50 Aboriginal trackers left behind during the Boer War

In 1902 the Boer War in South Africa drew to an end.

- The sovereign, anti-colonial, independent Republic leaders agreed to lay down their weapons, abandon their claims to independence and recognise Britain's Edward VII as their king. And so began the process of repatriating the 22,000 Australians who'd survived the distant war. A thousand of their fellow countrymen didn't.

But not everyone made it home. It's claimed 50 Aboriginal trackers were left behind because they were denied re-entry to Australia.

Charlotte Glennie spoke to Griffith University's Indigenous research fellow, Dr Dale Kerwin - he has spent years delving into a conflict which took place at the turn of last century far away in Africa.

Ashley Hall reporting on ABC Radio PM