The time was 8:30 on a cool October morning in 1978. Four thousand Soviet trained guerrillas of the Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Army were on their parade ground at FC Camp situated 15km from Central Lusaka in Zambia. Their commanders in the headquarter buildings and Cuban instructors were complacent in the belief that their proximity to the Zambian capital being deep inside Zambia, the MiG fighters of the Zambian Air Force base nearby at Mumbwa and recently installed radar supplied by the UK would offer them protection against any strike by the Rhodesian Security Forces. Complacent to the extent their perimeter defences were partially manned and no one manned the numerous anti-aircraft gun emplacements. At 8:20 six Rhodesian Air Force Hawker Hunters broke formation flying at one thousand four hundred feet, leaving 4 Canberra bombers, as they sped to their targets. Two Hunters with call sign Red Section and armed with side winder missiles circled the Zambian Air Force base with orders to keep the Zambian MiG fighters on the ground and shoot down any Air Force aircraft that tried to take off. Four Hunters with call signs (two each) White and Blue Sections, zeroed in on FC Camp. Each Hunter carrying an assortment of 450 kg Golf (percussion), fragmentation and Frantan bombs. At 8:30 the four Hunters delivered the Golf and fragmentation bombs on the parade ground - specifically targeting the perimeters with the objective of herding survivors into the middle of the parade ground. The Rhodesian designed golf bombs had a high destructive impact as it generated an enormous amount of high pressure gas when it detonated. It created a huge Explosion but as the gas cools immediately, a void is created, causing air to move at supersonic speed in an Implosion. Both the explosion and immediate implosion cause equal dose of deadly damage. The Golf bomb flattened everything around the point of contact, including substantial trees, up to 45 meters radius. The shrapnel sprayed out beyond this. The ground was pulverised and turned to powder. A few minutes after the first Hunter strike, the 4 Canberra bombers dropped 300 Rhodesian designed Alpha bombs each on the parade ground. The Alpha bouncing bomb activated the fusing mechanism when they hit the ground and bounced 4 meters into the air before exploding. 8:40 - Rhodesian Air Force choppers (g-Cars) arrived on the scene and together with the Hunters mopped up - the Hunters depositing their Frantan bombs on the buildings and armaments, while the chopper gunners took out fleeing guerrillas. The Canberra call sign was Green Section - radio comms between Green Leader and Lusaka tower and other sections of the strike group where recorded - essentially to prove this raid was against Rhodesian dissident forces and not against Zambia. A Dakota carrying the Rhodesian military commanders, with call sign Dolphin 3, circled inside Zambia nearer to the border with Rhodesia to coordinate this attack and two others that would take place later that morning against two other guerrilla training bases deep inside Zambia. I copied the original tape recording at the time - it can be heard at Retribution Facebook page. This operation and other relevant information is set out in the historical fiction novel, Retribution - go to retributionbook Pictures attached: 4 Hunters returning from this raid Choppers returning from Zambia across Lake Kariba Canberra on its way to FC camp
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 10:05:44 +0000
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