One of the perks of being a part-time academic is having to do lots of unpaid work aimed at raising one’s profile within your discipline. However, sometimes this work is more a pleasure than a chore. Such is the case with being a co-convenor on the IHR’s (Institute of Historical Research) Sport and Leisure History seminar series.
Our next seminar is by a postgrad researcher, Amelia Clegg, of Birkbeck College. Friends and perhaps some readers of this blog (the link will take you to a post I wrote about Birkbeck many moons ago) will know that Birkbeck is a place very close to my heart. So it’s a great pleasure to host Amelia for her first paper at the IHR whose abstract concerning the British Army and the South African War is included below.
My own thesis touched on South Africa in several places but one source I wasn’t able to include in any substantial way was the surprisingly enjoyable read by the official historians of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.* An illustration of its less than sensationalist style can be ascertained from the following quote …
Captain Dibley was almost on the top of the hill when hit. He had a dim recollection of the gallant Adjutant of the Royal Irish Fusiliers racing up almost alongside him at a distance of a few paces only. He snapped his revolver at him, but only to fall senseless next moment with a bullet through the head. Marvellous though it seems he made a comparatively speedy recovery, and he was able to ride into Ladysmith, at the head of his company, in the following February, having been in hospital in the besieged town in the interval. Evidence of the temporary nature of the discomfort caused by a bullet in the head is afforded by the fact that he is today one of the most best bridge-players in the regiment.
So that’s all good.
Amelia Clegg will be speaking in the Past and Present room at the IHR at 5.30pm on Monday 30th April.
Abstract
‘This paper concerns itself with the divergent character of masculinities, manliness and manhood through examining the British soldier in the South African War, and the extent to which gender affected soldiering during a colonial conflict. I investigate the competing and changing nature of masculinities, manliness and manhood, and analyse the impact of gender on the identity and leadership of the British battalion officer of the Coldstream Guards. I argue that the leadership styles of the regimental officers were shaped by their personal histories, circumstances and professional experiences that likewise resulted in a gendered performance of command.
I assess the extent to which the change in the nature of the conflict, from set-piece battles at the start of the war in October 1899, to guerrilla warfare from September 1900 onwards, contributed to the divergence of masculinities of two case studies, Major Arthur Henniker and Major Harry Shute, and how the shift in the war impacted their leadership styles. Following the disbandment of the battalions into separate companies with the officers having to deal with small bands of Boer guerrillas, a greater deal of individualism and initiative was demanded of Henniker and Shute.
I additionally consider Boer masculinities, and the Boer commando as institution in comparison to the British Army in order to illustrate how the personal attitudes of both sides were shaped. This comparative approach demonstrates how personal attitudes changed and adapted over the course of the war as the two sides came into closer contact with one another. I closely analyse the variants of gender within these two opposing sides not only through my discussion of the differences.’
* Romer, Sir C. F. and Mainwaring, A. E., The Second Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the South African War, with a Description of the Operations in the Aden Hinterland (London, 1908)
#History #London
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