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say that this was an unusual group would be an
understatement, even by today’s standards.
The 25th was raised by the Legion of Frontiersmen in London.
The Battalion comprised of a disparate group of, generally,
older men and amongst their number they counted a big game
hunter, a millionaire, several American cowboys, a lighthouse
keeper, an opera singer and a clown!!
They were the only British unit that went to war without any
official training, as they were considered to have all of the
necessary skills.
They were formed by Lt Col David Patrick Driscoll (55 years
old at the time). Another officer, and future CO, was Frederick
Selous .
Selous was the inspiration for Rider Haggard’s fictional character
Allan Quartermaine.
The unit were known as “The Old and the Bold” and their
exploits formed the loose basis of “The Young Indiana Jones
Chronicles” episode “The Phantom Train of Doom” (German
East Africa, November 1916). Veteran actor Paul Freeman
portrayed Selous.
It is difficult to imagine how 20-year-old John Shrive came to
meet and join David Driscoll’s group. It certainly wasn’t that
he was older than the average soldier, but maybe he had that
sense of adventure which is evident in today’s applicants for the
SAS. He certainly had a different war from the unfortunates on
the Western Front.
The Allies, based in British East Africa (now Kenya) and South
Africa, were fighting the Germans in German East Africa (now
Tanzania). The Germans had no hope of winning that war but
their intention was to tie up as many Allied forces as possible to
keep them away from the Western Front.
To counter this, the British used largely Indian regiments and South
African ones with large numbers of black soldiers and bearers.
The war in Africa was generally a very mobile war with many
skirmishes and not so many set-piece battles. The British and
South Africans were slowly pushing the Germans back into
204
understatement, even by today’s standards.
The 25th was raised by the Legion of Frontiersmen in London.
The Battalion comprised of a disparate group of, generally,
older men and amongst their number they counted a big game
hunter, a millionaire, several American cowboys, a lighthouse
keeper, an opera singer and a clown!!
They were the only British unit that went to war without any
official training, as they were considered to have all of the
necessary skills.
They were formed by Lt Col David Patrick Driscoll (55 years
old at the time). Another officer, and future CO, was Frederick
Selous .
Selous was the inspiration for Rider Haggard’s fictional character
Allan Quartermaine.
The unit were known as “The Old and the Bold” and their
exploits formed the loose basis of “The Young Indiana Jones
Chronicles” episode “The Phantom Train of Doom” (German
East Africa, November 1916). Veteran actor Paul Freeman
portrayed Selous.
It is difficult to imagine how 20-year-old John Shrive came to
meet and join David Driscoll’s group. It certainly wasn’t that
he was older than the average soldier, but maybe he had that
sense of adventure which is evident in today’s applicants for the
SAS. He certainly had a different war from the unfortunates on
the Western Front.
The Allies, based in British East Africa (now Kenya) and South
Africa, were fighting the Germans in German East Africa (now
Tanzania). The Germans had no hope of winning that war but
their intention was to tie up as many Allied forces as possible to
keep them away from the Western Front.
To counter this, the British used largely Indian regiments and South
African ones with large numbers of black soldiers and bearers.
The war in Africa was generally a very mobile war with many
skirmishes and not so many set-piece battles. The British and
South Africans were slowly pushing the Germans back into
204
