 19 killed and 42 wounded at Wilmansrust , near Middleburg after poor security allowed a force of 150 Boers to surprise them . On 30 October 1901 , Victorians of the Scottish Horse Regiment also suffered heavy casualties at Gun Hill , although 60 Boers were also killed in the engagement . Meanwhile , at Onverwacht on 4 January 1902 , the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen lost 13 killed and 17 wounded . Ultimately the Boers were defeated , and the war ended on 31 May 1902 . In all 16 @,@ 175 Australians served in South Africa , and perhaps another 10 @,@ 000 enlisted as individuals in Imperial units ; casualties included 251 killed in action , 267 died of disease and 43 missing in action , while a further 735 were wounded . Six Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross .   = = = Boxer Rebellion , 1900 – 01 = = =   The Boxer Rebellion in China began in 1900 , and a number of western nations — including many European powers , the United States , and Japan — soon sent forces as part of the China Field Force to protect their interests . In June , the British government sought permission from the Australian colonies to dispatch ships from the Australian Squadron to China . The colonies also offered to assist further , but as most of their troops were still engaged in South Africa , they had to rely on naval forces for manpower . The force dispatched was a modest one , with Britain accepting 200 men from Victoria , 260 from New South Wales and the South Australian ship HMCS Protector , under the command of Captain William Creswell . Most of these forces were made up of naval brigade reservists , who had been trained in both ship handling and soldiering to fulfil their coastal defence role . Amongst the naval contingent from New South Wales were 200 naval officers and sailors and 50 permanent soldiers headquartered at Victoria Barracks , Sydney who originally enlisted for the Second Boer War . The soldiers were keen to go to China but refused to be enlisted as sailors , while the New South Wales Naval Brigade objected to having soldiers in their ranks . The Army and Navy compromised and titled the contingent the NSW Marine Light Infantry .   The contingents from New South Wales and Victoria sailed for China on 8 August 1900 . Arriving in Tientsin , the Australians provided 300 men to an 8 @,@ 000 @-@ strong multinational force tasked with capturing the Chinese forts at Pei Tang , which dominated a key railway . They arrived too late to take part in the battle , but were involved in the attack on the fortress at Pao @-@ ting Fu , where the Chinese government was believed to have found asylum after Peking was captured by western forces . The Victorians joined a force of 7 @,@ 500 men on a ten @-@ day march to the fort , once again only to find that it had already surrendered . The Victorians then garrisoned Tientsin and the New South Wales contingent undertook garrison duties in Peking . HMCS Protector was mostly used for survey , transport , and courier duties in the Gulf of Chihli , before departing in November . The naval brigades remained during the winter , unhappily performing policing and guard duties , as well as working as railwaymen and fire @-@ fighters . They left China in March 1901 , having played only a minor role in a few offensives and punitive expeditions and in the restoration of civil order . Six Australians died from sickness and injury , but none were killed as a result of enemy action .   = = Australian military forces at Federation , 1901 = =   The Commonwealth of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a result of the federation of the Australian colonies . Under the Constitution of Australia , defence responsibility was now vested in the new federal government . The co @-@ ordination of Australia @-@ wide defensive efforts in the face of Imperial German interest in the Pacific Ocean was one of driving forces behind federalism , and the Department of Defence immediately came into being as a result , while the Commonwealth Military Forces ( early forerunner of the Australian Army ) and Commonwealth Naval Force were also soon established .   The Australian Commonwealth Military Forces came into being on 1 March 1901 and all the colonial forces — including those still in South Africa — became part of the new force . 28 @,@ 923 colonial soldiers , including 1 @,@ 457 professional soldiers , 18 @,@ 603 paid militia and 8 @,@ 863 unpaid volunteers , were subsequently transferred . The individual units continued to be administered under the various colonial Acts until the Defence Act 1903 brought all the units under one piece of legislation . This Act also prevented the raising of standing infantry units and specified that militia forces could not be used in industrial disputes or serve outside Australia . However , the majority of soldiers remained in militia units , known as the Citizen Military Forces ( CMF ) . Major General Sir Edward Hutton — a former commander of the New South Wales Military Forces — subsequently became the first commander of the Commonwealth Military Forces on 26 December and set to work devising an integrated structure for the new
Ġ19 Ġkilled Ġand Ġ42 Ġwounded Ġat ĠWil mans rust Ġ, Ġnear ĠMiddle burg Ġafter Ġpoor Ġsecurity Ġallowed Ġa Ġforce Ġof Ġ150 ĠBo ers Ġto Ġsurprise Ġthem Ġ. ĠOn Ġ30 ĠOctober Ġ1901 Ġ, ĠVictor ians Ġof Ġthe ĠScottish ĠHorse ĠRegiment Ġalso Ġsuffered Ġheavy Ġcasualties Ġat ĠGun ĠHill Ġ, Ġalthough Ġ60 ĠBo ers Ġwere Ġalso Ġkilled Ġin Ġthe Ġengagement Ġ. ĠMeanwhile Ġ, Ġat ĠOn ver w acht Ġon Ġ4 ĠJanuary Ġ1902 Ġ, Ġthe Ġ5 th ĠQueensland ĠImperial ĠBush men Ġlost Ġ13 Ġkilled Ġand Ġ17 Ġwounded Ġ. ĠUltimately Ġthe ĠBo ers Ġwere Ġdefeated Ġ, Ġand Ġthe Ġwar Ġended Ġon Ġ31 ĠMay Ġ1902 Ġ. ĠIn Ġall Ġ16 Ġ@ , @ Ġ175 ĠAustralians Ġserved Ġin ĠSouth ĠAfrica Ġ, Ġand Ġperhaps Ġanother Ġ10 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġenlisted Ġas Ġindividuals Ġin ĠImperial Ġunits Ġ; Ġcasualties Ġincluded Ġ251 Ġkilled Ġin Ġaction Ġ, Ġ267 Ġdied Ġof Ġdisease Ġand Ġ43 Ġmissing Ġin Ġaction Ġ, Ġwhile Ġa Ġfurther Ġ7 35 Ġwere Ġwounded Ġ. ĠSix ĠAustralians Ġwere Ġawarded Ġthe ĠVictoria ĠCross Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= ĠBox er ĠRebellion Ġ, Ġ1900 ĠâĢĵ Ġ01 Ġ= Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠBox er ĠRebellion Ġin ĠChina Ġbegan Ġin Ġ1900 Ġ, Ġand Ġa Ġnumber Ġof Ġwestern Ġnations ĠâĢĶ Ġincluding Ġmany ĠEuropean Ġpowers Ġ, Ġthe ĠUnited ĠStates Ġ, Ġand ĠJapan ĠâĢĶ Ġsoon Ġsent Ġforces Ġas Ġpart Ġof Ġthe ĠChina ĠField ĠForce Ġto Ġprotect Ġtheir Ġinterests Ġ. ĠIn ĠJune Ġ, Ġthe ĠBritish Ġgovernment Ġsought Ġpermission Ġfrom Ġthe ĠAustralian Ġcolonies Ġto Ġdispatch Ġships Ġfrom Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠSquadron Ġto ĠChina Ġ. ĠThe Ġcolonies Ġalso Ġoffered Ġto Ġassist Ġfurther Ġ, Ġbut Ġas Ġmost Ġof Ġtheir Ġtroops Ġwere Ġstill Ġengaged Ġin ĠSouth ĠAfrica Ġ, Ġthey Ġhad Ġto Ġrely Ġon Ġnaval Ġforces Ġfor Ġmanpower Ġ. ĠThe Ġforce Ġdispatched Ġwas Ġa Ġmodest Ġone Ġ, Ġwith ĠBritain Ġaccepting Ġ200 Ġmen Ġfrom ĠVictoria Ġ, Ġ260 Ġfrom ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales Ġand Ġthe ĠSouth ĠAustralian Ġship ĠHM CS ĠProtector Ġ, Ġunder Ġthe Ġcommand Ġof ĠCaptain ĠWilliam ĠC res well Ġ. ĠMost Ġof Ġthese Ġforces Ġwere Ġmade Ġup Ġof Ġnaval Ġbrigade Ġreserv ists Ġ, Ġwho Ġhad Ġbeen Ġtrained Ġin Ġboth Ġship Ġhandling Ġand Ġsoldier ing Ġto Ġfulfil Ġtheir Ġcoastal Ġdefence Ġrole Ġ. ĠAmong st Ġthe Ġnaval Ġcontingent Ġfrom ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales Ġwere Ġ200 Ġnaval Ġofficers Ġand Ġsailors Ġand Ġ50 Ġpermanent Ġsoldiers Ġheadquartered Ġat ĠVictoria ĠBarr acks Ġ, ĠSydney Ġwho Ġoriginally Ġenlisted Ġfor Ġthe ĠSecond ĠBo er ĠWar Ġ. ĠThe Ġsoldiers Ġwere Ġkeen Ġto Ġgo Ġto ĠChina Ġbut Ġrefused Ġto Ġbe Ġenlisted Ġas Ġsailors Ġ, Ġwhile Ġthe ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales ĠNaval ĠBrigade Ġobjected Ġto Ġhaving Ġsoldiers Ġin Ġtheir Ġranks Ġ. ĠThe ĠArmy Ġand ĠNavy Ġcompromised Ġand Ġtitled Ġthe Ġcontingent Ġthe ĠNSW ĠMarine ĠLight ĠInfantry Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe Ġconting ents Ġfrom ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales Ġand ĠVictoria Ġsailed Ġfor ĠChina Ġon Ġ8 ĠAugust Ġ1900 Ġ. ĠArri ving Ġin ĠT ients in Ġ, Ġthe ĠAustralians Ġprovided Ġ300 Ġmen Ġto Ġan Ġ8 Ġ@ , @ Ġ000 Ġ@ - @ Ġstrong Ġmultinational Ġforce Ġtasked Ġwith Ġcapturing Ġthe ĠChinese Ġfor ts Ġat ĠPe i ĠTang Ġ, Ġwhich Ġdominated Ġa Ġkey Ġrailway Ġ. ĠThey Ġarrived Ġtoo Ġlate Ġto Ġtake Ġpart Ġin Ġthe Ġbattle Ġ, Ġbut Ġwere Ġinvolved Ġin Ġthe Ġattack Ġon Ġthe Ġfortress Ġat ĠP ao Ġ@ - @ Ġt ing ĠFu Ġ, Ġwhere Ġthe ĠChinese Ġgovernment Ġwas Ġbelieved Ġto Ġhave Ġfound Ġasylum Ġafter ĠP eking Ġwas Ġcaptured Ġby Ġwestern Ġforces Ġ. ĠThe ĠVictor ians Ġjoined Ġa Ġforce Ġof Ġ7 Ġ@ , @ Ġ500 Ġmen Ġon Ġa Ġten Ġ@ - @ Ġday Ġmarch Ġto Ġthe Ġfort Ġ, Ġonce Ġagain Ġonly Ġto Ġfind Ġthat Ġit Ġhad Ġalready Ġsurrendered Ġ. ĠThe ĠVictor ians Ġthen Ġgarrison ed ĠT ients in Ġand Ġthe ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales Ġcontingent Ġundertook Ġgarrison Ġduties Ġin ĠP eking Ġ. ĠHM CS ĠProtector Ġwas Ġmostly Ġused Ġfor Ġsurvey Ġ, Ġtransport Ġ, Ġand Ġcourier Ġduties Ġin Ġthe ĠGulf Ġof ĠCh ih li Ġ, Ġbefore Ġdeparting Ġin ĠNovember Ġ. ĠThe Ġnaval Ġbrig ades Ġremained Ġduring Ġthe Ġwinter Ġ, Ġunh app ily Ġperforming Ġpolicing Ġand Ġguard Ġduties Ġ, Ġas Ġwell Ġas Ġworking Ġas Ġrailway men Ġand Ġfire Ġ@ - @ Ġfighters Ġ. ĠThey Ġleft ĠChina Ġin ĠMarch Ġ1901 Ġ, Ġhaving Ġplayed Ġonly Ġa Ġminor Ġrole Ġin Ġa Ġfew Ġoff ens ives Ġand Ġpunitive Ġexped itions Ġand Ġin Ġthe Ġrestoration Ġof Ġcivil Ġorder Ġ. ĠSix ĠAustralians Ġdied Ġfrom Ġsickness Ġand Ġinjury Ġ, Ġbut Ġnone Ġwere Ġkilled Ġas Ġa Ġresult Ġof Ġenemy Ġaction Ġ. Ġ Ġ Ġ= Ġ= ĠAustralian Ġmilitary Ġforces Ġat ĠFederation Ġ, Ġ1901 Ġ= Ġ= Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠCommonwealth Ġof ĠAustralia Ġcame Ġinto Ġexistence Ġon Ġ1 ĠJanuary Ġ1901 Ġas Ġa Ġresult Ġof Ġthe Ġfederation Ġof Ġthe ĠAustralian Ġcolonies Ġ. ĠUnder Ġthe ĠConstitution Ġof ĠAustralia Ġ, Ġdefence Ġresponsibility Ġwas Ġnow Ġvested Ġin Ġthe Ġnew Ġfederal Ġgovernment Ġ. ĠThe Ġco Ġ@ - @ Ġord ination Ġof ĠAustralia Ġ@ - @ Ġwide Ġdefensive Ġefforts Ġin Ġthe Ġface Ġof ĠImperial ĠGerman Ġinterest Ġin Ġthe ĠPacific ĠOcean Ġwas Ġone Ġof Ġdriving Ġforces Ġbehind Ġfederal ism Ġ, Ġand Ġthe ĠDepartment Ġof ĠDefence Ġimmediately Ġcame Ġinto Ġbeing Ġas Ġa Ġresult Ġ, Ġwhile Ġthe ĠCommonwealth ĠMilitary ĠForces Ġ( Ġearly Ġfore runner Ġof Ġthe ĠAustralian ĠArmy Ġ) Ġand ĠCommonwealth ĠNaval ĠForce Ġwere Ġalso Ġsoon Ġestablished Ġ. Ġ Ġ ĠThe ĠAustralian ĠCommonwealth ĠMilitary ĠForces Ġcame Ġinto Ġbeing Ġon Ġ1 ĠMarch Ġ1901 Ġand Ġall Ġthe Ġcolonial Ġforces ĠâĢĶ Ġincluding Ġthose Ġstill Ġin ĠSouth ĠAfrica ĠâĢĶ Ġbecame Ġpart Ġof Ġthe Ġnew Ġforce Ġ. Ġ28 Ġ@ , @ Ġ9 23 Ġcolonial Ġsoldiers Ġ, Ġincluding Ġ1 Ġ@ , @ Ġ457 Ġprofessional Ġsoldiers Ġ, Ġ18 Ġ@ , @ Ġ6 03 Ġpaid Ġmilitia Ġand Ġ8 Ġ@ , @ Ġ8 63 Ġunpaid Ġvolunteers Ġ, Ġwere Ġsubsequently Ġtransferred Ġ. ĠThe Ġindividual Ġunits Ġcontinued Ġto Ġbe Ġadministered Ġunder Ġthe Ġvarious Ġcolonial ĠActs Ġuntil Ġthe ĠDefence ĠAct Ġ1903 Ġbrought Ġall Ġthe Ġunits Ġunder Ġone Ġpiece Ġof Ġlegislation Ġ. ĠThis ĠAct Ġalso Ġprevented Ġthe Ġraising Ġof Ġstanding Ġinfantry Ġunits Ġand Ġspecified Ġthat Ġmilitia Ġforces Ġcould Ġnot Ġbe Ġused Ġin Ġindustrial Ġdisputes Ġor Ġserve Ġoutside ĠAustralia Ġ. ĠHowever Ġ, Ġthe Ġmajority Ġof Ġsoldiers Ġremained Ġin Ġmilitia Ġunits Ġ, Ġknown Ġas Ġthe ĠCitizen ĠMilitary ĠForces Ġ( ĠCM F Ġ) Ġ. ĠMajor ĠGeneral ĠSir ĠEdward ĠH utton ĠâĢĶ Ġa Ġformer Ġcommander Ġof Ġthe ĠNew ĠSouth ĠWales ĠMilitary ĠForces ĠâĢĶ Ġsubsequently Ġbecame Ġthe Ġfirst Ġcommander Ġof Ġthe ĠCommonwealth ĠMilitary ĠForces Ġon Ġ26 ĠDecember Ġand Ġset Ġto Ġwork Ġdev ising Ġan Ġintegrated Ġstructure Ġfor Ġthe Ġnew