Sergeant Frank Eric Lloyd (20 August 1909 – 21 October 1992) was a member of the

British South Africa Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, fro ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

from 1932 to 1955. He is best known as author of ''Rhodesian Patrol'', an autobiographical account of his time in the BSAP.

Early life

Frank Eric Lloyd was born in Chester, Cheshire, England, the second son of Joseph and Elizabeth Lloyd, who owned Lloyd's Cooperage in Watergate Row, Chester.

Career in British South Africa Police

After travelling to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1931 to join the British South Africa Police, he was accepted as a recruit and spent five months training in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

(now Harare), Southern Rhodesia. He spent the early part of his police career on mounted patrol in the Matopo Hills (now Matobo National Park). During the early part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

while stationed at

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council ...

he absconded in an attempt to fight in the East African Campaign. He crossed into Northern Rhodesia (now

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

) at

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anim ...

and at Broken Hill (now Kabwe) stowed away in the army convoy of the 4th Rhodesian Anti Tank Battery who were en route to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

. After several days travelling he was discovered and arrested at

Mpika Mpika is a town in the Muchinga Province of Zambia, lying at the junction of the M1 Road to Kasama and Mbala and the Tanzam Highway ( Great North Road) to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in the north-east and Lusaka in the south-west. It also has a r ...

and tried back at Salisbury for desertion, receiving a sentence of six weeks with hard labour. Subsequent to the war, he was stationed at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

(now Mwami) in West Mashonaland and later at Sipolilo (now Guruve) in Central Mashonaland. He retired from the BSAP in 1955. His autobiographical account of life in the BSAP, Rhodesian Patrol, was published in 1965.

Career after retirement from BSAP

His later career was in the service of the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

during which time he lived at Eccleston Lodge on the Duke's Eaton estate.

Private life

While stationed at

Sinoia Chinhoyi, known until 1982 as Sinoia, is a city in central northern Zimbabwe in the Makonde District. It has a population of 90,800 and is primarily a college town, although it was originally founded as an Italian group settlement scheme. The ...

(now Chinhoyi) in 1941, he met Jane Wray McCrudden, a

Nursing sister Nursing management consists of the performance of the leadership functions of governance and decision-making within organizations employing nurses. It includes processes common to all management like planning, organizing, staffing, directing and ...

at Sinoia Hospital and originally from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. They married and had four children: Patricia, Charles, Lorna and Eileen.

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Frank Eric British South Africa Police officers Rhodesian writers People from Chester 1909 births 1992 deaths