At the beginning of the Boer War (1899-1902), the fledgling Royal Army Medical Corps could not cope with the sick and wounded, so civilian forces had to me mobilised. Among these, the Welsh Hospital, a 150-bedded tented hospital funded by public subscription, travelled to South Africa and, in difficult and inhospitable conditions, delivered outstanding medical, surgical and nursing care to Imperial forces, regardless of nationality.
None of the medical and nursing staff escaped sickness and discomfort and six of them died serving the hospital.
By example, the Welsh Hospital influenced the transformation of Army medical and nursing services after the Boer War, and thereby played a significant part in the history of military medicine.
