John Frame - The Rhodesian Civil War (1966-1979)

(1966-1979)

By

John Frame

Published by New Generation Publishing in 2018

Copyright John Frame 2018

First Edition

The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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To my son, Christopher, himself a published author of Maritime History books, who, listening to me relay some of the stories about Rhodesia, encouraged me to write this history book.

To my wife, Janet, and daughter, Catherine, my daughter-in-law, Rachelle, and Alex, my son-in-law, for being supportive along the journey.

To my parents, George and Lorraine, who raised me in Rhodesia with the values and principles that I have carried through my life and to which I hope I have honoured to the best of my abilities.

To Rhodesia, the country of my birth and where I grew up and to Australia who adopted me and my wife.

A project like this cannot be undertaken without the goodwill and generosity of others. Many have given of their time which I sincerely appreciate and specifically I give special thanks to the following for helping me along the journey:

To Alex Lucas for assisting me with drawing maps.

To Russell Smith for assisting me with formatting the slides that I have from the Rhodesian Air Force.

Gussie Dick for proof reading the manuscript.

Jim Scheeberger and Brian McKelvin for various pictures.

To the late Group Captain Petter-Bowyer for certain pictures used in this book.

Hugh Bomford and Gerry van Tonder for supplying various pictures, several of which are in their book, Rhodesia Regiment 1899-1981.

Colin Weyer of www.rhodesia.me.uk for supply of certain pictures.

Jorge Agustn Nicols Ruiz de Santayana y Borrs, (December 16, 1863 September 26, 1952), a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

John Anderson, author of A Manual of General History in 1876 said, History is a narration of the events which have happened among mankind, including an account of the rise and fall of nations, as well as of other great changes which have affected the political and social condition of the human race.

So is it with the history of Rhodesia, a country that was founded in September 1890 when the British South Africa Company pioneers raised the Union Jack in what was to become Fort Salisbury and ended in March 1980 when Britain granted independence to Zimbabwe. In that short ninety years, while a remarkable transformation occurred to create a strong, viable and functional economy which was a Jewel in Africa, the foundations for its end were laid down along the way. Rhodesia ceased to exist after thirteen long and brutal years of civil war.

It is often the case that history is quoted as justification for current and future actions to be taken, for territorial claims and for long-running conflicts to continue. That was certainly the case with Rhodesia as the protagonists laid claim to the territory that none were the original inhabitants of, depending on how far back in history one chooses to venture. So too is the case with the claim for universal franchise exercised without fear that was pursued as justification for civil war. Subsequent historical events, post the independence of Zimbabwe, stand in judgement whether the rights of individuals to exercise their democratic electoral will without fear was achieved.

The Collins Dictionary defines a civil war as war between parties or factions within the same nation. The war that took place between 1966 and 1979 was fought by factions within the nation of Rhodesia. The Rhodesian civil war was fought to determine who would have political control over the country and what form of government that country would have. It was brutal and touched all the citizens of the country in one way or another. Fought mainly in the country, this war has often been described as a Bush War. To call it a racist war, because of the white Rhodesian minority government being a main protagonist in the conflict, is nave. While the two major guerrilla factions were wholly those of black Rhodesians, the Rhodesian Security Forces were made up with a majority of black soldiers and Police.

The conflict did nonetheless have a tribal element that was to play an important factor in how the course of the war tracked. The black soldiers in the Rhodesian Security Forces were drawn from all the tribes. There was a stark tribal divide within the two guerrilla factions that carried forward the history of tribal animosity of the pre-Rhodesia era and which lingers today within Zimbabwe laid bare by the terrible Gukurahundi, the slaughter of over 20,000 Matabele by the Shona dominated Zimbabwe government between 1983 and 1987.

It is occasionally said that history is written by the victors and as such favours the victors recollection and perceptions of what actually occurred. The eighteenth century French writer, Voltaire wrote, "All our ancient history is no more than accepted fiction." So too can it be with the history of Rhodesia especially as a consequence of the bitterness of the civil war and with the subsequent course of events that has landed Zimbabwe where it is today.

Rhodesia and the Rhodesian civil war, a conflict in Central Africa, will pass into the mists of time and become irrelevant, unless its history is recorded. Its history however can become distorted by recording that history through a particular lens. In researching this historical account of the Rhodesian Civil War over an extended period, I have attempted, as far as is possible, to validate many of the facts by reference from at least two independent sources so as to reflect the historical events as accurately as possible.

John Frame
June 2018

The flag of the British South Africa Company. The symbolic BSAC Lion holding an Elephant Tusk on the backdrop of the British Union Jack. The BSAC was formed with the amalgamation of Cecil John Rhodess Central Search Association with the London based Exploring Company Ltd.

The genesis of the Rhodesian Civil War that took place from early1966 through to December 1979 was the British colonial policy and in particular the actions of a man called Cecil John Rhodes.

Cecil John Rhodes was a devoted imperialist convinced with the notion of expanding the British Empire and particularly in building a railway from Cape to Cairo through African territories administered under the British Union Jack flag.

Due to his health, he travelled to Natal in South Africa in 1870 to join his brother on his farm. The cotton farming enterprise they engaged in failed which caused the two brothers to find other pursuits, one being where they dabbled in the diamond fields in Kimberley. While his brother Herbert was restless and in 1873 moved on, Cecil doggedly persisted at the diamond fields and for eight years he divided his time between Kimberley in South Africa and Oxford in Britain where he studied for a degree.