S4 E1 Boots Of The Boer War

Step into the dusty battlefields of South Africa, where imperial ambition collided with fierce resistance, and humanity's darkest instincts came to the surface. In this episode of Dark History, Rob takes you deep into the Second Boer War—a brutal conflict fought between the British Empire and the Boer republics at the turn of the 20th century.

Through haunting stories and vivid narration, experience the war as the soldiers did: the endless marches, the unrelenting heat, and the guerrilla tactics that turned every shadow into a threat. Discover the horrors of the concentration camps, where disease and despair claimed thousands of innocent lives, and hear the untold perspective of the Boer farmers fighting for their land and survival.

We’ll also explore Rudyard Kipling’s haunting poem “Boots”, a grim reflection of the soldier's monotonous, soul-crushing reality, and delve into the scars—both visible and invisible—left on those who endured the war.

This isn’t just a story of battles and politics; it’s a journey into the human cost of war. From the scorched earth to the shattered lives, this episode lays bare the brutality and futility of imperial conquest.

Prepare yourself for a powerful and emotional exploration of a war that shaped a nation and scarred its people forever. This is history at its darkest.

Transcript

South Africa in the 1800s was a land shaped by greed, violence, and survival. Its diverse geography, from deserts to fertile farmland and vast grasslands, held vast resources that would draw imperial powers into brutal conflict. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886 turned the region into a battleground, coveted by those willing to spill blood for wealth and power.

By the 19th century, the British had seized the Cape Colony and sought to tighten their grip on the land. They clashed with the Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers who had carved out independent republics like the Orange Free State and Transvaal. The Boers fought fiercely to maintain their autonomy, while the British, driven by imperial ambition, sought to crush their resistance. For the indigenous African populations, it was a nightmare. Groups like the Zulu and Xhosa fought valiantly to protect their lands and way of life, only to be met with devastating defeats. Entire communities were displaced, their societies shattered by wars of dispossession.

Life for the people of South Africa in the 1800s was one of exploitation and suffering. Indigenous Africans faced systemic discrimination and were pushed into servitude. Boer farmers lived in constant fear of British aggression, while British settlers pursued wealth with little regard for the land or its people. Racial hierarchies and brutal colonial policies deepened the divisions among the diverse populations, sowing seeds of resentment and rebellion.

The Second Boer War, starting in1899 and ending in1902, brought these tensions to a boiling point. British soldiers, many of them young men lured by promises of adventure, arrived in South Africa to face an enemy skilled in guerrilla warfare. They marched through a hostile land, plagued by disease and relentless attacks. Rudyard Kipling captured this grim existence in his poem *"Boots"*. The poem describes the endless, soul-crushing march of soldiers, the monotony, and the inevitability of death. Kipling’s words resonate with the reality of the Boer War. For soldiers, there was no escape.

*We’re foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin’ over Africa —*

*Boots — boots — boots — movin’ up and down again!*

 Hi everyone and welcome back to the dark history podcast where we explore the darkest parts of human history. hope everyone is well I’m Rob your host as always. Welcome to season 4 episode 1. Happy new year everyone and welcome to the first episode of the new season. Cast your minds back to just before Christmas and you may remember the release of the trailer for a new film out this year called 28 years later. In this trailer the backing music, shall we say, is a poem by Rudyard kippling called boots. The poem is a haunting reflection on the monotonous, grueling life of soldiers at war. Written in 1903, shortly after the Second Boer War, the poem captures the physical and psychological toll of endless marches. Its repetitive structure mirrors the drudgery of military life, where the relentless rhythm of boots hitting the ground becomes both a literal and metaphorical heartbeat of the soldiers' existence. At the risk of sounding like a hipster, this poem, when listened to makes you feel uneasy and almost pulls you into madness, Soldiers are reduced to cogs in the war machine, defined only by their boots and their march dehumanizing them, here is no mention of heroism or glory—only the grim reality of survival. Well Today, we’re taking you into the dust and death of the Second Boer War. This isn’t just a story of imperial conquest or colonial resistance. No, this is the war seen through the eyes of soldiers on both sides — men who faced unimaginable horrors. And in the shadow of their suffering, we’ll explore the atrocities committed by both the British and the Boers.

So Let’s lace up our boots and march back to South Africa, 1899 for more dark history.

---

### **Scene 1: Setting the Stage**

The Second Boer War was fought between the British Empire and two Boer republics: the South African Republic (or Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. It began in 1899 and dragged on until 1902. On paper, it was a simple fight: But war is never simple. Britain wanted to tighten its grip on the gold-rich territories of South Africa. The Boers, descendants of Dutch settlers, resisted, unwilling to bow to the might of the empire.

The British soldier’s journey began far from the red sands of South Africa. Picture this: you’re a young recruit in some grimy corner of Manchester or London. You’ve got little to your name but your boots, a rifle, and a promise of glory. You’re told you’ll fight for Queen and country. You’ll civilize the savages. You’ll bring order to chaos.

The streets you came from were filled with grime, smoke, and the constant hum of industry, a world of hard labor, cold winters, and distant hopes of a better life. But now, you're told, you have the chance to escape it all. The Empire calls, and for a young man with little to lose, it sounds like the perfect opportunity. They tell you the Boers are the enemy, and you're to fight for a righteous cause. It's simple—a chance to prove your courage and make your family proud. A chance to rise above your station.

What you aren’t told is that the land you’re headed to is one of harsh extremes. The promise of glory dissolves quickly as the journey wears on. The heat hits you first, unbearable and oppressive, draining you with each step. The humidity clings to your skin, and the air feels thick, almost suffocating. And then there’s the terrain—rugged and unforgiving. The seemingly endless march through the vast, barren stretches of South Africa will test you in ways you never imagined. The land itself seems hostile, every step a reminder of how unprepared you are.

We’re foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin’ over Africa —

Foot-foot-foot-foot-sloggin’ over Africa —

Boots — boots — boots — boots — movin’ up and down again!

Host: That monotony? That’s your life now. The days bleed into one another, each one indistinguishable from the last. Marching through dust and dirt, with the weight of your pack pressing you down, the endless march becomes a blur of sore feet and aching bones. The sun beats down relentlessly, your body becoming a furnace. The promise of adventure feels like a cruel joke as the reality of the war starts to sink in.

And you know that the Boers, with their guerrilla tactics, are out there somewhere. They’ve been waiting for you, watching, and when they strike, it’s quick and ruthless. The element of surprise is their weapon. You’re caught in a war of attrition, where every day feels like a battle against exhaustion and the ever-present threat of death. But it’s not just the enemy you fear—it’s the land itself, and the toll it takes on you, body and mind.

This is the beginning for the British soldier. What you imagined as a call to arms, a chance for glory and honor, now feels like a never-ending march toward an uncertain fate.

---

### **Scene 2: The British Soldier’s Nightmare**

For the average Tommy Atkins, the Second Boer War was no grand adventure. It wasn’t the heroic charge of cavalry or the glory of a decisive victory—it was an endless, grueling slog through a foreign land that seemed to conspire against you at every turn. The enemy, the Boers, were not what you expected. They were elusive, guerrilla fighters, masters of the vast, unforgiving veldt. The terrain was alien to the British soldier, and the Boers used it to their advantage, launching swift attacks and then vanishing into the wilderness. They struck when you least expected it, firing from hidden positions and leaving no trace but the bodies of the fallen.

Imagine the fear that gnawed at you, the constant awareness that every shadow could hide a rifle, every rock could be a sniper’s perch. It wasn’t the orderly battlefield you might have envisioned, but a constant state of tension, where the line between life and death blurred with every step you took. The Boers didn’t fight fair. They didn’t follow the rules of conventional warfare. They fought to survive, to protect their homes, and their tactics reflected that. For the British, this was a new kind of warfare—one where the enemy could be anywhere, and nowhere at the same time.

Seven—six—eleven—five—nine-an'-twenty mile to-day

Four—eleven—seventeen—thirty-two the day before --

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up and down again!)

And when the Boers weren’t attacking, nature itself became an enemy more brutal than any opposing force. The heat was unbearable. The air felt thick, like it was suffocating you. The landscape was alien, a mix of arid plains and rugged mountains, full of dangers you couldn’t even see. You felt the weight of exhaustion in your bones, but you couldn’t stop. You couldn’t rest. Not for long, anyway, because death was waiting in the shadows, whether from the enemy or the environment.

But the real killer wasn’t just the Boers or the harsh conditions—it was disease. It spread through the British camps like wildfire, claiming the lives of soldiers faster than the enemy could. Dysentery, typhoid, malaria—they tore through the ranks, leaving men writhing in fevered delirium or lying listlessly in canvas tents, too sick to move. More soldiers died from disease than from the Boer’s bullets. Imagine wasting away in a foul-smelling, disease-ridden camp, your comrades too ill to help, and the medic’s tent filled with the same desperate faces. The camps were a breeding ground for illness, and the soldiers were its victims, trapped in a nightmare they couldn’t escape.

Then there were the atrocities. The British were not the noble, righteous force we often liked to portray ourselves as. They were not fighting for some grand idea of civilization or liberty; they were fighting to subdue, to conquer, to claim more land. Scorched earth became their answer to Boer resistance. It was a strategy designed to break the will of the enemy by stripping away everything they held dear. Farms were burned to the ground, livestock slaughtered, crops destroyed—all in an effort to starve the Boers into submission. The hope was that by crippling their ability to survive, the Boers would be forced to surrender.

But the cost of this strategy wasn’t borne by the enemy alone. The civilian population paid the highest price. Whole families, many of them innocent bystanders, found their homes and livelihoods destroyed. The destruction wasn’t just physical—it was psychological, a calculated attempt to break the spirit of the Boer people. The British army saw it as necessary, a way to bring the war to an end. But for the families who lost everything, it was a tragedy.

Host: Imagine being a young soldier, no older than a boy really, ordered to torch a family’s home. The flames rise, consuming the walls that once kept a family safe. You see the mother clutching her child, the father’s defiant glare as he watches everything he’s ever known turn to ash. You’ve been told it’s necessary. You’ve been told it’s part of the war effort, that it’s for the good of the Empire. But as you watch the family’s house burn, you feel something inside you twist. You know deep down this isn’t war. This isn’t a noble cause. This is cruelty.

The Boer War was no simple fight for land and resources. It was a brutal, dehumanizing conflict that tested the limits of both soldier and civilian. For the British soldiers, it was a trial by fire, one that left scars far deeper than those left by bullets. It was a war that wasn’t just fought on the battlefield—it was fought in the hearts and minds of those caught in the middle, struggling to understand the true cost of empire.

--- Don't—don't—don't—don't—look at what's in front of you.

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again);

Men—men—men—men—men go mad with watchin' em,

### **Scene 3: The Boer Perspective**

 On the other side of the conflict were the Boers, fiercely defending their land and way of life, determined to resist the might of the British Empire. Their fight was one of survival, a struggle for independence and self-determination. But like the British, the Boers were not without sin. They, too, were capable of brutality. Boer commandos, in their bid to weaken the British, executed black Africans who were accused of aiding the enemy. For many, the line between friend and foe had blurred, and the Boers resorted to desperate measures to protect what was theirs.

In some towns, the violence escalated to unimaginable levels. There were massacres and reprisals, where the cycle of revenge consumed everything in its path. The Boers, once portrayed as victims of imperialist aggression, became perpetrators of atrocities themselves. The war had dehumanized them as much as it had the British. And yet, despite their own cruel acts, the Boers remained human, driven by a fierce desire to protect their homes and families from an advancing army that seemed relentless and unstoppable.

Picture a young Boer farmer, rifle in hand, standing at the edge of his property. The sound of advancing British troops echoes in the distance. His heart pounds as he looks over the fields that have sustained his family for generations. The British are coming, and he knows defeat is inevitable. But in that moment, he’s not thinking about the outcome of the war. He’s thinking about his family, his land, the life they’ve built. The thought of losing it all pushes him forward. He knows the fight is hopeless, but pride, desperation, and a deep, instinctual desire to protect what’s his drive him to continue. He raises his rifle, knowing that every shot he fires may be his last, but it’s a small act of defiance, a final stand against the overwhelming force of the British Empire.

For the Boer farmer, the war had become more than just a battle against an empire; it had become a personal struggle, a fight for survival against a force that would stop at nothing to crush him and his people. The Boer commandos were no longer simply soldiers—they were fathers, sons, brothers, and farmers, people who had no choice but to fight for everything they held dear, even as the odds stacked ever more heavily against them.

But for both sides, war stripped away humanity. It turned men into beasts, capable of committing unspeakable acts in the name of survival. The brutality of the battlefield was matched only by the atrocities carried out in the name of strategy, vengeance, and fear. 

The Boer War had far-reaching consequences for civilians on both sides of the conflict. Families were separated, their homes destroyed, and their livelihoods obliterated. And though the British had their own share of responsibility for the horrors of the war, the Boers, too, subjected civilians to unimaginable hardships. Some towns became killing grounds, where reprisal killings were carried out indiscriminately, and the desperation of war led to a spiral of violence that claimed innocent lives.

The Boer War was a brutal conflict, one that exposed the darkness within both the British and the Boers. For the soldiers, the war was not just a fight for land or resources—it was a fight for survival, for pride, and for something worth defending. For the civilians, it was a war of displacement, destruction, and suffering. The war left no side untouched, and its legacy was one of deep scars, both physical and emotional. It was a war that, in many ways, destroyed the very humanity it sought to protect.

And yet, there was no rest. The conflict stretched on endlessly, a constant cycle of violence that didn’t cease when the sun set. The soldiers couldn’t escape the war; it was with them in every waking moment, in every step they took, every decision they made. The rhythm of war became their life, a relentless march without reprieve.

Host: That relentless pounding of boots? That was the war you couldn’t escape. There was no break from the cycle of marching, fighting, and surviving. No moment to breathe, no chance to let your guard down. War doesn’t stop when the day ends. It follows you, it haunts you, and it becomes a part of you, until all that’s left is the endless rhythm of boots hitting the ground. For both the British and the Boers, it wasn’t just about fighting; it was about enduring, about surviving the long, grim stretch of days that blurred together in the name of a war that seemed to have no end.

--- An' there's no discharge in the war!

### **Scene 4: The Hell of Concentration Camps**

 The British introduced concentration camps as a method to control Boer civilians, but what were intended as places of refuge became, in reality, death traps. Over 100,000 people, the vast majority of them women and children, were forcibly herded into these camps. What little hope they had was dashed by the harsh conditions. Food was in short supply, often scarce or rancid. Sanitation was practically nonexistent—dirty water and overcrowded tents became breeding grounds for disease. Typhoid, dysentery, and malaria spread quickly, wiping out entire families.

As the war wore on, the suffering deepened. By the time the conflict ended, over 26,000 Boers had perish  and the brutal conditions. The toll didn’t end there. Thousands of black Africans, also interned in these camps, died in the same hellish conditions. The British military, in their effort to defeat the Boers, created a tragedy of unimaginable scale. To call it a tragedy feels inadequate—what transpired in those camps was a man-made hell, a nightmare that unfolded in plain sight, hidden only by the veil of war.

Host: Imagine being a British soldier stationed near one of these camps. It’s your duty to stand guard, to enforce the orders, to keep watch. But every night, you hear the cries—children coughing in the dark, the desperate wails of mothers who can’t protect their children from the ravages of disease, the death rattles of the dying. You’ve been told it’s for the greater good, that it’s necessary to bring an end to the war, to break the Boer spirit. But the reality is harder to swallow. You know that what’s happening here is not just a byproduct of war.

You try to distance yourself from the horror. You try to push it out of your mind, but it doesn’t go away. At night, when you close your eyes, the faces of the suffering haunt you. Faces twisted in pain, bodies too weak to even stand, children’s bones jutting through fragile skin. You wake, drenched in sweat, heart racing, and the horror is still there—right outside your door, lingering in the silence of the camp.

And then, with the first light of day, you force yourself to go on, to carry out your duty. But deep down, you know you’ll never escape it. The war, the suffering, the faces of the dead—they stay with you, long after the war is over. You’ve also heard the rumours of executions, of men and women slaughtered. The towns you’d pass through now bear the scars of Boer violence—burned homes, bodies left to rot in the streets, a people broken by their own fight for survival. The war has turned everyone into something unrecognizable.

---

### **Scene 5: Kipling’s Words and a Soldier’s Reflection**

**Host:** Rudyard Kipling captured the grim monotony of a soldier’s life in his poem “Boots.” It’s not a tale of heroism, not of victories or glorious moments. It’s about the drudgery, the unrelenting grind of life in war—the endless march, the fatigue, and the constant march toward death.

'Taint—so—bad—by—day because o' company,

But night—brings—long—strings—o' forty thousand million

Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again.

Host: For soldiers, this was the crushing reality of their existence. March, fight, die. There was no escape, no reprieve. No glorious end, only an unyielding march into the heart of darkness. And for what? A patch of land? A game played by politicians in distant drawing rooms, far removed from the blood and the suffering of the front lines?

Each step carried the weight of the war—heavier than any rifle, more exhausting than any enemy. The soldiers’ boots moved up and down again, endlessly, relentlessly, as if the war itself were a cruel treadmill that offered no rest, no comfort, no promise of victory. They were trapped in a cycle, soldiers stuck in a limbo between duty and despair, never knowing whether the next march would be their last.

It wasn’t the grand vision of a noble cause that kept them going, but the grim determination to survive. The war had become a machine that ground them down, a machine that didn’t care about their dreams or their futures. For the soldier, there was no discharge—no leaving the war behind. It followed them, day after day, mile after mile, until it consumed them, body and soul.

---

### **Outro**

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen to this long and dark episode. When the war finally ended in 1902, the British emerged victorious. The Boer republics were absorbed into the British Empire, their independence crushed under the weight of imperial power. The conflict was over, but at what cost?

For the soldiers who survived, the war left deep scars—both physical and mental. Many returned home to a world that seemed untouched by the horrors they had endured. The streets were the same, the people unchanged, and yet the soldiers were not. They carried the weight of what they’d seen and done: the burnt farms, the bodies of dying comrades, and the endless march of boots that had taken them through the unforgiving landscape. The memories of disease, starvation, and the brutality of war never left them. The war had not just marked their bodies; it had etched itself into their souls.

Host: And what about the Boers? They fought fiercely, and their resistance became legend. They had stood up to one of the most powerful empires in the world, and in the eyes of many, they had earned their place in history. But at what cost? Their society was shattered. Thousands of lives were lost, families torn apart, and entire communities destroyed. The land they had fought for, the homes they had built, were left in ruins. The scars of the war ran deep, and they would linger for generations, passed down through the memories of those who had survived and those who had been left behind.

For the Boers, the battle had been more than just a fight for independence—it had been a fight for survival, for their very way of life. But in the end, the cost was too high. The war had claimed everything: their homes, their families, their freedom. The legacy of the war would haunt them for years to come, as they struggled to rebuild their lives in the wake of such immense loss. The war had ended, but the true toll of it would never be fully counted.  The Second Boer War was more than a clash of empires. It was a crucible of human suffering, a place where morality was abandoned, and men were pushed to their breaking points.

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Try—try—try—try—to think o' something different

Oh—my—God—keep—me from goin' lunatic!

(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin' up an' down again!)

There's no discharge in the war!

Podcast Choreography:

1. Introduction: The Build-Up to War

Mood: Ominous, foreboding

Music: Slow, ambient tone to set the mood

Sound Effects: Quiet wind, faint distant sounds of military activity or machinery

[0:00-1:00]

Narration: Introduce the background of the Boer War, the British Empire’s interest in South Africa, and the beginning of the conflict.

Music: Incompetech - "Darkest Child" (start soft, distant, ominous tones).

Sound Effects: Very faint rustling of wind, maybe distant drum beats to foreshadow war.

Gradually increase tension towards the end of the section.

2. Kipling’s “Boots” Section (Monotony of War)

Mood: Repetitive, weary

Music: Military march rhythm (drum or snare) with minimalistic background sound

Sound Effects: Faint marching boots, footfalls echoing across the barren landscape

[1:00-2:30]

Narration: Recite the "Boots" poem, emphasizing the endless march and the physical toll on soldiers.

Music: Freesound - “Military Drum March” (play low, slow, repetitive drum beat).

Sound Effects: Marching boots lightly layered in the background (soft but steady). Use soft footstep sounds to subtly reinforce the repetitive nature of war.

At the end of the poem, you can fade out the march slightly and introduce a slight shift in mood, moving toward the reality of what soldiers faced.

3. The Reality of the Camps (Suffering & Disease)

Mood: Tragic, sorrowful

Music: Slow, emotional strings or piano

Sound Effects: Coughing, faint cries, distant camp noises (wind rustling tents)

[2:30-4:30]

Narration: Discuss the horrors of the concentration camps, including the suffering from disease, starvation, and the psychological toll.

Music: Bensound - “The Dark Knight” (slow, melancholic melody).

Sound Effects: Introduce coughing or faint crying (Freesound - “Coughing” and “Crying child”).

Transition: Slowly fade the music in, building the intensity as you describe the suffering.

Key Moment: As you describe the camps, you can layer in subtle wind sounds and camp noises to create the feeling of being inside the camp. Let the cries and coughing become clearer as you describe the deaths.

4. Post-War Scars (Reflection)

Mood: Reflective, haunting

Music: Slow, reflective piano or strings

Sound Effects: Faint sounds of wind, distant conversations, or quiet thoughts

[4:30-6:00]

Narration: Discuss the psychological toll of the war on soldiers, the Boers, and the aftermath of the conflict.

Music: Incompetech - “That Kid in the Back” (gentle piano with a lingering, thoughtful feel).

Sound Effects: Fade in faint ambient sounds, like wind blowing or the soft rustle of paper or fabric (to suggest the weight of time passing).

Transition: Slowly drop the music down to allow your voice to take center stage while the emotions are felt more deeply. You can introduce subtle echoes or delays in the voice (using post-production effects) for a dream-like quality, reinforcing the lingering effects of the war.

5. The Boer Resistance (Struggle & Defiance)

Mood: Desperation, pride, and defiance

Music: Cinematic, slow build with strings and horns

Sound Effects: Distant battle sounds, rifle shots, wind over the veld

[6:00-7:30]

Narration: Talk about the Boer resistance, their pride in defending their land, and the price they paid.

Music: Purple Planet Music - “The Last Stand” (slow, dramatic build).

Sound Effects: Soft background of distant rifle shots or battle sounds. Use the wind blowing to create an open, harsh landscape feeling.

The music should slowly build as you discuss their resistance, but always keep it subtle in the background. You want to convey their determination without overshadowing the human cost of the conflict.

6. Conclusion: The Aftermath

Mood: Somber, reflective

Music: Haunting, reflective piano or strings

Sound Effects: Soft ambient wind, quiet footsteps

[7:30-9:00]

Narration: Wrap up by reflecting on the lasting impacts of the war on both the British and the Boer civilians, and the heavy cost of victory.

Music: Freesound - “Sorrowful Strings” by Edi Birsan (soft, slow string piece).

Sound Effects: Introduce quiet footsteps as the war’s toll is reflected upon. Add subtle wind to reflect the passing of time.

Transition: As the episode draws to a close, slowly fade out the music while letting the atmosphere of the tragic reality linger. The sound of footsteps can transition into silence, emphasizing the emotional weight of the episode’s themes.

Detailed Transition Notes:

Kipling’s “Boots” Section: The shift from the marching rhythm to the camp section should gradually introduce softer, more sorrowful music. As you leave the repetition of the march, allow the transition to feel like stepping from a relentless beat into the harsh, emotional reality of war.

Camp to Reflection: When transitioning from the camps to post-war reflection, ensure the music and sound effects fade gently, allowing the narrative to sink in. The quiet of the camp sounds (coughs, cries) can gradually diminish as you move into the somber reflective tone.

Boer Resistance to Conclusion: Use a strong, cinematic track for the Boer resistance, but let it fade softly as you wrap up, transitioning into more somber and reflective sounds.

Final Touches:

Layered Sound Design: Throughout the episode, use background sound effects (like distant winds, faint crying, rustling tents) to provide a sense of place. Layer these softly underneath your narration so they don’t overpower but enhance the atmosphere.

Pacing: Make sure to pace the transitions between sections smoothly. A sudden change in music could jar the listener out of the immersive experience. Gradual fades or subtle shifts will ensure the tone remains consistent and evocative.

Silence for Impact: Don't be afraid to use moments of silence or very soft ambient noise between segments. This can give the listener a moment to reflect on what's been said before moving into the next section.