Southern Rhodesia in World War I

Though it was one of the few combatant territories not to raise fighting men through conscription, proportional to the white population, Southern Rhodesia contributed more manpower to the British war effort than any other dominion or colony and more than Britain itself.

Since the territory's reconstitution and recognized independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, the modern government has removed many references to the war, such as memorial monuments and plaques, from public view, regarding them as unwelcome vestiges of white minority rule and colonialism.

[2] The Rhodesia Herald and Bulawayo Chronicle newspapers published special editions the same day to spread the news;[8] it took about half a week for word to reach the whole country, but jingoistic demonstrations began in the major towns almost immediately.

[16] As the local newspapers filled with letters from readers clamouring for Rhodesian troops to be mustered and despatched to Europe post-haste,[16] the administration limited its initial contribution to posting a section of BSAP troopers to the Victoria Falls Bridge to guard against possible German attack from South-West Africa though the Caprivi Strip.

[12] In early September, an indignant letter to the Rhodesia Herald from Colonel Raleigh Grey, a major figure in local business, politics and military matters, accused the Company of bringing "a slur on a British country" by doing so little.

[16] A few days after the war began, the Chartered Company formed the Rhodesian Reserves, an amorphous entity intended to accommodate the many white men who were keen to put on uniform, as well as to make a start towards organizing what might eventually become an expeditionary force.

[7] Sometimes the British and German positions were so close that troopers on each front line could hear what was said in the opposite trench; one group of Southern Rhodesians avoided being understood in this situation by speaking a mixture of Shona and Sindebele (two African languages) instead of English.

[31] While discussing a KRRC sniper section, Hutton singles its Southern Rhodesian members out for their fine marksmanship, commenting that "accustomed to big game shooting, [they] particularly excelled in this system of 'snipers', and inflicted continual losses upon the enemy".

[37] In July 1917, a KRRC Rhodesian platoon received lofty praise from a senior British officer, who described the colonials as "absolutely first-class soldiers and great gentlemen, every bit as good as soldiers… as our old Expeditionary Force".

Towards the end of the war, the service of airmen from the dominions and colonies was observed by the issuing of shoulder patches denoting the wearer's country of origin: from October 1918, Southern Rhodesians received labels marked "rhodesia".

[47] From Dryden Farm, near the south-western border town of Plumtree, came Lieutenant Frank W H Thomas, an RFC combat pilot who won the Military Cross, as well as the French Croix de Guerre (with palms), before he died on 5 January 1918 from wounds attained on operational service.

The South African Prime Minister, the former Boer general Louis Botha, had told Britain that the Union could both handle its own security during the hostilities and defeat German South-West Africa without help, so the Imperial garrison had been sent to the Western Front.

Lieutenant-Colonel Manie Maritz—an ex-Boer commander who now headed a column of Afrikaans-speaking Union troops—defected to the Germans in mid-September, hoping to spark an uprising that would overthrow British supremacy in South Africa and restore the old Boer Republics.

To overcome the natural difficulties of the desert terrain, Botha used fast-moving mounted or mechanised troops rather than regular infantry, so the Southern Rhodesian contingent played little part in the main advance on Windhoek.

The Rhodesians guarded the construction of a railway inland for much of the campaign, but participated in Northern Force's victory over the Germans at Trekkopjes, losing Lieutenant Hollingsworth (killed in action) and five enlisted men (wounded).

[67] The 1st Rhodesia Regiment was soon posted back to Cape Town, where many of the troopers voiced their dissatisfaction at the lack of fighting in South-West Africa, and requested discharge so they could join the war in Europe.

[81] In June 1917, Sergeant Rita (or Lita), a black non-commissioned officer later described by Tomlinson as "a splendid soldier",[82] received the highest award ever given to an RNR askari, the Distinguished Conduct Medal, "for conspicuous gallantry in action on many occasions.

[84] The 2nd Battalion, comprising Major Jackson at the head of 585 askaris and 75 whites, left Salisbury on 16 September 1917,[80] and joined the front on 16 October, when it arrived at Mbewa on the north-eastern shore of Lake Nyasa, intending to ultimately merge with 1RNR.

[84] After 1RNR spent two months garrisoning Wiedhaven and 2RNR underwent further training, the two forces joined on 28 January 1918 (becoming known as the 2nd Rhodesia Native Regiment), and immediately made their way south in pursuit of Lettow-Vorbeck's Germans,[85] who were by now down to an effective strength of less than 2,000,[84] and moving through Portuguese Mozambique.

Many of them were in vital industries like mining, and the Company administration did not grant financial allowances to support the families of married soldiers, so at least at first, only bachelors in non-essential positions were generally considered to have any moral obligation to sign up.

The retail sector suffered, prices for many basic day-to-day items rose sharply, and exports plummeted as much of the white male citizenry went overseas to war, but mining, the industry on which Rhodesia's economic viability hinged, continued to operate successfully, despite occasional difficulties in obtaining manpower.

[92] Southern Rhodesia's other main economic arm, farming, performed less strongly during the war, partly because the Chartered Company prioritized the strategically important mines at the behest of British officials.

[93] During the initial peak of Germanophobia, which lasted the first few months of the conflict, many German and Austrian men of military age who lived in Rhodesia were arrested (officially as "prisoners of war") and sent to internment camps in South Africa.

Gertrude Page, one of the colony's most famous novelists, wrote an open letter in response, vouching for the loyalty of a young German in her employ, and received a number of replies accusing her of being unpatriotic.

[97] Some felt obliged to "fight for their country", seeing the travails of Rhodesia and the Empire as their own also,[98] but the great bulk of tribal public opinion was detached, seeing the conflict as a "white man's war" that did not concern them.

Matthew Zwimba, founder of the syncretist Church of the White Bird in Mashonaland, received six months' hard labor the following year for advising black men not to join the RNR on the grounds that the British had, he said, committed crimes against God in 1913.

Public buildings in the towns were converted into makeshift hospital wards, appeals were put out for trained nurses to attend the sick, and soup kitchens were set up to feed children whose parents were too ill to look after them.

[109] This council, on behalf of the government and people of Southern Rhodesia, records its grateful thanks to the men of the Territory who took part in the Great War; its deep appreciation of the services they have rendered; and its admiration of their bearing and conduct.

[118] Southern Rhodesians killed in action or on operational duty numbered over 800, counting all races together—more than 700 of the colony's white servicemen died,[114] while the Rhodesia Native Regiment's black soldiers suffered 146 fatalities.

[140] After the country's reconstitution and recognized independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, Robert Mugabe's administration pulled down many monuments and plaques making reference to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars, perceiving them as reminders of white minority rule and colonialism that went against what the modern state stood for.