Their Paths Crossed Mine Memoirs of the Commandant-General of the Ossewa-Brandwag
Author: Hans Van Rensberg
Publisher: Central News Agency
Edition: First 1956
ISBN: Not stated
Language: English
Condition: Good. Clean copy with tight binding. Scattered foxing.
Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket
Pages: 279. Print with images and maps
Additional Information
Dr. Hans van Rensburg, Commandant-General of the Ossewa-Brandwag during the last war, here gives an insight, for the first time, into the fight behind the lines of his outlawed "army". This is the story of a man, destined for the highest ranks of the Government Service, who resigned the post of Administrator of his homeland, the Orange Free State, to lead a rebel organi zation which sabotaged South Africa's war effort in its struggle for a Republic and recognition of those who felt no particular affinity with Great Britain, its triumphs and disasters, its hopes and its failures. It is their story - or as much as their Leader may tell. But this book is more than the story of the Ossewa-Brandwag and the S.J.s.It is the story of Hans van Rensburg, from the little voortrekker town of Winburg to Hitler's Berlin, of the people Who crossed his path and, to some extent, shaped it.from General Hertzog to Adolf Hitler, from General Smuts to Dr. Malan, from Angola Boers to Oswald Pirow, from Communists to cannibals; with Greek partisans and Lord Milner, or Oswald Spengler and Siegmund Freud, the Prince of Wales or Paul Kruger - all as a background of influence on his path. There are many more; Tielman Roos and Dan Pienaar, Dr. Goebbels and Professor Lamont, Dr. Heinrich Vedder and Toon van den Heever, Langenhoven and Colin Steyn, J. H. Hofmeyr and Steve Hofmeyr, Robey Leibbrandt and Solly Sachs, Princess Alice of Athlone and Hendrik van Blerk and Julian Visser, soldier and saboteur, rebel and loyalist, determined men and desperate. This is Hans van Rensburg's story of buffalo hunting in the Caprivizipfel, fishing from his own Fair Isle where he made his home when the fight was over, evading the South African Police, thwarting soldiers who tried to storm the Transvaler Building in Johannesburg, baiting Communists, raising funds for O.B. dependants. There is the staunchness of their women, the story of the O.B. who was asked to drive the Royal Train, of Elsabe Nel, the schoolgirl who refused to give evidence against her compatriots. Through these pages the writer reveals how deeply his "army" infiltrated the police, the Government service and even General Smuts's own bodyguard. It is all there. Those who hated him and the men he led will read it - and hate them still. Those who revered and followed him will read it with pride and affection.
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