The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (391) Trooper Michael Joseph Commins, 1st Australian Horse, Boer War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Tristan Rallings, the story for this day was on (391) Trooper Michael Joseph Commins, 1st Australian Horse, Boer War.

391 Trooper Michael Joseph Commins, 1st Australian Horse
Died of illness 27 June 1900

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Michael Joseph Commins.

Michael Joseph Commins was born in about 1874 in the village of Michelago, south of Queanbeyan, New South Wales. Known as “Mick”, he was the eldest of seven children of John and Mary Commins, six of whom survived infancy. Mick came from a large sheep-grazing family that was well-known in the district. He was a keen sportsman, active in football, cricket and cycling.

In the late 1890s, the colony of New South Wales raised a mounted military unit called the 1st Australian Horse. Sub-units were formed around the colony, and Commins volunteered for service in the Michelago sub-unit, one of many volunteer military units that were common in the Australian colonies.

In October 1899, after a worsening political deadlock in southern Africa, Boer forces invaded the British colonies of the Cape Colony and Natal. Britain declared war on the two Boer republics: the Orange Free State and the South African Republic. Each of the Australian colonies committed troops in support of the British Empire.

The 1st Australian Horse left New South Wales in two contingents; Commins was in the first. He embarked at Newcastle in the transport ship Langton Grange in mid-November 1899, arriving in Cape Town in mid-December.

On Christmas Day 1899, Commins used his time off to write to his younger brother Patrick. Even at this early stage of the war, it was clear to him that the Boers could use hit-and-run tactics to great effect. The Boers “fight when they like and leave off when they like”,he wrote. In early February 1900, Commins wrote to his family, reporting that members of the unit were well and morale was high.

The Australian Horse was initially raised as a cavalry force, with the soldiers equipped with swords for close combat. However, the nature of fighting in South Africa meant that Commins and his unit were deployed as mounted infantry. Under the command of a British officer, the Australian Horse and other mounted soldiers were deployed along the main railway line from Cape Town to the Orange Free State. Outnumbered by Boer commandos, the unit conducted patrols and participated in skirmishes to maintain British control of the railway.

Conditions in the camps were poor, and outbreaks of dysentery and typhoid fever were already becoming common among Australian and Imperial forces. It appears that Commins became ill with typhoid fever towards the end of March 1900. He was evacuated to the British military hospital in Cape Town.

Commins remained in hospital, where his condition worsened and he developed pneumonia. On 27 June 1900, he died.

He was 26 years old.

Commins was buried in Cape Town (Maitland) Cemetery in South Africa, along with more than 500 British soldiers who died during the Boer War.

Mick Commins was survived by his parents and five younger siblings in Australia. His sister Nellie wrote a short poem for the local newspaper which ended with the lines, “Our home is dark without thee; we miss thee everywhere”.

Trooper Michael Joseph Commins is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, one of almost 600 Australians who died while serving in the Boer War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Trooper Michael Joseph Commins, who gave his life for us, for his country, and in the hope of a better world.

Thomas Rogers
Historian, Military History Section