<P> In response the British adopted counter-insurgency tactics, including a scorched earth policy involving the burning of houses and crops, the establishment of concentration camps for Boer women and children, and a system of blockhouses and field obstacles to limit Boer mobility and to protect railway communications . Such measures required considerable expenditure, and caused much bitterness towards the British, however they soon yielded results . By mid-1901, the bulk of the fighting was over, and British mounted units would ride at night to attack Boer farmhouses or encampments, overwhelming them with superior numbers . Indicative of warfare in last months of 1901, the New South Wales Mounted Rifles travelled 1,814 miles (2,919 km) and were involved in 13 skirmishes, killing 27 Boers, wounding 15, and capturing 196 for the loss of five dead and 19 wounded . Other notable Australian actions included Slingersfontein, Pink Hill, Rhenosterkop and Haartebeestefontein . </P> <P> Australians were not always successful however, suffering a number of heavy losses late in the war . On 12 June 1901, the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles lost 19 killed and 42 wounded at Wilmansrust, near Middleburg after poor security allowed a force of 150 Boers to surprise them . On 30 October 1901, Victorians of the Scottish Horse Regiment also suffered heavy casualties at Gun Hill, although 60 Boers were also killed in the engagement . Meanwhile, at Onverwacht on 4 January 1902, the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen lost 13 killed and 17 wounded . Ultimately the Boers were defeated, and the war ended on 31 May 1902 . In all 16,175 Australians served in South Africa, and perhaps another 10,000 enlisted as individuals in Imperial units; casualties included 251 killed in action, 267 died of disease and 43 missing in action, while a further 735 were wounded . Six Australians were awarded the Victoria Cross . </P> <P> The Boxer Rebellion in China began in 1900, and a number of western nations--including many European powers, the United States, and Japan--soon sent forces as part of the China Field Force to protect their interests . In June, the British government sought permission from the Australian colonies to dispatch ships from the Australian Squadron to China . The colonies also offered to assist further, but as most of their troops were still engaged in South Africa, they had to rely on naval forces for manpower . The force dispatched was a modest one, with Britain accepting 200 men from Victoria, 260 from New South Wales and the South Australian ship HMCS Protector, under the command of Captain William Creswell . Most of these forces were made up of naval brigade reservists, who had been trained in both ship handling and soldiering to fulfil their coastal defence role . Amongst the naval contingent from New South Wales were 200 naval officers and sailors and 50 permanent soldiers headquartered at Victoria Barracks, Sydney who originally enlisted for the Second Boer War . The soldiers were keen to go to China but refused to be enlisted as sailors, while the New South Wales Naval Brigade objected to having soldiers in their ranks . The Army and Navy compromised and titled the contingent the NSW Marine Light Infantry . </P> <P> The contingents from New South Wales and Victoria sailed for China on 8 August 1900 . Arriving in Tientsin, the Australians provided 300 men to an 8,000 - strong multinational force tasked with capturing the Chinese forts at Pei Tang, which dominated a key railway . They arrived too late to take part in the battle, but were involved in the attack on the fortress at Pao - ting Fu, where the Chinese government was believed to have found asylum after Peking was captured by western forces . The Victorians joined a force of 7,500 men on a ten - day march to the fort, once again only to find that it had already surrendered . The Victorians then garrisoned Tientsin and the New South Wales contingent undertook garrison duties in Peking . HMCS Protector was mostly used for survey, transport, and courier duties in the Gulf of Chihli, before departing in November . The naval brigades remained during the winter, unhappily performing policing and guard duties, as well as working as railwaymen and fire - fighters . They left China in March 1901, having played only a minor role in a few offensives and punitive expeditions and in the restoration of civil order . Six Australians died from sickness and injury, but none were killed as a result of enemy action . </P>

When was the last time australia was in a war