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OK, during the 2nd Boer War (1899-1902), the British forces in Sth Afr did arm some loyal blacks- which was considered anathema to the Boers- but WI the british & colonial forces had done so on a more systeamtic basis- say by actually forming & training black volunteers in light horse regts similar to the US Army's 9th & 10th Cav ? WI say the Natal Native Contingent had been retained instead of being OTL disbanded on the grounds of British fears that these black troops would go over to the Boers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natal_Native_Contingent) ? Or WI the British govt had allowed the deployment onf non-white colonial troops from other African colonies or India to fight the Boers too ? What would've been the impact of such direct black/non-white participation in the Boer War against the Afrikaners ? Could a strong black armed contribution to the conflict have potentially cemented a better status for black South Africans afterwards, instead of the gradual development of apartheid ?
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