Boer War Memorial, St Kilda Rd
When Australia became a nation in 1900 the new country was already embroiled in war. For some time, the southern tip of Africa had been shared between British colonies and independent republics of Dutch–Afrikaner settlers, known as Boers.
In order to escape British rule many Boers had moved north and east to settle on new lands.
Throughout the 19th century tensions were often high, and in 1880–81 the two sides fought a war in which the Boers inflicted several costly defeats on the British army.
The discovery of gold and diamonds in the Boer republics in the 1880s further intensified the rivalry, particularly as British subjects flooded into the Boer territories in search of wealth.
British imperial ambition, and the Boer desire to stay outside the British Empire all caused more friction, which in 1899 provoked the Boers to attack in order to forestall what they saw as an impending British conquest.
Like other British Empire countries, Australia committed troops (mostly in mounted units) against the Boers, even though it was an unpopular cause. The popularity was not aided by British military tactics as they adopted a “scorched earth” policy of farmlands and herded the Boers into concentration camps.
Australian troops numbered about 12,000 and suffered 600 deaths – nearly half from the former colony of Victoria.
The Fifth Victorian contingent (the largest of eight sent by the State) arrived in December but were ill-trained and poorly provisioned and suffered from the incompetence and arrogance of inexperienced British officers.
When the members returned home, they determined to erect a memorial in Kings Domain on behalf of their fallen comrades, funded by members of the regiment rather than public subscription.
They enlisted the noted architect and designer (George de Lacy Evans) and prominent sculptor (Joseph Hamilton) and commissioned a striking work of sandstone, consisting of a dressed section resembling a buttressed church spire sitting on bases of solid Malmsbury bluestone.
The monument is 12 metres (40 feet) high and is triangular with one face oriented due west, as is common with memorials to lost soldiers. On the three faces are four plaques in cast bronze, adorned with the names and ranks of the fallen.
Evans’ work combined gothic elements, with piers, arches and flying buttresses in stone.
The striking architectural memorial embodied suitability and harmonious grace and was completed in 1903 and unveiled on 28 May 1904.
In 1966 the work was relocated to its current position, opposite the Victorian Barracks on St Kilda Rd, where it remains today in striking contrast to the Domain foliage and provides an example of great beauty and merit. •

Livestock trial commences through Citylink tunnels
