TOPIC:

Dear Boer War Forum

As a migrant community to Australia, we have raised awareness to the wider community
during ANZAC Events of the common share hopes of all our communities.

We recently found an article from 1940 that indicated the Australian Syrian (or Assyrian or Lebanese)
community served in the Boer War.

I downloaded the entire database of names, and just glanced over them.

If anyone can tell me about (if information exists on these and other migrants who served from the Syrian or Lebanese Community in the Boer War)

ABDULLAH, S
HABIB, MELLICK - From HMS Redbrest
SALIBA, JOSEPH - From Menne Scounts
SALEM, Asssed - From Marketing Town Guard

I also found some names that may or may not be:
TREDREA, Henry
AYOB, HA
SAID,
NADER,

Thank you kindly in advance.

Simon Haddad

Simon
Welcome to the forum. You have asked an interesting question. As far as Colonial Australian or Australian Commonwealth units were concerned, enlistees would have to have been British subjects. That is not to say that a non-British subject could not become just that. Regarding enlistment in South African irregular units, I would think that the same applied. I have examples of enlistment forms on CD and I will have a look.
The names you list (ABDULLAH, and HABIB, Mellick, from HMS Redbreast) were "seedies" or "tindals''; locally recruited native divers or those with a similar calling. Many such served in Royal Navy ships at the time. They would not have been Australian. The SALEM Assed you mention was a member of the Mafeking Town Guard and also unlikely to have had Australian associations. SALIBA Joseph sounds to be a Maltese name - but I could be wrong there.
Good luck with your research.
Regards
IL.

Hello Simon

The use of the word "migrant" in the title of your post is interesting and perhaps a little too 21st century. Apart from the Khoi, Bantu and early European settlers (pre-1800) everyone else in southern Africa at this time was no more than 2nd generation, they were all "migrants" - race, ethnicity, language was irrelevant. Your Cornish tin miner was as much a migrant as the trader from Damascus setting up shop.

What is interesting is identifying men migrating to Australia then fighting for the British Empire. We can easily understand those migrants from Britain and Ireland who did just this, but why would a Syrian do that? Identifying this sort of migrant is not easy.

The British military, especially the Navy with its bases, quite literally, all over the world in Victorian times recruited non-white people as IL has stated. These men (or their parents) may well have traveled far from their birth place before enlisting. Origins are not easy to pin down.

For the naval men you may find their service papers on Ancestry. I have papers to an East African who served in the Royal Navy at the time of the ABW.

Enlistment into South African colonial units such as Mennes Scouts was not restricted to British Empire subjects. Attestation papers exist for many of these units in the National Archives, London. Some are on this site.

Can you provide a copy of that article or a link to it?

Regards
Meurig

Thank you kindly Linneyl,

I had a search for other Migrants
Reginald Alberto Agrati: STONEHAM

SURNAME NAME RANK NUMBER REGIMENT FILE:
STONEHAM Reginald Alberto Agrati Trumpeter 82 4th South Australian Imperial Bushmen OZB20366

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_Australians
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Stoneham

He has a musical publishing
by going to National Archives of Australia
www.naa.gov.au/

And searching for his name.

If you hold this record for his military service,
then we can see if he was a naturalised subject.
But as we see he was born in Victoria as per wiki, he was a Commonwealth subject.

For Greek Australians:
neoskosmos.com/news/en/the-greeks-who-fought-for-australia
kokodahistorical.com.au/diggers-stories/the-manusu-brothers

One of the most poignant stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for Australia is that of the Manusu family in WWII. Francis Manusu was born in Eurobodalla NSW in 1880, the son of Michael Manusu, only the third Greek naturalised in NSW and the sixth in Australia. Frank was one of a handful of Australians of Greek descent who served in the second Anglo-Boer War.

But I couldn't find this name in your database?

In terms of the Malta for example:
www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131...nglo-Boer-War.499554

Elements of the Malta Mounted Infantry remained active right up to the end of hostilities, as the Australian newspaper from Adelaide, on February 18, 1902, reported that a battalion of the Malta Mounted Infantry, while reconnoitering in the vicinity of Zuikerboschland on Wednesday, February 12, were engaged in difficult country by a considerable force of Boers. During the fighting that ensued, 11 of the ‘Maltese’ were killed and 40 were wounded, including their officers, including Major Dowell, Captain Sheldon and five Lieutenants.

and also for Malta:

www.openaustralia.org.au/debate/?id=2014-06-23.188.2

For people in my community of Vietnamese descent, their relatives may well have fought alongside Australians at Salonika in Greece. My Senegalese and African families may have ancestors who fought with the French forces at Gallipoli, who fought alongside ANZACS. Then, of course, there were the Maltese—six immigrants from Malta and one second generation Australian-Maltese from Melbourne. Four were killed in action in France, two in Belgium and one at Gallipoli, and their remains are buried there. Another 30 Maltese-Australians were engaged in combat in Gallipoli and they survived and returned to Australia as ANZAC survivors.

The Malta Mounted Infantry were not Maltese but British Army soldiers drawn from the garrison on Malta.

Thank you Meurig.

I had uploaded some attachments, but it seems they did not get published in this forum.

The article I refer to is:
Mail (Adelaide, SA), Saturday 20 July 1940, page 4

It can be found on trove. Here is an excerpt:
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=boer+syrian+adelaide+hamra

"SYRIANS HANDING OVER CHEQUE foe £111/9/9 to Fighting
Forces Comforts Fund. Left to right — Messrs. J.1 Roukos, M. McRae
Fix this text(secretary of F.F.C.F.), G. Hamra, A. BasEeer, and J. McLeay, M.P.
SYRIANS HANDING OVER CHEQUE foe £111/9/9 to Fighting
Forces Comforts Fund. Left to right — Messrs. J.1 Roukos, M. McRae
(secretary of F.F.C.F.), G. Hamra, A. BasEeer, and J. McLeay, M.P.
Syrians Give
Liberally To
War Charities
Syrians in South Australia contri
bute liberally to patriotic funds.
Yesterday afternoon Messrs. Alick
Basheer (president of the Syrian com
munity), J- Roukos (assistant secre
tary), and G. Hamra (treasurer), and
Mr. J. McLeay, MJ5., came to 'The
Mail' Office with a cheque for £111
9/9 for the Fighting Forces Comforts
Fund, and handed them to the secre
-ary, Mr. M. McRae.
Earlier in the year they had made a
substantial donation to the Red Cross
Society, and they intend to support
patriotic funds throughout the war.
Many Australians look upon these
Syrians as foreigners, but they point
out that they should not be placed
under that heading. They are natu
ralised and some have been in this
country for half a century and fought
in the Boer war and last war."