Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Henry Capel Hadley was known as Harry Hadley. He was born in Melbourne in 1873. The youngest son of Thomas Russell Hadley and Susanna Capel. The Hadley family home was in Gore Street in Fitzroy.

His mother, Susanna was born in England in 1829. Where she married his father, Thomas Hadley in 1854 in Winchomb, Gloucester. The Hadley's migrated to Victoria in 1859 to settle in Melbourne. They had a large family. That was the norm to mitigate childhood mortality at that time. 

For not all infants would survive childhood diseases and make it into adulthood. This was a pre antibiotic era. 

Henry aka Harry Hadley was the families youngest child.

Harry was educated at Scotch College in Melbourne. He subsequently worked as a Mining Engineer. For he enjoyed prospecting. He would have initially fossicked on the Ballarat and Bendigo Gold Fields before chosing to become a Mining Engineer.

He would have been familier with the Transvaal's vast Witwatersrand Gold Reef. For he worked in the mining industry. Hence his workplace had an international work force. These mine workers migrated between overseas mines, as local gold fields were mined out.  

Hence the enormous Witwatersrand Gold fields was common knowledge, throughout the mining industry.

He certainly knew that Australians had been working on that Transvaal Gold Field, long before the outbreak of 2nd Boer War on 11 October 1899. 

Needless to say. That enormous wealth had enabled pre war Boer Governments to purchase the latest German Mauser Rifles and Krupp Field Guns. They were preparing to fight British Empire hegemony. 

Control of mineral wealth, plus the failure of the Boer Republics to enfranchise tens of thousands of so called outlanders on Transvaal gold fields, is what caused the 2nd Anglo-Boer War.

Harry would have known that once the Empire was mobilized, it could not be defeated. For Boers who had besieged outposts of British Empire, after delvering an ultimatum to HM Government, were seen as little more than armed farmers.

Hence no real threat to disciplined Soldiers of the Queen. That conflict was perceived a short sharp lesson.

For these Boer Commandos were not yet seen as an extremely effective force in what soon became a long drawn out campaign of attrition. This was due to the nature of what was asymmetric warfare.

Boers were in fact, expert guerrila fighters and skilled commandos. Hence that conflict was a pyrrhic victory.

This Conflict of Empire could only be ended by a Negotiated Peace Treaty. That soon became clear when the Boers refused to engage in set piece coventional battle. Hence could not be defeated by regular means.

Thus there would be no unconditional surrender in what was the last war during the long and glorious reign of HM The Queen and Empress Victoria.

Likewise, this conflict became the first Empire war of the Twentieth century. For fighting overflowed into the succeeding reign of Kind Edward VII. 

Harry may have contemplated numerous post victory opportunities in South African Gold Mines. For he was a Mining Engineer and aspired to work internationally.

Hence, when the Empire sounded the call to arms. He enlisted to fight the Boers as they had stated the war.

With an eye to post war mining ventures following what he saw as a certain victory in the Transvaal. 

Harry had two weeks training before 5VMR departed. For he was already a good horseman and expert shot. That was why he was selected for the fifth contingent. 

Hence "boot camp" was not necessary, for he was not being selected for his spit and polish parade ground drill. It was not that kind of a war.

The new century meant new mobile tactics to defeat unconventional warfare on the veldt. 

He eagerly departed from Port Melbourne on 15 Feb 1901, with much fanfare and cheering for what was called the "Transvaal War".

Harry then campaigned in the Transvaal, seeing heavy fighting. For his unit, 5VMR suffered the heaviest casaulties from amongst of all the Australian Boer War contingents.

This was due to heavy fighting on the Wilmansrust Farm after the Boer launched a night attack on 5VMR's encampment. This was followed by the epic Battle of Onverwacht.  

Harry managed to dodge Boer bullets and Krupp artillery shells but he fell victim to ever present enteric fevor. This was a time before modern medicine and antibiotics. 

Harry had just completed his first year of Active service when he succumbed in a British Hospital in Wakkerstroom. It was on 10 Feb 1902. He was buried in a cemetery near where he died.

Harry is memorialized with his parents on their family headstone back home in a local Melbourne general cemetery.

He predeceased his parents. His mother Susanna died in their family home in 1909. Harry's father, Thomas died in 1920. Susanna and Thomas had survived five of their children who had predeceased them, including three infants.  

The Hadley family's plot in Melbourne has Harry's memorial text on their family headstone. The plot is located in Boroondara General Cemetery. Formerly known as Melbourne's Kew Cemetery.

Lest We Forget.

Reference links, photos and truncated documents are provided to support cited text.