In all, nearly twenty-six thousand Boer POWs are sent overseas.
The first sizable batch of Boer prisoners of war taken by the British consisted of those captured at the Battle of Elandslaagte on October 21, 1899.
At first, many were put on ships, but as numbers have grown, the British have decided they do not want them kept locally.
The capture of four hundred POWs in February 1900 is a key event, which makes the British realize they cannot accommodate all POWs in South Africa.
The British fear they could be freed by sympathetic locals.
Moreover, they already have trouble supplying their own troops in South Africa, and do not want the added burden of sending supplies for the POWs.
Britain therefore chooses to send many POWs overseas.
The first overseas (off African mainland) camps are opened in Saint Helena, which ultimately receives about five thousand POWs.
About 5,000 POWs are sent to Ceylon.
Other POWs are sent to Bermuda and India.
There are no records of Boer POWs being sent to the Dominions of the British Empire such as Australia, Canada, or New Zealand.
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