S. Africa. [a. Pg. commando ‘command, party commanded,’ f. stem of commandar to COMMAND.] A party commanded or called out for military purposes; an expedition or raid: a word applied in South Africa to quasi-military expeditions of the Portuguese or the Dutch Boers (esp. the latter) against the natives.
1834. Pringle, Afr. Sk., xiv., 435. The boors made commandoes on our fathers. Ibid., xiv. 458. The old wretched policy of military reprisals—the commando system.
1884. Pall Mall G., 9 May, 3/2. The presence of a commando of several hundred respectable Boers in Central Zululand.
1885. Athenæum, 15 Aug., 201. The capture … of native children by the Dutch commandos.
