HANDCOCK, Peter Joseph
| Service Number: | 488 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Shoeing-Smith |
| Last Unit: | 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
| Born: | Peel, New South Wales, 17 February 1868 |
| Home Town: | Bathurst, Bathurst Regional, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shoesmith |
| Died: | Executed (firing squad), Pretoria, South Africa, 27 February 1902, aged 34 years |
| Cemetery: |
Church Street Cemetery, Pretoria, South Africa |
| Memorials: | Bathurst Boer War Memorial |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 488, 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Feb 1901: |
Involvement
Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lieutenant, Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC), Vetenary Lieutenant |
|
| 28 Feb 1901: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Shoeing-Smith, 488, 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
Help us honour Peter Joseph Handcock's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography
Peter Handcock was infamously the colleague of Harry "The Breaker" Morant. Former members of Australian Colonial contingents, both subsequently enlisted in the Bushveldt Carbineers, a scratch British force comprised mainly of Colonial "Bushmen" volunteers who took irregular warfare to the Boers.
Handcock and Morant were both arrested tried and executed for the murder of a Boer pastor.
The circumstances of their arrest trial and execution remains controversial to this day. Were they scapegoats or perpetrators?
The experience of having two Australian volunteers executed by the British in this way had a lasting impact on Australian Defence Policy. Never again would Australia cede the power of life and death over its soldiers to a foreign military power; even 'mother England'.
Click images to start slideshow.