Talk:History of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (1961–1972)

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History of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (1961–1972)

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Modern sources stress that the Rhodesian Light Infantry was formed as part of the white minority government of Rhodesia's efforts to retain control over the country, including by offsetting the Rhodesian African Rifles (a unit whose personnel other than its officers were blacks) which up to that point made up the great majority of the Army - the government was concerned that the RAR could rebel and imperil white rule given there were no regular white Army units. Sources also note that the RLI had different (and generally much superior) conditions of service to the RAR, which also formed part of the racial discrimination in Rhodesia, and was considered far more trustworthy by the government than the RAR. The article does not discuss the racialised issues around this unit at all, despite it being a prominent issue in the high quality literature. As such, I don't think that the GA criteria are met and there would need to be quite a bit of work to address this issue. Nick-D (talk) 01:45, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

Would it be possible to give some quotes from sources about this? This was by User:Cliftonian, who wrote Ian Smith which also happens to be very sympathetic to Smith's views. Unfortunately I can't see more of this editors contribs as they appear to have vanished, but all their articles on Rhodesia probably need to be scrutinised Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 20:48, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

Special:Contributions/Renamed user df576567etesddf, others also have concerns on their talk pages , several are still FAs/GAs. List of articles:

• Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence
• Shangani Patrol
• Southern Rhodesia in World War I
• Rudd Concession
• History of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (1972–1977)
• Rhodesian mission in Lisbon
• Political history of Zimbabwe (starts in 1890s ffs)
• Southern Rhodesia in World War II
• Rhodesian Light Infantry
• 7 Independent Company (Rhodesia)
• Air Rhodesia Flight 825
• Hugh Beadle
• William Harper (Rhodesian politician)
• Paul Kruger
• Military career of Ian Smith
• John Harrison Clark
• Company rule in Rhodesia

Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 21:02, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

Ffs, Special:Contributions/Shscoulsdon seems to have a similar POV Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 10:42, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks Kowal2701. Here are some citations illustrating the issue here:

From Moorcraft, Paul L.; McLaughlin, Peter (2010). The Rhodesian War: A Military History. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-0725-1.

• "A symbol of the nature of the conflict was the creation in 1961 of an all-white component of the regular forces [the RLI] 'to strike the balance between the European and African units'. In an era of African nationalism the white settlers were no longer prepared to entrust their security to black (and conceivably disloyal) regular troops and a weak European Territorial force [part-time reservists]". (p. 25)

From: Howard, M.T. (2024). Black Soldiers in the Rhodesian Army: Colonialism, Professionalism, and Race. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• "The small regular army was itself de facto split [after the formation of the RLI] between the RAR and the white units, principally the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), which reflected the enduring mistrust of black soldiers by army and government elites" (p. 77)
• "In 1961, the RLI, a commando infantry battalion, was formed. It was ‘intimately connected with the maintenance of White supremacy in Rhodesia’ as it was intended not only to relieve white reservists, but to ‘be available should the African units prove disloyal or unreliable in a political crisis’. The RLI and its special forces counterpart, the Rhodesian Special Air Service (RhSAS), were the ‘only two units not to be racially integrated’ prior to independence.159 Officers in the Rhodesian Army thought these new formations would ‘help “to strike the balance between the European [i.e. Territorial] and African units”’. Patently, this ‘balance’ was one in which white soldiers would function as the regime’s Praetorian guard" (p. 78)
• "The starkest illustration of the systematic racism of the Rhodesian Army was found in its policies of pay, in which black soldiers received far less than white soldiers" (p. 111)
• "The free accommodation on offer [for black soldiers in the RAR] was, like pay, of a lesser standard than that provided for white soldiers" (p. 116)

Mutanda, Darlington; Muzenda, Gift (29 April 2025). "Revisiting the Motivations for Loyalty among Black Soldiers and Police in the Rhodesian Security Forces, 1964–79". International Journal of Military History and Historiography.

• "When African nationalism became a reality in most of Africa, particularly in the 1950s, there were concerns about the loyalty of African troops, and in 1961 the all-white Rhodesian Light Infantry was formed" (p. 21)

I haven't seen any sources giving different views of these issues, and the Rhodesian Government appears to have been frank about the reasons for having the RLI and the racial disparities in service conditions. The article doesn't cover these issues at all, and would require quite a bit of reworking to get the balance right. Nick-D (talk) 22:59, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

@Nick-D, do you think it's worth opening a discussion at WT:FA or WP:NPOVN about the articles above? At the very least I think I'm going to add {{POV}} to ones with identifiable issues, but I haven't done much (if any) reading of the literature on Rhodesia Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 10:18, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

I'd suggest doing this on a case by case basis if issues are identified with the articles. Nick-D (talk) 10:29, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

I've tagged some that had reasoned complaints on their talk pages, but I don't have the time nor will to read and process all these articles let alone read around the topics. Probably going to take this to WT:FA. At Rhodesian Light Infantry an amateur history titled The Saints: The Rhodesian Light Infantry (2007) is used throughout, and was cited for The RLI's tactics and training contributed to repeated successes in its counter-insurgency operations. "The advantage this gave them..." says United States Army Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Grossman, "...added up to nothing less than total tactical superiority." in the lead Kowal2701 (talk, contribs) 11:30, 5 May 2026 (UTC)