A baboon called Jackie became a private in the South African army in World War I.

. The 4 SAI and Jackie the Baboon

The 3rd SAI also had a mascot, Jackie, the baboon. Until 1915 Jackie was the beloved pet of the Marr family, who lived on Cheshire Farm, Villieria, on the outskirts of Pretoria. When, as no. 4927, private Albert Marr attested at Potchefstroom on 25 August 1915, for service in the 3rd Regiment of the Brigade, he asked for and was given permission to bring Jackie along with him. He behaved so well that he was officially adopted as the mascot of the 3rd SAI and taken on strength as a member of the regiment. Once in England he was provided with a special uniform and cap, complete with buttons and regimental badges.
In april 1918 the SA Brigade was badly shelled on the way to the area of Reninghelst, some two miles north-east of La Clytte (just some kilometres away from Ieper) in West-Flanders.
One of the victims was Jackie, wounded by a jagged piece of shrapnel in the arm and the leg.
His leg was amputated and Jackie was treated as any seriously wounded soldier, going along the evacuation line, from a CCS to a base hospital on the French coast. It was a common sight to see the baboon frolicking with other patients on the beach.
From early September 1918 till February 1919 Jackie and private Albert Marr were lent to the Red Cross by the War Office and the South African Government for the purpose of collecting money for sick and wounded soldiers. Much of the money the pair made was from the sale of postcards depicting Jackie and private Marr.
On May 1919 Jackie and Albert dined at Johannesburg’s Park Restaurant before going home to Cheshire Farm in Pretoria . There Jackie was celebrated and became the centre of attention on occasions such as the parade to welcome back officially the 1st SAI Brigade and at the Peace Parade on Church Square, Pretoria on 31 Juli 1920, where he received the Pretoria Citizen’s Service Medal. Jackie died after a fire destroyed the Marr home. He was buried in an unmarked grave on Cheshire Farm, Villieria. Albert Marr died in Pretoria, aged 84, in August 1973.

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