REPUTATIONS: JAN SMUTS
In 50 years of ser vice for – and against – the Crown, a Boer lawyer-turned-general became a British field marshal, Churchill’s ostensible deputy and spearheaded the creation of the R AF and the UN. Gerr y van Tonder profiles the enigmatic warriorstatesman Jan Smuts
N ostruggle has ever produced so act of reconciliation after a rich a harvest in good will or effects that lasted so long upon affairs. Magnanimity in victory is rare, and this is an instance and almost unique example of its reward, because rare though it be it is by no means always rewarded.”
Addressing the House of Commons in June 1951 on the death of Jan Smuts the previous year, Winston Churchill added: “In every way he seemed to be one of the most enlightened, courageous and noble-minded men that we have known in these the first 50 years of the 20th century in which he played so prominent a part.” He was greatly aggrieved by the loss of trusted friend and ally, a relationship first formed in “somewhat un-propitious circumstances” as the South African quizzed the British POW.
More than 120 years ago, Briton and Boer laid down their arms after a bitter conflict punctuated with questionable strategies. For many B…
