Rhodesian headdress 1964-80

[The Saint]

I have gathered over the years a collection of post-UDI Rhodesian militaria and think that the following might be of interest to some members of the forum.

Rhodesian African Rifles Other Ranks slouch hat :

If other members want to add their own contributions, they are most welcome.

Eric

Edited November 20, 2007 by The Saint

[The Saint]

RAR beret :

[Chris Boonzaier]

That is interesting!! I did not know the Rhodies wore slouch hats at all!!

[The Saint]

RAR beret, cap badge variation :

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Light Infantry, pre-1970.

British-made beret with SRG (South Rhodesia Government) marking.

Edited November 20, 2007 by The Saint

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Light Infantry, post-1970.

The cap badge, actually a collar badge, is in the odd side (the large side of the horn should be on the right), but is original to the beret.

[The Saint]

Special Air Service (unissued) :

[The Saint]

Selous Scouts :

[The Saint]

Grey's Scouts (this one had seen much service) :

[The Saint]

Royal Rhodesia Regiment (pre-1970) :

British-made beret.

Edited November 20, 2007 by The Saint

[The Saint]

Rhodesia Regiment (post-1970)

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Intelligence Corps

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Artillery :

[The Saint]

Rhodesia Corps of Signals :

South-African-made beret.

Edited November 20, 2007 by The Saint

[The Saint]

Psychological Operation Unit (unissued) :

That's all for now, I will post a couple of others later.

[Paul R]

I can see why you collect the head gear. Their beret embelms are very impressive. The Psych emblem is very unique compared with the others! Was this a psych warfare unit or medical unit?

[The Saint]

Thanks for your interest.

Chris,

The slouch hat was worn by many Rhodesian Army units from WW2 until the 1960s. The RAR wore a khaki one with No 1 Dress until the early 1970s when replaced by the green version.

Paul,

1 POU was a psy warfare unit, created in 1977. See : http://www.psywarrior.com/RhodesiaPSYOP.html

Eric

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Engineers :

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Army Services Corps.

Note : this beret was certainly worn by an officer, as it was standart practice for them to use a collar badge rather than the full-size cap badge on the beret.

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Corps of Military Police, pre-1978.

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Corps of Military Police, post-1978.

The midnight blue beret was then replaced by the red. Again, the collar badge denotes its use by an officer (a Captain in this case).

[The Saint]

Rhodesian Army Pay Corps.

British-made beret with RNG (Rhodesia & Nyassaland Government) marking. Again from an officer.

Edited November 20, 2007 by The Saint

[Paul R]

Very nice!! How many more are there out there? DO you have them all?

[JamesM]

Nice collection, Eric!

Do you have any bush hats?

Cheers,

James

[The Saint]

Very nice!! How many more are there out there? DO you have them all?

Unfortunately not. There are quite a number of berets I'm still looking for : Armd Car Regt, Medical Corps (midnight blue and marroon), Staff Corps, as well as a couple of others - preferably used (there's a message there ! ).

One last headdress remains to be posted, a RhSigs SD cap but I must photograph it first. I should done it before the end of the week.

James,

The only bush hat I have is the standart camouflage one. BTW, it looks like people are crazy about Rhodie bush hat - one offered on eBay recently went over GBP 100 !

Cheers

Eric