Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a fantastic Rhodesian Brushstroke camouflage pattern patrol cap! What makes it even better is the 1 R.A.R. patch insignia on the front for the 1st Battalion Rhodesian African Rifles. The insignia consists of a Matabele shield, crossed by a Matabele stabbing spear and a Shona digging spear, obfuscated by a knobkerrie.

The RAR were officially declared the successor to the Rhodesia Native Regiment (RNR) which had existed in World War I from 1916 to 1918, and was granted the RNR's battle honours earned fighting in the East African Campaign. The RAR were the second-oldest regiment of the Rhodesian Army, after the Rhodesia Regiment which was raised in 1899.

The RAR used the "greens" uniform and wore slouch hats as headgear, or in this case the Keko.

This cap is actually a design copied from the French Bigeard cap. The Bigeard cap is a field cap worn by the French Army and several others. It was allegedly invented by French General Marcel Bigeard to replace the colorful and less practical colored headgear worn by the French Army in its war in Indochina.

The Bigeard is a cloth field cap with a short cloth peak. Originally produced in lizard, it was later produced in olive green and various camouflage patterns to include, forest, and desert. The cap is more of a peaked sidecap and is available with or without neck flaps for sun protection.

A lovely example ready for further research and display.

Rhodesian Bush War
The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second Chimurenga as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognized country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia).

The conflict pitted three forces against one another: the Rhodesian white minority-led government of Ian Smith (later the Zimbabwe-Rhodesian government of Bishop Abel Muzorewa); the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, the military wing of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union; and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army of Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union.

The war and its subsequent Internal Settlement, signed in 1978 by Smith and Muzorewa, led to the implementation of universal suffrage in June 1979 and the end of white minority rule in Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia under a black majority government. However, this new order failed to win international recognition and the war continued. Neither side achieved a military victory and a compromise was later reached.

Negotiations between the government of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, the government of the United Kingdom, and Mugabe and Nkomo's united "Patriotic Front" took place at Lancaster House, London in December 1979, and the Lancaster House Agreement was signed. The country returned temporarily to British control and new elections were held under British and Commonwealth supervision in March 1980. ZANU won the election and Mugabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980, when the country achieved internationally recognised independence.