The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers was a army regiment active from 1898 to 1920 during the time of the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

's rule over

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

History

In 1898, the Southern Rhodesia Volunteers was established as a mounted corps supported by cyclists, signallers, and engineers. The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers served alongside 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, from ...

and various Colonial and British Units. The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers had two divisions, the Eastern Division based in Salisbury and the Western Division based in Bulawayo. The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers served in the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

and the

Siege of Mafeking The siege of Mafeking was a 217-day siege battle for the town of Mafeking (now called Mafikeng) in South Africa during the Second Boer War from October 1899 to May 1900. The siege received considerable attention as Lord Edward Cecil, the son of ...

. After their service in both deployments, they were their first King’s Colour and

Regimental Colour In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt som ...

. The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers never participated in the First World War, as their territory was represented on the front line by the Rhodesia Regiment.

References

{{Reflist 1890 establishments in Southern Rhodesia 1890s in Southern Rhodesia 1900s in Southern Rhodesia 1910s in Southern Rhodesia 1920s in Southern Rhodesia Rhodesia History of Zimbabwe

History

See also

References