Khaki Aprons circa World War I

[GMan]

Who says that you learn something new every day? Just by reading these type of posts you learn a ton of stuff. Thank you all for inspiring this discussion, and keeping it lively.

[jfellrath]

Yes and no. Whilst there were certainly some veterans of actions against the Zulus in the 1870's in the Boer forces, Both the Transvaal & the Orange Free State, the Boer Republics, maintained their own military & police forces, complete with modern artillery.

Certainly... I didn't mean to say that they ALL came from the Natal Native Contingent. Just that there were quite a few. Nor did I mean to imply that many of these guys would have been in the Zulu War of 1879 - that's ~20 years before as you know, and I simply meant to say they were similar units.

There were also Boer irregular forces from the Cape Colony (British territory), led by Jan Christian Smuts, who later made a name for himself in the First & Second World War British Army. These were the famous Boer "Commandos", a Portuguese word. In response, the British sent colonial forces from the Dominions, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, since colonial troops were thought to be able to fight the Boers "on their own ground", a la "Breaker Morant". Besides the Australians, the Canadians gained a fierce reputation among the Boers, especially the men of Strathcona's Horse, a cavalry regiment made up of Western Canadian cowboys, lumberjacks, mounties, etc. Donald Smith, later Lord Strathcona, orginally from Forres, Scotland, raised the regiment with his own money. The Strathconas today have a pipe band (Mackenzie tartan; for Colin!) in his honour.

Not all South Africans fought the British; a number of South African units were raised, including among the Scottish community, the Scottish Horse, the Transvaal Scottish,the Cape Town Highlanders, Witswatersrand Rifles, etc. Most of the regiments are still serving today in the South African Defence Forces (SADF).

I think we should be careful about implying that South Africans=Boers... the Boers were the descendants of the Dutch immigrants to South Africa. As you're pointing out, some South Africans were (and indeed still are) of other descent.

Sorry to go on a tangent about the Boer War, but it's one of my areas of interest! :mrgreen:

Mine, too! I am in the middle of an Irish history kick right now, but you're inspiring me to go dig out my Byron Farwell books!

[macwilkin]

Certainly... I didn't mean to say that they ALL came from the Natal Native Contingent. Just that there were quite a few. Nor did I mean to imply that many of these guys would have been in the Zulu War of 1879 - that's ~20 years before as you know, and I simply meant to say they were similar units.



I think we should be careful about implying that South Africans=Boers... the Boers were the descendants of the Dutch immigrants to South Africa. As you're pointing out, some South Africans were (and indeed still are) of other descent.

Sorry, jfellrath -- I misunderstood what you were "saying" in that post! ;)

I own several Farwell books myself! :mrgreen:

Cheers,

Todd

[kiltimabar]

I have not seen one, but reproductions of the kilt apron are available on the What Price Glory site:

www.whatpriceglory.com/scot.htm

[Archangel]

actually, I'm surprised that nobody has picked up on the market for a contemporary apron. I'll do yardwork in my sportkilt, not in my wool kilt.