Royal Engineers trek across

the veldt with

their observation balloon at the ready.

Observation balloons had been used in earlier wars, but provedvery effective in South Africa where rough terrain provided cover

for ambushes and hidden movement of Boer commandos. You can read a Boer soldier's reaction of surprise and frustration when

first confronted by an observation balloon

Boer Commandos found it difficult to resist attacking trains which could be easily halted by demolition

of a bridge or otherwise derailed. Armoured trains helped to stem the trend.

An armoured train with the locomotive in the middle.

• British troops

inside an armoured

train.

In the later stages of the war, blockhouses like this oneon the Orange River were built to contain the Boers and

to provide a 'wall' against which the Boers could be drivenby drives of mounted infantry.

Fort Sydney (1899) guards the

road tunnel at Kogsmanskloof,near Montagu,

South Africa. The fort is situated at

top rightof the

photograph. A sign in Afrikaans

reads 'Old EnglishFort (1899).

A British 9.2 inch gun mounted on a railway wagon. This was then the largest gun ever used in land warfare. But pitted against Boer commandos, the gun was next to useless. It would have proved effective in siege warfare or against massed forces.

Boers with a 'Pom-Pom' gun. The Maxim-Nordenfeldt gun had a firing rate of 60 rounds per minute, but usually had a belt of 25 one pound shells. Australians at Elands River Post said it could cover an acre with shells as fast as a person could count. Various weapons manufacturers produced variants of the gun, including Hotchkiss-Maxim for the British forces, and Vickers-Maxim used by both sides.

Boers firing a Maxim machinegun (left) and a howitzer. Modern technology was eagerly accepted by the Boers, but their ability at sniping proved dominant in many engagements. British forces also possessed Maxims and a wider range of artillery including naval guns adapted to mount on railway wagons, and some Mountain Batteries provided by Indian Artillerymen.

A few Australian Contingents took horse-drawn machine-

guns tothe Anglo-Boer War, but found

their horses unequal to the taskof hauling the heavy guns far, especially on extended treks.

Aboveis the machine-gun section of

the 1st Battalion, 5th AustralianInfantry Regiment outside

Victoria Barracks, Melbourne, after the

war. Many soldiers from the Brigade had served in South

Africa.

Abandoned Boer trenches at

Magersfontein. The trenches were five feet

deepand bags filled with

earth were placed on the edges of the trench.

Saps andtrenches had been used in earlier wars, but here

provided vivid memorieswhen Anglo-Boer War

veterans volunteered for World War One. Thesetrenches hid the Boer force leading to the

decimation of Britain's Highland

Brigade which had been given the 'honour' of

leading the attack.

British soldiers repel a strong Boer attack from their trench at Orange River

in early 1900.

The Orange River Field Hospital. Heat, dust and flies helped to complicatemodern surgical and medical procedures on the veldt. But, as in previous

wars, the survival of amputees was rare despite the use of antiseptics and the best of nursing care.

A captured Boer ambulance. The clever cart enabled the seriously wounded to be evacuated from the battlefield by one man and not several as would have been the case with a stretcher, or if they had been carried away by comrades. For the wounded a ride in the ambulance cart would have been an uncomfortable and bumpy experience.

Vast improvements in military medicine, and the provision of constantnursing attention spared the lives of many wounded soldiers. Previouslymost would have died from complications like septic infection. Life fornurses was gruelling in hard conditions. Only three Royal Red Crosses

were awarded to Australian nurses

• A Nurse and orderly tend a battle casualty.

• The patient's bedside table has been made

• from used antiseptic cases.

• A bullet in the arm of a wounded soldier is located by

x-rays at Ladysmith Hospital.

Guerrilla warfare by the Boers stretched British logistics to the limit. This specially built hospital train helped to evacuate the wounded to major hospital facilities in the distant rear of the action.