The Rhodesia Regiment: From Boer War to Bush War 1899-1980, by Alexandre Binda

The Rhodesia Regiment. From Boer War to Bush War 1899-1980, by Alexandre Binda. ISBN 9781919854526 / ISBN 978-1-919854-52-6

With the Rhodesia Regiment as their parent regiment, many thousands of Rhodesians were posted in small numbers to various British and South African regiments, the Royal Navy and particularly to Rhodesia Squadrons of the RAF. From Boer War to Bush War 1899-1980 is the third book on regimental history by Alexandre Binda.

Alexandre Binda  

The Independent Companies, 1976

The following accounts were provided by Major Don Price, OC, of Independent Company: In early 1976 Independent Coy or the African (National Service) Coy, was deployed in the south-eastern Lowveld on operational duty. We were in the Mabalauta (Operation Repulse) area on the banks of the Nuanetsi River and our camp was sited at one end of the National Parks airstrip. This area was extremely hot in more ways than one as we were constantly being hit, and had lost five of our fleet of ten 4.5 ton Mercedes trucks. The main JOC was at Buffalo Range some one and a half hours flying time away from where the hit-and-run actions were taking place, so despite the high concentration of insurgents in the area, we weren't having much success. The Government had subcontracted Roberts Construction to maintain the main security road that ran through the Gona-Re-Zhou National Park and down to the border at Crook's Corner. Roberts Construction was constantly having its vehicles ambushed and its road camps attacked. We needed to deal with this, so we devised a plan of action. Without a word to the JOC or Brigade HQ, we hijacked a tipper truck complete with driver and crew. We had to keep the vehicle hidden until the inevitable hue and cry died down when I would implement our plan. We concealed the truck in some dense riverine vegetation on the banks of the Nuanetsi River and covered it with camouflage netting. Roberts Construction reported their vehicle missing and the JOC instructed us to search for it and the insurgents responsible. Of course, we were unable to find it. An aerial recce was equally unsuccessful. In the meantime the captured driver and crew had been enjoying their 'time off'. While they did so I had the back of the truck fortified with sand bags and trained a 'hit group'. When the official search was finally given up, I set my plan in motion. I recruited Nick Greeff, a fluent Shona speaker with CID Ground Coverage. With his face blacked and a balaclava on his head, he became the new tipper-truck driver. I and my seven-man 'hit squad', was hidden in the back of the tipper. We set off, planning to drive around the area in the hope of sighting, or better still, being ambushed, by insurgents. We also prayed we wouldn't hit a landmine. It was a crazy plan but one that I thought might work. On day two we hit the jackpot. At 09:30 we were driving slowly along when Nick, in his role as Jabulani the driver, banged on the cab wall urgently. He had seen insurgents. We rolled slowly to a standstill. From the back we heard a lot of Shona being spoken. [...]

This is an excerpt from the war memoires: The Rhodesia Regiment. From Boer War to Bush War 1899-1980, by Alexandre Binda.

Book title: The Rhodesia Regiment
Subtitle: From Boer War to Bush War 1899-1980
Author: Alexandre Binda
Type: War memoires
Publisher: Galago
2nd edition. Cape Town, South Africa 2013
ISBN 9781919854526 / ISBN 978-1-919854-52-6
Softcover, 17x24 cm, 424 pages, many b/w and colour photos, maps, English text