SERVICE PERSON RESEARCH
SERVICE PERSON DETAILS
Service Person’s
Name
Rank
Service Number
Regiment/Unit or
Ship or Squadron
William Shortley Poole
Private
284 - Colonial Military Forces
Fourth Queensland Imperial Bushmen
Date of Birth
1874
Place of Birth
Fernvale, Queensland
Family Details
Father : John Shortley Poole
Mother : Ellen (nee Denman)
William was the fifth child in a family of eleven children (5 brothers and 5 sisters)
http://www.mundia.com/au/Tree/Family/9466443/-394180315#
Age at Enlistment
Place of Enlistment
26
Brisbane
Date of Death
30 August 1900
Place of Death
Pretoria, South Africa
Cemetery or
Memorial Name
Grave or Memorial
Number
Church Street Cemetery, Pretoria
Grave 303
PHOTO:
Bookmark: http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/47906597
Published John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, 19 May 1900
SERVICE PERSON’S STORY/EULOGY:
Prepared by Alison Cowan
William Shortley Poole was the fifth child of John and Ellen Poole – there were 11 children in the family –
he had five brothers and five sisters. He was born and grew up the quiet town of Fernvale, Queensland.
William, aged 26, volunteered to fight in the Boer War (1899-1902) conflict and joined the Fourth
Queensland Imperial Bushman Unit in the Colonial Military Forces around April 1900 as a Private. To be
selected, Trooper Poole would have had to have been a good shot, good rider, a practical bushman of
experience, undergo a physical examination and have good eyesight, hearing and sound health. The mens’
ages were from 21 to 38 years; height, 5ft. 6in. to 5ft. 11in.; weight, not over 11st. 10lb. It was also
preferred that he be unmarried.
He would have been issued a ‘uniform consisting of khaki cloth F.S. jacket, pants, puttees, hat, and F.S. cap.
Greatcoats and boots were also issued; and a full kit of underclothing, necessaries. His rifle and bayonet
was supplied in South Africa. Cartridge belts (bandoliers) and braces issued in Queensland. Fully horsed and
supplied with saddlery. Regimental transport provided. His rate of pay as a private was 4s. 6d’ (Vide
Appendix II, p. 578).
Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel A. Aytoun, Captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, his
unit, 387 men of all ranks - one lieutenant-colonel, one major, three company commanders, one adjutant,
12 lieutenants, one quartermaster, one medical officer, one veterinary officer, two staff sergeants, three
company sergeant-majors, 16 sergeants, 15 artificers, six buglers, 19 corporals and 305 privates. In all, 21
officers, 366 N.C.O.'s and men; 150 draught and 400 riding horses departed from Australia on 18 May 1900
on the ship SS Manchester Port. They arrived at Port Elizabeth on 20 June; and then onto Cape Town where
his unit disembarked on 23 June 1900.
The SS Manchester Port embarking with the 4th Queensland
Imperial Bushmen.
After a short rest at Maitland Camp, Cape Town, they travelled by train to Pretoria, where they joined
General Ian Hamilton's force. While on patrol at Honen's Nek on 13 July 1900, they suffered their first
casualty - Private Duggan was shot dead in a skirmish. On 16 July, the unit engaged in another skirmish with
the Boers at De Waggen Drift. From 21 July to 20 August, Trooper Poole’s unit was involved in various
skirmishes with the enemy in the north of the state and they returned to Pretoria on 28 July 1900.
There is no record of when Private William Poole became ill but on 30 August 1900, he died from typhoid
while in hospital in Pretoria. In the Boer War, disease and epidemics took a heavy toll - ‘sickness was as
lethal as bullets’. By early 1900 water supplies were contaminated by corpses and human waste and
infected the army personnel during a period of rest in the captured town of Bloemfontein; 1,000 deaths
resulted, mostly from typhoid.
He is named on the Roll of Honour in the Australian War Memorial. He is buried in Grave 303, Church
Street Cemetery, Pretoria, South Africa.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Australian Military History of the Early 20th Century, Desert Column, Nominal Roll and Roll of Honour http://alhresearch.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog/2162411/4th-queensland-imperial-bushmen-outline/
(Accessed 16 May 2014)
Citation: 4th QIB, 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Contents
Murray, P. L., Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa, pp. 479 - 486.
http://alh-research.tripod.com/Light_Horse/index.blog/1980472/navigating-the-national-archives-service-file/
National Archives of Australia, Australian involvement in the Boer War http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/factsheets/fs67.aspx (Accessed 14 May 2014)
Sources of Information on Australians in the Boer War.
http://members.pcug.org.au/~croe/ozb/oz_boer2.htm#Murray (Accessed 16 May 2014)
This site has Private Poole’s family tree. http://www.mundia.com/au/Tree/Family/9466443/-394180315#
(Accessed 16 May 2014)
TROVE, Photograph of Private William Poole. http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/47906597
(Accessed 12 May 2014)