Little over a decade has passed since the South African, or Boer War, was brought to a close, so that it is hardly necessary for me to enter into details of the fighting, since so many will readily call to mind the events which led up to the ultimatum from the Boer Government in October 1899, and the necessity for Britain to place in the field the largest army ever sent out of England--about 200,000 men, which makes the army of 30,000 that fought under Viscount Wolseley in Egypt look very insignificant. During the first seven months of the war the battles of Talana Hill, Elandslaagte, Belmont, Modder River, Tugela Heights, Paardeberg and Driefontein, and many another battle had been fought and won; the sad disaster at Magersfontein had taken place, and the oft-wounded Wauchope killed. Ladysmith and Kimberley had been gallantly defended and relieved, and the siege of Wepener raised. Two hundred and eighteen British officers and 2,062 soldiers had been killed in action; 53 officers and 492 men had died of their wounds; 64 officers and 2,028 men had died of disease, and 664 officers and 9,225 men had been wounded. Indeed, a grand total of 24,253 officers and men had been killed or placed _hors de combat_. During the war Great Britain and her colonies lost in action 5,774 officers and men, and 16,168 by disease, while of those sent home 508 succumbed to their wounds or disease, 22,829 were wounded, and 5,879 were invalided out of the service. =Cape Colony.=--There is a mistaken idea that the single bar for CAPE COLONY is not worth consideration as an engagement bar, but as a matter of fact many a brave fellow found a billet for a Boer bullet in the north of Cape Colony during the early days of the war, as the casualty records of certain regiments show. It is true, however, that many a man never got within miles of the enemy, and had to be content with the "donkey work" of looking after things for those at the front, while some whose bars include that for Cape Colony only landed for a day or two, and were then transported by sea to the fighting area. NATAL on a bar means, as every one knows, service in the zone where Buller did so much hard fighting--indeed, it was the Boer invasion of Natal on October 12th, 1899, that necessitated the defence of Ladysmith, and occupied the efforts of the Natal Field Force during 1900.