Ronald Francis Reid-Daly (22 September 1928 – 9 August 2010) was a Rhodesian military officer who founded and commanded the

Selous Scouts The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority ...

special forces unit that fought during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

Career

Reid-Daly, who was born in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, then capital of the British colony of

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a 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 known as South ...

, entered military service in 1951, and served with the all-Rhodesian C Squadron of the 22 Special Air Service in counter-insurgency operations in the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

. He became a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1963. Reid-Daly rose to the rank of

regimental sergeant major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by a warrant officer (WO) in the British Army, the Royal Marines, and the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations. It is also an actual rank in the Iri ...

in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, and was later commissioned and achieved the rank of captain. He retired from the army in 1973. In late 1973, he was persuaded by General Peter Walls, then chief of the

Rhodesian Army The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel ...

, to return to active duty in order to form the

, an elite special forces unit to combat the growing threat posed by communist guerrillas. Drawing on his Malayan experience, Lieutenant Colonel Reid-Daly built a skilled and highly professional regiment from scratch. Although the Selous Scouts achieved many of their military objectives, their unorthodox and often criminal methods created tensions within the military hierarchy. Reid-Daly had several brushes with the Rhodesian authorities. In 1979, rumours surfaced in Salisbury that the Scouts were poaching ivory along the Zambezi valley. Reid-Daly dismissed the allegations as ridiculous. In the process of defending himself against them, Reid-Daly verbally attacked Major General John Hickman. For this he was charged with insubordination and sentenced to a reprimand. Disgusted, he resigned as the commander of the Scouts in August but continued to fight a legal battle against the judgement, proclaiming his innocence even after Rhodesia transformed into

Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...

, and only stopped doing so after he was forced to flee to South Africa in 1982. In South Africa, Reid-Daly became commander of the Transkei Defence Force, and he was subsequently the leader of the private security firm Security Services Transkei. For the final decade of his life, he resided near

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. In his retirement, he authored several books on his wartime experiences. He was survived by his two children and two grandchildren.

Awards

* (1976) * (1971) * (1963)

Publications

* with Peter Stiff * *

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid-Daly, Ronald 1928 births 2010 deaths Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Harare Rhodesian anti-communists Rhodesian military leaders Rhodesian military personnel of the Bush War Rhodesian people of British descent Rhodesian Special Air Service personnel Selous Scouts personnel Southern Rhodesian military personnel of the Malayan Emergency White Rhodesian people Zimbabwean emigrants to South Africa