Pioneers mashonaland men made

Book of Remembrance: Rhodesia Native Regiment & Rhodesian African Rifles, 19161981 (Gerry van Tonder) Over the years since 1980 when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, much has been written and recorded about the various regiments that served the country of Rhodesia from the early pioneers in the 1890's, right through to the day that these fine units marched off their respective parade grounds for the last time and into the august annals of history.  Much of this service for the older regiments, such as the Rhodesia Regiment, the British South Africa Police, the Rhodesia Native Regiment and the Rhodesian African Rifles, was as a contribution to the British Empires war efforts during the South African War, both World Wars, and other regional conflicts of the 1950's and 1960's.  This Book of Remembrance has been specifically compiled as a lasting tribute to the men of the Rhodesia Native Regiment (RNR) and its successor the Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) who, during the proud and honourable life of these units, made the ultimate sacrifice. It is not a definitive history of these regiments, as this has been admirably done in books such as Masodja and Ragtime Soldiers.  Accordingly, the book briefly looks at the history of each of the regiments and their battalions, with pictorial depictions of uniforms, badges, theatres of operation and colours. Chapters are also dedicated to those who received honours and awards for bravery and dedication to duty, with citations where it has been possible to source.  Nominal rolls, some incomplete, of commanding officers, officers and senior non-commissioned officers add to the overall remembrance theme of the book. The main content is the various Rolls of Honour, covering all the major conflicts and areas of operation in which the two units saw active service. Hardback / (A4 - Landscape size) 204 pages 32pp colour illustrations

2015 paperback new and unread with 260 pages. R50 postage in SA. The past is brought to life in this historical epic about a South African family whose lives collided with the biggest event in history: the First World War. The central theme is the largely forgotten East Africa campaign, but by definition a world war has a wide reach. Five members of one family with deep roots in all four corners of the country, served in three different theaters of war. Their lives on active service are all interwoven and inseparable from the home front. Global events are juxtaposed with everyday life on a farm in the eastern Orange Free State. Appropriately, the author constructs linkages that span generations, uncovering individual experiences of an earlier conflict which had engulfed South Africa barely a decade before the eruption of the 1914–18 war. As the sons of early pioneers, this generation witnessed history in the making before writing their own. Riding into action on horseback or in a flying machine, their paths led from the South West African desert, through disease-infested jungles in East Africa to some of the great battles on the Western Front. Only one of the five came home unscathed although he crash-landed his aircraft behind enemy lines and only made it back through his audacity and brute strength. Another, an intellectual priest, was left for dead at Delville Wood, and his brother was wounded on Messines Ridge. The remaining two suffered from debilitating tropical illnesses. Hazard and hardship lingered on in the form of Spanish influenza, mining strikes and the Great Depression. The war cast a long shadow. Between them, these consciously literate men left substantial documentary legacies. Using extracts of their letters from the front, the story is to a large extent told in the words of those who were there. Context is provided by referencing existing literature, unpublished memoirs and archival material. It could be called a military history or a social history, but it is a truly South African story which contains much new material for historians, while for the general reader it offers an accessible insight into an unparalleled period of history.