"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess
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New South Wales Imperial Bushmen, Nominal Roll Topic: BW - NSW - NSWIB
NSWIB
New South Wales Imperial Bushmen
Nominal Roll
In 1911, Lieutenant-Colonel P. L. Murray, produced a marvellous Boer War reference detailing all the contingents sent from Australia to South Africa, giving a brief history of the formation and finally, listing all the soldiers who saw service in South Africa with that unit. The book was called, Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa. It is now the standard reference and starting place for any person interested in pursuing information about Australian involvement in the Boer War.
Murray, P. L., Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa, pp. 90 - 105A.
New South Wales Imperial Bushmen
480 Private Albert Barker ABBOTT
1225 Private Alexander McFarlane ABERLINE
653 Private William John ADAMS
474 Private Robert Edward ADRIAN
75 Private Joseph AGGETT
2 Private Robert AITKEN
288 Private Edwin Lawrence ALCOCK
660 Private William Grant ALEXANDER
332 Private Alexander Thorburn ANDERSON
796 Private Alfred ANDERSON
1397 Trumpeter C ANDERSON
1400 Sergeant Trumpeter Laurence Martin ANDERSON
333 Private David James ANDERTON
1405 Private Frank ANDREWS
77 Private Frederick Lorimer ANDREWS
115 Private Edward ANGLIM
114 Corporal Thomas ANNETTS
655 Private Harry ARGYLE
381 Private Sidney George ARMSTRONG
656 Private James ARNOLD
5 Private Wallace Wood ASH
478 Private George James ASHWIN
479 Private William ASHWIN
3 Company Quartermaster Sergeant Albert Henry ASHWORTH
432 Private Daniel ATKINS
900 Private James Henry BABINGTON
427 Private Frank BAKER
1366 Private William Salisbury BAKER
483 Private John Henry BALDWIN
1080 Private George Austin BALL
1392 Private Herbert Mugliston BALL
1163 Private Lucius Edward BALL
501 Private Alexander Herbert BARBER
Lieutenant Estevan BARBETA
484 Private John Munro BARGH
493 Private John Alexander BARNES
1378 Private Thomas Smith BARTLETT
667 Private Harold Hindmarsh BARTON
1232 Private Albert BAXTER
202 Private William BEACHAM
10 Private James BEATTY
494 Sergeant Frederick BECKHAUS
409 Private George Alfred BEGG
1162 Private Walter Scott BEIT
936 Private Arthur David BELL
672 Private Robert BELL
491 Private Arthur Joseph BELLAMY
490 Private Oswald BELLAMY
486 Corporal Henry Augustus BENNETT
6 Private George BENNS
663 Private John BENSON
117 Corporal Henry Alfred BEST
1210 Corporal Luke BICE
499 Private David BLACK
428 Sergeant Robert George BLACKETT
11 Sergeant George Robert BLACKWELL
986 Private Ernest BLISS
664 Private Harry Herbert BLUNDEN
492 Private Osbert William Francis BOARD
1337 Private Theodore Charles BODE
1178 Sergeant Elice Arthur BODY
502 Private Bernard Fitzwilliam BOHLE
14 Private George BOLAND
489 Private Robert Charles BOLGER
1422 Private Henry Richard BONDSFIELD
1260 Private Nicholas BORNHOLT
355 Private Lancelot George Vivian BOSANQUET
334 Private Desmond Gerald BOURKE
122 Private William Campbell BOWDEN
8 Private George Sydney BOWMAN
447 Private Michael John BOYD
147 Private Sidney Edward BRADFORD
418 Private Charles BRADLEY
345 Private Benjamin William BRIDGE
855 Private William Throsby BRIDGES
9 Private John BRILEY
1233 Private Frederick William BROOKS
1379 Private Harold Herbert BROOKS
119 Private Henry BROWN
1227 Private James Edward BROWN
1135 Private William Andrew BROWN
469 Private William Stewart BROWN
Captain Henry Hamilton BROWNE
809 Private Thomas Henry BRUNSDEN
204 Private David BUFFETT
205 Private John Edward BUFFETT
294 Private Harvey Stephen BURCHER
485 Private Thomas Augustine BURKE
142 Private Arthur Vernon BUTLER
1236 Private James BUTLER
Regimental Sergeant Major Walter BUTLER
1050 Private William BUTLER
946 Private Frederick Beaumont BYRNE
1300 Private Matthew BYRNE
1258 Private Alexander CAIN
1102 Private Michael Joseph CAIN
Hon.Captain Clement CAINE
Lieutenant Herbert CAINES
54 Private John CAIRNES
681 Corporal William Henry CAMBRIDGE
87 Private Donald Wilson CAMERON
397 Private Frederick Edward CAMERON
16 Company Quartermaster Sergeant Irvine Fleming CAMPBELL
Boer War, 1899 - 1902, Australian Forces, New South Wales Imperial Bushmen Topic: BW - NSW - NSWIB
Boer War, 1899 - 1902
Australian Forces
Roll of Honour
New South Wales Imperial Bushmen
Poppies on the Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
The Roll of Honour contains the names of all the men known to have served at one time with the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen and gave their lives in service of Australia, whether as part of the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen or another unit during the Boer War.
The movement of the Imperial Bushmen to Bulawayo, 1900 Topic: BW - NSW - NSWIB
New South Wales Imperial Bushmen
The movement of the Imperial Bushmen to Bulawayo, 1900
Bulawayo on the morning of Mafeking Day
[From: Sydney Mail, 21 July 1900, p. 146. ]
Bulawayo must have been an exciting town to live in at the turn of last century. The first picture is of Bulawayo township taken from the highest point in the city. The photograph gives a good summary of the condition and layout of the town in Rhodesia, 23 May 1900.
One obvious point that is readily visible is that Bulawayo on the morning of Mafeking Day displayed lots of bunting but there is not a soul in sight.
When the Canadian artillery passed through the town, it was such a spectacle that the whole town turned out to see the procession.
Canadian Artillery passing through Bulawayo.
[From: Sydney Mail, 21 July 1900, p. 146. ]
Judging by the hight turnout of citizens, all white, the coming of the Canadians must have been very reassuring for the local population.
Following on just behind the Canadians were the Australians riding on the mule wagons. In this next picture, members of the Imperial Bushmen were hitching rides on the mule carts. Because of transport shortages, the men were literally loaded to the gunwales.
Imperial Bushmen travelling to Bulawayo on mule carts.
[From: Sydney Mail, 21 July 1900, p. 147. ]
Due to problems with horses, the use of mule carts was seen to be the easiest way to move large numbers of Imperial Bushmen quickly across Rhodesia.
Another group of Imperial Bushmen did everything to confound the Boer. Here is a troop of Bushmen riding prone on a low sided, sand bagged wagon guarding the procession from any potential of attack by the crafty Boer.
Imperial Bushmen as train guards.
[From: Sydney Mail, 21 July 1900, p. 146. ]
By all accounts, this was a most uncomfortable way to travel. The train made it quick but the accommodation was less than comfortable. It was difficult to maintain the prone position for very long, especially with a rifle in hand. One person left a description of this type of travel:
While it was possible to make oneself fairly comfortable in a Wolseley bed when in camp, you can never get comfortable on the hard floor of a truck; you have no protection against the "upward bumps."
Quoted from The Story of the Bushmen by James Green, William Brooks & Co, Sydney, 1903, at p. 24.
By the time the first units from the Imperial Bushmen arrived at Bulawayo, the second largest city in Rhodesia, the good folk were ready to let their hair go and celebrate the victory. Part of the victory celebrations was the participation in a Victory Parade by those members of the Imperial Bushmen's Contingent at Bulawayo. So on 23 May 1900, the Imperial Bushmen marched alongside their Canadian allies. Below is a photograph of the march past led by the Canadian contingent.
In the background of the photograph, the Imperial Bushmen can be seen marching along in their various troop formations. The Canadians in the lead seem to cut fine figures in their highly decorative uniforms. These highly visible dress coats had to be discarded very quickly when facing the Boers on the Veldt as they became instant targets for accurate Boer sniping.
Apart from a good day by all, that Blue Brand Aerated Water Factory sure beats having a Coke.
One way to finish this item off is to cite the highly forgetable poem penned by William Topaz McGonagall, poet and tragedian of Dundee, who still is widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language...
The Relief of Mafeking
Success to Colonel Baden-Powell and his praises loudly sing, For being so brave in relieving Mafeking, With his gallant little band of eight hundred men, They made the Boers fly from Mafeking like sheep escaping from a pen.
'Twas in the year of 1900 and on the 18th of May, That Colonel Baden-Powell beat the Boers without dismay, And made them fly from Mafeking without delay, Which will be handed down to posterity for many a day.
Colonel Baden-Powell is a very brave man, And to deny it, I venture to say, few men can; He is a noble hero be it said, For at the siege of Mafeking he never was afraid.
And during the siege Colonel Baden was cheerful and gay, While the starving population were living on brawn each day; And alas! the sufferings of the women and children were great, But they all submitted patiently to their fate.
For seven months besieged they fought the Boers without dismay, Until at last the Boers were glad to run away; Because Baden-Powell's gallant band put them to flight By cannon shot and volleys of musketry to the left and right.
Then long live Baden-Powell and his brave little band, For during the siege of Mafeking they made a bold stand Against yelling thousands of Boers who were thirsting for their blood, But as firm as a rock against them they fearlessly stood.
Oh! think of them living on brawn extracted from horse hides, While the inhuman Boers their sufferings deride, Knowing that the women's hearts with grief were torn As they looked on their children's faces that looked sad and forlorn.
For 217 days the Boers tried to obtain Mafeking's surrender, But their strategy was futile owing to its noble defender, Colonel Baden-Powell, that hero of renown, Who, by his masterly generalship, saved the town.
Methinks I see him and his gallant band, Looking terror to the foe: Oh! The sight was really grand, As he cried, "Give it them, lads; let's do or die; And from Mafeking we'll soon make them fly, And we'll make them rue their rash undertaking The day they laid siege to the town of Mafeking."
Long life and prosperity to Colonel Baden-Powell, For there's very few generals can him excel; And he is now the Hero of Mafeking, be it told, And his name should be engraved on medals of gold.
I wish him and his gallant little band every success, For relieving the people of Mafeking while in distress; They made the Boers rue their rash undertaking The day they laid siege to the town of Mafeking.
For during the defence of Mafeking From grief he kept the people's hearts from breaking, Because he sang to them and did recite Passages from Shakespeare which did their hearts delight.
At least McGonagall's heart was in the right place. McGonagall's name was made with his publication of the famous "Tay Bridge Disaster" poem. If for no other reason than its forced doggerel, this poem about Mafeking lives on in the collections of English literature.
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