"Sexual Relations between British Soldiers and Boer Women: A Methodological Approach", South African Historical Journal, 68:2 (2016), 195-212. (original) (raw)

Notwithstanding that things were so awful in the [Springfontein] camp, there was nevertheless a section of our people who, unconcerned at the plight of their fellow-Afrikaners, continued living happily and pleasurably. I was astonished to see Afrikaner girls, not from the camps but those who lived nearby, rode about with English officers and having fun with them, quite clearly without the slightest concern for what was happening on their doorstep. 11 That is not to say, however, that the erotic interests of camp inmates disappeared with their incarceration. Bloemfontein was full of soldiers and the superintendent of the concentration camp complained about them coming into the camp after women. He was told to isolate 'immoral women' and to put them on half rations, but the problem did not go away. 12 In her reminiscences, Hester Uys tells us: 'My aunt became friendly with one of the Tommies. She stole someone else's skirt and walked with him.' 13 The army complicated things by removing women of 'bad character' who were giving them trouble in the town to the camp. 14 It is difficult to interpret expressions such as 'immoral' and 'bad character 'because it was a censorious age, but Hester Uys says quite bluntly: 'Prostitutes carried on with Tommies and Boers in the [Bloemfontein] camp.' 15

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