguese public loved the Boers and took every opportunity of applauding them (hence the title of the book) and playing the anthems of the ZAR and the Free State. This was cause for great embarrassment to the Portuguese authorities, whose oldest ally had been Britain.
A surprising sense of humour crops up every now and again. Initially the Portuguese residents of Caldas da Rainha found the Boers over enthusiastic singing a trifle disturbing because of its volume. After a long struggle the authorities agreed to their singing, but only if quietly, resulting in an announcement by the parson: "Sing quietly but at the top of your voices Psalm 96:1 and 3."
The book is beautifully bound and published on glossy paper. It is meant for the true connoisseur of history. Ordinary readers might find it a trifle specialised: it had been a small group of people involved in a much greater war. However, it remains a good story and is an excellent and detailed piece of research.
Source:
www.news24.com/xArchive/Archive/Boer-sol...in-Portugal-20001126