The South African War (1899-1902), often called the Boer War (sometimes the Second Boer War), was the first overseas conflict to involve New Zealand troops. Fought between the British Empire and the Boer South African Republic (Transvaal) and its Orange Free State ally, it was the culmination of longstanding tensions in southern Africa.
New Zealand women actively supported their country's participation in the war, which gave women, recently enfranchised, an opportunity to move into the public arena. A small number who voiced an anti-war attitude were labeled pro-Boer, and received little support even from groups known for their anti-military position.
Even before the outbreak of the war, some Maori wanted to contribute to the imperial cause in South Africa. The failure of the Jameson raid, and the subsequent Anglo-German crisis in 1896, induced Te Arawa, for example, to offer to raise a guerrilla unit for service there.
Particularly in its early stages, New Zealand's involvement in the war enjoyed overwhelming public support in New Zealand. Opposition was confined to a small group of radical members of Parliament, religious leaders, and others who condemned the war as an aggressive act of imperialism designed to seize control of the Transvaal's gold mines.
During the war New Zealand sent just over 6500 men to South Africa, almost half of them in the last three contingents, which were all more than 1000 men strong. New Zealanders also served with other colonial forces or with the British Army, though their numbers cannot be accurately established.
Sound Clip: The Boers Have got my Daddy Sound Clip: Boys of the Southern Cross Sound Clip: Sons of the Colonies Cover of The Boers Have Got My Daddy The South African War led to an outpouring of patriotic sentiments on the part of New Zealanders.
'It would be interesting to know how many letters have been written on board since we left Lyttelton. There must have been a very large mail from Albany - as almost every man on board wrote several, some as many as eighteen letters; and no doubt they would be thoroughly appreciated by the recipients in New Zealand.
The front page of The Gymeric Times, April 1900. It was written on board the ship Gymeric. The newspaper was contributed by Winston Mackley of Takapuna, Auckland. His father, Private James Forester Mackley, travelled on the Gymeric with No.
From M. Nalder, Battle-smoke Ballads, or, Poems of the Transvaal War (1899). Hear a reading of this poem (by Pamela Fleming). (mp3, 377k) From Bluff to Cape Maria New Zealand is agreed; She thanks her Representatives for generous thought and deed.
Horses feeding Horses on their way to South Africa A rider takes aim while in full flight More than 8000 horses went from New Zealand to the war in South Africa. Conditions for them were tough, and 'wastage' - the number killed - was high: during April 1901, for example, two were killed in action, 95 had to be destroyed and 45 died.
This elaborate memorial tablet in the entrance of the Ranfurly Veterans' Home, Mount Roskill, Auckland, commemorates the South African War, Queen Victoria and King Edward
The symbolic highpoint of our first Empire Day came when Lord Ranfurly laid the foundation stone for the veterans' home that later came to bear his name. Ranfurly saw successive generations of war veterans such as these blind men seen enjoying their pipes on the veranda, as reinforcing imperial links.
This database was compiled by Colin McGeorge from the Education Department of the University of Canterbury. Colin became interested in the South African War while completing his PhD thesis on the social and moral values fostered in New Zealand schools between 1877 and 1914.
General Joubert's unit of Boer soldiers and their African servant stop for lunch at Newcastle, Natal, less than a week after war was declared in 1899. Several of the soldiers are leaning against Dr Visser's travelling medical wagon.
Large crowds gathered to watch the departure of every contingent, such as this one which assembled on the wharf at Lyttelton in 1902 to send off the Tenth Contingent.
Back /images/stories/saw/playsound-tn.gif Words by C. Clarke-Irons Music by Allan White Listen now to Boys of the Southern Cross. This clip requires Flash Player 7 or higher.
'A try for the rock', January 26 1900, photographed by Robert Gell for South African newspapers. Bodies strewn across the veldt at Spionkop, where the British suffered a heavy defeat in January 1900
British tactics during the South African War included the burning of farmhouses and destruction of livestock so that they would not fall into the hands of Boer commandos. Here members of New Zealand's Seventh Contingent pose with the carcases of chickens and sheep.
Young Boer boys astride their donkeys outside their encampment. Boys such as these were among the many South Africans held in concentration camps run by the British.
Members of the Seventh Contingent packing up camp in South Africa. The men and horses still look in reasonably good condition, in spite of the often harsh conditions they experienced
Fifty years after the end of the South African War - and two World Wars later - South African War veterans continued to gather. Here a group enjoys a special Veterans' Dinner in Wellington, sometime in the late 1940s.
New Zealand nurses were anxious to serve in the war. The first group left for South Africa in early 1900, and by the end of the war, at least 35 had served.
Sister Teape of Christchurch worked in the Bloemfontein General Hospital in April 1900 and described it as 'a hotbed of fever, the dreaded enteric raged everywhere... and no sanitary arrangements whatever'.
Members of the Nelson Squadron of the Seventh New Zealand Mounted Rifles. Despite the British desire that this should be a 'white man's war', Maori soldiers served, including the unidentified soldier standing in the centre of the second row.
New Zealanders celebrated British victories in the South African War with gusto. Days such as Pretoria Day, 7 June 1900, when Pretoria was taken from the Boers, became occasions of great festivity throughout the country.
Trooper Walter Stackwood of Eastrie Woodend, Canterbury, of the Second Contingent, photographed in 1899. This Contingent was made up of members of the Volunteer Force, as well as members of the regular military forces.
The Sixth Contingent (Number 16 Company is pictured here) sailed from Auckland in January 1901 and arrived in South Africa in March. It operated in the Transvaal where it assisted the British forces in interning Boer civilians in concentration camps.
During the second half of the 19th century a tradition developed in Britain to erect war memorials to those who had died in foreign wars and had no grave at home.
Detail of the camp at Newtown Park, Wellington, of the second New Zealand Contingent of troops for the South African War. Shows some of the tents of the camp, and in the foreground soldiers watering horses at a wooden trough.
War art was a feature of the South African War, and often featured soldiers in heroic poses, such as this member of the Rough Riders who takes aim while in full flight.
