AUSTRALIANS IN WAR

382 pages, beige cloth with light stains on the covers, a very good copy.

An insert tipped in on the front free end paper reads; A copy of this book is presented to each member of the 1st and 2nd Victorian Contingents (Whose doings it records) by the “Herald” and “Weekly Times” Proprietary and their best wishes.

Hackett (R.G.) South African War Books: an illustrated bibliography page 118: A record of the First Australian Regiment in South Africa from November 1899 to April 1900. The force, comprised of Victorian, South Australia, West Australian and Tasmanian contingents, was employed in the Kimberley relief operations and later served in cape Colony. In December 1899 the regiment was stationed on the de Aar- Modder River line. Units occupied posts at Belmont and Enslin. In January 1900 they were brought down to Naauwpoort in the Cape Colony and all units converted to mounted infantry. The following month the regiment was attached to gen Clements' force engaged in operations in the Colesberg area. In the heavy fighting during February and March the Australians sustained significant casualties. As the northern Cape Colony was cleared of Boers British columns advanced into the Orange Free State. The Australians formed part of the force that reached Bloemfontein on April 4. The narrative ends with the reorgansiation of the regiment in April 1900. Appendices include a list of Victorian casualties up to September 1900.

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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Australia_during_the_Second_Boer_War