Roger Tancred Robert Hawkins (25 April 19153 March 1980) was a

Rhodesian Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

politician and member of Ian Smith’s

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in the years following

Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia (previously Southern Rhodesia), a British crown colony in southern Africa that had respon ...

.Obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''Roger Hawkins'', 8 March 1980, p. 14 He was one of the founder members of the

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front (RF) was a conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. Formed in March 1962 by white Rhodesians opposed to decolonisation and majority rule, it won that December's general election and s ...

Life

Roger Tancred Robert Hawkins was born in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 25 April 1915. He was the son of Harry Bradford Tancred Hawkins and was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS or simply Modern) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowme ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Hawkins served with the Rhodesian Forces in 1939 and received his commission in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

in 1940. He joined the 1st Battalion,

Northern Rhodesia Regiment The Northern Rhodesia Regiment (NRR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. ...

in 1941 and served in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. After the war, Hawkins pursued business interests and, before entering politics, was an acknowledged mining expert and owner in

Selukwe Shurugwi, originally known as Selukwe, is a small town and administrative centre in Midlands, Zimbabwe, Midlands Province, southern Zimbabwe, located about south of Harare, with a population of 22,900 according to the 2022 census. The town wa ...

where

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...

was also a prominent farmer. He was elected President of the Rhodesian Mining Federation, became increasingly involved in political affairs and was one of the founder members of the

. Following the resignation of

Clifford Dupont Clifford Walter Dupont (6 December 190528 June 1978) was a British-born Rhodesian politician who served in the internationally unrecognised positions of officer administrating the government (from 1965 until 1970) and president (from 1970 to ...

, Hawkins was elected to the

Southern Rhodesian Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Rhodesia was the legislature of Southern Rhodesia and then Rhodesia from 1924 to 1970. Background In 1898, the Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council, Southern Rhodesia's first elected representative body, was foun ...

on 15 September 1964 as Member of Parliament for Charter. In 1970, Hawkins was appointed Minister of Transport in Smith's Cabinet. He was sworn in on 13 April 1970. On 11 March 1977, at the height of 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. ...

, Smith appointed him Minister of the newly created Ministry of Combined Operations. Hawkins also held the position of Minister of Defence. Hawkins resigned from the Rhodesian Cabinet in November 1978 on the grounds of ill health. He died in Selukwe at the age of 64 on 3 March 1980.

Awards

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Roger 1915 births 1980 deaths Members of the Parliament of Rhodesia Members of the Legislative Assembly of Southern Rhodesia Rhodesian Front politicians Government ministers of Rhodesia Alumni of King's College London People educated at Bedford Modern School People from Letchworth British anti-communists British emigrants to Southern Rhodesia British white supremacists People from Midlands Province Defence ministers of Rhodesia Southern Rhodesian military personnel of World War II