Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Intelligence to hand reports the death of Mr. Alex W Draper, of Brabant's first Horse, who was serving in South African campaign.  The deceased who is the eldest son of Mrs. H. Draper, of the Railway Hotel, went over to South Africa 12 months ago.  He joined Brabant's Horse and was about to return home when he caught a chill, which ended in his death from Myolitis, a disease of the spinal cord.  The sad event took place at Woodstock, near Cape Town, on the 11th inst., and widespread is the sympathy for his bereaved mother and wife.

It is propsed to erect a monument, surmounted by an ornamental lamp, at the north end of the Blake street plantation, facing the bridge, to perpetuate the memory of the late Private Alex Draper, a trooper in Brabant's Horse, who lost his life in South Africa.

On Wednesday the interesting ceremony of the unveiling of the ornamental lamp and pedestal erected to perpetuate the memory of Private A. W.  Draper took place in the presence of a large concourse of people. Upon arrival of the midday train Captain Thorn, of Shepparton, was met at the railway station and escorted to the Railway Hotel, where a procession was formed by the Picola Brass Band, in uniform, and members of the Mounted Rifles, the Nathalia, Yalca and Yielima Rifle clubs in full uniform. The procession marched headed by the band to the monument when Mr F. H. Furze, captain of the local rifle club, introduced Captain Thorn, who after delivering a speech appropriate to the occasion, unveiled the monument, which bore the following  inscription :—"Erected in memory of Alex. W. Draper, of Brabant's Horse, who died in South Africa duriug the Boer war in the service of the Empire,  ll/2/'01." Cr Ball on behalf of the shire and people took over the monument. Mr Thomas Kilpatrick paid a tribute of respect to the deceased soldier  having, as he said, known him since he was eight years of age and who had eudeared himself to him next to his own family. Mr Elliott, secretary to the  memorial committee, thanked all who had assisted in the raising of the memorial and performed the opening function and expressed the desire that  when occasion needed others would take up arms in defence of the empire as readily as did Private A. W. Draper. 

9057 Trooper Alexander Windsor Draper, Brabant's Horse. Son of Alexander Draper (served in the Crimean War in the 10th Hussars before migrating to Australia). Alexander married in 1898. He enlisted in 1st Brabant's Horse in Capetown in May 1900 during the Second Anglo Boer War. They took part in the main army advance to Pretoria and in the operations preparatory to the surrounding of Prinsloo. They were frequently engaged. In the Hammonia district they had an immense amount of difficult scouting, and several times, in the latter half of May and in June 1900, they had encounters with superior forces and rather heavy losses. On 6-8 Jul 1900 they were at the capture of Bethlehem and in August they crossed the Vaal in the pursuit of De Wet. Trooper Draper fell ill and was evacuated to Cape Town where he died aged 32 years of acute anterior poliomyelitis in the military hospital, Cape Town. He is commemorated on the main Boer War memorial in Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa. He is also commemorated on the Ballarat Boer War Memorial in Queen Victoria Square, Ballarat, Central Highlands, Victoria, Australia