South African (Boer) War Memorial Print Page

The monument commemorates the Queensland soldiers who died in service or were killed in action in the South African (Boer) War.

It commemorates the first overseas conflict in which colonial Queensland troops were involved occurred from 1899 to 1902 in South Africa. The Queensland Government despatched volunteer contingents of mounted infantrymen to the war to aid the forces of the British Commonwealth involved in the armed intervention. Eighty-nine Queenslanders died during the war.

The memorial is also known as "The Scout", and was originally located at the corner of Edward and Turbot Streets. It was relocated to ANZAC Square in 1939.

It is believed that the model for the statue was Lieutenant Colonel Charles Reade, CB, MID, who was the Deputy Assistant Quartemaster General for Queensland.

The memorial was unveiled at the corner of Edward and Turbot Streets on the 16th December 1919 by the Governor of Queensland. The statue is of bronze and represents an infantryman on scout duty with his full accoutrements. The statue was sculpted by Mr J. L.Watts of Brisbane with assistance from his son Mr. J. A.Watts. Mr Watts signed an agreement with the memorial committee in 1912 to supply the statue in its finished state for £1750. Owing to the difficulties of casting in Australia, the mould was sent to England and the statue reached Australia in 1917.
The Brisbane Courier, 18th December 1918.

In 1930, the memorial was the subject of a strong protest by the South African war veterans when it was used by the Communist party who draped it with a red flag and stood on it to address the crowd.
The Brisbane Courier, 9th May 1930.

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