3. The Making of a Myth: General Smuts and the Miners of South Wales

The visit of General Smuts to South Wales in October 1917 is widely referenced in many biographies, and histories of his exploits, with the intention of illustrating his powers of persuasion and immense popularity in Great Britain during his time in the Imperial War Cabinet. The references are, however, factually incorrect and misleading, based upon apocryphal accounts, which often suffer from a good deal of poetic license, only loosely based upon the available evidence. One may call it an emblematic myth, shrouded in mystery and almost impervious to contrary evidence. In this chapter, I will first give a brief account of the caricature that is invariably presented, albeit in differing degrees of detail. I will then give the broader context against which Smuts's visit to South Wales has to be placed and try to give an assessment of the respects in which it may be claimed that the visit was a success.