TOPIC:

On the 3 July 1899, Baden-Powell was appointed for Special Service in South Africa, accompanied by a small group of ultimately 25 Imperial Special Service Officers. Is there a list anywhere of these 25 officers? Thanks.

RedlandsRodge
According to Vol. 1 of Rhodesia Served the Queen (p.60), Hickman ID'd the following SSOs


Regards
IL.

Thank you very much. I am interested in Lt. FW Milligan of "C" Troop. He received his commission in Southern Africa. I have seen a report of some action where it mentions "C" Troop with Capt. MacLaren and a Special Service Officer.

Do you think that I would be correct in presuming the make-up in numbers of the Special Service Officers were those recruited in Southern Africa and that Lt. Milligan would be the second-in-command of "C" Troop and the Special Services Officer not named? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.

According to "Rhodesia Served the Queen" Vol.1, a Lt. Milligan" the famous Yorkshire and England cricketer" was killed outside Mafeking on 31/3/1900, with Capt. F.H. Crewe and others. The medal roll of C Sqn., Rhodesia Regt. shows Milligan's initials as being F.W.
The Rhodesia Regt. was raised on 10th August 1899 and I would imagine that likely men would have been picked out and commissioned. Whether those could be classed as SSOs is I feel unlikely. Opinion based on one of the chaps in my collection who was commissioned with the RR when raised (Lt. Forbes) and was not noted as an SSO. SSOs were initially Imperial Officers and were really the cream of the crop. Later on, promising officers were drawn from Colonial Australian militaries and again were the cream of the crop.
My opinion only about Lt. Milligan's officer status, of course. Happy to be proved wrong.
Regards
IL.

Thank you. I very much value your opinion. Whether he was classed as a SSO is, ultimately, not too important with regards the telling of his life story which I am covering. It just would have been nice to include the fact if it could have been categorically confirmed.

Can someone tell me what exactly was a "special service officer"?