Boer War Memorial In Ballarat Victoria

Ballarat Boer War Memorial.

I took the photograph in this article some years ago.  It is the Boer War Memorial in Sturt Street in Ballarat, Victoria.

Having been born and raised in Ballarat, I see this incredible war memorial as a great example of mateship in war, with the mounted soldier rescuing a comrade. Dedication date: 1st of November, 1906.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, an escalating conflict between the British Empire and the Boer republics of southern Africa, led to the outbreak of the Second Boer War, which lasted from the 11th of October 1899, until the 31st of May 1902.

In a show of support for the empire, the governments of the self-governing British colonies of Canada, New Zealand, Natal, Cape Colony and the six Australian colonies all offered men to participate in the conflict.

The Australian contingents, numbering over 16,000 men, and nearly as many horses. A further 7,000 Australian men served with other colonial or irregular units. At least 60 Australian women also served in the conflict as nurses.

Casualties included 251 killed in action, 267 died of disease and 43 missing in action, while a further 735 were wounded.

6 Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross.

I suppose the Boer War is best remembered in Australia through the 1980 movie ‘Breaker Morant’, directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson, John Waters and Bryan Brown, to name some.

Lest We Forget.

Most of the information for the Ballarat Boer War Memorial article came from Wikipedia.  Photograph by Peter Barnes.

Note: Casualty and war numbers can vary from different sources.

“Some time ago, I went back to my home town of Ballarat and shot images to go with my song ‘Can You Hear Australia’s Heroes Marching?’, which you can see on the video below.

I was born and raised in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, and spent my first 19 years there.  I would say, there is little doubt that the great memorials and monuments dedicated to the service of those that went to war, left an impression on me when I was growing up.  My schooling also taught me about our ANZAC tradition and Simpson and his donkey.  These are great examples of courage, sacrifice and mateship, which we should always hand down to future generations.” – comment by Peter Barnes.