Charlie's First War
South Africa, 1899-1900
The personal appeal and price of late nineteenth-century warfare.
Description
Charles Henry Tweddell (1869-1921) was one of several thousand Canadian soldiers who fought with British forces in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). A methodical diarist, Tweddell recounts his year of service from the time he left Quebec City until his return. Tweddell's diary captures the sounds, sights, and stench of war, its friendships and rivalries, its routine and boredom, its death, disease, and injury. Readers are taken into the battlefield and the British military’s disastrous medical services and facilities, and his month-long sight-seeing sick leave in London. Tweddell's diary suggests the allure of late nineteenth-century warfare, an appeal that drew many Boer War veterans, Tweddell included, to volunteer for service in the Great War that followed. Carman Miller's introduction presents a concise analysis of the Boer War's origins and its appeal to Canadian volunteers, and places the diarist within Quebec City's distinct society of overlapping religious, ethnic, and linguistic identities. Tweddell's diary, presented here in full for the first time, offers a rare and fascinating first-person account of Charlie's first war. It is a privileged insight into the fabric of late nineteenth-century military life, its opportunities, and personal costs, seen through the eyes of a perceptive observer and sympathetic raconteur.
Reviews
“Miller offers a detailed, rich, and thorough introduction to C.H. Tweddell’s diary that embraces and incorporates the leading scholarship on the war, both in Canada and from around the world. Situating the wartime experience within late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canada, Miller provides new material to understand the war and sheds light on what motivated Canadians to participate.” Tim Cook, Canadian War Museum and author of At the Sharp End and Shock Troops
“Transcribed with a solid introduction and annotations by Carman Miller, Charlie’s diaries provide a fascinating glimpse into daily life for this first contingent. This diary opens up a fascinating window into the daily life of soldiers on campaign during the Boer War and provides a wealth of information on a war and an experience long ignored. I strongly recommend this piece as an addition to any military history collection in part due to the lack of material available for the Boer War. However, it is also an incredible personal account and adds a significant amount of value to any understanding of the Boer War.” H-net