Alexander Binda - The saints: the Rhodesian Light Infantry

By the same author:
MasodjaThe history of The Rhodesian African Rifles and its forerunner The Rhodesia Native Regiment

eBook co-published in 2014 by:

Helion & Company Limited
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and

30 South Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
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PRINT ISBN: 9781920143077
EPUB ISBN: 9781909384903

Copyright Alexandre Binda, 2007
eBook Alexandre Binda, 2012

Design and origination by 30 South Publishers (Pty) Ltd.
Full-colour maps by Richard Wood
Grey-scale maps and diagrams by Genevive Edwards
Dust jacket painting by Craig Bone

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CONTENTS

by Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. W. Aust MLM

By Dr. Keith A. Nelson

List of Maps

Foreword

It would be advantageous, but by no means essential for you, the reader, to open these pages with some understanding of the background and history of Southern Rhodesia.

That sadly short yet vivid, colourful and stirring history, encompassing a unique flavour of frontier adventure and traditional pride, washed with the resilient waters of fierce independence, would impart an important insight, not only with regard to the political reasons why but also to Rhodesias peoplethose born and bred, those who adopted the country and those who chose to fight and die for a once-sacred garden of Africa.

The people and their history blended in a unique manner to create an equally unique army, which, in turn, gave birth to the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Tutored under the auspices of the British Commonwealth, the unit grew and matured in peace and war to become one of the finest regiments of a small and determined army, which itself became the most efficient and successful irregular warfare machine ever known in Africa or indeed, perhaps, the world.

Today, with the unfolding passage of history, ex-members of the Regiment live in every corner of the globe. This is understandable. At the close of the Rhodesian bush war the unit counted no fewer than seventeen nationalities within her ranks.

The unheralded popularity of Rhodesias cause attracted a surprising number of international volunteers who integrated with the tough local conscripts and seasoned regular veterans to produce a remarkable and unique band of brothers.

There is little doubt that every individual looks back on those, now distant, days of RLI service, filled with a complex, wide spectrum of emotional memoriessome sad, some bad, some shadowed by anxiety and fear, some with pain but all with pride. Such is the legacy of war.

There is little doubt that the dominant and common theme is one of comradeship, true comradeshipthat rich prize known only to the fighting manthat rare human quality generated through shared dangers, hardships, laughter and a pride of unit.

They were unique soldiers, serving in a unique regiment, a regiment painted with the gold that enhances only the most special things in life.

As with its parent country, the RLI has received little public acknowledgment over the years, this despite an outstanding record of professional conduct and successseventeen bullet holes through a parachute canopy during a single combat descentthe most combat parachute jumps in a single day ever recorded. The Regiment presented a rare character of military professionalism balanced by outrageous leg-pulling laughter and ribaldry. They were men of men, their regiment unrivalled in the pages of war and its history.

This book is long overdue. It presents a sorely needed historical record and will remain a gift of unrivalled value, subtly illustrating the character of the Regiment and the men of all ranks who marched and fought and died with such pride. It is a history in the true sense for all is now gone and only memories remain in a rapidly changing world. Through this work, The Incredibles will live onthey will never die.