Soldiers of the Boer War

Thanks to a number of historical sources we are able to look into the lives of some of the soldiers who served in the War.

Private Thomas Angel DCM MID the drover from Western Australia who won the Distinguisded Conduct Medal and was Mentioned in despatches for the great bravery he showed in the Boer war; a war he did not survive.

Lieutenant (Later Lieutenant Colonel) Fred Bell A clerk with the Western Australian Customs Service who went to war as a Private in the Western Australian Mounted Infantry.  Soon commissioned as a Lieutenant, he won the VC.  Later he served in World War I, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. 

Captain (Later Brigadier) Alfred Bessell-Browne DSO, CB, MID, VD A clerk in the Western Australian patent office who served with brillianc and bravery in the Boer War, then went on to command 1 Div Arty in World War 1, and the Western Australian Volunteer Defence Corps in World War 2.

Trooper (Later Lieutenant Colonel) John Bisdee VC The first Australian born soldier serving in an Australian unit to win a VC.

Warrant Officer (Later Major) John Bond A member of the New South Wales Army Medical Team who made a major contribution to the development of surf life saving in Australia; credited with devising the surf reel.

Trooper Reginald Brodie A warrior who fought with the mounted troops in the Boer War and in WWI and policed the wild tribesmen in New Guinea.

Private John Brooks An Aboriginal soldier who served with great bravery and deserved a "Mention in Despatches".

Private Alfred Button One of the first Tasmanians to die in the South African conflict.

Lieutenant George Cory did not see active service in the Boer War.  He was a member of the Third Australian Commonwealth Horse, and arrived too late for fighting.  His grandson Peter has assembled his amazing life story, and included a photo album of his time in South Africa.

Lieutenant Colonel (Later Major General) Charles Cox CB, CMG, DSO, VD The young captain who through his own efforts was able to land the first Australian soldiers in South Africa, and later went on to successfully command the First Light Horse Brigade in Palestine in World War 1.

Special Correspondent Edith Dickenson, the war correspondent who accompanied Australian nurses to South Africa, and whose critical reports dealing with the concentration camps were undoubtedly the cause of some controversy.

Trooper (later Lieutenant) Alfred Du Frayer One of four "colonial" soldiers awarded a scarf personally knitted by Queen Victoria in recognition of their bravery.

Lieutenant Willoughby Dowling The commander of the Australian Horse Squadron from Singleton seriously wounded at Slingersfontein.

Lieutenant Dugald Drummond DCM The stock and station agent from Ulmarra NSW whose "bravery under fire" won him the DCM, at the time he was a corporal, thus he received the award that is only second to the Victoria Cross.  Commissioned, he returned to South Africa for a second tour of duty, and fought again with the Light Horse at Gallipoli.

Major (Later Colonel) William Eames CBE The General Practitioner from Newcastle and part-time soldier who served with the New South Wales Medical Corps in South Africa then nominally too old to serve in the Australian Army went on to command a volunteer hospital in France that was taken into the British Army.

Trooper Frederick Edwards A soldier who served with the South Australian Imperial Bushmen and left us the legacy of his detailed diary.

Corporal (later Major General CB, CMG, DSO, DCM, VD) Harold Edward Elliot DCM The universtiy student from Melbourne who ultimately became, the co-victor at Villers-Brettoneux in April 1918 when two Australian brigades, one commanded by the then Brigadier-General Elliot halted the German Operation Michael offensive.

Sister Penelope Frater The nurse from New England in NSW who after her Boer War Service became head sister at 3rd Australian General Hospital in WWII.

Lieutenant (Later Major General Sir William) Thomas W Glasgow DSO A young Queensland Mounted Infantryman who showed great qualities in the Boer War, being awarded a DSO, and who then went on to be the co-victor at Villers-Brettoneux in April 1918 when two Australian brigades, one commanded by the then Brigadier-General Glasgow halted the German Operation Michael offensive. 

Superintendent (Later Principal Matron RRC) Julia (Nellie) Gould  The young nurse from Wales who was educated in Portugul and visited Australia in her 20s, trained as a Nurse in Sydney and was chosen to lead the NSW Army Nursing contingent to South Africa.  Later still in her 50s she served in WW1.

Lieutenant Gideon Grieve The special service officer from NSW who died leading a company of the Black Watch.

Lieutenant Peter Handcock The Blacksmith from Bathurst executed by the British under controversial circumstances with Harry Morant.

Sister Frances Hines The first Australian woman to die on operational service.

Lieutenant Rupert Hornabrook  A Health Officer in the Johannesburg mines in Transvaal when the Boer War broke out who joined the Natal Volunteer Medical Staff.

Captain (Later Major General Sir) Neville Howse VC The country doctor who won the first Australian VC then went on to revolutionise battlefield medical practice in the first world war.

Sister Julia Bligh Johnston The daughter of a farmer from what is now western Sydney who had a distinguished career as a nurse on the Boer War and World War 1.

Trooper Victor Jones The first Australian soldier to die in action

Corporal Fred Kilpatrick the Sydney schoolteacher who became the first New South Wales Lancer to die in battle.

Lieutenant (Later Colonel CBE) Edwin Leane MID The insurance manager and part time soldier from Adelaide who served with the South Australian Imperial Bushmen then in World War II served with great distinction along with family members.

Major (Later Major General) George Leonard Lee CMG, DSO the New South Wales permanent forces officer who was serving as adjutant of the New South Wales Lancers when he was sent to South Africa with the first reinforcement draft to take command of Lancer Squadron. The diary he kept is a definitive contemporary source for all those interested in the Boer War.

Captain (Later Lieutenant General) James Legge the New South Wales school teacher who commanded a company of the NSW Mounted Rifles who wrote the "Kitchener Report" on Australia's defence then went on to be a successful Divisional commander and penultimately Chief of the General Staff then Commandant RMC Duntroon.

Major (Later Lieutenant Colonel) Bob Lenehan VD the Commanding Officer of the Bushveldt Carbineers.

Trooper William Luff a trained heavy cavalryman who on return from the war fathered a dynasty of like minded soldiers who served their nation  as cavalrymen in WWII and Vietnam, 

Lieutenant (Later Brigadier General) Leslie Maygar VC the Victorian grazier who became the first Victorian to in the VC.

Dame EMMA MAUD McCARTHY was a Australian nursing sister and British army matron-in-chief who began her military service in the Boer War.

Private Fergus George (Rogie) McFadzen A young drover who enlisted under age, was wounded in action and invalided to Australia, was imprisoned on St Helena (Moreton Bay) for a few years for a little cattle stealing, then he married and lived a quiet life in the Mackay (QLD). district.

Trooper Tom Morris The first Australian to be nominated for the VC (never awarded) who went on to become a Sergeant of Police.

Lieutenant Harry Morant The English con-man who became a master of living in the Australian countryside and was ultimately executed by the British under controversial circumstances.

Chaplain Matthew Mullineux MC The captain of the English Lions who became an Australian Chaplain in the Boer War, and a New Zealand Chaplain in World War II.

Lieutenant (later Colonel DSO, CBE, MID) Frank Newton A young Queenslander who served under Sir Harry Chauvel in the Boer and First World Wars.

Sister (later Matron) Elizabeth Orr The Tasmanian Nurse who made her way privately to South Africa to serve, and was later a Matron in World War 1.

Special Correspondent (Later Major) Andrew (Banjo) Patterson, the great Australian Balladeer.

Colonel Tom Price of the Victorian Mounted Rifles.

Captain Fletcher Quintal MID Norfolk Island’s most senior soldier and descendent of Bounty Mutineers.

Nursing Superintendent Marianne Rawson RRC MID, A nursing sister form Victoria appointed Superintendent of ten Victorian nurses to accompany the Third Victorian Bushmen’s Contingent to South Africa.

Lieutenant Stanley Spence Reid MID Victorian Football League Player, Clergyman and Western Australian Soldier who made the supreme sacrafice for his patriotism.

Sister Rose Shappere, the nurse from Ballarat who served on both sides of the conflict.

Major James Thomas, The solicitor from Tenterfield who served valiantly as the commander of the NSW Citizens' Bushmen, then defenced Morant, Handcock, Whitton and Lenehan at vtheir courts martial.

Major Archibald Watson, Eccentric and Bohemian Professor of Anatomy, Military Surgeon and Pathologist

Lieutenant George Witton, The dairy farmer commissioned in the Bushveldt Carbineers.  Tried with Morant and Handcock, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Lieutenant (Later Colonel) Guy Wylly VC The son of an Indian Army Officer who departed with the Tasmanian Mounted Infantry, won a VC in South Africa, then transferred to the British Army.