Some great news. I am honoured and deeply grateful to some fine historians agreeing to come on board The Observation Post as contributors and editors. This been done to open the scope of the website to more new and interesting military history, academic dissertations, opinion peices, reviews and histories.
The hope is to eventually include more of South Africa’s leading military historians so as to give them access to a consumer driven and social platform that allows for effective reach to a targeted and interested audience.
My sincere thanks to Prof. Evert Kleynhans, Dr. David Katz and Dr. Garth Benneyworth for their commitment going forward and I’m sure that four heads are better than one to come up with really great content generation.
Peter Dickens
For all of our bio’s here the link:
The Observation Post 
Possibly the greatest contribution you can make as a historian is to enlighten your readers about the depth of Jan Smuts’ philosophy and practice.
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I’ve made that a personal mission Claudius, and I thank you for your support. So too has Dr David Katz in his book Jan Smuts and his First World War, available at all leading bookshops, it’s a tour of force of Smuts’ military abilities.
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Excellent news and just keep on keeping on with your high standards of excellence.
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Mr Dickens,
could you please drop me a line at :
gam47@bigpond.co.
Yours,
G/.
G.A.MACKINLAY SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
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Hi Gordon – is that @bigpond.co.au ? Mine for reference is pa.dickens@gmail.com
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My thanks for your response Mr Dickens.
As you may remember I prepared for publication, The Armed Forces of Southern Africa from 1652.
This intended initially to just be a revamp of Major G.Tyldens 1954 text, and it ended up as a completely new text (vastly).
Well it was to be published in July, unfortunately the publishers legal advisors decided that such a text in 2024 Britain was totally inappropriate. Discussing as it does slavery in South Africa, and the years of Apartheid. And describing the vanquishing of African Nations!
So after nine months of dealing with them it has all fallen by the wayside.
I had initially stated to have the book published in the UK and the publisher would have been responsible for its distribution, I just paid for it. Unfortunately, the owner went bankrupt and my money vanished just before it all went pear shaped. Oddly the cash transfer went to an account owned by his wife!
Tried in Australia, but beyond our now modern capabilities. Looked at getting in done in China, advised not to do so, it fraught with dishonesty????? The with another company in the UK, there costing for a 1,000 production run would have worked out selling the texts at just over one hundred pounds each with zero profit, going through dealers at least 150. Plus I would have been responsible for selling it!
So all in all hit a brickwall. But, I have a Plan B (or a cunning plan) have got a limited run of 50 in a laminated hard cover being run off by a print on demand chap. These to go out gratis to 50 establishments, persons of significance. I have sent out 202 copies of the print file to various libraries, museums etc, and as of the moment 267 to interested persons who had inquired about getting a copy. And I intend to put out to various society’s etc for their membership that if anyone is interested email, and they will get a free copy electronic file.
So if you are interest, I will send a copy of it to you (it is of 714 A4 pages, and some 714K words. No illustrations or maps.
Whilst of course Tyden did the basic, and is still of relevance I honestly believe that the former South African bodies need to be remembered for what they really were!
So if you are interested and think that it is OK, I would ask that the subscribers to your Observation Post if they want, I’m only a email away.
Yours,
G/.
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Hi Gordon, I’ll email you – happy to take a butchers look at it, would you mind if I circulated to my colleagues at the Military Academy – specifically Prof Kleynhans and Dr Katz – they both specialised in SA armed forces history post 1910.
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