Conan Doyle served as a doctor in the Boer War

n 1900 Conan Doyle served as a doctor at the Longman Hospital during the South African War. His first of many war-related works, The Great Boer War (1900), was followed by The War in South Africa: its Cause and Conduct (1902), which earned him the title Knight bachelor in 1902 from King Edward VII. After serving as military correspondent during the First World War he wrote British Campaign in France and Flanders (1920).

He next set about to organize defence units comprised of civilian volunteers. The War Office ordered those units to be disbanded and replaced them with units that were centrally administered through their office.

Conan Doyle's unit became the Crowborough Company of the Sixth Royal Sussex Volunteer Regiment. He was offered the command position in the new battalion, but Conan Doyle refused. He wanted to show his countrymen that all were equal in the defence of Britain. He entered the group as Private Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.