Letters from the VeldtThe 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