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Over 7 000 Canadian soldiers and support personnel were involved in the second Boer war from October 1899 to May 1902. ^[1] With approximately 7 368 ^[2] soldiers in a combat situation, the conflict became the largest military engagement involving Canadian soldiers from the time of Confederation until the Great War. ^[1] Eventually, 270 soldiers died in the course of the Boer War. ^[1] The Canadian public was initially divided on the decision to go to war as some citizens did not want Canada to become Britain's 'tool' for engaging in armed conflicts. Many Anglophone citizens were pro- Empire, and wanted the Prime Minister, Sir Wilfred Laurier, to support the British in their conflict. On the other hand, many Francophone citizens felt threatened by the continuation of British Imperialism to their national sovereignty. ^[3] In the end, in order to appease the citizens who wanted war and avoid angering those who didn't, Laurier sent 1 000 volunteers under the command of Lt.-Col. William D. Otter to aid the confederation in its war to 'liberate' the peoples of the Boer controlled states in South Africa. The volunteers were provided to the British with the stipulation that the British pay costs of the battalion after it arrived in South Africa. ^[4] The supporters of the war claimed that it "pitted British Freedom, justice and civilization against Boer backwardness". ^[5] The French Canadians opposition to the Canadian involvement in a British ‘colonial venture’ eventually led to a three day long riot in various areas of Quebec. ^[2]

The Boer war can be summarized into three parts. The first part (October 1899- December 1899) was characterized by questionable decisions and blunders from the Commonwealth leadership which affected its soldiers greatly. The soldiers of the Commonwealth were shocked at the number of Afrikaner soldiers who were willing to oppose the British. The Afrikaner troops were very willing to fight for their country, and were armed with modern weaponry and were highly mobile soldiers. ^[3] This was one of the best examples of Guerilla style warfare, which would be employed throughout the twentieth century after set piece fighting was seen as a hindrance by certain groups. ^[1] The Boer soldiers would evade capture and secure provisions from their enemies therefore they were able to exist as a fighting entity for an indeterminate period of time. ^[6] The end of the First part was the period in mid-December which is referred to as the "Black Week". During the week of December 10-17 1899, the British suffered three major defeats at the hands of the Boers at the battlefields of Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso. Afterwards, the British called upon more volunteers to take part in the war from the Commonwealth. ^[7] The second part of the war (February-April 1900) was the opposite of the first. After the British reorganized and reinforced under new leadership, they began to experience success against the Boer soldiers. Commonwealth soldiers resorted to using blockhouses, farm burning and concentration camps to 'persuade' the resisting Boers into submission. ^[8] The final phase of the war was the guerrilla phase where many Boer soldiers turned to Guerrilla tactics such as raiding infrastructure or communications lines. Many Canadian soldiers did not actually see combat after getting shipped over to South Africa as many arrived around the time of the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging on May 31st 1902. ^[9]

Paardeburg - A British lead attack trapped a Boer Army in Central South Africa on the banks of the Modder River from 18th-27th of February 1900. Over 800 Canadian Soldiers from Otter's 2nd Special Service Battalion were attached to the British attack force. This was the first major attack involving the Canadians in the Boer War as well as the first major victory for Commonwealth soldiers. The Canadian soldiers perched on a hill above the Boer camp and were credited with being the main reason that the Boers under General Cronje surrendered. ^[4]

Zand River - On May 6th 1900, the Commonwealth's northwardly advance to the capital of Pretoria was well on its way. However, the British soldiers encountered a position of Boer soldiers on the Zand River. The British commander felt that the best course of action was to use cavalry to envelop the Boers on their left flank and infantry would therefore march on the Boer right flank to secure a crossing. The Canadian 2nd Battalion was the lead unit advancing on the right flank. However, due to disease and casualties from earlier encounters, the 2nd battalion was reduced to approximately half of its initial strength. The Canadian battalion came under fire from the Boers who were occupying protected positions. The battle continued for several hours until the British cavalry was able to flank the Boers and force a retreat. Canadian casualties were two killed and two wounded. The skirmishes around the Zand River would continue and more soldiers from various Commonwealth countries would become involved. ^[10]

Doornkop - On the days of May 28th-29th 1900, both the Canadian 2nd battalion and the 1st Mounted Infantry Brigade fought together on the same battlefield for the first, and only, time. The Mounted Brigade, which encompassed units such as the Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Royal Canadian Dragoons were given the task to establish a beachhead across a river which the Boers had fortified in an attempt to halt the advancing Commonwealth before they could reach the city of Johannesburg. ^[11] Since the Boers were mounting a heavy resistance to the advancing mounted units, the Commonwealth infantry units were tasked with holding the Boer units while the mounted units found another route across the river with less resistance. ^[11] Even after the cavalry made it across to the other side of the river further down the line, the infantry had to advance onto the town of Doornkop as they were the ones who were tasked with its capture. The Canadians suffered very minimal casualties and achieved their objective after the Boer soldiers retreated from their positions. ^[11] Although the Canadians suffered minimal casualties, it should be noted that the lead British unit in the infantry advance, the Gordon Highlanders, did sustain heavy casualties in their march from the rifleman of the Boer force. ^[12]

Leliefontein - On November 7th 1900, a British-Canadian force was searching for a unit of Boer commandos which were known to be operating around the town of Belfast, South Africa. After the British Commander reached the farm of Leliefontein, he began to fear that his line had expanded too far and ordered a withdrawal of the front line troops. The rear guard, consisting of the Royal Canadian Dragoons and two 12 pound guns from D section of the Canadian artillery, were tasked with covering the retreat. ^[13] The Boers mounted a heavy assault against the Canadians with the intention of capturing the two 12 pound artillery pieces. During this battle, the Afrikaners outnumbered the Canadians almost three to one. ^[14] A small group of the Dragoons interposed themselves between the Boers and the artillery in order to allow the guns and their crews time to escape. The Dragoons won three Victoria Crosses ^[13] for their actions during the battle of Leliefontein, the most in any battle with the exception of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I. ^[14]

Sam Hughes - Senior Militia officer and later a Federally elected cabinet minister. As a very patriotic individual, Hughes became involved in the Boer war as a member of Brigadier-General Herbert Settle's expedition after Hughes unsuccessfully tried to raise his own brigade of soldiers. ^[8]Hughes was noted by his colleagues for having a dislike of professional soldiers and he was noted for being an exceptional leader of irregular soldiers, whom he preferred to lead in combat. ^[15] However, Hughes was dismissed and was sent home in the summer of 1900 for; sending letters back home which were published outlining British command incompetence, his impatience and boastfulness and his providing surrendering enemies favourable conditions. When he arrived back in Canada, Hughes became very active politically, and he would eventually start his political career with the Conservatives. When he became a member of parliament, Hughes would be in the position to become the Canadian Minister of Defence and Militia in 1911, just prior the outbreak of World War I. This was a position that Hughes would be dismissed from in 1916, due once again to his impatience, among other reasons. ^[15]

John McCrae - Best known as the author of the World War I poem In Flanders Fields, McCrae started his active military service in the Boer War as an artillery officer. After completing several major campaigns, McCrae's artillery unit was sent home to Canada in 1901 with what would be referred to today as an 'honourable discharge'. McCrae ended up becoming a special professor in the University of Vermont for pathology and he would later serve in World War I as a Medical officer until his death in 1918 while on active duty due to pneumonia. ^[16]

Four Canadian soldiers in the Second Boer War received a Victoria Cross, which is the highest military medal available to soldiers of the Commonwealth and former British Territories. It is awarded based on exemplary bravery and valour in the presence of danger. ^[17]

Sergeant A.H.L. Richardson - Soldier of Strathcona's Horse regiment, Richardson rode a wounded horse, while wounded himself, back into enemy fire to retrieve a wounded comrade whose horse had been killed at Wolve Spruit on July 5th 1900. ^[17]

Lieutenant H.Z.C. Cockburn - Soldier of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Cockburn received his Victoria Cross on November 7th 1900 when his unit was the rear guard at Leliefontein. Cockburn, along with fellow Victoria Cross recipient Lieutenant R.E.W. Turner, held off an advancing group of Boer soldiers in order to allow two Canadian Field guns to escape along with their crews. Cockburn was wounded and captured by the Boer soldiers. ^[14]

Lieutenant R.E.W. Turner - Soldier of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, Turner received his Victoria Cross during the same portion of the conflict as Cockburn. ^[14] Turner was wounded in the conflict, however unlike Cockburn, Turner escaped. Turner would later became a high ranking officer in the Canadian army in World War I.

Sergeant E.J. Holland - Soldier of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Holland received his Victoria Cross from the same rear guard conflict at Leliefontein on November 7th 1900 as Cockburn and Turner. However, Holland received his medal for a different reason than the two aforementioned Lieutenants. During the Boer advance, Holland kept the Boer soldiers at bay with his carriage mounted Colt machine gun despite the position becoming increasingly dangerous due to the proximity of the enemy. With his gun jammed and in danger of falling into enemy hands, Holland removed the Colt from its carriage and rode away on his horse with the gun in hand. ^[14]

The Second Boer War was the harbinger for a new type of combat which would persevere throughout the twentieth century, guerilla warfare. ^[1] After the war was over, the entire British army underwent a period of reform which was focused on lessening the emphasis placed on mounted units in combat. ^[18] It was determined that the idea of Cavalry was antiquated and improperly used on the battlefield in the modern warfare of the Boer War, and that the First World War was the final proof that cavalry had no place in twentieth century combat. ^[18] Yet some British soldiers held dear to the fact that cavalry was put to better use after the reforms in the theatres of the Middle East and World War I, and that the idea of mounted infantry was useful in the times where the war was more mobile. ^[18] An example of this was in the First World War during the battle of Mons where the British cavalry held the Belgian town against an initial German assault. ^[19] The Canadian units of the Royal Canadian Dragoons and the Royal Canadian Mounted Rifles fought in the first world war in the same role as the Boer war. However, during, and after, the Second World War the regiments swapped their horses for mechanized vehicles. ^[20] The second Boer War was also the beginning of types of conflict involving machine guns, shrapnel and observation balloons which were all used extensively in the First World War. ^[1] To the Canadians however, attrition was the leading cause of death in the second Boer war, with disease being the cause of approximately half of the Canadian deaths. ^[21] Canadians ended the war with four Victoria Crosses to its soldiers and two more Victoria Crosses were given to Canadian doctors attached to British Medical Corps units, Lieutenant H.E.M. Douglas (1899, Magersfontein) and Lieutenant W.H.S. Nickerson (1900, Wakkerstroom). ^[8] Not all soldiers saw action since many landed in South Africa after the hostilities ended while others (including the 3rd Special Service Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment) performed garrison duty in Halifax, Nova Scotia so that their British counterparts could join at the front lines. Later on, contingents of Canadians served with the paramilitary South Africa Constabulary. The war also had its fair share of controversy, as Commonwealth soldiers used a scorched Earth policy as well as concentration camps to subdue the Boers. ^[3] A total of 116 000 women, children and Boer soldiers were confined to the Commonwealth concentration camps, of which at least 28 000, mainly women and children, would die. ^[14] The British saw their tactics of Scorched Earth and concentration as ways of controlling the Boers by "eliminating the decay and deterioration of the national character" and as a way of reinforcing the values, through subjugation of citizens and the destruction of the means for the Boer soldiers to continue fighting, of British society that the Boers were rejecting by engaging in a war against the Commonwealth. ^[5] The Boers saw it as a British ploy designed to coerce the Boer soldiers into a surrender. With approximately 10% ^[22] of their population confined, many of whom were women and children, the Boers suggested that the British were forcing the Afrikaners to return to their homes and protect their families who were in danger of internment. ^[23]