The Contingents - New Zealand in the South African ('Boer') War

The Contingents

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.

In all, 71 members of the contingents were killed in action or died of wounds (including three former members who had joined other units), 26 were accidentally killed, and 133 died of disease (more than half from typhoid fever).

The New Zealand contingents were highly regarded. The Times History of the War in South Africa, for instance, concluded that the New Zealanders were, after they had gained some experience, 'on average the best mounted troops in South Africa'.

The First Contingent, of 215 men, left Wellington on 21 October 1899. They were repatriated late in 1900.

The Second Contingent left for South Africa in February 1900.

A Third Contingent was largely organized and paid for by a committee of prominent Christchurch citizens and other members of the public. It sailed from Lyttelton in mid-February 1900. In mid-May 1900 the first three New Zealand contingents were organized into one regiment under Major A.W. Robin.

In March 1900 the Fourth Contingent was raised by a committee of Dunedin citizens. Both Third and Fourth Contingents were known as 'Rough Riders'.

The Fifth Contingent reached South Africa along with the Fourth in April-May 1900. It had been raised following a British initiative in February 1900 to meet a shortage of mounted troops. Its expenses (as with all subsequent contingents) were met by the imperial authorities. It was originally intended that the men, who were enlisted on one-year terms of engagement (in contrast to the open-ended terms of their predecessors), would serve with British mounted rifles regiments, but in the event the Contingent was kept together.

In December 1900, the New Zealand government agreed to replace the First Contingent and provide 300 men to reinforce the other contingents. Later, after men of the Second and Third Contingents had protested about the length of their service, it was decided that this new contingent should replace the first three New Zealand contingents. The Sixth Contingent arrived in South Africa in March 1901.

New Zealand's Seventh Contingent, which was intended to replace the Fourth Contingent, reached South Africa in May 1901.

In January 1902 New Zealand agreed to a British request for an additional contingent to serve in South Africa. The 1000-strong Eighth Contingent was commanded by Colonel R.H. Davies, one of the outstanding New Zealand officers to emerge during the war. It disembarked in South Africa in mid-March 1902.

New Zealand's political leaders, military personnel, and public were all concerned about the way previous New Zealand units had on many occasions been split up and lost their national identity. Seddon and Davies impressed upon Kitchener and his staff New Zealand's strong desire for the Eighth Contingent to be kept intact and possibly combined with other New Zealand Contingents to form a column. Kitchener was not prepared, at least officially, to compromise his ability to deploy the forces under his command as he saw fit, but the contingent did operate as a separate entity.

Two final large contingents from New Zealand, the Ninth and Tenth, arrived in South Africa in 1902, too late to see any significant action.