![]() If the British had approached our problem in the same spirit, I think our history would have unfolded with a great deal less tragedy, but they were terribly vindictive and they took treachery to a new level.”Īndrew Young, the US ambassador to the United Nations, obsessed with matters of race, appeared incapable of impartial reflection, and his lack of detailed knowledge of the pertinent history and complexity of the issues rendered him an ineffective broker. He seemed very genuine in his desire to reach an understanding that took the interests of all into account. By comparison, Henry Kissinger was a pleasure to deal with. The best way for him to cut our throats was to help Mugabe or Nkomo acquire power. We had poked the British in the eye and it was his aim to get even. His insistence on handing over the army to Mugabe and Nkomo was nothing more than a scheme to exact retribution on Rhodesians. More important to him than finding a solution, was his desire to punish us. “Like virtually all the English politicians I dealt with,” said Smith, “Owen was unable to look at the Rhodesian problem in a genuinely objective way. Ian Smith could not find common ground with the British Foreign Secretary. The US announced increased assistance for the Marxist regime in Mozambique and refused to pay any attention to that government’s contempt for the basic human rights of its citizens. Indeed, he and his foreign secretary would turn up the heat on Smith and increase support for Rhodesia’s foes.ĭavid Owen met with John Vorster in South Africa and asked him to use his influence to force the Rhodesian government to hand over power. James Callaghan, the British premier who had earlier shown a willingness to grovel in the presence of Idi Amin and maintained warm relations with a horde of African dictators, was full of bellicose righteousness when it came to whipping his errant overseas cousins into line. Ian Smith’s hopes of finding an international political solution to his country’s problems were fading. With elephant being slaughtered in unprecedented numbers he is fighting a lonely battle to save the last herds and the wilderness that is their final refuge.ĭazed, fleeing defendants Break from their trenches Into the shrapnelled wall which climbs Where our bombers have passed. In his twilight years, accompanied by his loyal askaris, he has built schools and clinics for poor rural Africans and devoted himself with equal courage and sense of purpose to wildlife conservation. ![]() ![]() With only one skill to sell he bade his homeland a sad farewell and went off to fight another war. There was no ticker-tape parade for him, no laurels, no medals and no thanks for death daring commitment to a cause. When the guns went quiet he had won all his battles and lost the war. Unfortunately some of his political and military peers did not always follow his example. A soldier’s soldier he did his duty quietly and confidently and sought no glory. In all roles he executed his tasks with extraordinary skill inflicting incalculable damage and heavy casualties on the enemy.After 12 years in the cauldron of war he was at the top of his game leading a rebel army on a rampage that was close to snapping the strategic spine of a hostile country when men in suits in far off places stopped him in his tracks and history changed. Blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination to close with the enemy and kill he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role as an airborne shock-trooper leading camp attacks, long range reconnaissance expert, covert urban operator, sniper and saboteur. A bush-lore genius, he had no peers as a combat-tracker. In the fight he showed himself to be a military maestro. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces in general one has to look very hard and far to find anyone who served in any of these regiments who can match his record of resilience, fortitude and valour in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry. ![]() It is difficult to find another soldier’s story to equal his in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. War followed and on the killing fields of southern Africa Special Air Service Captain Darrell Watt placed himself at the tip of the spear in the deadly battle to defeat the Sino/Soviet backed forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. They decided to take on the world, believing that an immediate transfer of power would lead to tragedy. With the collapse of colonialism and the European retreat from Africa the then colony of Southern Rhodesia refused to follow the political fashion of the time and succumb quietly. A Handful of Hard Men: The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia by Hannes Wessels Africa Unathorized
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