In the last year of her life, aged 81 and nearly blind from cataracts, Queen Victoria set about crocheting eight chunky brown woollen scarves.

She made them to personally honour the bravery of eight soldiers fighting in the Boer War.

Four scarves were presented to selected British servicemen after her death in 1901.

The others went to soldiers from colonial forces in South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The scarf given to trooper Private Alfred Du Frayer is on permanent display at the Australian War Memorial, pinned with a metal badge from his helmet.

Queen Victoria died in 1901 before the scarves were presented. ( Supplied: Wikimedia Commons )

Cameron Ross, AWM assistant curator of military heraldry and technology, said it was "quite an achievement" for the queen to crochet the long, fringed scarves, which were embroidered with her royal cipher VRI.

"She liked to show her connection, her love for the military," Mr Ross said.

Due to Victoria's poor eyesight, her handiwork was less than perfect.

Her granddaughter-in-law, the future Queen Mary, helped by unpicking rows and redoing some of the stitching.

Who was Alfred Du Frayer?

Alfred Du Frayer was born in Victoria in 1871.

He worked on properties in Queensland and New South Wales before enlisting in 1899 with the NSW Mounted Rifles Contingent for South Africa.

He was awarded the Queen's Scarf for saving a fellow soldier during an ambush at a Boer farmhouse near Bloemfontein in April 1900.

After initially escaping from the surprise attack, Du Frayer returned under heavy fire to rescue a Private Clark, whose horse had been shot out from under him.

"Du Frayer shook him back into consciousness and got him … onto his horse and the two of them were able to ride out of the ambush safely," Mr Ross said.

Five months later Du Frayer was invalided back to Australia suffering enteric fever and pneumonia.

"It was quite a short service," Mr Ross said.

"But because he was considered this role-model soldier, he was the Australian who was chosen to receive the great honour, the unique honour, of the Queen's Scarf."

The Queen's Scarf is on display at the Australian War Memorial. ( ABC Radio Canberra: Louise Maher )

'No-one even knew how to wear it'

Du Frayer was promoted to lieutenant and presented with the scarf by Victoria's grandson, the Duke of York, at a ceremony in Sydney's Centennial Park in May 1901.

"Because it's so unusual, no-one really knew what its place in the honours and awards system was; no-one even knew how to wear it," Mr Ross said.

"The governor-general had to get off his horse to help him put it on and they put it on as a sash."

Du Frayer became an instant celebrity and wore the scarf with pride.

In June 1901, the Sydney Bulletin reported that:

"Lieutenant Du Frayer and his scarf are a much-photoed pair in this town. Sometimes the scarf is pictured without the lieutenant. Never the lieutenant without the scarf. "It is a homely brown thing — such as any old lady might knit — but it has the merit of being entirely the late queen's work."

He later migrated to South Africa and served in World War I.

He and his son spent decades trying in vain to have the scarf recognised as an equivalent to the Victoria Cross, the highest award in the honours system.

"In actual fact, the scarf was a personal gift from the queen to Du Frayer, not at all connected to the regular honours and award system," Mr Ross said.

But he said Du Frayer's service to both Australia and South Africa, his bravery and the scarf's unique personal connection to "the most famous British monarch in history", made it worthy of preservation and display.