Met die Boere in die Veld Author: Sarah Raal (Later Sarah Heckroodt)
Met die Boere in die Veld (Collectible First Edition Era Memoir)
The Legendary, Exceptionally Rare, and Gripping Eyewitness Field Account of an Afrikaner Woman on Active Commando Duty During the Anglo-Boer War
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Met die Boere in die Veld
- Author: Sarah Raal (Later Sarah Heckroodt)
- Publisher: Nasionale Pers Beperk, Kaapstad / Bloemfontein / Port Elizabeth
- Publication Date: 1938
- ISBN-10: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- ISBN-13: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: Early Illustrated Trade Printing / First Edition Era (Hardcover).
- Binding: Original publisher's premium textured cloth or patterned boards featuring printed cover and spine titles. Offered as found without a paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), approximately 160 pages. Beautifully adorned with a prized contemporary frontispiece photographic portrait of the author in traditional commando attire and archival field plates.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Covers: Very Good (VG). The original publisher's hardcover boards remain remarkably straight, clean, and perfectly square. The spine is robust, and the joints are completely sound with only microscopic shelf friction at the extreme corner tips, preserving an exceptional level of vintage trade character.
- Interior: Very Good (VG). The internal text block is beautifully preserved, solid, and tightly unified. The pages and historical photographic gloss inserts are crisp, clear, and completely free of user highlighting, text underlining, ink signatures, thumb-soiling, or loose leaves.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Originally published in the late 1930s by Nasionale Pers, Met die Boere in die Veld is universally recognized as one of the most unique, thrilling, and culturally crucial primary sources of the Anglo-Boer War. While a handful of diaries record the suffering of women inside the concentration camps, Sarah Raal's memoir stands as an almost unparalleled record of a woman who actively evaded British capture by fleeing directly onto the veld to join a mobile Boer commando.
Originally published in the late 1930s by Nasionale Pers, Met die Boere in die Veld is universally recognized as one of the most unique, thrilling, and culturally crucial primary sources of the Anglo-Boer War. While a handful of diaries record the suffering of women inside the concentration camps, Sarah Raal's memoir stands as an almost unparalleled record of a woman who actively evaded British capture by fleeing directly onto the veld to join a mobile Boer commando.
The narrative tracks her extraordinary journey through the Orange Free State, where she joined her brothers on active duty under the command of General Christiaan de Wet. Raal strips away the romanticism of war literature to record the raw realities of guerrilla life: riding under fire, enduring extreme exposure, escaping British dragnet operations, and sharing the harsh provisions of the campfires.
Her freedom concluded with her capture by imperial forces, leading to her subsequent internment as a high-security political prisoner in the Springfontein concentration camp and later the Bloemfontein prison. Heavily studied by global academics for its groundbreaking female combat perspective and long out of print in this vintage format, this beautifully preserved 1938 printing remains an elite centerpiece for advanced collections of South African history.
Author Profile: Sarah Raal
Sarah Raal (1877–1976) was a highly resilient South African historical figure, author, and wartime heroine of the Orange Free State. Following the destruction of her family farm under Lord Kitchener's scorched-earth policy, her daring decision to ride alongside the commandos instead of surrendering established her as a legendary figure among the burghers. Her post-war memoirs broke traditional literary boundaries, establishing her as a pioneering voice in South African women's military history and securing her an enduring legacy as an archetype of republican independence and survival.
Sarah Raal (1877–1976) was a highly resilient South African historical figure, author, and wartime heroine of the Orange Free State. Following the destruction of her family farm under Lord Kitchener's scorched-earth policy, her daring decision to ride alongside the commandos instead of surrendering established her as a legendary figure among the burghers. Her post-war memoirs broke traditional literary boundaries, establishing her as a pioneering voice in South African women's military history and securing her an enduring legacy as an archetype of republican independence and survival.
boer war collectible book met die boere in die veld sarah raal nasionale pers 1938 rare book anglo boer war free state commando guerrilla warfare women in combat concentration camps internment history used copy cloth boards very good condition