 For a time he wrote fearlessly and critically of the way in which the British were conducting their operations, but was wounded and made a prisoner by the Boers, and was not released until the end of the war.Hales wrote a book on his experiences, "Campaign Pictures of War in South Africa", (1900), and in the following year appeared his first novel, "Driscoll, King of Scouts".He made a success with McGlusky, published in 1902, afterwards followed by a long series of stories with this Australian of Scottish descent as the hero.