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Deneys Reitz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1882-04-02)2 April 1882[1] |
| Died | 19 October 1944(1944-10-19) (aged 62)[1] |
| Resting place | Magale,Mariepskop 24°33′56″S30°53′37″E / 24.56556°S 30.89361°E /-24.56556; 30.89361 |
| Citizenship |  South Africa |
| Occupation(s) | Soldier, attorney, author, cabinet minister, andHigh Commissioner[1] |
| Known for | High Commissioner of South Africa to the United Kingdom from 1943 to 1944 |
| Spouse | Leila Agnes Buissiné Wright (1887–1959)[1] |
| Children | Jan Deneys Reitz (1920–2003) Claude Michael Deneys Reitz (1923–1952) |
| Parent(s) | Francis William Reitz, Blanka Thesen[1] |
Deneys Reitz (3 April 1882 – 19 October 1944), son ofFrancis William Reitz, was aBoer soldier who fought in theSecond Boer War for theBoer Republics against theBritish Empire. After a period of exile inFrench Madagascar he returned to South Africa, where he became a lawyer and founded a major South African law firm. In theFirst World War he fought for theUnion of South Africa against theGerman Empire, and then was an officer in the British Army, commanding several battalions. In later life he was a politician. Deneys Reitz was educated atGrey College, Bloemfontein.
While in exile in Madagascar, Reitz wrote about his experiences as a Boer soldier. His recollections were published in 1929 asCommando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. The account is unique in that he was present at virtually every major event of the war.
At the age of 17, while visiting his father inPretoria, at the start of theSecond Boer War, the Field-Cornet's office said he was too young to fight and refused to enlist him. He met his father with the President of theTransvaal,Paul Kruger, who took him straight to the room of theCommandant-GeneralPiet Joubert. Joubert personally handed him a newMausercarbine and abandolier ofammunition. He and one of his brothers then joined the Boer forces"by virtue of having thrown our belongings through a carriage window and climbing aboard".
During the initial phase of the War, he fought several battles, including the engagement at Surprise Hill (Vaalkop) and in the Boervictory at Spionkop. After a string of Boer defeats inset-piece warfare and the British capture ofPretoria, Reitz was one of the fighters who remained in the field. He joinedGeneral Smuts who decided to conductguerrilla operations, not in the territories of the Boer republics, but in theCape Colony. They faced immense difficulties, both from British forces and from nature, and when the majority did break through to the Cape they were on their last legs.
On 17 September 1901, Smuts' commando encountered the17th Lancers in the vicinity ofTarkastad. Smuts realised that the Lancers' camp was their one opportunity to re-equip themselves with horses, food and clothing. A fierce fight, subsequently to be known as theBattle of Elands River, took place, with the Lancers being caught in a cross-fire and suffering heavy casualties. Stunned by the onslaught, the remaining Lancers put up awhite flag. Reitz encountered Captain Sandeman, the Lancers' commander, and hislieutenantLord Vivian among the wounded.[2]
In his bookCommando, Reitz recounts how Lord Vivian pointed out hisbivouac tent and told him it would be worth his while to take a look at it. Soon, Reitz, who that morning had been wearing a grain-bag, riding a foundered horse, and carrying an oldGewehr 1888 rifle with only two rounds of ammunition left, was dressed in acavalry tunic and ridingbreeches, with a superbmount, aLee-Metford sporting rifle, and fullbandoliers.[3] Reitz reports that he met Lord Vivian again in London in 1935, on excellent terms.[4]
(Thomas Pakenham, in his introduction to the 1983 Jonathan Ball edition ofCommando, reports a more elaborate story. In this touching account, Vivian overcame Reitz's reluctance to take the spoils of victory, and presented Reitz's original rifle to him in London in 1943.[5] As Vivian died in 1940 this is impossible.[6])
At the end of the war, after remarkable adventures, Smuts' commando had made itself a relatively comfortable base in the west of the Cape Colony and was besieging the garrison ofOkiep, Northern Cape.
Reitz formed part of the negotiating delegation from his commando, given passage to meet the delegates from the other commandos still in the field. He reports that"nothing could have proved more clearly how nearly the Boer cause was spent than these starving, ragged men clad in skins or sacking, their bodies covered in sores, from lack of salt or food, and their appearance was a great shock to us, who came from the better-conditioned forces in the Cape." Reitz's father was among the signatories of the surrender, but only in his official capacity; he refused to sign himself and was given two weeks to settle his affairs in Pretoria before leaving the country. Deneys felt that he had to stand by his father and so also refused to sign. He left for Madagascar with his brother, where they eked out a living convoying goods by ox-transport"hard work in dank fever-stricken forests and across mountains sodden with eternal rain". In his spare time there he wroteCommando, dated 1903 but not published until 1929.[4]
On the advice of his wartime commander,Jan Smuts, he returned to South Africa in 1906. Themalaria he had contracted in Madagascar had so severely affected his health that he collapsed unconscious upon his return to South Africa. He was nursed back to health over three years by Jan Smuts' wife, Isie. He then completed his studies and in 1908 inHeilbron began his successful career as a lawyer. In 1914 he helped Smuts suppress theMaritz Rebellion in theOrange Free State, and he served on Smuts' army staff in the "German West campaign" (in the German colony ofGerman South West Africa) and in the "German East campaign" (inGerman East Africa) where he rose to command a mounted regiment. On theWestern Front duringWorld War I he commanded theFirst Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1918, after being wounded in late 1917 while serving with 6/7th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers. He led his men to theRhine after theArmistice, as detailed in his bookTrekking On.
He joined Smuts'South African Party, becoming the member of theHouse of Assembly of South Africa forBloemfontein South, defeatingColin Steyn of theNational Party by 101 votes in the first of their three contests for this seat. His principles during his political career included loyalty to General Smuts, loyalty to the British Empire as guarantor of South African freedom, and harmony between Dutch and English South Africans. He opposed theOssewa Brandwag organisation, which planned to take control of South Africa as soon as Britain had been crushed.[4]
In 1920 he marriedLeila Agnes Buissiné Wright (Cape Town, 13 December 1887 - Cape Town, 29 December 1959). She was a social reformer, an outspoken advocate of women's rights and suffrage for women, and the first woman member of the Assembly (representative for Parktown in Johannesburg, 1933–1944).
On 3 August 1920, Steyn again stood against him in the same constituency. Reitz won again, this time with a majority of 141. In the general election of 1921, Reitz and Steyn contested Bloemfontein South once more. This time Steyn was returned with a majority of 47.
When the Smuts government fell in 1924, Reitz returned to his law practice. In subsequent years he visited theKalahari,Kaokoveld, theBelgian Congo andAngola. His last book,No Outspan (1943), describes this period.
The South African Party formed a coalition government with the National Party in 1933, next year establishing theUnited Party. In this government Reitz accepted the office of minister of agriculture and irrigation, later minister of agriculture. In 1939, he became Minister of Native Affairs and DeputyPrime Minister until 1943, when he was appointed as South AfricanHigh Commissioner toLondon, where he served until his death in 1944.
He is buried south ofMariepskop, approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) east of theBlyde River Canyon inMpumalanga.
The Free State town ofDeneysville is named after him. His law firm,Deneys Reitz Inc, became a leader in South Africa, and in 2011 merged with an international law firm.
Three volumes of an autobiography:
Also published in one volume:
Other works:
