| Kommando | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 18th century–1902 |
| Country |  South African Republic &Orange Free State |
| Branch | Militia |
| Type | Guerrilla fighter,military volunteer |
| Engagements | Boer Wars,Xhosa Wars |
TheBoer Commandos or "Kommandos" were volunteer military units ofguerrillamilitia organized by theBoer people ofSouth Africa. From this came the term "commando" into the English language during theSecond Boer War of 1899–1902 as per Costica Andrew.
In 1658, war erupted between the Dutch settlers atCape Colony and theKhoi-khoi. In order to protect the settlement, all able bodied men were conscripted. After the conclusion of this war, all men in the colony were liable formilitary service and were expected to be ready on short notice.
By 1700, the size of the colony had increased immensely and it was divided into districts. The small military garrison stationed at theCastle de Goede Hoop could not be counted on to react swiftly in the border districts, therefore thecommando system was expanded and formalized. Each district had aKommandant who was charged with calling up allburghers in times of need. During the first Britishinvasion of the Cape Colony in 1795 and the second invasion in 1806, the commandos were called up to defend the Cape Colony. During theBattle of Blaauwberg in January 1806, theSwellendam Commando held the British off long enough for the rest of the Batavian army to retreat to safety.
Under British rule, theCape Colony continued to use the commando system in itsfrontier wars, in addition to regular British imperial troops. Boer commandos fought alongsideFengu,British settlers,Khoi-khoi and other ethnic groups in units which were often mixed. Light, mobile commandos were undeniably better-suited than the slow-moving columns of imperial troops, for warfare in the rough frontier mountains. However, tensions often arose in the Cape's government over the relative merits and control of these two parallel military systems.[1]
During theGreat Trek, this system was used and remained in use in theBoer republics. Both republics issued commando laws, making commando service mandatory in times of need for all male citizens between the ages of 16 and 60.During theSecond Boer War (1899–1902) the Boer commando formed the backbone of the Boer forces.
After the declaration of peace in 1902, the commandos were disbanded. They did re-form themselves in clandestine "shooting clubs". In 1912, the commandos were re-formed as anActive Citizen Force in theUnion Defence Force. This system was in operation until 2005, when all commandos were disbanded again.
Each commando was attached to a town, after which it was named (e.g. Bloemfontein Commando). Each town was responsible for a district, divided into wards. The commando was commanded by akommandant and each ward by aveldkornet or field cornet (equivalent of a seniorNCO rank)
The veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers, but also for policing his ward, collecting taxes, issuing firearms and othermateriel in times of war. Theoretically, a ward was divided into corporalships. A corporalship was usually made up of about 20 burghers. Sometimes entire families (fathers, sons, uncles, cousins) filled a corporalship.
The veldkornet was responsible to the kommandant, who in turn was responsible to a general. In theory, a general was responsible for four commandos. He in turn was responsible to the commander-in-chief of the republic. In the Transvaal, the C-in-C was called theCommandant-General and in the Free State theHoofdkommandant (Chief Commandant). The C-in-C was responsible to the president.
Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time, such asvleiskorporaal ("meat corporal"), responsible for issuing rations.
The commando was made up of volunteers, all officers were appointed by the members of the commando, and not by the government. This gave a chance for some commanders to appear, such asGeneral Koos de la Rey andGeneral C. R. de Wet, but also had the disadvantage of sometimes putting inept commanders in charge. Discipline was also a problem, as there was no real way of enforcing it.
The various Boer republics did not all have the same command structure.[2]
Before theSecond Boer War, the republics' most popular rifle was the .450Westley Richards, a falling-block, single-action, breech-loading model rifle, with accuracy up to 600 yards. Some were marked "Made Specially For Z.A.R.".[3] These were similar to theMartini-Henry Mark II rifles used by British troops.[4][5] A book about the war (J. Lehmann'sThe First Boer War, 1972) offered this comment about the Boers' rifle: "Employing chiefly the very fine breech-loading Westley Richards - calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually - they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline".[6]
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For the Anglo-Boereoorlog ("Anglo-Boer War"),Paul Kruger,President of the South African Republic, re-equipped the army, importing 37,000 of the latestMauser Model 1895 rifles[7] and some 40 to 50 million rounds of 7x57 ammunition.[8] The Model 1895 was also known as "Boer Model" Mauser[9] and was marked “O.V.S” (Oranje Vrij Staat) just above the serial number.[10] This German-made rifle had a firing range exceeding 2,000 yards. Experienced shooters could achieve excellent long-range accuracy.[11] Some commandos used theMartini-Henry Mark III, since thousands of these had also been purchased; the drawback was the large puff of white smoke after firing which gave away the shooter's position.[12][13]
Roughly 7,000 Guedes 1885 rifles were also purchased a few years earlier and these were used during the hostilities.[14]
Others used captured British rifles such as the "long"Lee-Metford and theEnfield, as confirmed by photographs from the era.[15][16] When the ammunition for the Mausers ran out,[17] the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee-Metfords.[18][19]
Regardless of the rifle, few of the commando used bayonets.[20][21]
The best modern European artillery was also purchased. By October 1899 the Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns, including four 155 mmCreusot fortress guns[22] and 25 of the 37 mmMaxim Nordenfeldt guns.[23] The Boers' Maxim, larger than the Maxim model used by the British,[24] was a large caliber, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute; it became known as the "Pom Pom".[25]
Other weapons in use included:
The following Boer commandos existed in the Orange Free State and Transvaal:[30]