1897
A slouch hat with rising sun badge
The national helmet
The khaki felt Australian Army slouch hat is the standard headgear of an Australian soldier. It features four brass ventilating eyelets in the crown, a further pair of small brass eyelets located lower on the crown, and one on either side, normally concealed by a puggaree (scarf). The turn-up is secured by a press-stud and is adorned with an oxidised-brass rising sun badge.
The idea of a felt hat with one side pinned up to the crown came from the Burmese native police and was introduced to the Victorian Mounted Rifle by Lieutenant Colonel Tom Price in 1885. The rising sun badge was an addition made to the hat in 1902, possibly at the suggestion of Major General Sir Edward Hutton, commander-in-chief of the Australian forces during the Boer War. The design is based on a collection of bayonets radiating in a semicircle from a crown. The 1902 original now looks very crude and the design has been modified seven times since, with various units also applying their own modifications. The rising sun, however, is the motif that has led Australian troops through two world wars and many difficult situations.
In 1890, when the military leaders of the individual Australian colonies met to develop a national uniform, the slouch hat was the popular choice. Different units allowed different adornments. The Queensland Mounted Infantry and the Royal Australian Armoured Corps chose emu plumes, while other units opted for the feathers of other birds.
When hostilities opened in the Second Boer War in 1899, each of the six Australian colonies offered troops. The Australians were represented in the war in various ways: by the colonial troops, by Australians then living in South Africa who enlisted, and by groups of irregulars – essentially freelance adventurers, such as the 1st Bushmen Contingent (New South Wales), the Citizen Bushmen groups from Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. But of these groups of irregulars, the best known is the Bushveldt Carbineers.
In the early stages of the conflict the British suffered dramatic losses. It was classic asymmetric warfare where established regiments of the Imperial British forces were ranged against mounted Afrikaans (Boer) farmers, who used the terrain to best advantage. Within a year of the first salvos, the British had taken back their lost territory and were ruthlessly pursuing the Boers, who fell back on a bitter two-year guerilla campaign.
The Australian troops, many of whom were skilled bushmen and riders from a climate similar to that of South Africa, excelled. They were most effective in mounted infantry units and in situations where they could use their bushcraft. For instance, 500 Australians and Rhodesians were pinned down at the Battle of Elands River at Brakfontein in August 1900. At the end of the 13-day siege, Boer commander Koos de la Rey was quoted as saying:
For the first time in the war we are fighting men who used our own tactics against us. They were Australian volunteers, and though small in number we could not take their position. They were the only troops who could scout our lines at night and kill our sentries while killing or capturing our scouts. Our men admitted that the Australians were more formidable opponents and far more dangerous than any other British troops.
Sentiments such as these inspired the Anzac myth.
The conditions in the field were horrendous. Disease was endemic, with the water frequently poisoned by corpses. As many Australians were lost to disease as to battle. Australia lost slightly more men in the three years of the Boer War than it did in the 10 years Australia was in Vietnam.
As the war entered its guerilla phase, it became even more gruesome. Lord Kitchener took over the British command and instituted a scorched-earth policy, burning crops and killing livestock. He encouraged small units to roam the countryside and engage as many of the enemy as possible. The strategy was to starve the Boers into submission, and it worked.
The Bushveldt Carbineers were one anti-guerilla unit, known for its members’ ruthlessness and willingness to shoot prisoners. Their most famous officer was Lieutenant Harry ‘The Breaker’ Harbord Morant. In August 1901, Captain Percy Hunt was killed while on patrol and his body mutilated. His close friend Morant was incensed and bent on revenge. With Lieutenant P J Handcock he left the base and combed the district for enemy, at least one of whom was shot. Later, a group of eight Boers surrendered and a passing missionary, Rev. C A D Heese, talked with them. Morant took the lot into custody and had them all shot. Morant, Handcock and others shot three more locals who were attempting to surrender the following month.
On 22 October 1901, Morant and Handcock were arrested and the matter set down for court martial the following January. During the trial the courthouse came under attack from Boer commandos. The court adjourned, the prisoners were handed rifles and all hands went to battle. With the Boers repulsed, court resumed.
Morant, in his own defence, claimed that he was specifically given orders to ‘take no prisoners’ and should not be under arrest. Nonetheless, both he and Handcock were found guilty and sentenced to death. At his execution, Morant’s final words were supposedly: ‘Shoot straight, you bastards. Don’t make a mess of it.’ This stoicism added more fuel to the Anzac myth.
The war grew unpopular at home and the Boers’ surrender came not a moment too soon. By the time all the Australians had returned home, Australia was a federation and the colonial defence forces were a single army. The slouch hat turned up on the left side, which had worked so well in South Africa, became standard kit.