The Military History Society of NSW

Last year Dennis Weatherall, a member of the Society’s Council, lead a tour of important Boer War battlefield sites, including some associated with the story of Lt Harry Morant, better known as Breaker Morant. Here’s his report: This journey had three highlights: (a) MORANT & HANDCOCK ─ 27 February 2017 in the Old Pretoria Cemetery (South Africa) we commemorated the 115th anniversary of the execution of Lt. Harry Harboard ‘Breaker’ Morant of the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC) and Lt. Peter Joseph Handcock (BVC) both court-martialed by the British Army under the command of Lord Kitchener for deeds allegedly committed in the Limpopo Province ‘Zoutgansberg’ region in Northern South Africa, an area policed by the ‘Bushveldt Carbineers’ of which Morant and Handcock were both officers. The BVC was the first ever specially raised unit formed to fight the ‘counter-insurgency’ war of the ‘Bitterender’ (those that would fight to the last man) Boers. There were six Officers of the BV...

Editor's Comment from the Spring 2018 edition of Reconnaissance , the quarterly magazine of the Military History Society of New South Wales. Cover Photo: Sir John Monash Welcome to the Spring 2018 edition of Reconnaissance . In this edition we present just two feature articles as they are much longer than usual. But I’m sure you will agree they are well worth presenting in full. Both are papers delivered to a monthly meeting of the Society this year. And, fittingly, both are about World War I. 2018 is the centenary year of some momentous battles which finally brought the Great War to an end. A number of new books, symposiums and commemorative ceremonies have drawn the public’s attention to the historical significance of those engagements as well as the tenacity, skill and heroism of the participants. Our Australian Army Corps, in particular, played a significant role in the last push to victory. The final campaigns were always bound to attract a degree of discuss...