The Anglo-Boer war which began in 1899 and ended in 1902 was the culmination of more than 250 years of Boer expansion into Africa and conflict with blacks as well as a century of conflict with the British Empire. Some of the most famous names of the 20th Century were involved including Mahatma Gandhi as a stretcher bearer and Winston Churchill as a war correspondent. It was a war that the British expected to wrap up in a few months but ended up costing tens of thousands of lives over three years. It started with lofty ideals and ended with the British throwing Boer women and children into concentration camps where they died in their hundreds.