Africa's Commandos - new book on the RLI

[JMA]

.. except for the farmer and his wife, Trooper Jim Buckley and the gooks that is.

Notes:
K-Car = Alouette III helicopter gunship - armed with 20mm cannon
G-Car = Alouette III trooping helicopter - carrying stick of 4 men.
Radio relay station = manned station on high feature to relay VHF radio comms
kopje = small hill (normally isolated)
"culling" = what the RLI did to the CTs contacted by the Fire Force

Extract from the book:

The perfect contact

1 Commando (1Cdo) were on Fire Force duties at Grand Reef in January 1978. This trip had been busy, starting off with the attack on Grand Reef by a large concentration of communist terrorists (CTs) during the first night in camp.

On the morning of 18 January 1978, a radio relay station was positioned by helicopter in the white farming area just to the south of Grand Reef. At about 1700hrs, the commando had just finished its daily PT session when the siren sounded. Amidst the normal groans and mumbling about it being “too late” to be called out, we assembled in the ops room and were told that the relay station deployed that morning had just witnessed a gang of ten CTs ambush a farmer’s vehicle directly below their position. The gang were now sauntering down the road toward the nearby tribal trust land (TTL) without a care in the world. As the relay station was only five minutes’ flying time from Grand Reef, the Fire Force was immediately deployed to contact the CTs.

The Fire Force consisted of the normal K-Car and three G-Cars. Because of the proximity to the airfield no paras were required. On pulling up over the target, it was found that the area consisted of open ploughed fields with the odd isolated rocky kopje. It was perfect ‘culling’ terrain. It was into one of these kopjes that the gang had bolted. During the initial deployment of stop groups around the kopje, Stops 1 and 2 came under fire from an RPD gunner, severely wounding Trooper Jim Buckley. In the initial firefight five of the CTs were eliminated, but as light was fading fast the action was broken off and extra stops were flown in to encircle the remaining gang still holed up in the kopje.

During the night a further three CTs were eliminated by stop groups as they tried to break out of the cauldron. At first light the next morning, with K-Car back overhead, sweeps of the kopje resulted in the killing of a final CT holed up under a rock overhang. The final score was nine CTs killed in return for two 1Cdo wounded. One CT escaped. The death of the farmer and his wife had been avenged within minutes of their murder and Jim Buckley, after a long battle, eventually recovered from his wounds.

[JMA]

"We of the RAR used to laugh at your soldiers.
To us they looked like boys.
But they have showed us how to fight.
They have the faces of boys, but they fight like lions."

- Platoon Warrant Officer Herod,
E Company,
1st Battalion the Rhodesian African Rifles,
18th March, 1968.





"The Rhodesian's army cannot be defeated in the field,
either by terrorists or even a more sophisticated enemy.
In my professional judgment, based on more than 20 years
experience of counter-insurgency and guerilla type operations,
there is no doubt that Rhodesia now has the most professional
and battle-worthy army in the world for this type of warfare.
Here is a breed of men the like of which has not been seen
for many a long age."

Sir Walter Walker, former NATO commander
(writing in the Times, January 1978)

[JMA]

Note: RAR = Rhodesian African Rifles

An extract from the book:

The area was flat and open with rocky ‘gomos’ (granite outcrops or koppies). The RAR had surrounded the area and when we landed the RAR Company Sergeant Major (CSM) told us their officer had been shot and they couldn’t get to him. Russell Phillips and I with our respective sticks immediately ran up to the side of the outcrop. We came under heavy fire, and when I say heavy fire it was accurate and was intense. My guys just pumped the fire back into the cleft in the granite koppie with the MAG machine-gun barking a full belt at a time. We battled but eventually made the bottom of the koppie and climbed up to the cleft. We found Lt Jeremy Fisher in a really bad way outside of the cleft. He had a serious chest wound and was visibly fading.

Russell and I grabbed him and hauled him back and down slightly about 10m behind a small ledge, while our sticks carried on pumping fire into the cleft/cave entrance. At this stage the boss was screaming for info and trying to find out what was going on. As I was the only one that could hear and see what was going on I had to try to co-ordinate what was happening on the ground as well as trying to prevent my head getting shot off. I organized the medic and tried to calm the RAR guys down. It was absolute mayhem with everybody trying to talk at the same time.

The boss kept on $hitting on us for not answering the radio – how the hell you talk on a radio when you are getting the $hit shot out of you I never found out. Russell said to me “stuff this”, dropped his webbing and rifle and grabbed his 9mm Browning pistol and dived into the cave, shooting like an absolute master. That was the only time I heard a 9mm Browning sound like an Uzi submachine-gun on automatic. It seemed like every few seconds he called for another magazine which I had collected from my guys and tossed to him as needed. It sounds quick but we were in and out of that cave for over three hours trying to duck shots and ricochets. We ran out of 9mm ammo until the RAR guys came up with some.

The gooks were below us in a cave below the main cave and shooting up a crevice which meant that most of the rounds were ricocheting all over the place. How we were never hit was unknown. I couldn’t go in with Russell as if I disconnected my FN from the radio there would be no coms and there was no way to swing an FN in that tight space. I stayed at the mouth of the cave and learned just how Jeremy got shot as when I stood there my shirt and webbing were drilled three times. Russell went deeper into the cave and after his eyes became accustomed to the dim light he dropped two gooks in the top cave and then we set about trying to get the others out from the cave below. We angled our rifles and shot down the cleft and then we tried to drop a grenade but it jammed halfway down the cleft and nearly took our heads off. This Mexican Stand-off went on for ages and as someone passed in front of the cleft the gooks shot at us. Things quietened down in the late afternoon and we suspected the gooks were running low on ammo or were wounded or hurting. An RAR sergeant was with us trying to talk the gooks out during the quiet phases but that didn’t work either.

Corporal Sandro Mazella, the troop medic, had been working on Jeremy for all this time with bullets and shrapnel flying all over the place. For the civvies reading this you must appreciate that the noise in a contact is unbelievable. You have three to four choppers circling overhead and with the firing and grenades you do not hear too well. We managed to cassevac Jeremy and continued into the late afternoon trying to winkle out the gooks but they were well ensconced in the caves.

This thing was going to have to continue overnight...

[JMA]

The RLI greets the Commonwealth Monitoring Force - February 1980:



I wonder if the 'brown eye' salute is used by the yanks to any extent?

[JMA]

The standard for Fire Force was 16 (4 sticks of 4) per Dak. Jumping at 500ft gave 20-25 seconds in the air. Good for a more accurate drop and less time as a sitting duck in the air. Highest number of Op jumps in the RLI: Cpl Des Archer 73, Lt Mick Walters 69.



Note: no use of containers, webbing worn, weapon under right arm and helmets a mixture, including motor cycle helmets, you use what you can get.

[JMA]

...three of the six 'Daks' on their way to Chimoio (Op Dingo):

[slapout9]

Fantastic Pictures!!!!!

[JMA]

Extract from the book:

The joy, sadness and pride of being an RLI wife
By Pauline Liversedge

I was a young 22-year-old wife with a small child when my husband Geoff came home one night and announced that we were moving to Salisbury from Bulawayo to join the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI). I was petrified as I did not know what lay ahead of us. Little did I know that we were going to join a great and wonderful battalion of men, who, once you joined, embraced your family.

We moved into the Married Quarters not long after Geoff was promoted to sergeant which was when my life as an RLI wife really began. There were so many joys: seeing the battalion presented with its colours, being honoured with the Freedom of the City of Salisbury. My children made so many friends and had the security of being in a safe environment. The doctors and hospital were there for you at all times. There were men like Alan Beattie who looked after you and would never turn you away no matter what the problem even to phoning Geoff at Training Troop to tell him that my pregnancy test was positive, whereupon my proud husband announced to the rest of Training Troop “ Liversedge strikes again!” He never lived that down.

My children’s joy included the annual Christmas tree in the large hall close to the battalion’s entrance. Father Christmas was always George Walsh who arrived by army tank/truck, full of many other wonderful ideas.

We moved to the School of Infantry in Gwelo in 1968, if I remember correctly, and spent five years there. We returned to the battalion in 1973 and to our great surprise, moved into our old house, No 6 Married Quarters. Geoff became Company Sergeant-Major of his old commando, the Big Red, 1Cdo. The joy of being back! I met and made many long-lasting friends like Dot Springer, Jacqui Kirrane and more. My boys had wonderful friends like the Springer twins and the Kirrane children. They rode their bicycles all over the barracks. They had the use of the swimming pool. As they grew older they were trained on the assault course, played, and used all the facilities.

I became part of a group of women who were always there for one another whether it was in times of sadness or joy. The worst times were when the padre’s vehicle drove down the road, not knowing whose house it was going to stop at. Was your man injured, or worse, gone? If I close my eyes I can still see Trevor Kirrane marching down our road with his swagger stick under his arm coming home at the close of a day. Jacqui and the children would be waiting at their gate for him, while the other children in the street shouted out their greetings to one of their favourite uncles.

The ladies of the Sergeants Mess had the pleasure of enjoying a ladies’ night once a month on a Saturday evening. We were treated royally and I can remember one night in particular when we held tequila races amongst the ladies. This ended in the group enjoying a skinny-dip in the battalion’s swimming pool at 2 a.m. The guards on duty at the front gate were given strict instructions not to go anywhere near the swimming pool. The news travelled out to the bush very quickly and we literally had to stand on the mat on our husbands’ return. But what great fun we had.

At the beginning of 1977 I was one of the many mothers who stood to the side and watched my eldest son at the age of 17 trying to his best to be chosen for the RLI to do his national service. I was proud that he was chosen but my heart was heavy for the next 18 months while he served with Recce in Support Commando. He did his father proud but grew up very quickly.

When 1980 came we laid our colours to rest. That was one of the saddest days of our lives. Our time was over and slowly the battalion shrank as people left. I cried as we drove out of the barracks on our way to South Africa.

Fast-forward to 5 February 2011 and the reunion. What joy to see faces we hadn’t seen for 30-odd years! Rhodesians, we stand proud and tall. The proudest battalion in the world, we served our beloved country well!

Note: to serving soldiers, let your wives read this. There are things universal to life in a battalion at war.