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“The Boer War. Bravo, Australia!” [Poem]

c1900. Letterpress text, 17.5 x 11cm. Missing portions to edges and lower right partially affecting text, stains, foxing, creases.

The poem, consisting of six stanzas, is by a C.H. Cracknell, with the comment “In aid of a distressed family.” The first and last stanzas read “Australia’s sons, rise to the cry! / Old England is at war; / And though British heroes, wounded, die, / We’ll help to fight the Boers” and “Bravo, Australians! Our honour will / Be safe with those we send, / For England’s Queen and Flag, we know, / They’ll fight unto the end.”

The Australian War Memorial lists only one person with the surname of Cracknell who enlisted in the Boer War: Sergeant William Cracknell (1876–1930) of the 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen. He was born in Picton, NSW and, at the time of enlistment, was working as a butcher in Zeehan, Tasmania. There was a C.H. Cracknell in Hobart who ran a restaurant during this time, but it is not clear whether they were related. Ref: AWM; Aust. Boer War Memorial; BDM (NSW).

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Item #CL201-19

Price (AUD): $990.00  other currencies