QSA and KSA medal rolls
Next of Kin: Sons of Andrew Templeton (1852- 1936) and Elizabeth Ann Haywood (1849-1922). Brother of John Herbert Templeton. The boys farmed with their father and uncle at Clifden, Tuatapere which was remote and close to Fiordland and their playground of exploration. They were men of the open air, masterly horsemen and good at bushcraft. William Ernest had an uncanny instinct in untracked bush which he could navigate with ease coming out weeks later and with a natural history bent he introduced tree frogs from Fiordland that ate mosquitoes to his own district to combat the scourge and kept quiet about his private flock of swamp hens or Takahe on the West arm of lake Te Anau. The brothers frequently worked together after the war and put in the first telephone line from Puysegur Lighthouse to Orepuki in 1908. John Herbert was employed to take the mail from Orepuki to Cromarty in Preservation inlet, a distance of 99 miles. On foot and by dingy crossing the Waiau, taking the shortest direct line by beach, through bush and traversing and swimming 8 rivers and numerous streams to the South-West corner of NZ wilderness. John Herbert was the guide for the surveyors who mapped Fiordland. He had prodigious energy and drive to cover great distances quicker than others, once taking ballot papers to Puysegur point from Tuatapere in time to vote in half the normal time.

With different contingents of the Otago Mounted Rifles on the high Veldt of South Africa brothers William Ernest and John Herbert Templeton shared in one of the last Cavalry campaigns in one of the first modern Guerilla wars.
The 5th contingent known as NZ Imperial Bushmen was recruited early in 1900. On the 12th June 1900 the troops sailed on the SS Cymeric from Lyttleton to SA. The Otago section, under the command of Captain H.D. Jackson of St Clair, Lists trooper William Ernest Templeton, No 1688, a shearer from Clifden, Waiau, with his next of kin Mr Andrew Templeton and cousin Trooper Samuel Templeton, No 1692, Coachdriver, Waimahaka, with next of kin Mr John Templeton.

The New Zealanders were involved in a series of notable actions. In Feb 1901 they helped break up a convoy of General de la Rey at Ventersdorf, followed by the occupation of Nystrom in the Northern Transvaal in April 1901. One account tells of the army covering 135 miles in 3 1/2 days.
The New Zealanders, like the British as a whole, had adapted to Boer tactics and the drudgery of guerilla war. The good diet of the Cape had given way to biscuits, pancakes, stew and coffee of fast, light travel. The soldiers learned to raid to replace worn out uniforms and secure warm coats and blankets for the cold of the high veldt.
Nothing could combat the risk of disease from bad water and indifferent food. Enteric fever was the killer, more than twice as lethal as any action.
William Ernest succumbed to the dreaded Enteric Fever and was being sewn into a body bag when he was carelessly stuck with a needle and the surgeon saw him jump. He was nursed to the point of being sent home but never again regained full health. He eventually died of TB back home in Orepuki, Southland in Jan 9 1929.

Father was named Andrew Templeton. AWMM