Rhodesia Regiment
Encyclopedia
The Rhodesia Regiment was one of the oldest and largest regiments in the Rhodesian Army
. It served on the side of Great Britain
in the Second Boer War
and the First
and Second World War
s and served the Republic of Rhodesia in the anti-terrorist counter-insurgency war of the 1970s
.
During the First World War, an affiliation was formed between the King's Royal Rifle Corps
(KRRC) and the Rhodesia Regiment, with a platoon of Rhodesians serving in the 2 KRRC.
In addition to the similar cap badge with a red backing, the affiliation with the KRRC led to many similarities in uniform as a rifle regiment with private soldiers holding the title of "Rifleman".
In 1947, as a result of its service in World War II the regiment was granted the title of Royal Rhodesia Regiment by King George VI, who became the regiment's first Colonel-in-Chief
. When Rhodesia became a republic
in 1970, the regiment's title reverted to Rhodesia Regiment with Queen Elizabeth II resigning her position as Colonel-in-Chief.
formation, with many coming from the Southern Rhodesian Volunteers.Their first commanding officer was Major later Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer
who had previously commanded a Corps of Mounted Riflemen in the Second Matabele War
. The Regiment served in the Second Boer War and was disbanded in 1900, shortly after the relief of Mafeking.
In the First World War the 1st Rhodesia Regiment was formed in October 1914 initially consisting of 20 officers and 500 soldiers.It was sent to the Cape
where it took part in the South West Africa Campaign under General Louis Botha
whilst a 2nd Rhodesia Regiment was formed in November and was sent to British East Africa.The 1st was disbanded in July 1915 with many men joining the 2nd Regiment that also included thirty African scouts.
Frederick Selous
(after whom the Selous Scouts were named) was present at Kilimanjaro and other actions in Tanganyika
and reported in letters to friends that the Rhodesia Regiment acquitted itself very well at Taveta
, though, as with other white regiments from the Empire, malaria
and dysentery
accounted for a very high number of casualties. Due these casualties and the lack of replacements from the home country, where 40% of the adult white male population was on active service, the 2nd Rhodesia Regiment returned home in April 1917 and disbanded in October.The majority of the Southern Rhodesia Volunteers were themselves disbanded in 1920 for reasons of cost, the last companies being disbanded in 1926.
The Defence Act of 1927 created a Permanent Force, (the Rhodesian Staff Corps) and a Territorial Force as well as national compulsory military training. The Rhodesia Regiment was reformed in 1927 as part of the nation's Territorial Force with the 1st Battalion formed in Salisbury with a detached "B" company in Umtali and the 2nd Battalion in Bulawayo
with a detached "B" Company in Gwelo.In 1929, King George V approved the transfer of the Colours of the 1st and 2nd Rhodesia Regiments of World War I, together with the Great War Honours, to the Rhodesia Regiment. The Colours are now safeguarded in the Anglican Cathedral in Salisbury.
During the Second World War conscription
was introduced in 1939. The Regiment's members were absorbed into British (including the Long Range Desert Group
and the KRRC) and South African military units as it was feared the loss of the nation's manpower in one regiment would have disastrous effects on the nation. Though individual soldiers went to various regiments, the two battalions remained behind for Home Service. The regiment was initially mobilised for the Korean War
in 1951, but never made it to that theatre.
Territorial service in Rhodesia was four months active service for training followed by three years of part-time service. With territiorial service extended to Northern Rhodesia
the 3rd (Northern Rhodesia) Battalion, Royal Rhodesia Regiment was formed in 1955. This formation was different to the mixed race active service Northern Rhodesia Regiment.
After the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
in 1953 to 1963 all units received the prefix "Rhodesia and Nyasaland".
National service
was introduced in 1955 with the training depot being established at Llewellen Barracks near Bulawayo. With the Emergency in Nyasaland, a 4th Battalion (4RR) was formed in Manicaland
in June 1959. In March 1960 the 5th, 6th, and 7th Battalions were formed as a reserve with an 8th Battalion formed on 13 February 1961..The 8th and 9th Battalions were formed in 1961 with the 10th Battalion created in 1964. The Depot Company was formed on 1 January 1964 to only be responsible for training, but when needed provide up to two extra rifle companies.
independent companies (1 Indep Coy RR, 2 Indep Coy RR, 3 Indep Coy RR, 4 Indep Coy RR, 5 Indep Coy RR and 6 Indep Coy, RR) as well as a training depot, DRR, which received and trained most of the Rhodesian Army national servicemen from the 1950s onwards. 3RR and 7RR were Northern Rhodesian (Zambia) battalions that became part of the Zambian military. After national service
they were posted to a territorial battalion in or close to the town or city they hailed from.
The regiment had drill hall
s in the larger towns of Rhodesia, where the citizen soldiers would report when mustered. During the counterinsurgency
(COIN) war the battalions of the regiment identified with a brigade HQ, as for instance 2RR, 6RR and 9RR with 1 Brigade in Bulawayo, 1RR, 5RR, 8RR and 10RR with 2 Brigade in Salisbury and 4RR with 3 Brigade in Umtali. Along with regular battalions, they formed the infantry core of the brigade, to which various specialised infantry (e.g. Fireforce
) and support units (e.g. Signals, Engineers) were attached at the Brigade Main HQs established in operational areas. 4RR was quartered at Grand Reef aerodrome WSW of Umtali and was responsible for the Hurricane Sector stretching from Inyanga
to Chipinga. At Grand Reef, 4RR Main occupied the centre of the camp, while its companies were established in temporary operational bases, usually deserted farms or schools along the sector, in the Honde
and Burma Valley
s to name two such camps. 4RR, like some other battalions, had a tracking
unit camped on the ground at the 4RR Main HQ next to the wet canteen
and the runway, many of the members of the 'Sparrows' being founder members of the Selous Scouts
tracking school. When there was a contact or a sighting anywhere in the sector, the RR trackers were dropped on the spoor by an Alouette helicopter
and did the dangerous work of follow-up. When or if they had run the enemy to ground, then the fireforce
was called in to surround and eliminate them with superior numbers, fire-power and air support. The Sparrows on the other hand, usually three or four, armed with FNs and an MAG, covered in green 'jungle juice', would frequently run down and then face an enemy force which usually outnumbered and out-gunned them. Many people in the Brigade HQ knew how busy they were kept with daily call-outs, and held them in very high regard.
The Independent Companies were where conscripts ended up if they did not volunteer for more glamorous infantry or specialist units, consequently they tended to be the more conservative, long-suffering, persistent, and ultimately the toughest recruits. An intake of some 300 men reporting to Depot RR would be whittled down to about 30 of these individuals, the remainder of the intake 'skiving off' to support or specialist units elsewhere in the army over the course of the first four and a half months. 1 and 4 Indeps were stationed at Victoria Falls
or Wankie with 1 Indep moving to Beitbridge
in late 1978, 2 Indep at Kariba
, 3 Indep at Inyanga
and 5 and 6 Indeps at Umtali. 1 Indep Coy formed the core of Rhodesia's fourth Fireforce unit called Fireforce Delta. For a brief time a unit of French volunteers formed 7 Indep Coy who wore a French tricolour backing on their beret badge.
The RR battalions and their national service counterparts, the Independent Companies, rarely received much attention in the media but covered most of the ground that was ever covered on aggressive foot patrols by the Rhodesian Forces. They ambushed and were ambushed. When there was trouble, as often as not, it was an Bedford lorry full of RR soldiers who were first on the scene of a massacre, a contact, or an attack. It was the ordinary citizens who recognised their contribution: as it was, the regiment was peopled by the citizens and the citizens knew it from the inside and the outside. The Regiment was honoured by being given the Freedom of Towns and Cities
throughout the country.
The Regiment was virtually destroyed in the last year and a half of the COIN war after being stocked by rapidly-trained African volunteers and conscripts from 'civvie street'. At the same time the experienced European members, many of them family men, were emigrating to South Africa as the end drew near, so that by December 1979 the Regiment was barely recognisable for what it had once been, all through its long association with the colony and republic of Rhodesia. Morale was shattered and the Regiment, as happened to many others, disappeared when the British peacefully took over the executive powers of the country, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, in that month. With the creation of Zimbabwe
, the Rhodesia Regiment ceased by definition.
, battle honours are recorded in the four cross-members, as follows:
The lion and tusk of the British South Africa Company
is featured above the centre of the cross, with a crown in the middle of the cross. When the regiment was a royal regiment (1947–1970), the royal crown was displayed at the top of the cross and the lion and tusk in the centre.
The regimental badge had a cloth diamond shape backing split in half coloured black on the left side and rifle green on the right side with the first three battalions having vertical red stripes for the number of the battalion, one, two and three respectively. The 4th (Manicaland
) Battalion (4 RR) wore a blue and white hackle
, the colours of Umtali. In 1960 the diamond shaped flash was changed to an all red diamond, similar to the KRRC.
The slouch hat
was worn from the unit's formation to end of the 1960s where it was replaced by a rifle green beret
. The khaki drill
uniform, like that of most of the peace-time army, consisted of a heavily starched, short-sleeved light green drill shirt and similarly starched KD pants (knee-long khaki drill pants), woollen hose-tops and putties, black stick boots, a black webbing belt or regimental stable belt and a rifle green beret with the regimental badge underlain by a scarlet diamond-shaped flash. In war time, from about 1970 onwards, the everyday uniform was camouflage denim with a webbing belt and beret. The colours of the regiment were red, black and rifle green – on the stable belt
, green above, black below and a thin red stripe in the middle.
Rhodesian Army
The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of the Rhodesian Army, Royal Rhodesian Air Force, British South Africa Police, Rhodesian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Guard Force.- Rhodesian Army :...
. It served on the side of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and the First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
s and served the Republic of Rhodesia in the anti-terrorist counter-insurgency war of the 1970s
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
.
During the First World War, an affiliation was formed between the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
(KRRC) and the Rhodesia Regiment, with a platoon of Rhodesians serving in the 2 KRRC.
In addition to the similar cap badge with a red backing, the affiliation with the KRRC led to many similarities in uniform as a rifle regiment with private soldiers holding the title of "Rifleman".
In 1947, as a result of its service in World War II the regiment was granted the title of Royal Rhodesia Regiment by King George VI, who became the regiment's first Colonel-in-Chief
Colonel-in-Chief
In the various Commonwealth armies, the Colonel-in-Chief of a regiment is its patron. This position is distinct from that of Colonel of the Regiment. They do not have an operational role. They are however kept informed of all important activities of the regiment, and pay occasional visits to its...
. When Rhodesia became a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
in 1970, the regiment's title reverted to Rhodesia Regiment with Queen Elizabeth II resigning her position as Colonel-in-Chief.
Colonial history
The Rhodesia Regiment was created in 1899 primarily from recruits from Matebeleland as a mounted infantryMounted infantry
Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...
formation, with many coming from the Southern Rhodesian Volunteers.Their first commanding officer was Major later Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer
Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer
Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE was a British colonial official and soldier born in Torquay who commanded the British Second Army in World War I and later served as High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine.-Military...
who had previously commanded a Corps of Mounted Riflemen in the Second Matabele War
Second Matabele War
The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion and in Zimbabwe as the First Chimurenga, was fought in 1896–97 between the British troops and the Ndebele people....
. The Regiment served in the Second Boer War and was disbanded in 1900, shortly after the relief of Mafeking.
In the First World War the 1st Rhodesia Regiment was formed in October 1914 initially consisting of 20 officers and 500 soldiers.It was sent to the Cape
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa...
where it took part in the South West Africa Campaign under General Louis Botha
Louis Botha
Louis Botha was an Afrikaner and first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa—the forerunner of the modern South African state...
whilst a 2nd Rhodesia Regiment was formed in November and was sent to British East Africa.The 1st was disbanded in July 1915 with many men joining the 2nd Regiment that also included thirty African scouts.
Frederick Selous
Frederick Selous
Frederick Courteney Selous DSO was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character. Selous was also a good friend of Theodore...
(after whom the Selous Scouts were named) was present at Kilimanjaro and other actions in Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
and reported in letters to friends that the Rhodesia Regiment acquitted itself very well at Taveta
Taveta, Kenya
Taveta is a town in the Taveta District of Coast Province in Kenya. The town has an urban population of 11,500 .- Overview :The town of Taveta is wedged into a projection of Kenyan territory bordered on the north and west by Tanzania. The irregularity in the border was created c...
, though, as with other white regiments from the Empire, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
accounted for a very high number of casualties. Due these casualties and the lack of replacements from the home country, where 40% of the adult white male population was on active service, the 2nd Rhodesia Regiment returned home in April 1917 and disbanded in October.The majority of the Southern Rhodesia Volunteers were themselves disbanded in 1920 for reasons of cost, the last companies being disbanded in 1926.
The Defence Act of 1927 created a Permanent Force, (the Rhodesian Staff Corps) and a Territorial Force as well as national compulsory military training. The Rhodesia Regiment was reformed in 1927 as part of the nation's Territorial Force with the 1st Battalion formed in Salisbury with a detached "B" company in Umtali and the 2nd Battalion in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
with a detached "B" Company in Gwelo.In 1929, King George V approved the transfer of the Colours of the 1st and 2nd Rhodesia Regiments of World War I, together with the Great War Honours, to the Rhodesia Regiment. The Colours are now safeguarded in the Anglican Cathedral in Salisbury.
During the Second World War conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
was introduced in 1939. The Regiment's members were absorbed into British (including the Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
and the KRRC) and South African military units as it was feared the loss of the nation's manpower in one regiment would have disastrous effects on the nation. Though individual soldiers went to various regiments, the two battalions remained behind for Home Service. The regiment was initially mobilised for the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
in 1951, but never made it to that theatre.
Territorial service in Rhodesia was four months active service for training followed by three years of part-time service. With territiorial service extended to Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia
Northern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
the 3rd (Northern Rhodesia) Battalion, Royal Rhodesia Regiment was formed in 1955. This formation was different to the mixed race active service Northern Rhodesia Regiment.
After the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation , was a semi-independent state in southern Africa that existed from 1953 to the end of 1963, comprising the former self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia,...
in 1953 to 1963 all units received the prefix "Rhodesia and Nyasaland".
National service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
was introduced in 1955 with the training depot being established at Llewellen Barracks near Bulawayo. With the Emergency in Nyasaland, a 4th Battalion (4RR) was formed in Manicaland
Manicaland
Manicaland is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of approximately 1.6 million . Mutare is the capital of the province. -Background:...
in June 1959. In March 1960 the 5th, 6th, and 7th Battalions were formed as a reserve with an 8th Battalion formed on 13 February 1961..The 8th and 9th Battalions were formed in 1961 with the 10th Battalion created in 1964. The Depot Company was formed on 1 January 1964 to only be responsible for training, but when needed provide up to two extra rifle companies.
Post U.D.I.
Following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, the Rhodesia Regiment (RR) consisted of a number of territorial army battalions (1RR, 2RR, 4RR, 5RR, 6RR, 8RR, 9RR, 10RR) and 6 national serviceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
independent companies (1 Indep Coy RR, 2 Indep Coy RR, 3 Indep Coy RR, 4 Indep Coy RR, 5 Indep Coy RR and 6 Indep Coy, RR) as well as a training depot, DRR, which received and trained most of the Rhodesian Army national servicemen from the 1950s onwards. 3RR and 7RR were Northern Rhodesian (Zambia) battalions that became part of the Zambian military. After national service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
they were posted to a territorial battalion in or close to the town or city they hailed from.
The regiment had drill hall
Drill hall
A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practice and perform military drill. In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was also used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, which usually incorporated such a hall...
s in the larger towns of Rhodesia, where the citizen soldiers would report when mustered. During the counterinsurgency
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War – also known as the Second Chimurenga or the Zimbabwe War of Liberation – was a civil war which took place between July 1964 and December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia...
(COIN) war the battalions of the regiment identified with a brigade HQ, as for instance 2RR, 6RR and 9RR with 1 Brigade in Bulawayo, 1RR, 5RR, 8RR and 10RR with 2 Brigade in Salisbury and 4RR with 3 Brigade in Umtali. Along with regular battalions, they formed the infantry core of the brigade, to which various specialised infantry (e.g. Fireforce
Fireforce
Fireforce is a variant of the tactic of vertical envelopment of a target by helicopter-borne and parachute infantry developed by the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War...
) and support units (e.g. Signals, Engineers) were attached at the Brigade Main HQs established in operational areas. 4RR was quartered at Grand Reef aerodrome WSW of Umtali and was responsible for the Hurricane Sector stretching from Inyanga
Inyanga
Inyanga is a Zulu word for a traditional herbal healer.An inyanga is a traditional South African herbalist, herb doctor, or medicine man or woman. The Southern African word inyanga is related to the Central African nganga, meaning a priest and medicine man...
to Chipinga. At Grand Reef, 4RR Main occupied the centre of the camp, while its companies were established in temporary operational bases, usually deserted farms or schools along the sector, in the Honde
Honde Valley
The Honde Valley extends from the eastern border of Zimbabwe into Mozambique. The valley is formed as part of the Eastern Highlands mountain range. The Valley is about 130km from Mutare, or 110km from Nyanga. Mount Inyangani and the Nyanga National Park forms the western boundary of the...
and Burma Valley
Burma Valley, Zimbabwe
Burma Valley is a low lying area on the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, located next to the Bvumba hills. Passing on the main tarred road from Mutare the road leads through the mountains, reaching communal farm lands of Chigodora and then passes down into Burma Valley.The valley is hot and...
s to name two such camps. 4RR, like some other battalions, had a tracking
Tracking
Tracking can refer to:*Tracking , separating children into different classes according to their academic ability*Tracking, in computer graphics, a vital part of match moving...
unit camped on the ground at the 4RR Main HQ next to the wet canteen
Canteen
Canteen has several different meanings:*Canteen , a water container*Canteen , a cafe, restaurant, or cafeteria provided for the use of students, workers, or soldiers at a particular school, office, or military base...
and the runway, many of the members of the 'Sparrows' being founder members of the Selous Scouts
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army, which operated from 1973 until the introduction of majority rule in 1980. It was named after British explorer Frederick Courteney Selous , and their motto was pamwe chete, which, in the Shona language, roughly means "all...
tracking school. When there was a contact or a sighting anywhere in the sector, the RR trackers were dropped on the spoor by an Alouette helicopter
Aérospatiale Alouette III
The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation. It was manufactured by Aérospatiale of France, and under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in India as Hal Chetak and Industria Aeronautică Română in Romania.The Alouette III is the...
and did the dangerous work of follow-up. When or if they had run the enemy to ground, then the fireforce
Fireforce
Fireforce is a variant of the tactic of vertical envelopment of a target by helicopter-borne and parachute infantry developed by the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War...
was called in to surround and eliminate them with superior numbers, fire-power and air support. The Sparrows on the other hand, usually three or four, armed with FNs and an MAG, covered in green 'jungle juice', would frequently run down and then face an enemy force which usually outnumbered and out-gunned them. Many people in the Brigade HQ knew how busy they were kept with daily call-outs, and held them in very high regard.
The Independent Companies were where conscripts ended up if they did not volunteer for more glamorous infantry or specialist units, consequently they tended to be the more conservative, long-suffering, persistent, and ultimately the toughest recruits. An intake of some 300 men reporting to Depot RR would be whittled down to about 30 of these individuals, the remainder of the intake 'skiving off' to support or specialist units elsewhere in the army over the course of the first four and a half months. 1 and 4 Indeps were stationed at Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
or Wankie with 1 Indep moving to Beitbridge
Beitbridge
Beitbridge or Mzingwane is a border town in the province of Matabeleland South, Zimbabwe. The name also refers to the border post and bridge spanning the Limpopo River, which forms the political border between South Africa and Zimbabwe.-Background:...
in late 1978, 2 Indep at Kariba
Kariba
Kariba is a town in Mashonaland West province, Zimbabwe, located close to the Kariba Dam at the northwestern end of Lake Kariba, near the Zambian border. According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 20,736....
, 3 Indep at Inyanga
Inyanga
Inyanga is a Zulu word for a traditional herbal healer.An inyanga is a traditional South African herbalist, herb doctor, or medicine man or woman. The Southern African word inyanga is related to the Central African nganga, meaning a priest and medicine man...
and 5 and 6 Indeps at Umtali. 1 Indep Coy formed the core of Rhodesia's fourth Fireforce unit called Fireforce Delta. For a brief time a unit of French volunteers formed 7 Indep Coy who wore a French tricolour backing on their beret badge.
The RR battalions and their national service counterparts, the Independent Companies, rarely received much attention in the media but covered most of the ground that was ever covered on aggressive foot patrols by the Rhodesian Forces. They ambushed and were ambushed. When there was trouble, as often as not, it was an Bedford lorry full of RR soldiers who were first on the scene of a massacre, a contact, or an attack. It was the ordinary citizens who recognised their contribution: as it was, the regiment was peopled by the citizens and the citizens knew it from the inside and the outside. The Regiment was honoured by being given the Freedom of Towns and Cities
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
throughout the country.
The Regiment was virtually destroyed in the last year and a half of the COIN war after being stocked by rapidly-trained African volunteers and conscripts from 'civvie street'. At the same time the experienced European members, many of them family men, were emigrating to South Africa as the end drew near, so that by December 1979 the Regiment was barely recognisable for what it had once been, all through its long association with the colony and republic of Rhodesia. Morale was shattered and the Regiment, as happened to many others, disappeared when the British peacefully took over the executive powers of the country, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, in that month. With the creation of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, the Rhodesia Regiment ceased by definition.
Badge and uniform
On the regimental badge, consisting of a dark grey to black Maltese CrossMaltese cross
The Maltese cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta and through them came to be identified with the Mediterranean island of Malta and is one of the National symbols of Malta...
, battle honours are recorded in the four cross-members, as follows:
- South West Africa, 1914–15 (top);
- East Africa, Beho Beho, 1917 (right);
- East Africa, Kilimanjaro, 1916 (left)
- Second World War (bottom).
The lion and tusk of the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
is featured above the centre of the cross, with a crown in the middle of the cross. When the regiment was a royal regiment (1947–1970), the royal crown was displayed at the top of the cross and the lion and tusk in the centre.
The regimental badge had a cloth diamond shape backing split in half coloured black on the left side and rifle green on the right side with the first three battalions having vertical red stripes for the number of the battalion, one, two and three respectively. The 4th (Manicaland
Manicaland
Manicaland is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of approximately 1.6 million . Mutare is the capital of the province. -Background:...
) Battalion (4 RR) wore a blue and white hackle
Hackle
The hackle is a clipped feather plume that is attached to a military headdress.In the British Army and the armies of some Commonwealth countries the hackle is worn by some infantry regiments, especially those designated as fusilier regiments and those with Scottish and Northern Irish origins. The...
, the colours of Umtali. In 1960 the diamond shaped flash was changed to an all red diamond, similar to the KRRC.
The slouch hat
Slouch hat
A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat with a chinstrap, most commonly worn as part of a military uniform. It is a survivor of the felt hats worn by certain 18th century armies. Since then, the slouch hat has been worn by military personnel from many nations including Australia, Britain,...
was worn from the unit's formation to end of the 1960s where it was replaced by a rifle green beret
Military beret
Berets have been a component of the uniforms of many armed forces throughout the world since the mid-20th century. Military berets are usually pushed to the right to free the shoulder that bears the rifle on most soldiers, but the armies of some European countries have influenced the push to the...
. The khaki drill
Khaki drill
Khaki drill or KD was the term for a type of fabric and the British military uniforms made from them. Khaki Drill was worn as a combat uniform from 1900 to 1949 but is a variant, still referred to a Khaki Drill or KD's is worn by the UK Armed Forces, in non combatatant warm weather countries where...
uniform, like that of most of the peace-time army, consisted of a heavily starched, short-sleeved light green drill shirt and similarly starched KD pants (knee-long khaki drill pants), woollen hose-tops and putties, black stick boots, a black webbing belt or regimental stable belt and a rifle green beret with the regimental badge underlain by a scarlet diamond-shaped flash. In war time, from about 1970 onwards, the everyday uniform was camouflage denim with a webbing belt and beret. The colours of the regiment were red, black and rifle green – on the stable belt
Stable belt
A stable belt is an item of uniform used in the armed forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. Stable belts or similar derivatives are also worn by the armed forced of other nations such as Denmark....
, green above, black below and a thin red stripe in the middle.
External links
- Services Association Incorporated The Rhodesia Regiment – book project
- Rhodesian Regiment in the Second Boer War http://www.angloboerwar.com/south-african-units/461-rhodesia-regiment