By Lewis Walter ( Intaf).
I first became acquainted with the well-known Sable badge in 1942, when my father Charles Walter enlisted in the Southern Rhodesia Reconnaissance Regiment. This later became the SR Armoured Car Regiment, and the story is told in "Umtali to the Alps."
The young recruits who frequented our house in Salisbury on their way to or from the training camp in Umtali regaled my brother Austin and me with tales of the bravery of the sable, and how he could vanquish even a lion in battle. This, they said, was the reason for the choice of the sable as their regimental emblem.
Years later I received a sheet of drawings by our family's "honorary uncle," Arthur Elliot Dudley, dating from the early 1940's. These were based on illustrations by E. Caldwell in the earlier editions of "Jock of the Bushveld, and I was struck by the resemblance of their sable to the SRACR badge. The following illustrations are, I like to think, the genesis of that well-known and honoured badge:
1. The sable, as drawn by E. Caldwell, from Percy Fitzpatrick's "Jock of the Bushveld," in 1907.
2. As drawn by Arthur Dudley, based on Caldwell's drawing, early 1940's.
3. Cover page of "The Sable," Regimental Magazine of the SRACR. July 1942.
4. Badge of the Southern Rhodesia Armoured Car Regiment, 1940's.
5. Badge of the Rhodesia Armoured Car Regiment, 1970's.
The sable on the cover page of the Regimental Magazine, though unsigned, bears a strong resemblance to the drawing of Arthur Dudley, who was an accomplished artists, and member of a well-know family in Umtali where the SRACR's training camp was. He was a long-time friend of my father, and I think it probable that he was asked to design the badge.
Many thanks to Lewis Walter for this story.
Comments are always welcome, please mail orafs11@gmail.com.
↧
