As a member of the British Army's volunteer force, Openshaw was appointed surgeon to the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps in 1888, in which capacity he went to South Africa as surgeon to the Imperial Yeomanry Field Hospital during the First Boer War.
Openshaw was appointed surgeon to the Volunteer Medical Staff Corps in 1888. This was as a member of the British Army's volunteer force. He went to South Africa as surgeon to the Imperial Yeomanry Field Hospital during the First Boer War in 1888.