Politics > Pyrmont at War > South African War
South African War
The South African War (1899-1902), known at the time as the Boer War, attracted much Australian interest and many troops. Only one Irish-Australian joined the Transvaal republic against the tide of a very popular imperial campaign. 16,175 men served in Australian colonial formations, and perhaps another 10,000 enlisted in other units. 251 died in action, and 267 of disease - the third worst fatalities in Australia's military history.
The first Australians off the mark were the New South Wales Lancers, arriving from Britain, where they had been training. (The Lancers had been fighting with the British Army against the Mahdists in the Sudan in the 1880s.) Apart from an artillery battery and medical support, all the New South Wales participants were cavalry or mounted infantry. The same preference was clear in the detachments sent by patriotic individuals, and men who made their own way to enlist in Cape Colonial or imperial forces.
The British needed horsemen - and horses (Walers, from New South Wales). More than once the New South Wales Lancers – although they were equipped with rifles – charged with their lances in the classic tradition. Recruits were overwhelmingly country men, and it is not surprising that there is no record of anyone enlisting in Pyrmont.
Related Items
Memorial weathercock
