Between 1899 and 1902 more than 10,000 Australian soldiers sailed for South Africa to support British troops engaged in the war against the Boer settlers. The first contingents were raised by the colonial governments and it was not until 1902 that the newly-formed Commonwealth raised the eight battalions of the Australian Commonwealth Horse.

These records document the process of recruiting, training and shipping contingents through nominal rolls, pay sheets, reports and thousands of red-tape files.