The 4th New Zealand Contingent was one of ten contingents [1] [2] of New Zealand volunteers for service during the Second Boer War.
The 4th New Zealand Contingent was one of ten contingents [1] [2] of New Zealand volunteers for service during the Second Boer War.
It served from April 1900 through to June 1901. The contingent went from New Zealand to Beira, Portuguese East Africa in the SS Gymeric, though there was a "mutiny" on the Gymeric in Lyttelton Harbour on 27 March 1900 over conditions on board. When they arrived in Beira, part of the contingent was sectioned off to form battery units.
The contingent took more than two months to reach the front line, traveling via train and on horseback through Rhodesia and Beira. Between August 1900 and May 1901, the contingent fought several small skirmishes against Boer commandos in northern Transvaal. Their most significant action was to seize an artillery unit and a supply column under the command of General Koos de la Rey, capturing 135 Boer soldiers on 24 March 1901. On 28 January 1901, William Hardham was involved in an action that earned him the Victoria Cross, the only one awarded to a New Zealander in that war. [3]
The Fourth Contingent left South Africa in the SS Tagus in June 1901.
Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse, was an Australian Army officer, medical doctor, and politician. He was the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.
William James Hardham, VC was a New Zealand soldier who was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that could be awarded at the time to military personnel of the British Empire.
Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (QAMR) is an armoured regiment of the New Zealand Army and forms part of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1864 and is currently an armoured cavalry unit equipped with NZLAV.
Major-General Sir Edward Yewd Brabant, was a British military commander in colonial South Africa. He served in the 9th Xhosa War (1877–1878), First Matabele War (1893–1894), and other campaigns. During the Second Boer War (1899–1902), he commanded the Colonial Division in 1900, and the Colonial Defence Force of Cape Colony in 1901.
The Queen's South Africa Medal is a British campaign medal awarded to British and Colonial military personnel, and to civilians employed in an official capacity, who served in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Altogether twenty-six clasps were awarded, to indicate participation in particular actions and campaigns.
Lieutenant Colonel David Cossgrove, (1852–1920) of the New Zealand Army served in the South African War – also known as the Second Boer War – with Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scouts and Guides in the United Kingdom. Cossgrove took Baden-Powell's ideas back to New Zealand with him and began similar programmes in Christchurch.
Walter Charles Moore was an Australian rules footballer who played for Albert Park and South Melbourne in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) and for Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He served as a trooper in the Anglo-Boer War, but died of wounds after a battle.
The 19th Battalion was a unit of the Imperial Yeomanry raised by George Paget as auxiliaries to the British Army during the Second Boer War. The men were mainly upper middle class and recruited from the gentlemen's clubs of London. The unit saw action at Faber's Put, Elands River, Lichtenburg, and numerous engagements on the lines of communication. The battalion was disbanded after the war.
The Victorian Mounted Rifles (VMR) was a regiment composed of Australian forces that served in the Second Boer War. It was first raised by Colonel Tom Price in the mid-1880s, composed of voluntary forces. It was composed of several contingents, the most notable being the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles.
The Australian Commonwealth Horse (ACH) was a mounted infantry unit of the Australian Army formed for service during the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902 and was the first expeditionary military unit established by the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia following Federation in 1901. Over 4,400 men enlisted in the ACH in three contingents, with troops and squadrons raised in each state and combined to form battalions. Eight battalions were raised, with the first arriving in Durban in March 1902. The 1st and 2nd battalions saw limited active service, conducting patrols against the Boers during the last great drives that ultimately ended the war. The war ended before the remaining battalions arrived to see action, and by the time peace came on 31 May 1902, the majority of the third contingent, consisting of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Battalions, still remained at sea bound for South Africa. The ACH suffered no fatal casualties in action, although 28 men died from illness.
Windsor is a township in North Otago, 19 km (12 mi) inland from Oamaru, situated almost exactly on the 45th latitude.
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.
The New South Wales Imperial Bushmen was a mounted regiment, consisting of six rifle squadrons, raised in the New South Wales colony for service during the Second Boer War.
The Queen's Scarf was awarded to British and colonial soldiers for bravery during the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Eight scarves were personally crocheted by Queen Victoria and presented to soldiers.
The Queensland Imperial Bushmen was an Australian mounted Imperial Bushmen regiment raised in the Queensland colony for service during the Second Boer War.
The South Australian Mounted Rifles (SAMR) was a mounted infantry unit of the Colony of South Australia that served in the Second Boer War. The first contingent of South Australian Mounted Rifles was raised in 1899, followed by a second contingent in 1900.
The South Australian Bushmen was a mounted infantry squadron of the Colony of South Australia that served in the Second Boer War, the third contingent contributed by the colony.
The Hokitika Clock Tower, initially called the Westland War Memorial and then the Coronation and War Memorial, is a prominent landmark in Hokitika, New Zealand. The memorial was initiated, fundraised for, and carried out by a committee, to commemorate the region's contribution to the Second Boer War; not just the four local men who had died but all 130 who had gone to war in South Africa. An additional purpose was to provide Hokitika with a town clock.
Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Bauchop was an officer in the New Zealand Military Forces who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He commanded the Otago Mounted Rifles during the Gallipoli Campaign, and died of wounds received during the Battle of Chunuk Bair.