''The Trooper'', also popularly referred as ''The Troopie'', is a Rhodesian statue and war memorial. It is located in the grounds of Hatfield House, home of the Marquess of Salisbury, in Hatfield,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. It was originally erected in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

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 ...

and is dedicated to the

Rhodesian Light Infantry The 1st Battalion, Rhodesian Light Infantry (1RLI), commonly The Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), was a regiment formed in 1961 at Brady Barracks (Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia) as a light infantry unit within the army of the Federation of Rhodesia ...

(RLI) as their regimental statue.

History

The statue was cast from 700 melted down rifle cartridges. The statue was sculpted by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Michael Blackman of the

and based on a photo of Trooper Wayne Hannekom. It was erected on 1 February 1979 in front of the entrance of Cranborne Barracks in Salisbury. It was unveiled by

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Ian Bate at a ceremony involving the

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 ...

band. At the dinner the day before the unveiling, the RLI's General John Hickman accused the Selous Scouts's Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly of poaching ivory in the Zambezi Valley. Following reports that the statue would be torn down after the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Bate said that the statue would never be destroyed as long as an RLI soldier draws breath. Following the changes in political status which resulted in the establishment of

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and the end of the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

, the statue was smuggled onto a South African Air Force plane, along with the regiment's records under orders of Lt-Colonel

Charlie Aust Lieutenant Colonel John Charles Wyatt Aust MLM, commonly known as Charlie Aust (1942 – 15 November 2017) was a Rhodesian military commander. He was born in Enkeldoorn, Southern Rhodesia and was the last commanding officer of the Rhodesian Li ...

, and flown to South Africa prior to the RLI's disbandment. It was placed on display at the South African National Museum of Military History in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

and later moved to the

British Empire and Commonwealth Museum The British Empire and Commonwealth Museum () was a museum in Bristol, England, exploring the history of the British Empire and the effect of British colonial rule on the rest of the world. The museum opened in 2002 and entered voluntary liquid ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. A replica of ''The Troopie'' remains on display in Johannesburg. Later, the statue was installed in the grounds of Hatfield House on the river Lea and was rededicated by

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury Robert Michael James Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury, Baron Gascoyne-Cecil, (born 30 September 1946), is a British Conservative politician. From 1979 to 1987 he represented South Dorset in the House of Commons, and in the 1990s he wa ...

on 28 September 2008. The rededication included a new plaque stating "In reconciliation and hope for future peace in Zimbabwe" alongside the RLI roll of honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Troopie, The Statues in England Rhodesian Light Infantry 1979 establishments in Rhodesia 2008 establishments in England Monuments and memorials in Hertfordshire Rhodesian sculpture Sculptures of men in the United Kingdom Outdoor sculptures in England Peace monuments and memorials