Grey's Scouts were a Rhodesian
mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...
unit raised in July 1975 and named after
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...
, a British soldier and governor. Based in Salisbury (now
Harare
Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
) it patrolled Rhodesia's borders during the
Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...
, and then became a regiment of the
Special Forces of Zimbabwe in June 1980. It was totally disbanded in July 1986 because of a lack of resources.
Role and history
The creation of the unit was probably inspired by the
Dragoons of Angola, a
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
mounted unit, raised in 1966, during the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
, to combat the guerrillas in Eastern
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
. A similar unit was being raised by the Portuguese in Rhodesia's neighboring
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
when the war ended in 1974.
The Grey's Scouts were established by the Rhodesian Army as the
Mounted Infantry
Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...
Unit in July 1975. The unit was re designated the Grey's Scouts the next year. Most members of the unit were
white Rhodesians, as experience with horses was mainly limited to the privileged white minority of the population. However, it also included some black Rhodesians who had previously worked with horses and members of the
Shangaan
Soshangana Ka Gasa Zikode (), born Soshangana Nxumalo, was the founder and first monarch of the Gaza Empire, which, at its peak, spanned from the Limpopo River in southern Mozambique to the Zambezi River in the north. He ruled the Gaza state fro ...
ethnic group who were expert trackers.
The unit's main role was to patrol Rhodesia's borders with Zambia and Mozambique to detect insurgents who were entering the country. Attempts to monitor the border using electronic means had failed, and the terrain in these areas was unsuitable for motor vehicles. In this role, the Grey's Scouts undertook tracking, reconnaissance and pursuit. It was often used to patrol the minefields along Rhodesia's borders. Horses were used for transport purposes only, with the members of the unit fighting on foot. The Grey's Scouts occasionally took part in attacks made by the Rhodesian Security Forces in neighbouring countries.
The Grey's Scouts operated at times with the
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...
and
Rhodesian Armoured Corps. The Selous Scouts attacked insurgents located by the Grey's Scouts, and the unit supported
armoured cars. The Rhodesian
Combined Operations Headquarters
Combined Operations Headquarters was a department of the British War Office set up during Second World War to harass the Germans on the European continent by means of raids carried out by use of combined naval and army forces.
History
The comm ...
considered the Grey's Scouts to be one of the country's elite units, but it was not as well trained or effective as the Selous Scouts or
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
.

The historian Charles D. Melson has written that the Grey's Scouts "suffered a degree of notoriety during the war". A photo depicting a member of the Grey's Scouts about to use a noose to drag a prisoner behind his horse was among those that won
J. Ross Baughman the
1978 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography.
Baughman reported that during the period he spent with the unit its members also beat a civilian to death, tortured women, mistreated prisoners, looted civilian property and destroyed civilian huts. The Rhodesian Government claimed that most of these incidents had not occurred and Major Mike Williams, the second in command of the Grey's Scouts at the time, has alleged that Baughman encouraged violence and staged some of the photos. A regimental history of the unit rejected Williams' account, but suggested that some of the photos were staged or doctored. The former Grey's Scout Bruce Moore-King, who was part of the patrol Baughman joined, has stated that he often tortured children while serving in the unit to compel village leaders to provide intelligence on insurgents. Moore-King also claimed that members of the unit occasionally assaulted civilians.
Few members of the Grey's Scouts were killed during the Rhodesian Bush War.
Following the end of Rhodesian Bush War the Grey's Scout's were retained in the new Zimbabwean Army. Many of its white officers reportedly resigned to serve in the
South African Defence Force
The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
. It was mainly used to patrol Zimbabwe's borders and prevent
poaching
Poaching is the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set against the huntin ...
. In 1984 the Grey's Scouts formed part of a force that was used to enforce a curfew in
Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe. With a population of 683,893 as of the 2012 Zimbabwean census. It is the country's least populated province after Matabeleland North.Matabeleland South and Matabeleland North were est ...
. This curfew greatly worsened food shortages in the drought-affected area. As part of this operation the Grey's Scouts were involved in fighting with rebels.
Structure
The unit eventually reached a strength of 800 men. These included regular soldiers, territorials and conscripts. It drew on soldiers from other infantry regiments of the Rhodesian Army, who were then instructed in
equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
as well as men with no horse experience. Specialist craftsmen such as
farrier
A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...
s,
smiths and manufacturers also formed part of the unit, and allowed it to be largely self-sufficient.
The Grey's Scouts initially comprised a single
squadron. By 1978 it was organised into three sabre squadrons, designated A, B, and C Squadrons, and a support squadron. Each of the sabre squadrons comprised three troops. The troops were made up of four eight-man sections with each section forming two four-man sticks. The support squadron included a reconnaissance troop, a tracking troop and a mortar section. The sabre squadrons had a total authorised strength of approximately 450 men and 400 horses. The unit came under the direct control of Combined Operations headquarters.
The horses used by the unit were mainly small cross breeds sourced from South Africa. Pack horses carried loads of up to . The Grey's Scouts also had motor transport, including both non-armoured and mine-protected vehicles. These vehicles were used to rapidly redeploy elements of the unit, including horses.
Notes
References
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{{Rhodesian Security Forces of the Bush War
Regiments of Rhodesia
Special forces of Rhodesia
Military units and formations of Rhodesia in the Bush War
Military units and formations established in 1975