Boer War; Dutch farmers fighting Aussie farmers

BOER WAR	(also called the South African War or the 2nd Anglo-Boer war) Boer War Nominal Roll Details of personnel in Australian units during the Boer War, 1899-1902 The cost in lives overall in South Africa was appalling by the standards of the time. The British Forces suffered 52,150 casualties of which 7,582 were killed in action or died of wounds and a further 13,139 died of disease. On the Boers side about 4,000 men were killed on the battlefield, 7,347 died in prisoner camps or on parole and a further 26,370 women and children, in the concentration camps. Although this was described as a "white man's war", thousands of Africans also died. The exact number is not known because the whites never bothered to count them but it is believed to be over 17,000.	Sub category index

The major battles that Australians took part in can be seen on this map

South African War Veteran's Association Queensland Branch badge. Note the Tudor (King's) Crown even though most of the fighting was done in Victoria's reign.

Queen's South Africa medal 1899/1902, (reverse displayed right).

Thousands were issued to Australians

BOER WAR MEDALS

< reverse of both >

Clasps; Cape Colony; Natal; Rhodesia; Relief of Mafeking; Belmont; Modder River; Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Orange Free State, Driefontein, Wepener, Transvaal, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Wittenbergen, Belfast, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902.

Kings South Africa medal,1901/02 issued in the reign of Edward V11. Approx 750 to Australians.



The caption reads "Fancy meeting you"	Lord Baden Powell who defended Mafeking and later started the Boy Scouts


Photos supplied by Wayne Rogers
1st Queensland Mounted Infantry. Lt. Col. Percy Ralph Ricardo (Officer Commanding) on horseback (photo circa 1900). Also, sitting on chair holding rifle on RHS of photo, RICARDO Percy Ralph, Major, Battalion Staff; Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel 13/12/1899; C.B.; Mentioned in Despatches in 'London Gazette' 16/4/1901; Queen's South Africa Medal with 4 clasps

Australians and New Zealanders at Klerksdorp, 24 March 1901

This print is entitled, "At The Empire's Call" and shows New Zealand troops leaving on a ship for the South African War, better known as the Boer War, which ran from 1899-1902.

The print shows the troops waving as their fleet of five ships depart for the horrors of war.

The detail is wonderful and you can even see their "Lemon Squeezer" felt hats.

The men have climbed the masts just to get a better look at their loved ones who surround them in rowboats, yachts and dinghies.

The original was by W. Wright and the print carries his facsimile signature in the bottom right-hand corner. The print is titled and has a one-line explanation of what it shows. It was printed by Brett Printing Company in Auckland and is hand dated as 1900 altered to 1901.

The Boer War 1899-1902

Commencing in October 1899, with Boer forces attacking British forces in Natal and the Bechuanaland extension of the Cape Colony, the Boer War reflected the Boer Republics' resistance to perceived British interference and followed almost directly from the First Boer War of 1881. The war involved three distinct phases with the first being the series of defeats of British forces by Boer mounted infantry operating in commandos to January 1900. The second phase featured the resurgence of reinforced British forces resulting in the annexation of the Boer republics by August 1900. The final phase was characterised by the Boer adoption of mounted guerrilla warfare by small parties ( called commandos) until May 1902 when the war finally ended.

This is what the enemy looked like. No uniforms. No military training. Just a hardy and determined bunch of farmers and the like who did so well against the British Army that they changed the way that Army operated.

They also gave us the word 'commando'.

Australians were best able to meet them on their own terms because they were so much alike . . .

In October 1899, parts of the Victorian, Tasmanian, South Australian and Western Australian contingents were embarked in one ship for Cape Town. These detachments, later converted from infantry to mounted infantry, were initially combined as 'The Australian Regiment'; the colonists were at last together on active service abroad.

The British defeats in the first phase of the war resulted in increased recruiting in Australia.

The first two contingents from Australia were composed mainly of part-time volunteers and militia while the later ones were primarily recruited from experienced horsemen with shooting skills but no previous military training.

Those later contingents raised prior to Federation were identified as 'Bushmen's Contingents', while those raised after Federation were organised into eight battalions and identified as Australian Commonwealth Horse.

Colonial and later Australian troops saw a considerable amount of fighting including actions at Sunnyside, Slingersfontein and Pink Hill, the relief of Kimberley, at Paardeberg, at the siege of Eland's River, at Rhenosterkop and Haartebeestefontein. A total of 16,175 men and 16,314 horses left Australia in the various contingents to serve in South Africa.

STATE	OFFICERS	ORs
NSW	314	5796
VICTORIA	193	3372
QUEENSLAND	149	2739
SOUTH AUSTRALIA	89	1437
WESTERN AUSTRALIA	67	1162
TASMANIA	36	821

Casualties were killed in action or died of wounds 251, died of illness 267 and missing in action 43.
Five Victoria Crosses were awarded to members of the Australian colonial and national contingents.

The cost in lives overall in South Africa was appalling by the standards of the time. The British Forces suffered 52,150 casualties of which 7,582 were killed in action or died of wounds and a further 13,139 died of disease. On the Boers side about 4,000 men were killed on the battlefield, 7,347 died in prisoner camps or on parole and a further 26,370 women and children, in the concentration camps. Although this was described as a "white man's war", thousands of Africans also died. The exact number is not known because the whites never bothered to count them but it is believed to be over 17,000.

The Memorial Cairn erected at Sunnyside, the action where two Troopers from Queensland Mounted Infantry were killed in action.

It was strangely prophetic of the carnage to come that the first Australia military deaths in action came on the same date that Australia became a nation and just 1 year short of that event.

photo by Trish Woodman

209 Pte Victor S Jones


This totally un-official medallion has been offered for sale as a commemorative or collectable by http://www.ajparkes.com.au

The honorary distinction 'South Africa' was awarded in 1908 to light horse and infantry units descended from the contingents which served in the Boer War.

Castlemaine, Vic. c. 1887. Studio portrait of Corporal Robert Gartside (born 1862). Note the marksman badge on lower left sleeve. Gartside enlisted in the 4th Victorian Rifles in 1885 and was promoted to Corporal in 1887. He was wounded in the South African (Boer) War as a Lieutenant at Wolve Kuil on 14 February 1901 while serving with the 3rd Victorian Bushmen's Corps. He retired as a major in 1903. He re-enlisted in 1914, and served as second in command of 8th Battalion as an acting Lieutenant Colonel. He was killed in action at Gallipoli while leading a charge of the 7th Battalion near Tommies' Trench on 8 May 1915. He was posthumously awarded the Volunteer Decoration (VD). (Donor: G.W. Gartside). Photographer: A.Verey & Co, Castlemaine (Vic).

Treasured by the troops was Queen Victoria's Christmas gift of chocolate which came in this handsome tin.

In the hand-writing of the Queen were the words:

I wish you a happy New Year.

Forty thousand such tins were designed/made by J. S. Fry & Sons, Bristol.

Later tins were made by Cadbury, and Rowntree. Some soldiers even kept the chocolates as a memento. This tin belonged to Cpl. J. P. Fox. [Photography by David Fox].

The Treaty of Vereeniging specified that the Boers would;

End hostilities.
Surrender their independence.
Recognize the authority of Edward VII.

For their part the British agreed to;

The repatriation of the prisoners of war.
A general amnesty with a few exceptions.
Limited protection of the Dutch language in the courts.
Various economic safeguards such as the maintenance of property rights.
Honouring of the republican war debt to a sum of £3 million.
Generous relief for the victims of war.
Promise of eventual self-government and an agreement that no decision would be taken regarding the franchise of black people until after the introduction of responsible government.




	An un-named soldier in South Africa, from the Victorian Mounted Rifles . Photo taken in Australia before embarkation.

The Second Contingent from Queensland march/ride through Brisbane.