red oath, noun phrase

Origin:
Named for the red flashes worn during World War II by soldiers who had taken the oath.
historical, colloquial
The Africa Service Oath taken by volunteers from the Union Defence Force who were willing to serve anywhere in Africa for as long as World War II lasted. See also new oath, red tab.
Note:
The oath was first taken on 29 March 1940.
1940 Forum 7 Sept. 3Now the women must also take the red oath. Thus they will also have to wear the red tab. I hope our Afrikaans ladies will possess enough courage not to wear that monstrosity.
1953 A. Paton Phalarope (1963) 35He took the red oath, which meant that he would go anywhere in Africa, and they gave him red flashes to put on his shoulders. But the red oath, to those who would not take it, meant only one thing, that the wearer of it was a Smuts man, a traitor to the language and struggle of the Afrikaner people, and a lickspittle of the British Empire and the English King.
1956 H. Van Rensburg Their Paths Crossed Mine 185Many of them, especially the officers and instructors, had been in the Army and had been thrown out because they had refused to take the ‘red oath’; the oath as volunteers for the anything but popular war.
1970 Rand Daily Mail 14 Nov. 9Within only two years of joining..[he] was awarded the Queen’s Medal — the Commonwealth’s V.C. for policemen. The award had its moments of irony, because Le Grange refused to sign the ‘Red Oath’ during the Second World War.
The Africa Service Oath taken by volunteers from the Union Defence Force who were willing to serve anywhere in Africa for as long as World War II lasted.
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redneck, nounn.red tab, noun phrasen. phr.
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