COL F.F. PIENAAR'S BOER WAR DIARY (PART I)

Abstract

In 1902, Filip Pienaar, a young Boer officer in exile at the Monastery of Tomar in Portugal, recorded his Boer war experiences. These were published by Methuen in 1902, under the title With Steyn and De Wet, The book was banned one month after publication, The author, Lt Col F.F. Pienaar, later joined the Union Defence Force, served in the German South West Africa Campaign and later became South Africa's first ambassador to Portugal in 1939, from where he also conducted correspondence with his cousin General Dan Pienaar. As a son-in-law of the late F.F. Pienaar, it is my privilege to reproduce part of his Boer War experiences. Pienaar's account is one of the first books on the Boer War and covers several eye-witness accounts at that time.

Keywords

• Monastery of Tomar in Portugal
• Union Defence Force
• Lt Col F.F. Pienaar
• German South West Africa Campaign
• South Africa's first ambassador to Portugal in 1939