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created 1 May 2004. Corrected and updated
10.07.2006
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Cape Mounted Riflemen [1855-1926] |
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Cape
Colony / South Africa
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| How to find information about individuals who served in this corps |
| 1852 | European
Police Force formed with 17 officers and 500 ORs to police Eastern Province of the Cape, organised on Silladar system; gradually assumed more and more military duties |
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| 1855 | Frontier Armed and Mounted Police | |
| 1874 | Artillery Troop formed | |
| 1878.08.01 | Cape Mounted
Riflemen [Colonial] reorganised as military corps with HQ at King Williams Town, appropriating name and traditions of earlier Cape Mounted Riflemen (which had disbanded in 1870); recruitment maintained in part by the Cape of Good Hope Government Emigration Agency in London |
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| 1913.04.01 | 1st Regiment,
South African Mounted Rifles transferred to Union Defence Force with HQ at King Williams Town; Arty Troop redesignated 1st Battery SAMR |
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| 1926.04.01 | disbanded, less 1st Battery transferred to SA Artillery | |
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Deployment and War Service | |
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Cape Mounted Riflemen, by John Dovey (South African Military Units) | |
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S.A. Mounted Rifles, by John Dovey (South African Military Units) | |
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The Great War: South West Africa 1914-15 Note: a brass tablet in St. George's Church, Cape Town, ascribes the following honours, but no authority has been found: Morosi 1879, Basutoland 1880-81, Bechuanaland 1897, South Africa 1899-1902. |
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Note: No description of the 1904 Standard has been found. For record of Colours see the battalion histories. | |
| Badges: | Cap Badge (1855):
"F.A.M.P." monogram. Cap Badge (1878): A bugle hanging by strings from a Tudor Crown, with CMR monogram between the strings, and a scroll inscribed AUCTO SPLENDORE RESURGO below the bugle. Cap Badge (1913): A bugle hanging by strings from a Tudor Crown, with SAMR inscribed in the left string and ZABS on the right string (for Zuid Afrikaanse Bereden Schutters). The latter was changed to SABS ca. 1923 when Afrikaans was substituted for Dutch. Collar badge: flaming grenade for Artillery Troop. NCO arm badge (1902): White Horse of Hanover (worn until 1926). Horse faced rear for the CMR, front for the 1st SAMR. The White Horse commemorated the unusual presentation of a cavalry Standard and Guidon to the Imperial Cape Mounted Riflemen. Shoulder titles: F.A.M.P., C.M.R., S.A.M.R., Z.A.B.S. |
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| Uniform: | 1855-1870:
yellow cord 1871-1878: grey (full dress), black cord (service dress) 1878-1892: blue; headdress: white helmet 1892-1895: rifle green (full dress), grey cord (service dress) 1895-1902: black (full dress); khaki (service dress) 1902-1913: drab; headdress: Wolseley helmets 1913-1922: blue tunics , blue overalls with 1 1/2 inch red stripe for officers and 1 inch red stripe for other ranks; headdress: Wolseley helmets with thin red line above the pagri. Khaki whipcord tunics with braided back seams worn in undress. 1922-1926: veld grey |
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| Commanding Officer: | ||
| Note: from 1895 the CO also commanded all local forces in the Cape | ||
| 1855 | Sir Walter Currie | |
| 1870 | J.H. Bowker | |
| 1877 | Col. C.D. Griffith | |
| 1878.08 | Col. H.G. Moore | |
| 1879.01 | Col. Z.S. Bayly, CMG | |
| 1880.01 | Right Wing: Col. Z.S. Bayly, CMG | |
| 1880.01 | Left Wing: Col. F. Carrington | |
| 1892 | Lt-Col. J.M. Grant | |
| 1896 | Col. Edmund Henry Dalgety, CB | |
| 1903 | Col. H.T. Lukin, CMG, DSO | |
| 1911.05 | Lt-Col. R.C. Grant, DSO | |
| <1915> | Lt-Col. Curtis | |
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Victoria Crosses, by Mike Chapman (VC Reference) | |
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Cape Mounted Riflemen WO97 Soldiers Documents at PRO, by Brendan Stebbings | |
| Motto: | Aucto splendore resurgo (adopted 1878, presumably in reference to the earlier CMR) | |
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| Nicknames: |  |
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| Anniversaries: | |
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| Freedoms: | |
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| Marches: | |
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| Musicians: | Kettle drums and banners at St. George's Church, Cape Town, suggest the existence of a drum horse. | |
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| Mascot: | |
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| Miscellaneous Tradition Links: | ||
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[no external sites have been found] | |
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Amathole Museum [formerly Kaffrarian Museum], King William's Town, South Africa | |
| Regimental Journal: | ||
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| Full Histories: | ||
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Granville, Alex K. ("Ex C.M.R." -pseud.) With the Cape Mounted Rifles four years service in South Africa. London : R. Bentley, 1881. | |
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Williams, Basil. Record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen. London : J. Causton, 1909. | |
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Young, P. J. Boot and saddle : a narrative record of the Cape Regiment, the British Cape Mounted Riflemen, the Frontier Armed Mounted Police, and the Colonial Cape Mounted Riflemen. Cape Town : Maskew Miller, 1955. | |
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Lorch, A.E. A story of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, 1st August, 1878 - 31st March, 1913, and 1st Regiment South African Mounted Riflemen, 1st April, 1913 - 1st April, 1926. Pretoria, 1958. | |
| Short Histories: | ||
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Historical Record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen. Cape Town : W.A. Richards, 1893. | |
| Articles: | ||
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Tylden, G. "CMR uniforms in pictures. Facts about the Cape Mounted Riflemen." Africana notes and news, v. 2, no. 2 (Mar 1945) | |
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Webb, D. E. "James Murray Grant and the 'Historical record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen'," Bulletin of the South African Library, v. 42, no. 2 (Dec. 1987) | |
| Special Topics: | ||
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Goldsworthy, J.W. Regulations for the instruction and movements of "The Cape Mounted Riflemen." Rev. ed.. Cape Town: Saul Solomon & Co., 1878. | |
| Manuscripts & Archives: | ||
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Tylden, G. "History of Cape Mounted Riflemen". Manuscript. South African National Museum of Military History. | |
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[Records of the Cape Mounted Riflemen], Amathole Museum [formerly Kaffrarian Museum], King William's Town, South Africa. | |
