Author Description

The story of Hartigan’s Horse, albeit short-lived as a regiment, existed for only five months during 1915 and was known more for the story of its rapid mobilization and efficiency, than of any actions and battles fought. In fact, Hartigan’s Horse fought only one minor engagement, yet, the regiments name remains well known within the South African Military History arena and in particular the annals of South African Police history. The regiment was raised in January 1915, by Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Michael ‘Mike’ Hartigan of the South African Police and served briefly with the Southern Column during the German South West Africa campaign and was broken-up and disbanded in late May of the same year. Like many other specially raised regiments at the time, such as the Natal Light Horse and Botha’s Natal Horse, Hartigan’s Horse consisted of many old campaigners and personalities that brought to the regiment a particular flavour that was common among South African regiments at the time. This book has been compiled from the few surviving primary sources relating to the regiment, with a view to providing historians, military enthusiast, and collectors, firstly, with a brief overview of the regiments history and secondly to profile the known military service of those men that served with Hartigan’s Horse. The authors have been very fortunate in locating three surviving accounts of their operational service in South West Africa written by Lieutenant H.R. Bridges and Lieutenant Colonel M.M. Hartigan himself. The authors, as a group of like-minded researchers and collectors, come from a variety of backgrounds and have as a group, all served in the military at some point. They have studied history and are all experienced military genealogical researchers. This book includes and highlights: The extensive use of archival material located in both the United Kingdom and South Africa. A brief summary of the activities of the regim