Aussies and the Boer War
The Australian Government has recently expressed concern over the desecration of the graves of its war-dead in South Africa. This reminds us that approximately 600 Australian soldiers died here during the Anglo-Boer War. Many were Mounted Infantry (MI) and were deployed against the Boer guerrilla forces in the latter stage of the war. Coming from a similar rural background as the Boers they were able to take to the field on equal terms with their enemy and proved very successful in their operations.
One unit of note was the Bushveldt Carbineers in which many Australians served including Harry Morant. He and fellow officer Peter Hancock were convicted by Court Martial in Pietersburg for the murder of Boer Prisoners and were later executed by firing squad in Pretoria. A third convicted officer George Witton had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Following a change of Government in Britain he was subsequently released after serving a few years in prison picking oakum.
Witton wrote a book on the trial entitled Scapegoats of the Empire. This was immediately suppressed as the defence at the Court Martial was founded on the claim that Lord Kitchener* had (verbally) ordered that captured Boer prisoners could be shot so as not to impede operations in the field. General knowledge of this would have caused great embarrassment to Britain and impugned the character of the National and Empire war-hero.
Reprinted copies of Scapegoats of the Empire are available in a few libraries. It formed the basis of a stage play and later the movie Breaker Morant. For a while Morant was elevated to the status of National Hero in Australia as he was seen to have suffered at the hands of the English. His dubious background, reputation and guilt in this case being overlooked.
The play and the movie did, however, over-simplify matters as a total of seven officers were charged on 6 counts involving 22 deaths. Recent research indicates that the court martial verdict can be challenged on procedure which lead to the securing of wrongful convictions. Military history is, however, littered with similar cases which also include wrongful acquittals. What makes this case shameful is that the trial was conducted to cover the guilt of senior officers and of Kitchener himself.
(*Kitchener introduced a scorched earth policy into the Anglo-Boer War to attempt to starve the enemy out of the field. Under his command the concentration camp was invented to contain Boer women, children and elderly men removed from their farms. This prevented them from supporting the active men in the field. Approximately 25000 died in these camps. A large concentration camp existed at Merebank here in Durban. Its attendant cemetery has been covered over.
Kitchener drowned during WW1 en route to Russia when the ship carrying him was torpedoed. Morant and Hancock are buried in Pretoria)
See here for more in detail.
The Australian Government has recently expressed concern over the desecration of the graves of its war-dead in South Africa. This reminds us that approximately 600 Australian soldiers died here during the Anglo-Boer War. Many were Mounted Infantry (MI) and were deployed against the Boer guerrilla forces in the latter stage of the war. Coming from a similar rural background as the Boers they were able to take to the field on equal terms with their enemy and proved very successful in their operations.
One unit of note was the Bushveldt Carbineers in which many Australians served including Harry Morant. He and fellow officer Peter Hancock were convicted by Court Martial in Pietersburg for the murder of Boer Prisoners and were later executed by firing squad in Pretoria. A third convicted officer George Witton had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. Following a change of Government in Britain he was subsequently released after serving a few years in prison picking oakum.
Witton wrote a book on the trial entitled Scapegoats of the Empire. This was immediately suppressed as the defence at the Court Martial was founded on the claim that Lord Kitchener* had (verbally) ordered that captured Boer prisoners could be shot so as not to impede operations in the field. General knowledge of this would have caused great embarrassment to Britain and impugned the character of the National and Empire war-hero.
Reprinted copies of Scapegoats of the Empire are available in a few libraries. It formed the basis of a stage play and later the movie Breaker Morant. For a while Morant was elevated to the status of National Hero in Australia as he was seen to have suffered at the hands of the English. His dubious background, reputation and guilt in this case being overlooked.
The play and the movie did, however, over-simplify matters as a total of seven officers were charged on 6 counts involving 22 deaths. Recent research indicates that the court martial verdict can be challenged on procedure which lead to the securing of wrongful convictions. Military history is, however, littered with similar cases which also include wrongful acquittals. What makes this case shameful is that the trial was conducted to cover the guilt of senior officers and of Kitchener himself.
(*Kitchener introduced a scorched earth policy into the Anglo-Boer War to attempt to starve the enemy out of the field. Under his command the concentration camp was invented to contain Boer women, children and elderly men removed from their farms. This prevented them from supporting the active men in the field. Approximately 25000 died in these camps. A large concentration camp existed at Merebank here in Durban. Its attendant cemetery has been covered over.
Kitchener drowned during WW1 en route to Russia when the ship carrying him was torpedoed. Morant and Hancock are buried in Pretoria)
See here for more in detail.
posted by Malcolm @ 9:46 pm
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