P.J. Pretorius in custom-made leather hunting garb designed to withstand the throny scrub of the Addo Bush.
P.J. Pretorius was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his role in the Königsberg operation. The hunter wasn’t about to rest on his laurels, however. He still had a major role to play in the East Africa Campaign.
Leadership of that campaign had been handed to General Jan Smuts of South Africa. The general, once a successful guerrilla leader in the Anglo-Boer War, swiftly set about making the “British” campaign in East Africa over into a primarily South African campaign, and he tapped the Boer hunter to be his Chief of Scouts.
Pretorius lived a life of extreme danger and hardship, almost perpetually behind enemy lines seeking out intelligence of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck’s dispositions, movements and intentions.
“That was the sort of life I led for many months — often taking part in a battle, and then haring off in the night to gauge effects.”
It was an exhilarating but harrowing existence. Staying one jump ahead of the Germans, carrying a price on his head, Pretorius covertly armed and instigated a native resistance movement in German-held territory, a feat that disrupted von Lettow-Vorbeck’s food supply and earned Pretorius a bar for his DSO.
In another instance, Pretorius was able to isolate and effectively starve out one of von Lettow’s columns under the command of a Major Tafel. One of Pretorius’ many native spies intercepted a message from Tafel to von Lettow in which Tafel reported his route and his need for supplies. Pretorius arranged to clear the country of its native inhabitants and their food stuffs, which Tafel needed to carry on.
Tafel nearly blundered into salvation by marching up a river gorge where von Lettow was descending, but, as Pretorius watched with bated breathe, Tafel made a fateful turn onto the Makonde Plateau, where, deprived of food, he was forced to surrender his command, consisting of 3,400 askaris (African troops); 19 officers; 100 European noncoms and 1,000 porters.
It was a satisfying cap to Pretorius’ military career.
Ever restless, the hunter would, soon after the Great War, take on the task of shooting out the “rogue” elephant herd that occupied the Addo Bush, an area of dense scrubland in the South African Cape. Hunters as esteemed as Frederick Courteney Selous had deemed the project suicidal. Pretorius himself resisted taking on the challenge, but when the district commissioner told him he could find no one else to do the job, the hunter plunged in.
He moved into a camp in the Addo and inaugurated an “elephant war,” earning his life and his living with a double-barreled .475 Jeffery.
Today, such elephant slaughter seems wanton and grotesque, as wasteful and ugly as the slaughter of the American bison. Such was not the view in 1919, when elephants often imperiled life and property, and Pretorius’ project must be judge by the standards of his day, not ours. Symbolic of changing times and ways, the remnant of the herd he left behind formed the nucleus of the Addo Elephant National Park herd, a tourist attraction in the Cape.
An effective frontier partisan
Major P.J. Pretorius was an exceptionally effective frontier partisan. His work carried the vestiges of the romance of frontier scouting and the derring-do of Wellington’s Exploring Officers, but his missions of reconnaissance, force multiplication, supply disruption and psychological warfare were very modern. British SAS personnel or U.S. Arm Special Forces “Green Berets” would recognize in Pretorius a kindred spirit.
The makings of a frontier partisan operator:
• He was comfortable with native cultures and languages. Pretorius’ success — his very survival — depended upon his relationship with his askaris, his native scouts and the African populations in his areas of operations. He cultivated a loyal and effective intelligence network. Sometimes the natives paid dearly for their association with the Boer hunter. In one incident, Pretorius narrowly escaped capture and watched from the bush as the Germans hanged seven of his men on a tree.
“By such means the Germans registered their disapproval of natives rendering me any assistance.”
Askaris were the core of General von Lettow-Vorbeck’s army, and Pretorius relied on his in his scouting campaigns.
• Bush Craft: Pretorius transferred all of his skills as a hunter, honed in the most rugged and dangerous terrain imaginable, to the operations of war. There was simply nobody better at operating in his environment.
• Danger sense:
“My immunity from wound, capture or death was not due entirely to my knowledge of bush-craft, nor yet to any special genius to which my opponents could not lay claim. I had the help — many times exemplified — of an uncanny sense that I can only describe as psychic. I had a sixth sense which brought me such a definite premonition of danger that I have startled those whom I have been guiding by taking a sudden right-angled turn without being able to produce a logical reason…”
The scout recounts an incident in which he was getting ready to bed down when his danger sense goaded him back into the saddle. He and his boys fled the area, through an empty native village and into the bush beyond. They heard the rifle fire of the Germans as they attacked their camp. When the Germans followed their prey into the native village and decided to billet there, Pretorius and his boys counter-ambushed them and put the Germans to panicked rout.
Such talk of a sixth sense or some kind of psychic power may seem a little woo-woo, but it’s not that uncommon with people who live in constant peril. A veteran street cop can tell you he just “knows” when something is wrong. Perhaps it is simply the five senses tuned to a fine pitch, a natural intuition forged in the annealing furnace of bush warfare.
• Luck: The imponderable factor. Pretorius notes that on more than one occasion, men tapped to substitute for him on missions when he was otherwise assigned met with death. One of them was Selous, shot through the neck by a sniper. Was Selous taken out by a bullet meant for Pretorius? No way to know. It is certainly likely that snipers and sharpshooters were assigned to take the scout out at any opportunity. But all through his daring career, Pretorius diced with death and never came up snake eyes.
• Hardihood: Years of hunting in equatorial Africa and the stresses and rigors of covert operations took an awful toll on Pretorius’ health. Yet he just kept on coming.
He rose from his sick bed to make sure of the Tafel operation, and when it was done, he was, too.
“I was utterly whacked — never felt so near the finish in my life; and from that moment the remaining pictures of the African campaign are a blurred mixture of doctors, hospital stretchers and nurses. I had gastric trouble and neuritis and an artery in my lung burst. But I pulled through in the end after a few months.”
And he never quit roving and adventuring. He married again and had children, and for the sake of their education he did spend some time in settled life. But right up to the time he wrote his memoir in 1939, the hunter remained addicted to the utter freedom of the bush, rejoicing when it came time to…
“…put aside the unaccustomed pen with some relief to take up my more familiar Jeffries (sic) and go again to the wilds where the big animals roam…”
He died in 1945. At his request, his memoirs were not published until after his death. If there’s a Valhalla for frontier partisans, there is surely a seat by the roaring fire for Major P.J. Pretorius, DSO.
A fine example of a .475 Jeffreys. Pretorius trusted his rifle with his life.
docness says
Great stuff brother. Thanks for bringing old Africa to life. I just finished one of Ron Reid-Dalys books, and even us Alaskans can only be amazed. The rigors of Africa are difficult to understand for the neophyte. All the extremes of climate and terrain of Alaska, with more megafauna, disease, snakes and psychos with guns.
john maddox roberts says
The rifle shown in the photo at top differs from the one at the end of the article, Is it the same rifle with a different stock (round-bottomed pistol grip instead of square-bottomed grip)?
JimC says
Good eye JMR. The photo at the bottom is a Jeffreys but not Pretorius’ rifle. The caption is (inadvertently) misleading. I’ve edited to be more clear. Thanks.
Paul McNamee says
Amazing life of a single frontier partisan. Leather hunting garb in the heat of Africa? That alone takes some guts!
JimC says
The Eastern Cape would be more temperate than Pretorius’ usual equatorial haunts, but yes, I had the same thought. Have to say, as a “hat guy,” I’ve always admired the Major’s taste in headgear. Pith helmets? Bah!
McGill Alexander says
The main reason he was reluctant to take on the job of shooting the elephants in Addo was the nature of the bush in which they lived. It was also why no other hunter would accept the challenge. The Addo Bush is an impenetrable thicket of long, vicious thorns (many longer than 6 inches and like a stiletto) on interlocking bushes. Pretorius designed the leather suit to enable him to penetrate the thicket. According to him, almost all the elephants he shot in Addo were no more than ten yards away when he came on them. He literally had seconds to decide where to place his shot and then to do so with unerring accuracy. To have wounded an elephant would have meant immediate death by trampling.
JimC says
Welcome to the campfire. That bit of work always struck me as being more akin to close-quarters battle than anything else. Which, of course, Pretorius was well-suited for. Man he was one tough hombre.
Desiree-Anne Sherwood says
Hi there, i would just like to let you know that Major Pretorius was my grandfather and that several of his daughters and one son are still alive and he has numerous grandchildren, great grand children and great great grand children. I notice in your first article in 2011 you referred to him as Piet, his name was in fact Phillip. He died two years before my birth so I never got to meet him. Our childhood was always full of stories of his adventures and it is good to know that his name lives on.
In fact my brother bears such a striking resemblance to him that on a trip to the Rufiji Delta a few years ago when he landed at a research station one of the Swedish scientists immediately pulled out a copy of “Jungle Man” translated into swedish and asked if he was the same man and mentioned that the natives of the area still told tales of Major Pretorius. Thank you for keeping his story circulating. Kind regards,Des Sherwood
JimC says
Thanks so much for stopping in. I have great admiration for your grandfather. In my book, he’s among the greatest in his field.
JimC says
Also, I changed the first name.
River Degenaar says
My oupa groot ook !
Jaco van Heerden says
Hi Desiree,
Your grandfather and my great grandfather were brothers. We are the descendants of Voortrekker leader Gert Andries Pretorius. Uncle Phillip actually went to search for the leopard that killed my great grandfather, though could never trace it. Yeah, as small children we were also told of his adventures. My late grandmother (Gerbreggie/Lynette) used to have quiet a lot of paraphanalia her uncle Phillip gave her from his adventures through Africa, specifically a lot of very valuable money/coins which she collected. We also have some original photos etc. somewhere in the family which were taken on his treks. There is also a letter he wrote to her (he was her favourite uncle). Unfortunately my side of the family are all deceased and I have little contact with the Pretorius family.
jaco van Heerden, Sydney, Australia.
Phillydea says
Hi all,
I am one of his great, great grandchildren. His youngest daughter, Maria (Marie) Venter is my Grandmother, and my mother is Melody. Marie still lives on the farm, Rhenosterpoort, that he purchased so many years ago. Everytime we visit, I feel nostalgic. I also tell the stories to my children. He is a lengend!!! I am a proud descendant!!
Phillydea Wallis, JHB, South Africa.
JimC says
Welcome! You have every reason to be proud of your great grandfather. Quite a man.
Tanja says
dis amazing!!!
ek het nooit geweet waar on te begin soek nie…
Tanja says
Hi Every One
I am one of his great, great grandchildren. His youngest daughter Maria (Marie) Venter is my grandmother, my father is her first son Petrus Jacobus Venter (Piet).
I am honored and proud of my great, great grandfather.
as a youngster I was fascinated by the stories that was told to us…
Tanja Van Onselen
JHB, South Africa
claude Jones says
Hi all,
Just like Phillydea Wallis ( my cousin),I am also a great grandson of Major PJ Pretorius,his daughter Johanna Adriana was my grandmother,and I must say that I to feel a great sense of pride and honour inside me by being a descendant of such a great and legendary man!
Regards, Claude Jones
Pretoria, South Africa.
JimC says
Welcome! I’m gratified that you all have found the site. I am a great admirer of Maj. Pretorius.
Corrie Pretorius says
Hi, family and friends.
I am Corrie Pretorius, daughter-in-law of Maj. Pretorius, married to the youngest son Gerhard. A new “Jungle Man” with the subtitle “Mtanda Bathu” (that means.. “A friend of the people”) will be published in November 2013.This new book contains 60-70% ‘new’ untold stories as it was written in the original manuscript, dictated to a typist in 1938.
The family gave all their treasures to be photograph, thus … it contains 70+ published and unpublished photos as well. Visit website: www. dreamafrica.ws
JimC says
Welcome!
Gerhard Pretorius says
Hi All
I am Gerhard Petrus Pretorius AKA Choppie the sun of Corrie Pretorius, I am from Port Elizabeth and about 60km from the Addo Park. Make your way to the park to see the elephant bul “HAP-OOR” that was shot by my late grandfather in that same quest in the Addo. The head use to be displayed in the dining hall but has been moved into sort of a museum with other exhibits.
Greeting to all
JimC says
Thanks for stopping by. Wonderful to connect with you all.
Philfin van der Merwe says
Hi All
I am also a great grand daughter of Major Pretorius, he made my grandmother (his 3rd youngest child) my mother, my name and my eldest daughters name he named her Philfin and it was given to the eldest daughter there after. My grandmother is Philfin Rosa Augustyn (nee Pretorius).
Kind Greetings
Philfin van der Merwe
JimC says
Welcome! I m a great admirer of your great-grandfather.
John ellson says
An amazing character. I first read about him when I was about 14 in “The Victor Book for Boys” 1966…there was an illustrated story about him finding the Konigsbeg…he was called ‘Boombi’ Pretorius in the story.
JimC says
Thanks for stopping by the campfire John. Pretorius’ story is truly amazing. Too bad books for kids don’t talk about these guys anymore. Up to us, I guess.
Lenie De Villiers says
Ek is Lenie De Villiers. Ek het wel nie vir Majoor Pretorius geken nie maar baie van hom gehoor. Hy was my oupa se neef. My oupa was JJH Bosch sy ma was Hester Christina Pretorius. Ek het darem vir tant Sarie ontmoet in die jare wat sy getroud was met PS Snyman [oom Doepie] soos ons hom genoem het. Ek het die stories oor die majoor baie geniet.baie dankie.
JimC says
Jy is welkom.