The site is owned by Dr David Biggins, author of four books on the Boer War. The site is free to use and has grown over the years since it was started by David and his late brother Chris in 2004. Click here for a brief introduction to the site. Just before the end of the Boer War, lieutenants Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant and Peter Handcock were executed by firing squad for murdering 12 Boer prisoners of war. If your initial search was conducted within the 'Australian Defence Forces personnel records' or one of its sub-categories, you can refine your search using a given name or a service number. The Australians in the Boer War (Oz-Boer) Database Project is a free online search aid to help you identify books, journals, webpages and other ephemera dealing with individual Australian soldiers and nurses involved in the Second Anglo-Boer War. As Major Thomas, he defended Lieutenants Peter Joseph Handcock, George Ramsdale Witton, and Harry Breaker Morant, of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC) of the British Army, in their trial for the murder of nine Boer prisoners-of-war during the Second Boer War. The plight of the Boer women and children in the carelessly run, unhygienic camps became an international outrage, attracting the attention of such humanitarians as British social worker Emily Hobhouse. The first Australian troops arrived in South Africa in December 1899, too late to become involved in the serious British defeats of “black week” (10–17 December), when 2,300 men were killed or wounded by the Boers in three separate engagements. It is estimated 23,000 Australians served in the Boer War and nearly 1,000 soldiers died on active service. About half of these deaths were caused by illness and disease. Approximately 43,000 horses were transported from Australia and none returned because of Australia’s quarantine restrictions. If you do not find the person you are looking for there are two other databases on-line that you may like to try Soldiers of the Queen in the Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 (free) or Register of the Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902 (pay per view). Discover your ancestors who served in the Anglo-Boer War between 1899 and 1902. This unique database contains over hundreds of thousands of soldiers' names extracted from more than five hundred sources that can reveal the unit your ancestor served with in the Boer War, as well as details of medals, honours or awards that he or she won.