Australia in the Second Boer War
Although it was briefly returned to the Batavian Republic in 1803 under the Treaty of Amiens, a resumption of hostilities saw Britain again take control of the Cape Colony in 1806 following the Battle of Blaauwberg.
[3] Under the pretext of negotiating uitlander rights, Britain sought to gain control over the gold and diamond mining industries, and demanded a franchising policy, which they knew would be unacceptable to the Boers.
When the negotiations failed to come to an acceptable outcome, British foreign secretary Joseph Chamberlain issued an ultimatum to the South African Republic.
[3] A Boer force of mostly farmer volunteers, formed up as mounted infantry, armed primarily with German built Mauser Model 1895 rifles.
Late at night, 800 commandos rode south into the Cape Colony, attacking the British garrison at Kraaipan and cutting railway and telegraph lines.
The climates and geography of Southern Africa and Australia were quite similar, and most Australian soldiers, the vast majority of whom were trained as mounted rifles, were well-suited to operating in such terrain.
Britain was also quick to understand the need for further horsemen, as the Boers operated with a high degree of mobility across the Southern African grasslands, often referred to romantically as 'the vastness of the veldt'.
At that time, most British troops were recruited from within urban environments, and although their ability as soldiers was not questioned, they did not have the natural horsemanship and bush craft of the Australians, many of whom came from rural backgrounds.
Although hostilities only commenced on 10 October 1899, the first squadron of New South Wales Lancers arrived in Cape Town on 2 November to join the British force assembled under the command of General Sir Redvers Henry Buller.
The NSW Lancers were again called into action at the Battle of Modder River, where along with Lord Methuen's British column, they attempted to relieve the siege of Kimberley.
The role that they supposedly played during the war was described in an article 'The Black Trackers of Bloemfontein' in Land Rights magazine (1990) by Indigenous historian David Huggonson.
[10] Several historians, including Dr Dale Kerwin, an Indigenous research fellow at Griffith University, determined that the lack of surviving information about these Aboriginal trackers was partially due to the uncertainty around whether they had managed to return to Australia.
According to extensive research by independent scholar, Peter Bakker (Melbourne), the 'fifty black trackers' story is a myth that arose from the misinterpretation of a few scant historical documents.
Bakker's research arguably debunks the 'fifty black trackers' claim and challenges the entire narrative regarding Aboriginal participation in the Boer War.
[12] [13] His research has led to the recognition of several Aboriginal men who saw service as regular privates or troopers who earned their place in their units on the basis of being capable horsemen, good shots with a rifle and their hardy bushcraft skills.
Contrary to prevailing narrative of former researchers, Bakker also found that none of the identified men served as trackers for their units or were from Queensland; where historians predicted most of the Aboriginal participants in the war to have originated.
[16] According to Bakker's research, there is no evidence that Davis or F. King departed with this unit for overseas service but another Aboriginal man did: Jack Alick Bond.
[17] Jack Alick Bond had worked as a police tracker prior to enlisting as Trooper 1063 in a New South Wales colonial unit, the First Australian Horse, in 1900.
The new year begun much as the previous one had ended though, with the British suffering a further defeat at the Battle of Spion Kop on 23 and 24 January, adding to the set-backs of Black Week.
[8] These Australian units joined the British forces being assembled by Lord Roberts, who had replaced General Buller in January, following concerns over his leadership through the bleak losses of the previous December.
[22] The British victory at Modder River had finally permitted the relief of Kimberley, and the retreating Boers were chased down and again engaged at the Battle of Paardeberg which took place between 18 and 27 February 1900.
The men for these newly raised units were recruited from a wide range of locales and had been primarily funded through either public subscription, or the donations of wealthy citizens who wished to be seen as contributing to the war effort.
[1] By May, the Australian contingents numbered over 3,000, and they were involved in the thick of the fighting, including the action at Driefontein, and the Relief of Mafeking on 17 May, which provoked wild celebrations on the streets of London.
In an effort to obtain such supplies, Koos de la Rey led a 3,000 strong Boer attack on the British post at Brakfontein on the Elands River in Western Transvaal on 4 August 1900.
[1] De le Rey's force surrounded the outpost, but magnanimously offered to deliver the Australians to the nearest British position unharmed if they surrendered the supplies they were guarding.
They established heavily defended blockhouses along supply-lines, and used a scorched earth policy, burning houses and crops, and interning Boers in concentration camps.
The British began to utilise "sweeper columns", consisting of mounted infantry, which ranged across entire districts scouring them for Boer guerillas, suspected or otherwise.
Suffering from disease and starvation, the last of the Boers surrendered in May, and on 31 May 1902, thirty delegates from the former South African Republic and Orange Free State met British officials in Vereeniging to discuss terms.
[3] Troops from the Australian colonies were widely considered to be very effective on the British side, well able to match the Boers tactics of high mobility warfare due to similar upbringings and working lives.
On 12 June 1901, the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles lost 19 killed and 42 wounded at Wilmansrust, near Middleburg after poor security allowed a force of 150 Boers to surprise them.
