Letters from the Veldt: The imperial advance to Pretoria through the eyes of Edward Hutton and his brigade of colonials.

The South African War – or Boer War – running from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 –was the largest British military effort since the Napoleonic Wars. It was also the first time that large-scale, meaningful contributions were made to an active theatre of war by the self-governing colonies. This included formal contributions of around 20,000 troops from the Australian colonies which dwarfed all previous Australian military commitments.

Just as the war was a watershed event for the developm...