The military history of Australia during the Boer War is complex, and includes a period of history in which the six formerly autonomous British Australian colonies federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia. At the outbreak of the Second Boer War, each of these separate colonies maintained their own, independent military forces, but by the cessation of hostilities, these six armies had come under a centralised command to form the Australian Army.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, an escalating conflict between the British Empire and the Boer republics of southern Africa, led to the outbreak of the Second Boer War, which lasted from 11 October 1899, until 31 May 1902. In a show of support for the empire, the governments of the self-governing British colonies of Canada, New Zealand, Natal, Cape Colony and the six Australian colonies all offered men to participate in the conflict. The Australian contingents, numbering over 16,000 men, were the largest contribution from the Empire, and a further 7,000 Australian men served with other colonial or irregular units. At least 60 Australian women also served in the conflict as nurses.R. L. Wallace, Australians at the Boer War, AGPS, Canberra, 1976.
Background
Great Britain first gained control of the southern tip of Africa during the Napoleonic Wars. The Dutch East India Company built the first Cape settlement in 1652, bringing southern Africa into the Dutch Empire. In 1795 revolutionary France invaded and occupied the Dutch Republic, and established a puppet allied-state there, known as the Batavian Republic. All the former colonies of the Dutch Republic came under the control of the Batavian Republic, who were allied to France, Britain's enemy in the French Revolutionary Wars.Thompson, L. The Unification of South Africa 1902–1910, Oxford University Press 1960
Realising the Cape's strategic importance for control of the seas and access to India and the Far East, Britain attacked the Batavian Republic's outpost at the Cape of Good Hope in the Battle of Muizenberg. The British victory in the battle brought about the establishment of the Cape Colony. 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. This battle established permanent British rule over the Cape.
Unhappy with British rule, the Southern African Dutch, known as Boers, migrated further north, establishing the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic), Natal, and the Orange Free State. British imperial and commercial interests increasingly impinged on the Boer republics, who resented British influence in their affairs. The majority of the territory of Natal was annexed by the British in 1843, and although the British government formally recognised the two remaining Boer republics in the 1850s, they then annexed the Transvaal in 1877. Tired of British aggression towards them, the Boers finally hit back, leading to the outbreak of the First Boer War. Lasting from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881, the First Boer War was a humiliating reversal for the British, who suffered a disastrous loss at the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881, and were compelled to sign the Pretoria Convention, which granted the South African Republic self-government under a nominal British suzerainty.
Just six years later in 1886, gold was discovered in the Republic, and a large influx of British prospectors (referred to as uitlanders by the Boers) increasingly led to confrontation with the Boers. What began as an internal problem for the South African Republic soon became an international problem, as Britain sought to protect, and even extend the rights of its citizens within the South African Republic. Britain had been unhappy with the outcome of the First Boer War, and wished to restore influence over the Transvaal.
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. Realising that war was inevitable, President Paul Kruger gave Britain a 48-hour deadline to withdraw its troops from their borders. When Britain failed to comply, the South African Republic, along with their allies, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State declared war on Britain and set about launching pre-emptive strikes into British held territory.
Outbreak of hostilities
A Boer force of mostly farmer volunteers, formed up as mounted infantry, armed primarily with German built Mauser Model 1895 rifles. The effectiveness and superiority of this weapon over the British Lee–Metford and Lee–Enfield Mark I, led to the development of the Pattern 1913 Enfield, and the upgrading of the Lee–Enfield to the SMLE Mark III, which would be the stock rifle of choice for most British Empire armies in World War I. These highly mobile mounted infantry formed the basis of the Boer Commando, which was the primary organisational unit of the Boers.
At the outbreak of hostilities, a superior rifle was not the only advantage held by the Boers. The British forces in southern Africa were still composed mostly of infantry, while most of the Boers were skilled horsemen, who used their superior mobility to good advantage. Realising that continuing to engage the British in set-piece battles where British troops could utilize their superior numbers would result in a quick defeat, the Boers adopted tactics of hit-and-run guerilla attacks, picking off men, and disrupting supply lines.Reitz, Deneys (1930). Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. London: Faber and Faber.
The Boers first struck at the Battle of Kraaipan on 12 October 1899. Late at night, 800 commandos rode south into the Cape Colony, attacking the British garrison at Kraaipan and cutting railway and telegraph lines. Although the British repelled their advance at the Battle of Talana Hill, and the Battle of Elandslaagte, the Boers continued to pour south, besieging the British settlement of Ladysmith and advancing on Mafeking and Kimberley.
As the Boers established siege-guns around Ladysmith, the British commander of the garrison there, Sir George Stuart White, attempted a sortie with cavalry against the Boer gun positions, but the attack was a disaster, and a state of siege followed as both side attempted to consolidate their position.
Arrival of the Australians The involvement of men from the Australian colonies in the Second Boer War was complex. They included the official contingents dispatched by each of the six colonial governments, Australians who were already in southern Africa working as gold-miners enlisting in British or Cape Colony regiments such as the Bushveldt Carbineers, men who made their own way to participate, and others who joined privately raised units such as Doyle's Australian Scouts.Grey, Jeffrey (2008). A Military History of Australia (Third ed.). Port Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. After Australia federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia, the men of the six separate colonial contingents were reorganised into new Commonwealth contingents. Although in a minority, some Australians were anti-imperialists, and supported the Boer cause. Although their number is uncertain, it is known that some Australians, such as Arthur Alfred Lynch, participated in the conflict on the Boer side. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, the British government initially requested troops from New South Wales, which had previously provided the New South Wales Lancers serving in the Mahdist War in Sudan. Although they were armed with rifles, the NSW Lancers did go into action during the Boer War charging with their lances on more than one occasion.
As planning advanced, and the need for troop numbers increased, this request was soon forwarded to each of the colonies. The War Office devised a plan for two contingents of 125 men each from New South Wales and Victoria, and one contingent of 125 men each from Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, and Western Australia, to be attached to separate British units. The six colonial governments each held their own parliamentary debates about the support that would be offered. Although there were elements of opposition within each government, support was general and widespread in each colony.
Britain realised the value of troops from the Australian colonies. 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.
The Australian contribution consisted of five phases. The first was the contingents each government dispatched in response to the outbreak of the war. 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 Lancers had been training in England at the time, and were quickly dispatched to southern Africa as soon as permission was received from the Government of New South Wales.
By 22 November the Lancers were already conducting patrols, and were soon attacked near Belmont, where they forced their attackers to withdraw after inflicting serious casualties upon them. 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. Although they forced the Boers to retreat, the British suffered heavy casualties in the attempt, and also had to withdraw, allowing the Boers to re-establish their trench lines.
As they had less distance to travel, the Western Australian contingent, consisting solely of the 1st Western Australian Mounted Infantry arrived in mid-November, were the first to arrive directly from Australia, and were quickly dispatched for Natal. On 26 November, the first contingents of infantry from South Australia (1st South Australian Mounted Rifles), Tasmania (Tasmanian Mounted Infantry), Victoria (1st Victorian Mounted Rifles) and Western Australia arrived in Cape Town, and despite retaining their own independent commands, for logistical reasons they were designated as the '1st Australian Regiment', and came under overall command of Major-General Sir John Charles Hoad. The 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry had also arrived to join them by mid-December. Another mounted infantry unit from New South Wales, known as the 1st Australian Horse, also arrived in December. Despite their name, they were raised purely from within the Colony of New South Wales, although this unit would go on to become the precursor of the first Australian Light Horse unit. Hoad ordered the combined force to ride north towards the Orange River, where they were to link up with the Kimberley Relief Force under Lieutenant-General Lord Methuen.