A Sister of Charity

A Sister of Charity nun is depicted giving the last rites to a soldier that is most likely a Tasmanian Imperial Bushman. The soldier on the left saluting is most probably from a Scottish Regiment and the soldiers wearing the white pith helmets appear to be Australian troops. As part of the British Empire, the Australian colonies offered troops for the war in South Africa. At least 12,000 Australians served in contingents raised by the six colonies or from 1901 by the new Australian Commonwealth (about a third of men enlisting twice), and many more joined British or South African colonial units in South Africa. At least 600 Australians died in the war, about half from disease and half in action.