Rimington's Guides (also known as Rimington's Tigers or Rimington's Corps of Guides and then later as Damant's Horse) were a unit of light horse in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

active in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

. They were led by Major M. F. (Mike) Rimington, later Brevet Colonel Rimington CB. He also led a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

in the later stages of the war. The Rimington's Guides also had the name Rimington's Tigers due to the leopard skin hatbands worn on their

slouch hat A slouch hat is a wide-brimmed felt or cloth hat most commonly worn as part of a military uniform, often, although not always, with a chinstrap. It has been worn by military personnel from many different nations including Australia, Ireland, the ...

s. Rimington gave his Corps of Guides the nickname "catch-'em-alive-o's while other forces gave him the nickname "The Night Cats" because of their night marches and stealth like movement. Rimington left the Guides in January 1901. The force was reorganised as Damant's Horse under Major Frederic Damant, Rimington's second-in-command, though they were often known by his name through the remainder of the war.

Composition

The unit was recruited from English speaking South Africans. Every man in Rimington's Corps of Guides was obliged to speak

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

and at least one of the indigenous African languages, with many speaking both. They were armed with

carbines A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and lighter ...

and

pistols A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

, riding light ahead of the main army.

Notable Unit Members

* Corporal John James Clements. Rimington Guides. South African-born recipient of the VC. * Lieutenant-Colonel Hon. George Henry Morris, (16 July 1872 – 1 September 1914) the first

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitud ...

to lead an

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has partic ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are e ...

into battle. He was killed in action during the

Retreat from Mons The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (World War I), British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army (Fra ...

when the 4th (Guards) Brigade formed a rear-guard for the 2nd Division in La forêt de Retz near

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, France. * Sergeant Norman Frederick Hastings, later Major Hastings DSO, mid,

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

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Officer Commanding the 6th (Manawatu) Squadron, Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment who died of wounds after the attack on Chunuk Bair,

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles s ...

in August 1915. * Sergeant Arthur Owen Vaughan

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of the Second Boer War Military units and formations of the British Empire