Sword in the Sand - Gideon Scheepers

In this book Johannes Meitnjes traces what really happened to Gideon Scheepers, the gallant 23-year-old Boer fighter who was executed by a British firing squad some months before the Anglo-Boer War was to end. Though nobody knows, since his body was never found, this young heliographer became an almost legendary figure in South African history and his name sacred to many Afrikaners.

As he was considered innocent and had become an idol because of his daring exploits in the Cape Colony, Scheepers' execution caused an outcry throughout the world.

Despite his tragic end and the public interest aroused by the secret and apparently clandestine circumstance of his death, very little is known about his exact movements and experiences. Because of this Meintjes does not refer to this book as a biography but rather as 'a fragment of South African history centred around a key figure'.

Of special interest is the translation of Scheepers' diary - notes written up to hours before his execution.

The execution has now generally been condemned by Boer and Briton as a disgraceful act, but its consequences were more far-reaching than anyone could have foreseeen at the time - Gideon Scheepers took his place in the martyrology of Afrikanerdom.

A good bibliography and 10-page index rounds off this well-researched book.

Pages: 242 

Format: Downloadable PDF (±66mb, zipped)