Australians at War


At the start of the Boer War Australia was still a series of British colonies. Although Gallipoli is regarded as the nation's defining moment, the seeds were sown in South Africa. During the Boer War five Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross, but many questioned why we were there.

THE AUSTRALIANS HAD NO DOUBT WHAT THEY WERE FIGHTING FOR

"England's forces on our frontiers were increasing and we knew to what end. We had therefore as men no choice but to send out the challenge immediately before the odds became impossible and before we were quite at bay. War was bound to come, for the Boer and the Britain despised each other and would never have been satisfied till the dispute had been settled by arms."

PRIVATE ROLAND SCHIKKERLING


GEORGE DEIGHTON

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MANY AUSTRALIANS VOLUNTEERED

Fighting in South Africa was a different proposition. The vastness of South Africa's veldts meant there were plenty of places to hide, a distinct advantage for Boer fighters.


THOMAS ANDERSON

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EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS OF HOME

In the end, the length of the war broke spirits as much as much as the fighting.

LETTER DATED, EDENBERG 17 JUNE 1901

Edenberg, June 17 1901 - "It is a terrible rough country and you cannot wonder at the Boers keeping the British back such a long time. There are Kopjes all around. The people out in Australia have no idea what a Kopje is like. It is a sudden rise all covered with big stones and they are very hard to scale."

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS TO HOME: TROOPER JOSEPH B ASHBURNER

"FOR THE EMPIRE IS ONE NATION, AND IF SO MUCH AS ONE QUARTER IS ATTACKED SO IS ANOTHER." PRIME MINISTER BARTON, 14TH FEBRUARY 1902.

By May 1902 the Boers had surrendered, but Afrikaner nationalism had been galvanised and by 1910 the Union of South Africa was formed. During the war Australia had become a Federation (1st Jan, 1901) and was re-evaluating its military involvement. From that point Australia would help the Empire if needed, not as part of British military forces but on our terms.

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