The 25th (Frontiersmen) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was an infantry battalion of the British Army's Royal Fusiliers which was active during World War I. It was raised by the Legion of Frontiersmen. It served in the African Theatre of the war from 1915 to 1918, centered mostly in the area around Lake Tanganyika, British East African and German East African territory.
The battalion was largely composed of older men who hailed from diverse backgrounds and varied occupations, some of whom were Boer War veterans. Amongst these occupations were English big-game hunters, a British millionaire, several American cowboys, a Scottish light-house keeper, a naturalist, a circus clown, an Arctic explorer, an opera singer, a photographer, and a lion tamer. There were also French Foreign Legionaries and Russians (reportedly prison escapees from Siberia).
The unit was formed on 12 February 1915 by Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Patrick Driscoll, who was, at that time, fifty-five years of age, well above that of an average soldier. [1] Another noted serving officer (and eventually the Second in Command of the battalion) was Frederick Courteney Selous, a veteran of various small African wars and skirmishes, a big-game hunter and friend of Theodore Roosevelt. Selous had previously hunted with Roosevelt during his famed 1909 African safari. Selous is also known for having served as the inspiration for Sir H. Rider Haggard to create his fictional Allan Quatermain character, a 19th-century African explorer and hunter of big-game beasts. [2] [3] Selous was later killed in action with the unit, shot through the mouth by a German sniper in January 1917.
The unit gained the nickname "Old and the Bold", due to its members' ages, their veteran status, and reputation for endurance and daring against the enemy, even though the majority of volunteers were young men. [4] The battalion was disbanded on 19 June 1918. [5] The exploits of "The Old and the Bold" were later the loose basis of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "The Phantom Train of Doom" (German East Africa, November 1916). Veteran Raiders of the Lost Ark actor Paul Freeman portrayed Selous as an adventurous, cunning, yet decisive commander.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that saw distinguished service through many years and wars, including the Second Boer War, and the First and Second World Wars. It had many different titles throughout its 280 years of existence.
The Legion of Frontiersmen is a civilian nationalist paramilitary organisation formed in Britain in 1905 by Roger Pocock, a former North-West Mounted Police constable and Boer War veteran. Prompted by fears of an impending invasion of Britain and the Empire, the organisation was founded to be a field intelligence corps that would watch over and protect the boundaries of the Empire. Headquartered in London, the Legion of Frontiersmen formed branches throughout the Empire to prepare enlistees for war and foster vigilance in peacetime. Despite their efforts, the Legion never achieved significant official recognition, in part because many Commonwealth nations' laws prohibit militia groups.
William Thomas Dartnell, VC, also known as Wilbur Taylor Dartnell, was an Australian-born soldier, actor and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Born in Melbourne, he served in the Second Boer War as a teenager and later in the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906. He married, managed his own business and worked as a professional actor before immigrating to South Africa in 1912 or 1913.
James Rudolph Garfield was an American lawyer and politician. Garfield was a son of President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. He served as Secretary of the Interior during President Theodore Roosevelt's administration.
Frederick Courteney Selous, DSO was a British explorer, officer, professional hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in Southeast Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir Henry Rider Haggard to create the fictional character Allan Quatermain. Selous was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, Cecil Rhodes and Frederick Russell Burnham. He was pre-eminent within a group of big game hunters that included Abel Chapman and Arthur Henry Neumann. He was the older brother of the ornithologist and writer Edmund Selous.
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and became part of the English establishment in 1689.
White hunter is a literary term used for professional big game hunters of European descent, from all over the world, who plied their trade in Africa, especially during the first half of the 20th century. The activity continues in the dozen African countries which still permit big-game hunting. White hunters derived their income from organizing and leading safaris for paying clients, or from the sale of ivory.
The Battle of Bukoba was the first victory for Entente forces in German East Africa, coming after the disastrous battles of Tanga and Jassin. The British objective was the destruction of the Bukoba wireless station. Due to Bukoba's location on the shore of Lake Victoria, it was decided that the raid should take the form of an amphibious assault.
John Guille Millais was a British artist, naturalist, gardener and travel writer who specialised in wildlife and flower portraiture. He travelled extensively around the world in the late Victorian period detailing wildlife often for the first time. He is noted for illustrations that are of a particularly exact nature.
The Battle of Behobeho was fought during the East African Campaign of World War I.
The 222nd Infantry Brigade was a Home Service formation of the British Army that existed under various short-lived titles in both the First and Second World Wars
The 66th Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of the Territorial Force, which saw service in the trenches of the Western Front, during the later years of the Great War and was disbanded after the war.
The Smithsonian–Roosevelt African expedition was an expedition to tropical Africa in 1909–1911 led by former US President Theodore Roosevelt. It was funded by Andrew Carnegie and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Its purpose was to collect specimens for the Smithsonian's new natural history museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History. The expedition collected around 11,400 animal specimens, which took Smithsonian naturalists eight years to catalog. The trip involved political and social interactions with local leaders and dignitaries. Following the expedition, Roosevelt chronicled it in his book African Game Trails.
The .461 No 1 Gibbs and the .461 No 2 Gibbs are two obsolete proprietary rifle cartridges developed in 19th century Britain.
Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Patrick Driscoll was a British Army officer of Irish descent, awarded many military honours for his combat service in Burma, the Union of South Africa, and German East Africa in the First World War.
Sir William Northrup McMillan was a Kenyan settler, adventurer, and philanthropist.
Leslie Jefferis Tarlton was an Australian big game hunter and entrepreneur in British East Africa. He was the leader of numerous safaris, including the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition of 1909–1910.
Cornelius Johannes van Rooyen (1860-1915), also known as 'Nellis' van Rooyen, was an early colonial settler of Zimbabwe, big game hunter, and hunting guide. He is best known today as the breeder of predecessors of the Rhodesian Ridgeback dog breed, once known as 'van Rooyen's lion dog'.