Alan Stock

This book is a compilation of memoirs and articles about the British South Africa Police involvement in military operations outside Southern Rhodesia during World Wars 1 & 2. most have appeared before in various magazines many years ago, but these earlier and fragmented publications are now difficult for the ordinary reader to access and so are re-published here in one easy to read book. Part One covers World War 1 and consists of various memoirs written by men who took part in the events, with connecting and explanatory text. There is thus some duplication but it is interesting to read how different writers had different interpretations oi events. The obituaries of leading figures and Nominal and Medal rolls are included. Part Two covers World War 2. There were much less actual military operations as the BSAP was no longer the de facto army of Southern n Rhodesia. However, some 138 members of the BSAP wer seconded to various units in North Africa, the Dodecanese, Iraq and Burma, where they served with distinction. Many write articles about their experiences and these are reproduced here. After their return many rose to high rank in the Force. A nominal roll is included.

This book contains eleven stories by members of the British South Africa Police who started out as troopers at periods ranging from the earliest days of the Force to immediately after World War Two. They tell stories of times when malaria and blackwater fever were rife and a cure unknown, the young dispatch rider who died while carrying out his duty as a link in the vitally important task of carrying the mails from the brand new territory (later called Southern Rhodesia) to South Africa; of dealing with rebellion in neighbouring Portuguese East Africa; of such mundane tasks as running the postage service at a small rural station; of the 1920s when roads were still few and far between and the horse and the pack mule were important means of transport; of a time when, once he left his station, the trooper was on his own. One story describes how the 'old hands' enjoyed a typical pun crawl in Bulawayo; another tells of the drifts over the Limpopo River before the bridge at Beit Bridge was opened; another trooper tells of his slightly unorthodox hunt for an elephant who was destroying native crops. The famous gold robbery at Filabusi where the chief suspect was a BSAP trooper is recounted. The memoirs of Trooper Seward who rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel commanding Bulawayo District offers an important insight into how Police duties were performed. Last but not least is the story of Trooper Johnston who was a member of the famous 'Alcantara' Draft immediately after World War Two and who was recruited in London by Lt Col Seward.

The British South Africa Police of Southern Rhodesia has been fortunate in having many members who wrote interesting accounts of their experiences in the Force, especially in the early days. One of the greatest of these, if not the greatest, was Eben Mocke. Writing under various non-de-plume, such as "1437" (his regimental number) and "Pioneer", he was one of the most prolific contributors to the BSAP Magazine, The Outpost, whose editor, Alan Stock, met Eben and escorted him to Bulawayo to meet the bushman, Cwai, whom Mocke had not seen for fifty years since they had encountered each other during the curse of a patrol described by Mocke in his master-piece description of bush-patrolling--Kalahari Patrol. Eben's stories spanned the years from the Boer and First World Wars on into the seventies. In his submission to the National Archives of Rhodesia he gave valuable information on the late Pioneer period of the country. Letters from his contemporaries are included in this book, some of them critical, but all confirming what a great veldsman he was.