The Northern Rhodesia Regiment (NRR) was a multi-

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

British colonial regiment raised from the protectorate of

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south central Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesi ...

. It was formed in 1933 from elements of the Northern Rhodesia Police, which had been formed during Company rule in 1912. Made up of black other ranks and white officers, its motto was "Different in Race, Equal in Fidelity". This motto may have been adopted following native African porters during the First World War being recognised and compensated as

courier A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

s by the British. The NRR fought in the Second World War in Somaliland, Madagascar, the Middle East,

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The 1st Battalion served with distinction in the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

from 1953 to 1955. Between 1953 and 1963, during federation with

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

and Nyasaland, it made up part of the Federal armed forces. On Northern Rhodesia's independence as Zambia in 1964, the NRR was renamed the Zambia Regiment and integrated into the new

Zambian Defence Force The Zambian Defence Force is the military of Zambia. It consists of the Zambian Army, the Zambian Air Force, and the Zambia National Service. The defence forces were formed at Zambian independence on 24 October 1964, from constituent units of ...

History

The Northern Rhodesia Regiment (NRR) was founded in 1933 when the military arm of the Northern Rhodesia Police were split off as an independent body. Unlike most black majority regiments for an unknown reason, it was kept independent from the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a multi-battalion British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s. It performed both military and internal security functions withi ...

(KAR) similar to

Rhodesian African Rifles The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) was a regiment of the Rhodesian Army. The ranks of the RAR were recruited from the black African population, although officers were generally from the white population. The regiment was formed in May 1940 in the ...

. Though it was still run in a similar fashion to the King's African Rifles with officers being seconded from the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

until 1938 when two reserve units for African and European soldiers were set up in preparation for local officers to eventually take over. Compared with many other colonial regiments in the British Empire, the black soldiers received more technical training. In 1935, the Northern Rhodesia Regiment were called up to support the Northern Rhodesia Police during the Copperbelt strike of 1935 along with members of the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, fr ...

from Southern Rhodesia. During the strike, the Northern Rhodesia Police lost control in the face of stones being thrown by black strikers and fired at them killing six which led to the strikers surrendering. However a report into the incident found no wrongdoing on the part of the NRR. During the Second World War, though blacks were exempt from conscription as they were "British protected persons" in Northern Rhodesia, thousands of black Northern Rhodesians signed up as volunteers. The Regiment were then incorporated as a part of the 27th (N Rhodesia) Infantry Brigade but never fought as one unit during the war due to the risk of high casualties in the small regiment. In 1953, when Northern Rhodesia joined

and Nyasaland in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the Northern Rhodesia Regiment were amalgamated with the other constituent forces into the

. In 1963 following the breakup of the Federation, the

Rhodesian Special Air Service The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a Rhodesian special forces unit. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency (1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–1978) *1 (Rhodes ...

(SAS) which was based in Northern Rhodesia, split and the regiment was given over to Southern Rhodesia. The soldiers were offered the chance to take a golden handshake, move to Southern Rhodesia or remain and join the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. In 1964, Northern Rhodesia gained independence as Zambia and the regiment was renamed the Zambia Regiment as a result.

Uniform

The NRR's cap badge was based upon the badge of the Northern Rhodesian Police. The regiment retained the colours of red and white they inherited from the Northern Rhodesia Police but also added a green stripe to commemorate the predecessor North-Eastern Rhodesia Constabulary. Officers wore

Wolseley helmet The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi) is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish military adaptation of the native ''salakot ...

s whilst the ranks wore field service caps, both of which had the regimental colours on as a tactical recognition flash. The regiment adopted a

hackle The hackle is a clipped plume or short spray of coloured feathers that is attached to a military headdress, with different colours being associated with particular regiments. In the British Army and the armies of some Commonwealth countries, ...

of green and red ostrich feathers in 1941 though it is not recorded how they were worn.

Battalions

1st Battalion, Northern Rhodesia Regiment

The NRR were eventually separated into nine battalions. The 1st Battalion was raised in 1939 and were sent to guard the Northern Rhodesian border with the Belgian Congo following a false report there was an invasion force preparing to pass through Portuguese Angola. They then moved to fight against the

Italian conquest of British Somaliland The Italian invasion of British Somaliland (3–19 August 1940) was part of the East African campaign (1940–1941) in which Italian, Eritrean and Somali forces of Fascist Italy entered British Somaliland and defeated its combined garrison ...

and then onto Ceylon and Burma via

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

. The 2nd Battalion was established in 1940 and was set to deal with riots in the

Copperbelt Province Copperbelt Province is a province in Zambia which covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the immedi ...

and shot 40 rioters. As a result, they were split and served out the rest of the war carrying out internal security and garrison duties. The 3rd, 4th and 5th Battalions were also raised for garrison duties. The 6th were sent to fight in Italian Somaliland in the East Africa campaign, the 7th served in

French Madagascar The Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies (french: Colonie de Madagascar et dépendances) was a French colony off the coast of Southeast Africa between 1897 and 1958 in what is now Madagascar. The colony was formerly a protectorate of France kn ...

and the 8th served in Somaliland and the Ethiopian Empire. There was also an Independent Company set up to protect the headquarters of the

East Africa Command East Africa Command was a Command of the British Army. Until 1947 it was under the direct control of the Army Council and thereafter it became the responsibility of Middle East Command. It was disbanded on 11 December 1963, the day before Kenya bec ...

Notable personnel

* William Alfred Dimoline, later a British Army general, served as Commandant of the NRR pre-Second World War * Roger Hawkins, Rhodesian politician, served in the NRR during the Second World War * Kennedy Trevaskis, later High Commissioner of Aden, served in the NRR during the Second World War * Peter Walls, later head of the Armed Forces of Rhodesia, began his Rhodesian military career with the NRR post-Second World War *

Eric Charles Twelves Wilson Lieutenant Colonel Eric Charles Twelves Wilson VC (2 October 1912 – 23 December 2008) was an English British Army officer and colonial administrator. He received the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the f ...

, winner of the Victoria Cross, was seconded to the NRR in 1946

References

{{reflist British colonial regiments Northern Rhodesia Military units and formations of the British Empire Military units and formations of Northern Rhodesia in World War II Military units and formations established in 1933 Military units and formations established in 1964 1933 establishments in Northern Rhodesia 1964 disestablishments in Zambia Military units and formations in British Somaliland in World War II