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.

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. 

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

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.

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.

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Private Fergus George (Rogie) McFadzen A young drover who enlisted under age, was wounded in action, shared the fate of Napoleon on St Helena for a little cattle stealing for a few years, then invalided to Australia he married and lived a quite 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.

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

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.