Commando News Edition 17 Dec2019

RLI was formed, and a major influx of recruits from
outside Africa started in the mid-1970s. Many of these
were career soldiers, veterans of wars in armies
overseas, attracted by the Regiment's reputation.
Former British soldiers and Vietnam veterans from the
American, Australian and New Zealand forces were
prominent, but most First World countries were also
represented. "The 'foreigners' soon became an integ -
ral part of the Battalion", says RLI veteran Chris Cocks,
"and contributed greatly to the fighting reputation of
the unit." Volunteers with no military experience were
motivated to enlist by various reasons, including anticommunist
political views, desire for adventure or even
to escape one's past. "In many respects the RLI was a
mirror of the French Foreign Legion," Cocks continues,
"in that recruiters paid little heed to a man's
background and asked no questions. And like the
Foreign Legion, once in the ranks a man's past was
irrelevant." He gives the example of Lance-Corporal
Mathew Charles Lamb, a Canadian volunteer with a
history of violence and insanity who became an
"exemplary and popular stick leader" in the RLI,
serving three years in the Rhodesian forces before
being killed in action on 7 November 1976.
Women first became members of the RLI in 1975,
when the Rhodesia Women's Service (RWS) opened
the regular Army to females. A rank structure for
women was introduced in 1977. Almost all women in
the Army were given clerical, intelligence or com -
municational (switchboard, etc.) roles, and the RLI was
no exception. All but a few of its RWS members were
assigned to Base Group; exceptions included Corporal
Dawn Doughty, who served in the 1 Commando
Headquarters from 1976 to 1979, and the Australian
Corporal Judith Ellison, who joined the 2 Commando
Headquarters in the late 1970s.
Nicknames, Mascots & Commando Insignias
The Rhodesian Light Infantry was nicknamed "The
Saints" soon after it was formed, as a result of its
adoption of When the Saints Go Marching In as its
Members of a Commando before a Bush Trip.
military step Regimental Quick March (at 140bpm). A
second or consequential nickname, expressly "The
Incredibles", came from a toast "...to the incredible
Rhodesian Light Infantry" by Prime Minister Ian Smith
on the regiment's seventh birthday, 1 February 1968.
"The Incredibles" is also the name of the Regimental
Slow March composed especially for the RLI by Major
Frank Sutton.
The Regimental Mascot was the Cheetah: originally
there were two cheetah cubs who served as mascots.
Unfortunately, following their ill-fated deaths during a
grenade drill on 6 October 1963, the role became
applied to the animal in general.
However, in February 1975 a nine-month-old
cheetah cub was kindly donated to the regiment by the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Manage -
ment; this cheetah became "Trooper Saint", the RLI's
permanent mascot who was trained to participate in
drill-parades and grenade drills.
Most units in the Battalion were allocated a colour
for general recognition: Red for 1 Commando ... Blue
for 2 Commando ... Green for 3 Commando ... and
Yellow for Support Group/ Commando. The special -
ised sub-units operating conspicuously out of Base
Group (such as Signals Troop) used Black and the
Regimental Police used White.
1 Commando nickname, the "Big Red", came from
a memorable incident in July 1971 subsequent to
Major Dave Parker (the OC) being late for a tough early
morning session of physical training (06:00 every day if
possible). Parker himself despised these early parades,
and would usually delay rising for as long as he
possibly could. One day the men were already formed
up when Parker, a physically large man, emerged from
his quarters wearing a set of bright red pyjamas. "It's
the Big Red One", remarked Sergeant Bruce
Antonowitz, with reference to the infamous "Big Red
One" — First Infantry Division of the US Army — from
World War Ι and ΙΙ. The nickname was initially applied
to the Major alone, but gradually evolved to refer to
the entirety of the Commando. 4 Troop (a sub-unit of 1
Commando) was nicknamed "F Troop". The emblem
of 1 Commando was a numeral "1" and a cheetah
contained within a large letter "C". The letters "DO"
appear in smaller type to the right, completing the
abbreviation for Commando (CDO).
2 Commando insignia was a double-edged dagger
with cross-guard, centralised on a blue diamond and
traversed by a numeral "2". "Commando" was
inscribed on a ribbon banner below the diamond. In
effect, the diamond with the dagger tacitly depicted
the Commando's nickname: "The Cut" (diamond from
the rough). In the same vein, "The Cut Above" was
gleaned as a more popular nickname in 1976 once all
the troops were para-trained airborne forces. Taking
inspiration for banter from 1 Commando's nickname
(Big Red), by using IBM's customary caption (Big Blue)
54 COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 17 I 2019