Gandhiji raised an ambulance corps during the Boer War. The corps comprised of 1,100 volunteers, out of them, 300 were free Indians and the rest were bonded labourers. It was a heterogeneous group that included barristers, accountants, artisans and workers. They were used as stretcher bearers. Indians were of great support to the British. The service they delivered in the Battle of Spion Kop was laudable.
It was Gandhi’s mission to instigate in them the essence of service mindedness to their oppressors. In the Zulu campaign also, Gandhiji helped the government by organizing another Indian ambulance corps. They had to parade up to 64 kilometres a day to nurse a chain of beaten and injured Zulus. Many Indian leaders were awarded the Queen’s South Africa medal for their selfless service in the Boer War.