Canadian Army Boer War - 11 Oct 1899 to 31 May 1902

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Canadian Army Boer War - 11 Oct 1899 to 31 May 1902

from: http://www.canadiansoldiers.com/hist...rs/boerwar.htm

The Boer War is known outside of Canada as the Second Boer War, and also as the South African War both in Canada and abroad (though not in South African Africa where it is known to some as the Anglo-Boer War, or in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog (Second War of Independence). (The first Boer War had been fought from 16 Dec 1880 to 23 Mar 1881.)
The war was fought from 11 Oct 1899 to 31 May 1902 and marked the second overseas employment of soldiers of the Canadian Army (the first had been the Nile Expedition of 1884-1885, though these soldiers served in a combat support capacity rather than in a combat role). The war was fought between the British Empire and two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic). The war resulted in the two independent republics being absorbed into the British Empire.
When the British government asked for Canadian help, the opposition party in Canada was strongly in favour, while French-Canadians were widely opposed. The Liberal government was split, and Prime Minister Wilfried Laurier eventually sent infantry and mounted units. While Canadians did not served in the earliest clashes of the war, they did develop a good reputation at Second Battle of Paardeberg and later at Liliefontein, where three Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross and one the Queen's Scarf.
The war remained deeply unpopular in Quebec, where many people viewed it as crushing a democratic minority group reminiscent of French-Canadians themselves. The war would later become notorious for the inauguration of modern concentration camps.

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If you wish to find records of Canadian Soldiers in the South African War, you can locate them here:

Soldiers of the South African War (1899 - 1902)


Canadian Mounted Rifles, South Africa
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