The date was August 1976. The South African government Detente initiative was in full swing and Rhodesia was at the centre of the diplomacy activity. The Selous Scouts of the Rhodesian Army made a daring raid 120km into Mozambique by road to attack a large communist sponsored ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) guerrilla camp. After Intel from captured ZANLA that a large training camp existed near the Pungwe River, the Nyadzonya camp was sighted by chance and pictures taken by a Rhodesian Air Force Canberra flown by Sqn Leader du Rand. The SAS then conducted surveillance of the camp and its surrounds as the numbers of ZANLA guerrillas swelled. This surveillance gave the Scouts good on the ground Intel. The Special Branch / CIO had also sourced valuable Intel and established the camp muster was at 0800 - an opportune time for any attack. Initially an Air Force bombing strike was planned using Canberra and Hunter aircraft. But due to the South African Government Detente initiative with the Governments of Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique and the planned Geneva Conference between the Rhodesian Government and the Nationalist groups, all aggressive cross border attacks by the Air Force were suspended. A ground assault was therefore the only viable option. Called Operation Eland, 10 trucks and 4 armoured cars disguised as FRELIMO (Mozambique Army) vehicles manned with 70 black and white Selous Scouts, many dressed in FRELIMO uniforms, crossed the Rhodesian / Mozambique border in the early morning and travelled to Nyadzonya. (The White Scout soldiers wore black ski masks and were surrounded by their black colleagues to disguise them). Before arriving at the base, which had an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 ZANLA, the Scouts cut all telephone lines to the town. After passing through the camp entrance, having deceived the guards this was a FRELIMO column, the Selous Scouts drove, under the direction of a former senior ZANLA commander, onto the camps parade ground. The ex-ZANLA commander, now Selous Scout dressed in ZANLA officer uniform announced over a loud speaker, after blowing a whistle, that they had taken Zimbabwe and as the ZANLA cadres (estimated at 4,000) began to gather around the vehicles cheering victory, the Scouts opened fire. 1,184 ZANLA were killed (subsequent captured ZANLA documents confirming the number) with an estimated 1,000 wounded. In a rush to escape many hundred ZANLA drowned in the river bordering the camp. 14 senior ZANLA officers were captured and taken back to Rhodesia. On the return trip the Pungwe River Bridge defended by FRELIMO gave rise to a short contact before it was blown up to stop any FRELIMO pursuit, while many other ZANLA were killed in separate ambushes. Taking a wrong turn, the column entered a village which billeted 100 FRELIMO soldiers. After giving direction to the lead vehicle the FRELIMO officer observed white faces and another contact took place. This contact threatened to bog the column down to be vulnerable to FRELIMO reinforcements. Two Hunter aircraft that were on standby were called in to neutralise FRELIMO that had pinned down the Scouts. A chopper then air lifted 4 wounded Scouts to Salisbury, while a Lynx flew overhead to direct the column through the bush to the Rhodesian border. The Scouts under their banner of Pamwe Chete (Together Only) returned to Rhodesia having sustained 5 non-fatal casualties proving that its multi-racial mix of Rhodesian soldiers and turned terrorists, under the inspiring leadership of Reid Daly, were a force to be reckoned with. After this raid the ZANLA tactic changed to disperse its camps to make it harder to attack and inflict large casualties. ZANLA claimed the camp was a refugee camp which the United Nations believed and condemned Rhodesia, while the South African Government withdrew more military support from Rhodesia not wishing its Detente Policy to be tainted with the bad PR. Interestingly Edgar Tekere, ZANU Secretary General, revealed in his interview with David Dimbleby (UK journalist) in 1980 that Nyadzonya was a ZANLA GUERRILLA training camp and as a soldier was a legitimate military target. Their ruse of claiming these as refugee camps played into ZANLAs international PR hands to discredit the Rhodesians. In the interview Tekere said that as a soldier he asked General Walls, post 1980, how had he pulled off such a successful military raid that knocked ZANLAs military capability flat for some time. Tekere stated Mugabe asked him if the armed struggle was worth it following this attack - Tekere persuaded Mugabe it was. The Geneva Peace Conference forced by the joint USA and South African Governments took place a few months later with farcical results. The Selous Scouts, formed in 1973, established its raison dentre as a regiment of pseudo operator teams that infiltrated enemy ranks both inside and outside Rhodesia. Their clandestine operations utilised manpower from all branches of the Rhodesian Security Forces but its numbers were mainly made from turned terrorists. The genesis of this unit came from the Police Special Branch who believed it essential to have eyes and ears on the ground in the African tribal trust lands where men posing as the guerrillas could glean Intel from the local tribe people and the guerrillas themselves. retributionbook - chapter 16
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 05:04:14 +0000
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