Baden Powells Fighting Police The SAC (Paperback)

Hamish Ross

ISBN 10: 139908366X / ISBN 13: 9781399083669

Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd, South Yorkshire, 2024

About this Item

Paperback. This work begins in August 1900 during the war in South Africa, when mounted Boer commandos ranging across the veldt superseded pitched battles of massed armies and heavy weaponry. Thanks to his flair for organisation, Baden-Powell is asked to create a mounted force with a combined military and police role, and will be answerable to the Commander-in-Chief and the civil High Commissioner. Rejecting Army models of command, Baden-Powell creates the South African Constabulary (SAC) with a small number of officers, dividing it into Troops of 100 men, then sub-dividing again into sections and the key working unit - the squad of six men under a corporal. To get the calibre of recruit he wants, the SAC will be better paid than the Army and he expects the men to be motivated by a code of honour, to be self-reliant and handy men' able to tackle any kind of work. Most recruits come from the UK, but in Canada, however, the Governor General intervenes and botches selection. The SAC's effectiveness comes to light in this book - the first that deals with its creation and development; its wartime achievements and its peace-time transition into a community support helping local people returning to their homes. This work also highlights what Baden-Powell brought from the SAC and gave anew to the Scouts. Based on research using archive material in the UK, South Africa and Canada, it also includes images that have not previously appeared before in the public domain. AUTHOR: Hamish Ross's previous books are: Paddy Mayne, a lauded biography of the SAS hero; Freedom in the Air, for which the Czech Republic awarded him the Commemorative Medal; From SAS to Blood Diamond Wars, with the legendary Fred Marafono; and Archie Bowman, a Princeton professor who became a POW in the First World War and came out of the prison camps a strong supporter of the League of Nations. Hamish lives in Scotland with his wife. The SACs effectiveness comes to light in this book the first that deals with its creation and development; its wartime achievements and its peace-time transition into a community support helping local people returning to their homes. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781399083669

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Baden Powells Fighting Police The SAC (Paperback)
• Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, South Yorkshire
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 139908366X
• ISBN 13: 9781399083669
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Exploring the creation and impact of Baden-Powell's South African Constabulary during and after the Boer War.

This work begins in August 1900 during the war in South Africa, when mounted Boer commandos ranging across the veldt superseded pitched battles of massed armies and heavy weaponry. Thanks to his flair for organisation, Baden-Powell is asked to create a mounted force with a combined military and police role, and will be answerable to the Commander-in-Chief and the civil High Commissioner.

Rejecting Army models of command, Baden-Powell creates the South African Constabulary (SAC) with a small number of officers, dividing it into Troops of 100 men, then sub-dividing again into sections and the key working unit – the squad of six men under a corporal. To get the calibre of recruit he wants, the SAC will be better paid than the Army and he expects the men to be motivated by a code of honour, to be self-reliant and ‘handy men’ able to tackle any kind of work. Most recruits come from the UK, but in Canada, however, the Governor General intervenes and botches selection.

The SAC’s effectiveness comes to light in this book – the first that deals with its creation and development; its wartime achievements and its peace-time transition into a community support helping local people returning to their homes. This work also highlights what Baden-Powell brought from the SAC and gave anew to the Scouts.

Based on research using archive material in the UK, South Africa and Canada, it also includes images that have not previously appeared before in the public domain.

About the Author

Hamish Ross is the author of 'Paddy Mayne', the acclaimed biography of one of the revered figures in the SAS; 'Freedom in the Air', which was translated into Czech and for which he was awarded the Commemorative Medal by the Czech Republic; and 'From SAS to Blood Diamond Wars' with Fred Marafono. He lives with his wife in Glasgow.