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 British colony of Southern Rhodesia.
The RAR were officially declared the successor to the Rhodesia Native Regiment (RNR) which had existed in World War I from 1916 to 1918, and was granted the RNR's battle honours earned fighting in the East African campaign. The RAR were the second-oldest regiment of the Rhodesian Army, after the Rhodesia Regiment which was raised in 1899.
The RAR used the "greens" uniform and wore slouch hats as headgear.
History After disbandment, selected members of the RNR formed the Askari Platoon of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) at Government House in Salisbury. Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) from this platoon provided the instructors when the RAR was formed in 1940 to fight in World War 2.
From 1940 to 1944, the RAR recruited and trained to battalion strength and developed its camp at Borrowdale near Salisbury. From 1944 to 1945, the battalion fought against the Japanese as part of Field Marshal William Slim's 14th Army in Burma, after which the regiment returned to Southern Rhodesia.
They were deployed overseas twice more, to Egypt (1951 to 1952) in response to Egyptian pressure on the Suez Canal. and to Malaya (1956 to 1958) during the Malayan Emergency.
Between these external deployments, the RAR provided security to Air Force bases within Southern Rhodesia. During that period Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, presented the colours to the regiment at a parade at the Borrowdale Camp (1953) and the regiment moved to a permanent barracks, at Heany (later renamed Methuen) on the outskirts of Bulawayo (1954).
After their return from Malaya in 1958, the RAR began to undertake 'duties in aid of the civil power' in response to civil unrest occurring in Salisbury, Bulawayo and Wankie, and in Northern Rhodesia. By 1961, these duties had extended to internal security operations in Northern Rhodesia including deployment along the Congolese/Northern Rhodesia border to prevent fighting spilling over from the Katangese secessionist war. After the Central African Federation was dissolved in 1962, to be replaced by the separate nations of Rhodesia, Zambia and Malawi, the RAR was returned to the sole command of the Rhodesian Army.
With the Rhodesian Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain, on 11 November 1965, members of the military wings of the Nationalist movement began an escalating series of incursions into Rhodesia with the aim of subverting the local population and overthrowing the government. This was known as Chimurenga (Liberation War).
The RAR fought throughout what came to be known as the 'Rhodesian Bush War' until the Ceasefire of February 1980. In the course of this conflict, the regiment grew from one to three battalions, established a regimental training depot and expanded further to incorporate the Independent Companies of the Rhodesia Regiment. Every African Soldier was a volunteer.
In February 1980 Zimbabwe African National Union, the political party now led by Robert Mugabe, renamed ZANU (PF) for 'Popular Front', won the first universal franchise General Election and came to power, renaming the country Zimbabwe. Incorporated into the Zimbabwe National Army but retaining its regimental identity, the RAR fought one last decisive battle, at Entumbane near Bulawayo in 1981, when they totally defeated a major ZIPRA uprising. By April 1981, the name 'RAR', together with its insignia, had been replaced by the numerical nomenclature and Staff Corps badges of the Zimbabwe Army.
The Rhodesia Native Regiment
At the outbreak of World War 1, the commander of the German forces in German East Africa (Tanganyika) Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck recognised that he could best support the German war effort, not by defending the colony, but by operating in such a way that the Allies were forced to commit troops against him. Operating in highly mobile commando-type units, his forces operated across East Africa and threatened both Portuguese Mozambique and Northern Rhodesia.
To help counter this threat, the 1st Battalion of the RNR was formed on 1 May 1916. In July, the 450-strong battalion was sent to Zomba for further training but, because the operational situation had changed, were instead deployed into a German area north of Lake Nyasa. At Weidhaven, between 10 and 25 November 1916, the RNR (less one company that had been detached to go to Buhora) were attacked by two separate German forces, both of which they defeated.
The General Officer Commanding British Forces in East Africa, General Jan Smuts, said: "The conduct of this newly raised regiment, put into the firing line earlier than was intended through force of circumstance, reflects the greatest credit on those responsible for their short training, and on all ranks of the regiment."
Meanwhile, the company that had been sent to Buhora had also seen action. While following the rear-guard of a German column, the enemy walked into Rhodesian forces deployed across his front and both flanks. The RNR closed the northern perimeter and, by the morning of 25 November, the enemy found himself totally boxed in. By the next day, the German force had surrendered and were taken to Njombe en route to captivity (along with 300 head of cattle, the fate of which is predictably unknown).
Encounter battles with the German forces continued through 1917 with the troops marching an average of 31 miles a day in the harshest bush conditions, displaying extraordinary physical endurance.
In September 1917, a newly raised 2nd Battalion RNR entered the field and established a camp at Mbewa on the north-eastern shore of Lake Nyasa. On 28 January 1918, the two battalions joined forces as the 2nd Rhodesia Native Regiment. They were deployed to follow von Lettow's force, now reduced to 2,000 men, into Portuguese East Africa. On 22 May, they intercepted his supply column and captured it, and then continued the hide-and-seek pursuit of the main German force, marching an incredible 2,250 miles, until its eventual surrender in Northern Rhodesia on 25 November 1918, 14 days after the Armistice in Europe.
In December 1918, having lost 159 soldiers of all ranks killed in action or on active service, and 136 wounded, the RNR returned to Salisbury where it was disbanded. A select few were retained to form the Askari Platoon at Government House in Salisbury. When the RAR was awarded its colours in 1953, they inherited the battle honours of the RNR: 'The Great War' and 'East Africa 1916-1918'.
Formation of the RAR
In May 1940, the first commanding Officer of the RAR, Major FJ Wane ISO, a former RNR officer, received the following orders in his call-up papers: "There will be an African regiment; you will command it and the regiment will build its own camp on the Borrowdale road." African NCOs from the British South Africa Police (BSAP), together with African NCOs from the Askari Platoon, were selected to transfer to the new regiment and begin the task of training the recruits. An advertisement was placed for recruits and, soon, two companies were formed and engaged in basic drill and weapons training in the mornings and building their camp in the afternoons.
On 19 July 1940, by government notice GN 374/1940, the regiment was charged 'with the defence of the colony, the maintenance of order, and such duties as the minister may define' and, significantly, 'the regiment may be employed outside the colony'. Submissions were invited for the design of a badge and the final selection, issued in August 1940, depicted a Matabele war shield, crossed by a Matabele assegai (stabbing spear) and a Shona museve (digging spear), upon which was laid a vertical knobkierie. A scroll bearing the title 'Rhodesian African Rifles' was placed below the design.
On 20 September 1940, the battalion's first Regimental Sergeant Major was appointed. RSM Lechenda had first seen service as a bugler, aged ten, in the King's African Rifles in Somaliland. During World War I, as a Company sergeant major, he had been awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for leading a platoon against a German force that had been harassing a British position and driving them off. He earned the Military Medal when, with a hastily gathered group of 12 men, he attacked a German force (including three machine guns) that was about to seize a rations dump. He captured one machine gun and, in a follow-up, killed nine Germans.
Through 1940 to 1943, the battalion continued to recruit, train, and expand to full strength. During 1942, troops were sent to the South African city of Durban to escort Italian prisoners of war. It was there that the Regimental song Sweet Banana first began and, although it would evolve significantly, it would retain its chorus of 'I will buy you a sweet banana', influenced by the abundance of the fruit in Natal.
Burma
On 17 November 1943, the RAR left Salisbury for Kenya to join the 26th East Africa Brigade. Training continued until 5 September 1944, when they entrained for Mombasa to board HMT Strathnaver and set sail for Ceylon. After acclimatisation and orientation to living, moving and fighting in the jungle, on 2 December they boarded HMT Aronda for Chittagong, in the Arakan, Burma. There, as part of the 22nd East African Infantry Brigade, they came under command the 15th Indian Corps, part of Field Marshal William Slim's 14th Army, fighting the Japanese.
The RAR were to face a formidable enemy. Of the Japanese, Field Marshall Slim wrote: "The strength of the Japanese Army lay… in the spirit of the individual Japanese soldier. He fought and marched till he died. If 500 Japanese were ordered to hold a position, we had to kill 495 before it was ours – and then the last five killed themselves. It was this combination of obedience and ferocity that made the Japanese army, whatever its condition, so formidable…"
At this stage of the War, the Japanese advance towards India had been halted and they were withdrawing through Burma. The RAR formed part of this pursuit, advancing through the jungle and making sporadic contact with the enemy.
In April 1945, the East Africa Brigade was serving under command the 82nd West African Division which had been tasked with clearing the Taungup area of Japanese. After the brigade had occupied the town of Palawa, the RAR battalion was given the lead and, on 15 April, they advanced towards an enemy position on a hill beyond Dalet, following the south bank of the Tanlwe Chaung. They soon closed with the Japanese and, over the next ten days, fought them in a series of encounter actions in the jungle that culminated on 26 April with a deliberate attack by A and D companies on two dug-in hill features code-named Bergner and Valerie. Both enemy positions were successfully taken, at a cost of seven Askari killed and one officer and twenty-two Askari wounded. On 27 April, C Company assisted 1KAR in an assault on another feature, code-named Abbott, occupied after the enemy withdrew that night.
The brigade continued the advance, now following Taungup Chaung and the RAR battalion took the lead again on 2 May. Crossing Taungup Chaung, D Company came under effective enemy fire from a feature code-named Powell. On the morning of 4 May, B and C companies advanced on Powell, beginning an engagement that would last until 7 May, at a cost of six Askari killed, until the brigade was ordered to bypass the feature and move to the Taungup-Prome road. Encounter actions with small groups of Japanese continued until the formal surrender of Japan on 17 July 1945. Afterwards, engagements continued sporadically against 'no-surrender groups'.