Desmond Latham - Podcast Details

Shows

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 213 - Grey Mediates, Boshof Fulminates and Moshoeshoe Vacillates before the Treaty of Aliwal NorthThis is episode 213, and Sir George Grey, the Cape Governor was peering intensely at the Boer Republics to the north. The Free Staters under Boshof had failed in their mission to drive Moshoeshoe out of the disputed territory south of the Caledon River and many of the burghers changed their tune when it came to possible amalgamation with the Transvaal. They were now considering this a viable option. Marthinus Pretorius had made good progress north of the Vaal, despite the boers of Lydenburg opposing his overtures for a single large and powerful Boer state. The fragmentary...2025-03-0921 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 212 - The Basotho-Boer War of 1858 leads to a Burgher BackfireEpisode 212 it is - we’re cruising into 1858 but wait! The sounds of gunfire! Yes, it’s that old South African tune, war, set to the music of the guns. Our society is steeped in action, movement, confrontation. This is not a place for the insipid, the weak, the fearful. Whatever our belief system or our personal politics, what cannot be disputed is that the country and our ways are those of the warrior. This is an uncomfortable truth for metropolitans who are more used to single latte’s than sling shots. ...2025-03-0223 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 211 - “Native” Hut Taxes, Blackbirding and other Revelations of 1857Episode 211 - the year is 1857 heading into 1858. Lots the talk about! The original frontier republics and wildlands were being transformed - turning into governed territtories. In 1856 Natal was created a Crown Colony by Royal Charter, Legislation there was entrusted to a council of four officials and 12 members elected every four years by ballot. By the way, this was not only a first for South Africa, but for Great Britain itself. An experiment in election power, although the Crown retained considerable powers of veto. A civil list of those who could vote was more than modest, although...2025-02-2322 min

Underground StrategyLessons from Stalingrad and Beyond with Desmond LathamHistorian, journalist, and podcast host Desmond Latham returns to Underground Strategy for a wide-ranging discussion on warfare, history, and modern conflict. While Stalingrad was on the agenda, this episode moves beyond a single battle—covering urban warfare, women in combat, and the evolution of military doctrine.From the brutal house-to-house fighting at Stalingrad to the parallels with Mariupol and Bakhmut, we explore the grim realities of urban warfare. The conversation also touches on Soviet military leadership, psychological warfare, and how combat shapes soldiers across history.Desmond previously hosted the Number 788 miniseries, where he led an in...2025-02-1648 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 210 - Social Bandits on the Borderlands and other hybrid tales of NomanslandThis is episode 210 - Barbarians on the Borderlands - the 1857 Basotho Free State conundrum Last episode we plumbed the depths of the amaZulu civil War battle of Ndondakusuka, this episode we’re skirting Moshoeshoe’s Basotho mountains with the BaPhuthi people. Before we kick off, just a quick note about terminology and the fact that South African History is a terminological nightmare. Not my words, those of historian Clifton Crais. As we all know, living on this mercurial landscape, with our mercurial brothers and sisters, shape-shifting appears to be our national sport. Names and...2025-02-1620 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 209 - Cetshwayo attacks Mbuyazi at the Battle of Ndondakusuka where the Crocodiles FeastIF you recall a few episodes back, 204 to be exact, we were introduced to the conflict between the sons of Mpande kaSenzangakhona, Cetshwayo kaMpande and Mbuyazi kaMpande. Mpande had moved Cetshwayo and his uSuthu regiments away from their northern power zones and Mbuyazi and his iziGqoza to the south east in an abortive attempt at reducing Cetshwayo’s growing power. There had been a mock hunt organised supposedly to sort out the differences between the two, but the iziGqoza had melted away when they realised how many more warriors had pitched up to fight with Cetshwayo. 2025-02-0821 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 208 - Believers vs Unbelievers, Ancestor Veneration and the Stupifying Logic of Global MillenarianismEpisode 208 it is .. where the steely grip of starvation takes hold of the amaXhosa nation by December 1856. Self-induced, a response to years of colonial expansion, incroaching land grabs, loss of power of the chiefs and ancient custom, the immediate terror of the 8th Frontier War and its effects, and a mingling of Christianity and traditional magic — an attempt at finding salvation. It was not the first, nor the last millenarian movement of South African history. It was also not the only one of its type at the time in the mid-19th Century, the Taiping Rebellion in...2025-02-0225 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 207 - A Moon of Wonders and Dangers, Supernatural Horsemen and HMS Geyser Turns TailWe’re in the midst of 1856. This is the year lung sickness took hold of the country, and it’s effect was to push some people of the land over the edge. Nongqawuse living in Gxarha had prophesized about salvation which was at hand. The former Anglican now born-again Xhosa Mhlakaza had thrown himself into the messianic messaging business. You heard last episode about the causes of the Xhosa Cattle Killing, now we’re going to deal with how it spread. The amaXhosa were not alone. Around the world, frontier battles had lit up the globe, the pressure of the...2025-01-2624 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 206 - Nongqawuse’s Bush of Ghosts, Mhlakaza’s Anglican Episode and Sarhili Goes to Gxarhahis is episode 206 - all fire and brimbstone, a horror show. The squeamish should gird their loins, prepare the poultices, polish your monocles and tighten your bootstraps, grab your smelling salts Roll up your sleeves and fetch the brandy, brace for impact. It’s an episode that will begin a series of episodes which are clouded by a fine bloody mist, and a fog of confusion. We’re going to look at the amaXhosa Cattle Killings of 1856-57 and then the Zulu’s most bloody civil war clash, the Battle of Ndondukasuka. One was a millenarian moveme...2025-01-1921 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 205 - A Crimean/Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Free Staters and a Surveyor SurgeEpisode 205 of the series covers the A Russian Struggle Thread, Two Disabled Men in the Free State and a Surge in Surveyors. Sprinkled with tales of Hoffman. That would be Johannes Hoffman commonly known as Sias Hoffman, the first president of the Orange Free State who signed the Bloemfontein Convention with the British in February 1854. Regarded as a shrewd and able merchant, he had been disabled in an accident, but that didn’t stop Hoffmann from wielding political power. He was also a fundamentalist voortrekker, hard core. Hoffman was one of the representatives of th...2025-01-1223 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 204 - Planet Earth 1855, the Regal Cetshwayo kaMpande and Natal Land RealitiesEpisode 204 - A quick whip around the globe in 1855 and Cetshwayo kaMpande makes his Regal Entrance. First up, a quick thank you to Adi Badenhorst at AA Badenhorst family wines in the Swartland of the Cape — your gift was extraorindarily generous and well received. I am truly indebted to you. And to all those folks sending me tips and notes, thank you its gratifying to receive correspondence from such learned people! Straight to our episode 2024, Planet Earth 1855, Cetshwayo kaMpande grows powerful and Natal Land Realities. A legend is the only way to describe the am...2025-01-0519 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 203 - The Siege of Makapansgat and MisnomerclatureWe’re picking up speed from here on, the fulcrum that was the mid-19th Century is passed and our story is developing quickly - this is episode 203 the Siege of Makapansgat and Reconstituting history. It is 1854, almost mid-way through the sixth decade of this momentous century and the region that’s under our gaze is the northern Limpopo territory, the Waterberg. Those who live there today will know of its grandeur, and its extensive mountain ranges, riverine bush, delightful geology. Thaba Meetse is the northern Sotho name for the Waterberg, where the average height of the...2024-12-2924 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 202 - America’s Constitutional link to Boer Republics and a Cave Looms largeThis is episode 202, the sounds you hear are the sounds made by wagons rolling across the veld — because we’re going to join the trekkers who’ve mostly stopped trekking. For the trekkers, the promised land was at hand. The high veld, parts of Marico, the northern Limpopo region, the Waterberg, the slopes of the Witwatersrand into the lowveld, the Free State with its rocky outcrops and vastness, the dusty transOrangia. In the Caledon Valley, Moshoeshoe was monitoring the Dutch speakers who were now speaking a combination of languages, morphing the taal into Afrikaans. Furthe...2024-12-2224 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 201 - Labour, Lovedale and Roads are all the Rage in 1854This is episode 201. The sounds you’re hearing are those of roadworks, because South Africa is upgrading. Quickly. The arrival of governor sir George Grey in 1854 heralded a new epoch. Previous governors had been Peninsular war Veterans, they’d fought against Napoleon. This one was the first who was the child of a veteran of the war against Napoleon, and a person who was schooled in liberal humanism. He was also a Victorian, steeped in the consciousness of evolution, principled and simultaneously, flaunting truth. A fibber who was in a delirium of post-renaissance spirituality, comb...2024-12-1525 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 200 - Sir George Grey’s Racial Amalgamation Thesis, its Maori Roots and Opiate DependencyThis is episode 200 - we have reached the double century milestone on our winding journey through the past. When I began the series in 2021 after some years of planning, I had no idea what would happen. Diving into the shark tank that is history podcasting took a great deal of forethought. One person’s history is another persons’ propaganda after all, social engineers rewrite the past to suit their own agenda’s and this series has been based on our people’s stories first. Endeavouring to let the folks of the south talk for themselves, which of course, can thre...2024-12-0821 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 199 - Cognitive Dissonance, Desiccated Hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura BaartmanEpisode 199, cognitive dissonance, desiccated hags, a Trail of Tears and Ssehura Baartman — Almost two hundred episodes exploring a land rich with some of the earliest examples of human habitation. We need to assess what has happened — standing back a bit to view the scene from where we’ve arrived - 1853 in the main with a smattering of 1854. The amaXhosa had lost a great deal of land to the English Settlers, the Coloureds, Khoe and Boers, as well as the amaMfengu refugees who were allies of the colonists. The coloureds and Khoekhoe had then lost some of their land to the co...2024-12-0122 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 198 - 1853: The Crimean War, Historical Doppler Effects and Quitrent in Keiskamma HoekThis is episode 198 — and good news! Apple has listed this podcast as one of South Africas five shows they liked in 2024 — and we are also the third most shared podcast in South Africa on all Apple Podcasts. Unvelievable, ongelooflijk, Ngiyamangala, Ke Makatsoa! I am delighted — and indebted to you the listener who has shared this show with friends and family. Thank you everyone! With that unadulterated self adulation out of the way, back to 1853. As you know, this series constantly shuffles between world events of the time, and incidents and events...2024-11-2421 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 197 - The Show Trial of Andries Botha and the Forgotten Significance of the 8th Frontier WarThis is episode 197. Which is a prime number and therefore symbolic too because this episode we’re dealing with a unique event in Southern African history. The 8th Frontier war, which began on Christmas Day 1850, was going to end eventually although as with all conflicts that stretch into years, most of those involved despaired believing perhaps the guns would never fall silent. A British government under Russell had come a cropper partly because of the way in which this war dragged on, it led to Sir Harry Smith losing his job as Cape Governor, and Sir Ge...2024-11-1722 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 196 - An Irishman-penned Cape Qualified Franchise Constitution and Boots Cathcart on the GroundThis is episode 196 and we’re covering the movement towards sef-government and the first Cape Constitution which included what’s known as a qualified Franchise. A trend had been sweeping British colonies by the mid-nineteenth century where the coming commonwealth was intent on running its own affairs on a country-by-country basis. The first self-governing colony of the British Empire you could say was Massachussett’s in 1630 showing how long the Americans had been tugging at the British leash before they began their war of independence. But to be strictly accurate it was really the Province of Canada...2024-11-1023 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 195 - Mpande’s Mswati beef, a bit about Reserves and Bantustans and a Lashing of Self GovernmentA quick note to the SA Podcaster’s Guild, thank you for the History podcast of the year silver award — I shared the honour with the 30 Years of Democracy Podcast, part of the TimesLive stable. It’s heart warming to receive some sort of recognition, and thanks mainly to you the listener. With that it’s back to episode 195 and we’re swinging back to the east, to Zululand, where Chief Mpande kaSenzangakhona of the AmaZulu has not been idle for the last two years. When we last heard about Mpande, after a few years of r...2024-11-0325 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 194 - The Battle of Berea leads to an Anglo-Basotho Mutual Admiration SocietyThis is episode 194 and we’re marching towards Thaba Bosiu with Lieutenant General George Cathcart. Or sitting on horseback among King Moshoeshoe’s Basotho warriors, armed with a musket. Take your pick. We’re going to hear about the Battle of Berea, and the outcome would underline the Basotho mastery of their land, leading to Lesotho’s independence. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, first things first. AS you heard last episode, soldiers from various regiments in the British army and the Cape Mounted Rifles totalling 2500 troops were invading Moshoeshoes’ kingdom. The Br...2024-10-2721 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 193: Guthrie’s 1852 Four-Colour Problem, Sports Schedules, Mobile Frequencies, AI, and the Battle of BereaFirst off, congratulations to Gcina Mhlophe who is DStv’s content Creator podcaster of the year — I was so happy to shortlisted and incredibly happy for her. Gcina’s African Storytelling podcast is ground breaking please look out for it on all podcast platforms. And a big shout out to all the other finalists, I was amazed at just how many people in South Africa are making a living out of creating their own content, their own stories. Things sure have changed in the media space! Back to 1852. Planet earth had seen quite a few in...2024-10-2023 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 192 - The Sand River Convention, the Transvaal slash Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek dot co dot zaThis is episode 192 and what a packed episode it is! The Sand River Convention and the Battle of the Berea await. The former created a new state called the Zuid Afrikaans Republiek and the latter reinforced the Basotho power under Moshoeshoe which would ultimately lead to the kingdom of Lesotho being born. Two events that too place at the book ends of 1852 - the Convention signed in January, and the Battle of the Berea in December - left their indelible marks on South African history. The decision by the British government to sign a...2024-10-1222 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 191 - Trekkers' Bob-and-Weave Politics, Meneer Van Der Kolff forges a signature and a library burnsFirst off, some news! This series has been selected as one of the five finalists for the DStv Content Creators podcast of the year awards which is taking place on October 12th 2024. I feel completely out of place folks - a kind of imposter syndrome - finalists include the hugely successful series called True Crime South Africa with the glorious Nicole Engelbrecht and African Story Magic with magnificent Gcina Mhlophe. I had to rub my eyes when I received the email and immediately thought it was a nasty bit of malware that had crept into my...2024-10-0523 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 190 - The Birkenhead Drill 'Women and Children First’ tragedy and amaXhosa messages moving at the speed of lightEpisode 190 is about the ocean, and a staggering event. The sinking of the HMS Birkenhead off Gansbaai, south of Cape Town - and event which led to the famous phrase women and children first in maritime lore. All of course also linked to the fierce 8th Frontier War of South Africa because there were hundreds of troops on board this ship when it went down - it is believed 445 drowned or were killed by sharks. The chronicle of what happened is riveting. The terrifying ordeal for the survivors of this ship became part of...2024-09-2921 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 189 - Karl Marx at the Great Exhibition, Eyre's Great Cattle Patrol and Smith gets the boot1851 it is, and the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851. It was the first in a series of World's Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century. Famous people of the time attended the Great Exhibition, including Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Michael Faraday, Samuel Colt, writers like Charlotte Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, Alfred Tennyson, and William Makepeace Thackeray. Schweppes was the o...2024-09-2220 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 188 - Hymns echo in the Waterkloof ravines as Khoekhoe snipers take aim at British officersWe’re into an extremely tough time in our past, 1851, and about to hear about the struggle for control of an area of the Amatolas that the Boers had named Waterkloof - better known by local amaXhosa as Mtontsi. It was a case of jungle warfare as you’re going to hear. The area of operation was only 40 square kilometers and yet it remained out of Britains control for most of the 8th Frontier War. If you have an old steam driven hard copy map of the area, or can fire up your trusty digital device of c...2024-09-1524 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 187 - The Albany Rangers and Mantsopa the soothsayer emerges amongst the BaSothoThis is episode 187 - it’s 1851. Time to take stock of what’s going on across southern Africa which as you know was in the throes of the 8th Frontier War. A significant war. After that we’ll return to Thomas Stubbs who had turned himself into a useful night raider and was about to show the British how to fight in the Albany thickets. To the north, in the mountains of the BaSotho people, King Moshoeshoe the first was not idle in early 1851and his patience with his own kith and kin as well as with the Boers...2024-09-0822 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 186 - Cognate Epistemology, TikTok and Nkosi Sandile assaults AliceEpisode 186 it is - we’re taking a closer look at theological suppositions, ecclesiastical superstitions, magic and myth. Some housekeeping - first thanks to John for taking the time to send a note regarding ecclesiastical and to Mphuthumi for your message about Nkosi Maqoma - I’ll get hold of your book, The Broken River Tent published in 2017. In this episode we’re going to plunge into a sea of mystery because we’re going to investigate the incredibly diverse history of situations where people believe they can turn bullets into water - or where traditional methods...2024-09-0122 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 185 - The Kat River Rebellion and the Mistress of Southern Africa is threatenedCape Governor Harry Smith had made his escape from Fort Cox to King Williams’ Town, and was now hoping for help in the form of 3000 Zulu warriors. The British had mucked things up on the frontier, and most of their old allies the Khoekhoe of the Kat River Settlement had decided to rise up, along with the amaXhosa. The Boers were also not in any mood to send help, in fact, the destabilisation was in their favour, it drew English troops away from the transOrangia Region. Mlanjeni the prophet had told the Xhosa that th...2024-08-2522 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 184 - A Fort Hare rout, “Vieux d’Afrique” Somerset and a British rethink about the role of chiefs in AfricaThis is episode 184 and we’re picking up our story on old year’s eve 1850. Last episode, we heard how Cape Governor Harry Smith was holed up in Fort Cox, and the amaXhosa were in control of most of British Kaffraria - the 8th Frontier War was in full flow. There were fears amongst the settlers that the war would spread as far as the Cape Colony, and the five thousand British troops stationed in southern Africa were spread as far as across the Orange River. What was also unclear was what was going on across the Kei, had...2024-08-1822 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 183 - Maqoma lectures lecherous missionary Brown and the pendulating Hermanus MatroosEpisode 183 it is, and we’re going to take stock as we enter 1851. In war, truth is the first casualty. It’s a military maxim attributed to Aeschylus, the father of Greek tragedy. Aeschylus actually fought in the front lines against the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC. We don’t know much about the rest of his life, but we do know that his work called 'Persians' which was financed by Pericles was such a success that he was invited to Sicily by Hieron of Syracuse to restage the play. His life bridged the Archaic...2024-08-1120 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 182 - The English Column’s Desperate March to Fort WhiteWelcome to the History of South Africa podcast with me your host, Des Latham, this is episode 182. 182 is a triangular number meaning it can be arranged in an equilateral triangle — specifically it is the 13th triangle number because 13x4 Divided by 2 is 182. And it’s a death triangle that the British were facing now - facing amaXhosa prophecy, a blazing hot environment not conducive to their warfare, and the amaXhosa chiefs who were stacking up against the invaders. When we left off, the British column under Lieutenant Colonel George Mackinnon was trying to make it b...2024-08-0419 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 181 - The amaXhosa ambush Mackinnon’s column and a quick introduction to Tiyo SogaShots fired! We’re with the amaXhosa under Maqoma and Sandile, and the British soldiers under Lieutenanat Colonel George Mackinnon, fighting on the steep cliffs of Boma Pass. When the firing began, one of the companies of 73rd Regiment had just entered the pass and it’s Captain JC Gawler explained later about the confusion. Last episode we heard all about the long column of British troops strung out more than two kilometers up this pass, and how Mackinnon, along with the Xhosa police fighting alongside the British and the Coloured Cape Mountain Rifles had emerged at t...2024-07-2810 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 180 - Missionary Browns’ philanderings and the Redcoats face Christmas armageddon in the Boma PassEpisode 180 it is then so let’s get cracking. Or crackling, which was the atmosphere in late 1850 as Xhosaland and British Kaffraria was seized by the exploits of prophet Mlanjeni. He’d combined world views, his messianic emergence shook the land as far away as Cape Town. AS a sickly young man from near King Williams Town, he’d disappeared to work in the Cape Colony and returned in 1850 claiming to have been living under the sea. Not quite Sponge Bob because unlike that loveable kids character, Mlanjeni said it was during his stint underw...2024-07-2124 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 179 - A messianic prophet emerges in 1850: Mlanjeni the WardoctorThis is episode 179 and the prophet Mlanjeni is about to emerge. His story is one of the phenomenal tales of our land, he joined an already fairly long list of colonial era fighters who imbued their struggle against encroaching settlers with a combination of christian salvation ethos and a narrative full of amaXhosa ancient mystery and magic. If you recall last episode, Mlanjeni had been calling all local spiritual leaders to his home, where they were to pass between two poles that had been cleansed and purified. After this other rank and file amaXhosa were being...2024-07-1420 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 178 - A string of forts and Captain Maclean’s amaXhosa police recruits take revengeThe mid-nineteenth Century was like the calm before the storm with the discovery of diamonds a decade away, and then the wars between the Boers and Brits, and the Brits and amaZulu a glimmer in the imperial eye. Moshoeshoe was gaining power amongst the Basotho, and to the east, Mpande continued to dream of crushing the amaSwazi. But to the South on Christmas Day 1850, another frontier war in a long and bitter series between the Cape colony and the amaXhosa erupted in the wake of the witchcraft eradication processes enforced by Governor Harry Smith. ...2024-07-0722 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 177 - The Missionaries position on sex and British administrators refuse to learnWe’re plunging into the developments of the 1850s now and this is episode 177. In numerology the digits 1 and 7 are significant,1 represents new beginnings and leadership, while 7 is often associated with spirituality and introspection. So it’s no mistake this this episode probes spirituality and introspection - and leadership. Not that I necessarily ascribe to the tenets of numerology, but its a useful way into a sensitive subject. By mid-19th Century, most of the game of the Cape, from the north, the east to the south, had been shot out. The amaXhosa had been driven acro...2024-06-3020 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 176 - Cape Conservatives vs Radicals in 1850, a synopsis of souls and climate dystopiaThis is the period of the utilitarian liberal, not of the democrat, it’s 1850 and in the Cape, a newly ninted constitution had been drafted by the attorney general, William Porter. This was based on a nonracial qualified franchise - all adult males who had occupied property worth at least twenty five pounds for a year were eligible to vote. Porter had toiled on the draft of this document for the also newly minted Governor, Sir Harry Smith, who sent it to London. Porter later in 1850 had a complete change of heart as utilitarian liberals tend to...2024-06-2221 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 175 - A whip around the world in 1849 and a wide-angle view of Cape SocietyThis is episode 175 - and we’re back in the Cape circa 1849 and thereabouts. Before we dive into the latest incidents and events, let’s take a look at what was going on globally as everything is connected. In France, citizens are able to use postage stamps for the very first time, a series called Ceres, which is also a place in the Western Cape. The Austrian Army invades Hungary entering the countries two capitals, which back in 1849 were called Buda and Pest. Next door, Romanian paramilitaries laid into Hungarian civilians, killing 600 in what we’d call e...2024-06-1619 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 174 - The 1848 British defeat of the Boers at the Battle of Boomplaats near BloemfonteinThis is episode 174. First off, a big thank you to all the folks who’ve supported me and for sharing so many personal stories of your ancestry. Particularly Jane who is a font of knowledge about the Williams family, and John who’s been communicating about the Transkei. Please also sign up for the weekly newsletter by heading off to desmondlatham.blog - you can also email me from that site. When we left off episode 173, King Mswati the first was running out of patience with his elder brother Somcuba. Voortrekker leader Hendrick Potgieter had...2024-06-0923 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 173 - Boer women fight off the Bapedi, Mpande interferes in Swazi business and Potgieter’s last trekThis is episode 173 and we’re in what was called the north eastern transvaal, modern day Mpumalanga and Limpopo. Last we heard how Hendrick Potgieter’s Voortrekkers had camped at a new town they named Ohrigstad in 1845, after leaving the are around Potchefstroom. Potgieter wanted to move further away from the British, and he sought a new port to replace Durban which had been annexed by the English. The area around Ohrigstad had a major drawback, apart from the fact it was already populated by the Bapedi. The lowlands were rife with malaria. Within a few week...2024-06-0125 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 172 - The Republic of Potchefstroom, Potgieter treks into Bapedi country and Mswati faces rebellionThis is episode 172 and we’re galloping back to cover the effect of the Boers 33 Articles, approved by the Volksraad on April 9th 1844, and thus installing the little Republic of Potchefstroom. Some of the articles and the fledgling laws and rules were going to crop up throughout the history of South Africa, all the way through to the time of apartheid, and even to the present. If you recall, the Natal Boers and the Vaal Boers had been in dispute — largely because of the difference of opinion between their two leaders, Hendrick Potgieter on the highveld, and...2024-05-2619 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 171 - Zwangendaba’s exodus from Pongola to Lake Tanganyika and the story of the NgoniThis is episode 171 and now its time to swing around southern Africa again, because as Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in Canterbury Tales in 1395, “Time and Tide wait for no man”. It’s from the Prologue to the first story called the Clerk’s Tale and the story is imbued with what modern academics call masculine authoritarianism. It’s about women’s power actually, and insubordination — the plot dealing with a woman called Griselda who rises the highest position of hegemonic power. She becomes the honoured wife of a wealthy lord through utter submissiveness and essential silence. To many modern fo...2024-05-1920 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 170 - Harry Smith returns as the conquering hero and humiliates Maqoma while translators muddle alongThis is episode 170 and the sound you’re hearing is the cheering and the flaming hot emotion because Sir Harry Smith is back in town! The town is Cape Town — Sir Harry won’t hang around there for too long, he as you know from the previous episode, has returned to South Africa to take up his new position as Governor of the Cape. Sir Harry was the former civil commissioner of the de-annexed Province of Queen Adelaide in the Eastern Cape and in June 1840 he’d left Cape Town to take up a post as Adjutant...2024-05-1225 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 169 - The Kat River Settlement seethes and the inglorious treachery of Sandile’s arrestFirst off, a big thank you to those listeners who’ve been sending me emails, a great deal of useful information emerges from our discussions which always improves the quality of this podcast, specifically thanks to John for sending me your book and to Doctor Nkosi for the contact in eSwatini. When we left off in episode 168, pressure was being exerted on the Kat River Settlement by the new Governor, Sir Henry Pottinger. A quick revisit. The Kat River Settlement came into being in I829 after a clash on the eastern border when the authorities of th...2024-05-0423 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 168 - Earl Grey and the irascible Sir Henry Pottinger leave their mark on South AfricaThis is episode 168 and the world by the middle of the 19th Century was shifting gear, changing rapidly. Southern Africa was caught in the currents of world history and within a few years with the discovery of Diamonds, was going to be very much in the current of world economics. Not that the Cape had not been crucial since the days of the Dutch East India Company, the VOR. As you heard last episode, the British government has fallen, Robert Peel had resigned on 19 June 1846, in the wake of political divisions that followed the repeal of...2024-04-2823 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 167 - Maitland dithers, Stockenstrom sallies forth into the Transkei and biblical storms change everythingThis is episode 167 and the British army is clumping along towards the Amathola fastnesses, the deep ravines and steep riverine environment not the most ideal for an army that dragged everything around on wagons. Leading this army were officers steeped in the traditions of empire, and marching under their command were men from across Great Britain and beyond. They were poor, some with debts to pay back home, many were recruited from the haunts of dissipation and inebriation as historian Noel Mostert notes one officer saying in a somewhat sneering tone. But that’s a bit ha...2024-04-2122 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 166 - Colonel Lindsay lashes a local lad, Fort Peddie attacked and the Battle of Gwangqa RiverThe Seventh Frontier war has burst into flame, and across the Ceded Territory and down into the land around Port Elizabeth amaXhosa warriors are on the warpath, the British have been forced into the defensive. If you remember, Sir Peregrine Maitland declared war on the amaXhosa chief Mgolombane Sandile Ngqika on 1st April 1846 — but the eastern Xhosa, the Gcaleka under Sarhili, had remained out of the latest war - at least for now. The amaXhosa have notched up two major victories against the British, one in the Amatola mountains where Sandile ambushed Gibson’s column, destroyed over 60 wagons then...2024-04-1420 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 165 - Sandile ambushes a British column, Captain Bambrick’s skull and Somerset’s humiliationThis is episode 165 — and the atmosphere in Xhosaland was ablaze with indignation. A Mr Holliday had complained in Fort Beaufort that an imaDange man called Tsili had stolen his axe, and if you recall last episode, Tsili had been arrested then freed while under military escort by Tola a headman who lived nearby. Tola had hacked off a prisoners hand to free Tsili from his shackles, the prisoner was thrown into a nearby river and died. The British demanded Tstili and Tola be handed over but imiDange chief Nkosi Bhotomane refused. Rharhabe chief Sandile was approached bu...2024-04-0519 min

The Winter WarEpisode 14 - The Winter War link to the murder of Poles in Katyn Forest and Russia’s paranoiaThe war is over but the ramifications are only just beginning. With the peace signing of March 13 1940, the Finns had ceded much of their territory including the entire Karelian Isthmus to the Russians, along with chunks of their Arctic land and eastern border. They were also supposed to build a railway line which linking Murmansk and Leningrad to the Finnish western port town of Tornio on the Swedish Border. In all, the territorial loss to Finland was 10 percent of its total pre-war surface area. Close to 12 percent of its population had to be resettled from the...2024-03-3124 min

The Winter WarEpisode 14 - The Winter War link to the murder of Poles in Katya Forest and Russia’s paranoiaThe war is over but the ramifications are only just beginning. With the peace signing of March 13 1940, the Finns had ceded much of their territory including the entire Karelian Isthmus to the Russians, along with chunks of their Arctic land and eastern border. They were also supposed to build a railway line which linking Murmansk and Leningrad to the Finnish western port town of Tornio on the Swedish Border. In all, the territorial loss to Finland was 10 percent of its total pre-war surface area. Close to 12 percent of its population had to be resettled from the...2024-03-3124 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 164 - British sappers cross Block Drift into Xhosaland setting off a chain of events on the eve of warThis is episode 164. Remember when we left off we’d been hearing about the squad of Royal engineers who’d crossed into amaXhosa territory over the Tyhume River in January 1846. They were led by Lieutenant J Stokes — this small team of five were surveying land for the site of the new fort. Little did they know that their crossing of Block Drift into Ngqika country was a small initial skirmish that was going to lead to war. Some say war was coming anyway, however their blatant trespass definitely applied the amaXhosa chief’s minds as you’re going t...2024-03-3121 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 163 - British engineers build forts and semaphores while disabled chief Mgolombane Sandile signs a treatyThis is episode 163, the year, 1845. New Cape Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland had shown he was a man of action — as a veteran of the Peninsular Campaign against Napoleon you’d expect that, particularly as he fought at Waterloo. This new man of action governor had some doubts about a few things here in sunny South Africa. He doubted the effectiveness of Andries Stockenstrom’s Eastern Cape Ceded territory system for a start. He would sort that he thought with the introduction of a new system which was actually an old system. More about that later. Maitland also d...2024-03-2423 min

The Winter WarEpisode 13 - “…May the hand wither that is forced to sign such a document as this…”This is episode 13 and it’s an unlucky number for the Finns. Wednesday the 13th March 1940 to be specific. The had held off the might of the Soviet army for more than three months, but on that day, they signed the Cease Fire Treaty, and were forced to surrender a swathe of their territory. So before we get there, let’s wrap up the Winter War. Red Army commander Timoshenko had decided to deploy 40% of the Russian Army in the next major assault that began on the 11th February as you heard previously. 2024-03-1524 min

The Winter WarEpisode 12 - Timoshenko’s February crescendo and Stalin fixates on a British Baku whispering campaignThis is episode 12 - it’s the third week of February 1940 and the Russians have eventually succeeded in punching a hole through the Mannerheim Line. As you heard last episode, the second major offensive began on the 11th February when Russian commander Timoshenko ordered a massive bombardment followed by focused thrusts at Poppius and Million Dollar bunkers. That section of the line was pierced but only after a few more thousand Russians had been listed as casualties. The Russians had also attacked in force near Taipale, charging across open ice in suicidal rushes, marching ac...2024-02-2920 min

The Winter WarEpisode 11 - The Russian 123rd Division breaks through the Mannerheim Line at Poppius BunkerThis is episode 11 and it’s February 1940. The Russians are having another go at invading Finland, and now they’ve learned a few lessons. As you heard last episode, there had been a build up through late January. While Finland’s political leaders had been desperately trying to start up peace talks with the Soviet Union, Stalin had been fretting about reports that Britain and France were planning to send troops and material to help the Finns. The Stavka had rearranged the Russian forces in preparation for the new assault on the Mannerheim Line along...2024-02-1619 min

The Winter WarEpisode 10 - Massive Russian bombardments on the Mannerheim Line as Moscow frets about oilThis is episode 10 and the Russians are about to launch their second attempt at invading Finland and this time, they’re going to significantly alter their strategy and their tactics. The Stavka back in Moscow had inserted new commanders, demoted failures, and were now determined to recover lost initiative — the Red Army had lost numerous battles and lost face in the full view of the Germans. This winter War lasted 105 days from November 1939 until March 1940, but its ramifications for world history cannot be overstressed. Hitler saw how the handful of Finns bludgeoned one of the world’s supe...2024-02-0417 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 155 - The Eastern Cape economy surges and the Americans visit Port Natal as tension risesWelcome back to the History of South Africa podcast with me your host, Des Latham - it’s episode 155 and the Cape economy is growing in leaps and bounds. The years between 1840 and 1843 were a fascinating mix of economic development and military endeavour. We will be returning to the arrival in Port Natal aka Durban of Captain Smith and his 263 men and unfortunately, there’s going to be fisticuffs, bullets, death and traitorous acts. But it is true that the most significant development in South Africa after 1835 was the expansion of agricultural production. Luckily for us, an o...2024-01-2721 min

The Winter WarEpisode 9 - The Russians retrain and we meet “The White Death” sniper Simo Hayha.This is episode 9 and we’re swinging back to the Karelian Isthmus to focus on what was going on through the third week of January 1940. Earlier in the month the disgraced Soviet Leningrad Military district was reformed and renamed the Northwestern Front and Stalin installed Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko as the commander. He was a hard man, flinty eyes, shaven head, powerful voice — a tough man for a tough job. Timoshenko was an idealogue but no fool and agreed to lead the Northwestern Front assaults but only if Stalin agreed that he would not be held personally liab...2024-01-2513 min

The Winter WarEpisode 8 - The Red Air Force flops but Gusevski proves a worthy opponentThis is episode 8 and we’re into the second week of January 1940. The Russian invasion of Finland has hit a roadblock. It is a corner of Europe insulated through much of the year by ice. Historically, as Eric Dancy noted in a fantastic analysis published in 1946, she was a great prize and a battlefield initially for Sweden and Russia — until the Germans replaced the Swedes as the principal enemies of the Russians, when she became a flank for the new battlefield. Up until then, the Finns were presumed to have let’s say, an underdeveloped political instinct, preferring to see...2024-01-1818 min

The Winter WarEpisode 7 - The Red Army 44th Division is crushed on the Raate roadThis is episode 7 and I’m covering the first week of January 1940. The Russian invasion of Finland has stalled as their mechanised units find the defenders extremely motivated, and the use of various innovations such as the Molotov cocktail and the Motti attack system have stymied Moscow’s grand Red Army. Instead of flooding over the border and seizing Finland, the Russians have already lost thousands of men and they’ve been stopped dead in their tracks both in the crucial Karelian Isthmus battlefront, and further north of Lake Ladoga around Suomussalmi. They’ve also come to a fro...2024-01-0918 min

The Winter WarEpisode 6 - The Finns retake Suomussalmi and the Russians are repulsed in LaplandThis is episode six and we’re covering events at the end of December and into the first week of January. First a quick situation report. The Finns were fighting to maintain control over parts of the road to Raate from Suomussalmi, with the Russians having now decided to send an entire new Division to support the Ninth Army which had experienced some difficulty in the drive to cut Finland in half through what was known as the waist, planning if you remember to reach Oulu the eastern harbour port on the Baltic. Captain Makinen had fo...2023-12-2922 min

The Winter WarEpisode 5 - The Battle for Suomussalmi and Motti Ops developLast we heard how the Russian Stavka had taken control of the war directly after a number of mishaps, the Finns had managed to stymie the mighty Red Army which launched its invasion without warning on November 30th. 120 000 Russian soldiers backed up by 1500 artillery pieces, 1400 tanks and about 1000 planes had initially launched part of the invasion along the Karelian Isthmus - this was the Soviet Seventh Army. The Finnish forces facing them were tiny by comparison, almost ten percent of the size, 26 000 infantry, 71 artillery pieces and no tanks. Helsinki couldn’t call on an air force, th...2023-12-2023 min

The Winter WarEpisode 4 - Kollaa Still Stands and the snorting armoured train Hyöky goes to workThe Russians have invaded on a broad front, stretching from the Karelia Isthmus all the war to the Arctic Sea, ten major incursions in all. When the Soviets attacked on November 30th, they did so without declaring war — they just rolled in. As you heard last episode, by day two of the Soviet invasion, December 2nd 1939 the Finns were facing the might of the Red Army and the prognosis was not good. But they had a chance to carry out Finnish General Gustaf Mannerheim’s master plan, allowing the Russians to invade, then striking them behind their lines. 2023-12-1427 min

The Winter WarEpisode 3 - Mannerheim back in the saddle as the Russian Blietzkrieg turns into a BotchedkriegThis is episode 3 and the Russians have just bombed Helsinki on the morning of 30th November 1939 — missing most of the vital infrastructure but hitting the residential area and a square in front of the main railway station, as well as a hangar at Malmi Airfield. Two hundred people died in the first few hours of the invasion, most were civilians. The Finns were caught totally off guard - their anti-aircraft gunners managed to fire off a few shots but by then Russian bombers had turned and were miles away. As the planes disappeared to th...2023-12-0423 min

The Winter WarEpisode 2 - The order of battle as Russia begins its invasion of FinlandIn the early winter of 1939 the Red Army was an unknown quantity to just about everyone, particularly the Germans who were going to miscalculate and invade the USSR within two years. The Red Army was an untried theoretical instrument in 1939, after Stalin’s purges of their commanding officers. There had been that stunning one-sided victory when Marshal Zhukov defeated the Japanese at Khalkin Gol in August 1939 but that was seen as hardly a fair contest. The Japanese had been riding roughshod over the Chinese up until then, and the Chinese army often couldn’t even supply its...2023-11-2922 min

The Winter WarEpisode 1 - Finland trapped between the Russian Bear and the German WolfThe Russian invasion of Finland in November 1939 came as a bloody shock to the people of the small Baltic state, not least the government which appeared to have misread Joseph Stalin’s intentions. The location for this terrible saga lies at the easternmost end of the Baltic Sea, between the Gulf of Finland and the huge Lake Ladoga, this is the rugged and very narrow Karelian Isthmus. Flying over this territory in a light plane reveals its stark and stern beauty, cut laterally by crisp blue lakes, blanketed in an evergreen forest, stubby grey and reddy gr...2023-11-1926 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 141 — An ode to the Orange River and San spoor blows in the windWelcome back to the History of South Africa podcast with me your host, Des Latham. This is episode 141. First a little admin - a big thank you to for tuning in. This series has passed one million listens, the response has been staggering. When I began planning the history of South Africa podcast three years ago, it was literally a step into the deep end of audio production. Nothing can truly prepare you for such an enterprise — and this is a solo job. It’s me, the hundreds of books collected over decades, the jour...2023-10-2126 min

Plane Crash DiariesEpisode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviationEpisode 35 - The 1986 Aeromexico collision over L.A. that changed aviation by Desmond Latham 2023-05-0127 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 21 – The war "between two bald men fighting over a comb" endsThe British had taken most of the hills overlooking Port Stanley by the morning of 14th June 1982 – and 2 Para had been ordered to halt on their position on Wireless Ridge. They were waiting for the SAS and the Royal Marines who were raiding from the north of Cortley Hill Ridge, a long narrow piece of land running from Moody Brook to the northern arm of Stanley harbour. That opeation was more of a hindrance than a help to 2 Para because the SAS run into trouble and had to be supported by the artillery that had been...2022-07-2421 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 20 – The bloody battles for Longdon and TumbledownWe heard how the assault of Two Sisters and Mount Harriet went last episode, both were taken within 2 and a half hours – but 3 Paras attack on Mount Longdon was a different proposition. It’s a steep sided hill about a mile long running almost west to east, it’s main ridge above 600 feet in places and overall, about 300 feet on average above the surrounding ground. This hill formed only a small part of the Argentinian 7th Regiment and its commander Lieutenant Colonel Ortiz Gimenez overlooked the sector named Plata – or silver. It stretched from Mount Longdon eastwards as the north...2022-07-1820 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 19 – The Battle to take Stanley begins as the British begin their assault on the hills overlooking the portWe pick up after the sinking of the Galahad and the debacle at Fitzroy and Bluff Cove. The British war cabinet was plunged into an argument over information. New Brigade commander Moore had panicked and sent a message that he’d lost 900 men – we know it was 51. The Argentinians naturally believed the 900 figure and also thought that the British attack had been stunted.It hadn’t, but London ironically gained as it lost. The Ministry of Defence faced the media and responded that the casualties had been heavy and that this may delay an attac...2022-07-1126 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 18 – Fifty-one British die as the Galahad, Plymouth and Foxtrot 4 are pulverised by the Argentinian air forceIt was 30th May and the rusty liner the Canberra headed back into San Carlos water. On board were reinforcements from the 5th Infantry Brigade including the Gurkhas, the Scots and Welsh Guards. They had been collected from the QE2 liner which had docked at South Georgia with the Guards and the Gurkhas, from where they were collected by the Canberra. Also on board was the new commander, Major-General Jeremy Moore who was to take over from Brigadier Jeremy Thompson. The command post at San Carlos was the outside lavatory and cloakroom for the Port San...2022-07-0329 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 17 – The bloody May 1982 battle for Darwin and Goose GreenThe night of 27th May 1982 was cold and rainy, and waiting for the British on the mile-wide isthmus to the north of the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green were one hundred Argentinian conscripts making up two platoons of 12 Regiment A company, a dozen or so Argentinian reconnaissance soldiers, First Lieutenant Jorge Manresa, three officers and 14 NCOs. Manresa’s men weren’t in a good place. They were part of the extension of the defensive position ordered by their commander back in Stanley and it was no where nearly as well laid out as the second line of defenc...2022-06-2726 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 16 – 2 Para prepares to attack Darwin and Goose GreenAs we heard in Episode 15, the British were ascendant, but they’d paid a high price.Twenty-six Argentinian planes had been shot down since the landings at San Carlos, ten British ships had been damaged by unexploded bombs, so imagine the carnage had these been fused properly. Five ships had been sunk – HMS Sheffield, Ardent, Antelope, Coventry and the SS Atlantic Conveyor. One more would go down before the end of this short war. Back in the U.K. the cabinet was muttering about action and naturally, this pressure on the leadership in the Falklands became...2022-06-1919 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 15 – Argentinian pilots commemorate their national day on 25th May 1982 by sinking two British shipsThe British landings at San Carlos were both a threat and an opportunity for the Argentinians. Obviously allowing the British a toehold on east Falklands was a strategic danger, but now they could concentrate their air attacks on the landing zone, and the ships providing support.In their first sorties, the Argentinian air force flew over open seas, searching for targets and burning up precious fuel. Now the landings had altered the odds – they could aim at the warships anchored in Falkland Sound, the waterway between the two islands. More importantly, the pilots cou...2022-06-1322 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 14 – The Fuerza Aerea sink HMS Ardent and damage 4 other British warships but lose a quarter of their attacking planesIt’s still D-Day – 21st May 1982, and the British have landed over 3000 troops at the Bay of San Carlos Waters, now they need to shift thousands of tons of material from ship to shore, something that was going to be sorely tested by the Argentinian Air force. On the morning of 21st May, and the British had made good use of the early morning mist to land their troops virtually unposed as you heard last episode – the only major hitch for the British so far was the retreating Argentinian platoons based at San Carlos and Fanning Head shooting do...2022-06-0521 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 13 – The British land at San Carlos virtually unopposed but lose two helicoptersThe British were preparing to land their amphibious force on the north western tip of the East Falklands at a place called San Carlos. I won’t go into the long drawn out debate that took place between commanders over alternatives, because its moot considering what happened next. However as you’re going to hear, because they had not managed to take control of the air war, some of the landing and support vessels were going to suffer the consequences. By 15th May, civilians aboard the ships including the press, were handed the Declaration of Active...2022-05-2920 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 12 – HMS Alacrity steams up Falkland Sound, the SAS and SBS collect intel and the Narwal is bombedThe HSM Sheffield has just been sunk by an Exocet days after the General Belgrano was sent to the depths by two torpedoes. This war was turning nastier by the minute and not helped by the media on both sides – British Warship sunk by Argies – yelled the Sun Headline The Daily Star was a bit more direct – its headline was merely:SUNK!The odd thing was that the Sheffield had not actually gone down by the time these stories were published – it would take three days for the Sheffield to eventually...2022-05-2224 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 11 – HMS Sheffield sunk by an Exocet and the first Sea Harrier is downed at Goose GreenA catastrophe had befallen the Argentinians with the sinking of the Belgrano on May 2nd 1982, all in all 368 sailors died after it was torpedoed by the nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror.While Argentina’s warships never ventured out to sea again, the diplomatic fallout from the sinking caused Britain to lose a great deal of good faith that she’d built up over the preceding few weeks. But it was only two days later that Admiral Anaya was going to take his revenge.Before then, a few bits of action were recorded. On the night...2022-05-1524 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 10 – The air war begins in earnest and the sinking of the BelgranoThe Vulcan has just bombed Port Stanley airfield, causing significant damage and the Argentinians on the Falklands were about to experience a wave of attacks by Sea Harriers. While this was happening, Argentina’s most powerful warship the General Belgrano was steaming into the Atlantic for the last time as it turn out. To the north east, Vice-Admiral Woodward’s battle group of thirteen ships had entered the exclusion zone in the early hours of the 1st May and the flight-deck crews on board the carriers were prepping the sea Harriers for the next blow. Inv...2022-05-0825 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 9 – A Vulcan bombs Stanley Airport after an epic flight from Ascension Island and Argentina orders out the fleetIt’s late April 1982 and the British have retaken the island of South Georgia after a sharp fight against the Argentinians who’d seized the frozen outcrop the day after the Falklands were invaded. The Argentine fleet had returned to its base after the initial landing on 2nd April, its welcome as the force which had regained the islands muted by the United Nations resolution calling for a withdrawal and the news that the British had dispatched a task force. It would be at least two weeks before the British arrived so the Argentinians spent the tim...2022-05-0120 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 8 – The British retake South Georgia after a struggle against Antarctic galesWhen we ended last episode, the Argentinians had just seized Gryviken in South Georgia on 3rd April 1982 and had begun to move new units into the Falklands replacing the commandos who landed on the 2nd.The British cabinet had met and the Task Force was at sea within 5 days. Elements of the force converged on the Ascension Islands at the end of the second week of April 1982 and were under orders to prepare a number of options for the cabinet’s decision. Commodore Clapp and Brigadier Thompson aboard the Fearless were wrestling with how to reca...2022-04-2426 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 7 – Britain’s Task Force mobilises and eccentric Major Ewan Southby-Tailyour fishes out his Falkland mapsThe Argentinians invaded the Falklands on 2nd April 1982 and as you heard last episode, the main force took the islands after a short firefight at Government House which left one Argentinian dead and two wounded and one Royal Marine wounded in the arm there. The Army’s 25th Regiment was already flying in from the mainland airfield of Comodoro Rivadavia to replace the marine landing force. It would be followed by the 9th Engineer Company, and these two units would constitute the first Argentine Garrison in the Falklands. Four of the important planes in the coming...2022-04-1724 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 6 – The Argentinians invade the Falklands on 2nd April 1982The Argentinians have just landed commandos and attacked the Marine Barracks at Moody Brook, but missed their target as the 40 specialist brit soldiers have been on the move for more than a day already. As your heard last episode, the British finally managed to get a warning to their Falklands Governor, Rex Hunt, a few hours before the Argentinian fleet anchored off Port Stanley. Argentinian Rear-Admiral Büsser had been studying the problems of landing at the Falklands since January 1982 and the commandos had carried out the first obvious mission – to strike at the Marine Barra...2022-04-1020 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 5 – Argentina’s fleet sets sail for the Falklands and commandos land on the morning of 2nd April 1982As we heard last episode, Argentinian businessman Senor Davidoff had chartered a boat to take 41 of his men to South Georgia to salvage metal and other materials from abandoned whaling stations. The had not reported to the British head of a scientific mission at the port of Grytviken despite being told to. It was March 1982 and the Bahia Buen Suceso had dropped off the scrapmen on the island who were breaking down the abandoned buildings. They’d also been joined by a French film crew who were forced to seek shelter at South Georgia. After they fixed up...2022-04-0324 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 4 – Argentina dusts off the blueprint for a Falkland Island invasion as Margaret Thatcher is installed as Prime MinisterAs you heard last episode, Admiral Jorge Anaya had begun to plan an invasion of the Falklands by 1979, shortly after Argentina won the Soccer World Cup of 1978.Anaya had been commander-in-chief of the Argentine Navy and a member of the military junta that controlled the country since 1976. But by far the most important player in this saga was General Leopoldo Galtieri who became president shortly before Anaya was installed as navy chief. Incumbent president Roberto Viola’s health had been deteriorating.One of the more hawkish members of the Argentinian government was Admiral Ana...2022-03-2727 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 3 – Argentina’s junta cranks up the heat on the frigid Falklands but then cry wolf in 1977This is episode three and we’re dealing with the period up to the invasion of the islands by the Argentinians on 2nd April 1982. Had it been a day earlier, most people across the world would have thought that the news was a horrendous April Food Joke – but it wasn’t. As we heard last episode, by 1971 negotiations between the British and the Argentinians had vascillated between good intentions and terrible breakdowns. Throughout the 1960s, the British were trying to figure out how to offload the Falklands without causing political condemnation at home. That chang...2022-03-2121 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 2 – The Falklands between 1770 and 1970 – disputed but not dispiritedThose who fought in their twenties would be in their mid-sixties now – and there are quite a few thousand vets on both sides commemorating fallen comrades.As you heard last episode, the ownership of the Falklands has been disputed for centuries although the islanders themselves are very clear who they are – they’re British. Through today’s podcast you’ll hear that at times, London was not so sure about that. What some forget is that the British government in the 1960s were close to doing a deal with the Argentinians to offload the Falklands at a time of grea...2022-03-1223 min

The Falklands WarEpisode 1 - Windswept and wild - an initial history of the disputed Falkland IslandsIt was an odd war, fought with the same weapons, NATO weapons. But bullets don’t recognize nationalities, neither do torpedoes and missiles and both sides were going to brutalise each other with western arms. That was only one of many unusual facts about this short sharp war that has left the veterans on both side wondering what it was all for. As we watch Russia invade Ukraine claiming ownership, this is surely a moment to reflect on the Falklands where 255 British military personnel died, along with 649 Argentinians and 3 Falkland Island civilians. On 2 April 1982, Arge...2022-03-0820 min

History of South Africa podcastEpisode 55 – Somerville's 1802 description of the baThlaping and their grand capital at DithakongWelcome back to the History of South Africa podcast, with me your host Des Latham - this episode 55. We’ll follow Doctor William Somerville on his way home from the expedition you heard about last episode and there’s a lot of action. First we’ll spend time with the Scots doctor as he spent time at Dithakong, that Great Tswana city of the Tlhaping. They had entered Griqua country By November 21st and made their way towards Dithakong cautiously. First they sent a guide ahead “…the inform the Horde of the Briquas of our arr...2022-02-2719 min

The Anglo-Boer WarEpisode 128 -The Leliefontein Massacre & de Wet runs into British trenchesEpisode 128 -The Leliefontein Massacre & de Wet runs into British trenches by Desmond Latham 2020-03-0122 min

The Breakfast XpressINTERVIEW WITH AVIATION ANALYST DESMOND LATHAMSAA have just granted unions a 5.9% increase and flights are back up and running, but is it business as usual for SAA? What are the possible solutions to their woes? We chat to aviation analyst Desmond Latham to find out 2019-11-2509 min

Plane Crash DiariesEpisode 5 – Miss Macao: The first commercial airliner to be hijackedI’m your host and pilot, Desmond Latham. Every week we tackle a different area of aviation and this week it’s the history of hijackings. The first ever hijacking of a commercial plane took place on the 16th July 1948. It involved a Catalina Seaplane owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by subsidiary Macau Air Transport Company registered in Hong Kong. At that time Hong Kong was still a British Territory. And ironically the plane that took off from the sea was going to be affected by what was called piracy originally. The struggle between the Nationalists and the Communists was...2019-08-0418 min