Introduction

The development of the fighting style of the people of Rhodesian happened over a period of 2 very important years. That began in 1973 when the so called Patriotic front decided to escalate the war in to Rhodesia and started campaigns that disgusted the Nation but was quietly swept aside by the rest of the world. The worst of these were the Catholic Mission massacres and the attacks on outlying farms in remote areas. The response from the armed force was heroic and over this year and 1974 we developed what became Fire Force into a killing machine that the Patriotic front couldn't cope with. This Fire Force did not happen over night but was the result of some seriously clever men getting their heads together and developing a strategy that in the end nearly wiped out the Patriotic fronts forces. I was a part of this story from 1974 onwards and this story is from my perspective. The history and details are all written elsewhere and I will try and add a list of reading elsewhere. One of the best fiction books is John Gordon Davis book Hold My Hand I am Dying. A great read...

The Armies main units were – The Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) – Special Air Services (SAS) – Selous Scouts – The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR).

The histories of all the units are written elsewhere so I will not delve in to them in depth but comments will be made about them.

When I joined the RLI in 1974 its ranks (as well as SAS) had been decimated. Not by disease or injury but by the formation of a new unit called SELOUS SCOUTS. Uncle Ron, the new Officer Commanding (OC) the new unit had gone through the army and the police and stolen the best of the best and formed one of the best and most clandestine units in world history. Uncle Ron, now a Major, was the RLI's RSM in the early days of the unit so he knew all the guys very well. Without the Selous Scouts our war would have gone no where at all – Their formation was the turning point of the war as now we had reliable information and we, the RLI, could get to work doing what we were best at, killing Gooks ... My story starts way before this point in time. To understand a Rhodesian you must remember that they were a very small community. Our parents all grew up before the Second World War and most of them served with distinction throughout all theatres of that war. Families were all connected through school and the war so that everyone knew each other. In our family my Moms side of the family consisted of a bunch of sisters and one brother. Mom dated a young Peter Walls at school who went on to marry her school chum. Peter (Tommy) went on to command the Rhodesian army. My Dad served with Uncle Ron who was instrumental in the formation of the Scouts.

In later years, the standing joke was, when my CO (Commanding Officer) wanted to know where I was he first phoned my Mom.

My Early Years

I left school with absolutely nothing except good memories of great sport and beautiful girl friends ... My old man wanted to kill me and my Mom wanted to disown me so I decided that I had to go to Cram College and at least get something on paper. So off to cram school in Feb 1973 – SHIT, I had to WORK!!!!! Damn that was definitely not a happy situation. I mean hell and damnation (a polite way of saying Fuck) I was getting a severe ear bashing from my parents, girl friend, buddies – shit everyone was ganging up on me, fuck it I didn't want to work, water skiing and ice skating were better fun ... I even broke up with my girl friend over that and what shit I goy in to over that was beyond belief. Damn she was a great girl, wiped the floor with me at squash, mind you she was the countries number 1 Junior, and had great parents. Her Dad was a bit of a legal beagle and got me out of the shit a time or two (He also happened to be the Minister of Defense). So Alison & I made up and I worked my arse off till I could write my GCE "O" Level exams in June. Everybody happy, naaaa ... I had to do some pretty low flying but believe you me the fun never stopped. Man I was wasted – 2 hours sleep a night is not good for the body but being a happy go lucky 17 year old makes things easy. Study in the morning and classes till 12 – Ice skating till 2 – study till 4 – Squash at Salisbury Sports club at 5 with Alison, home & put in some swim training, party time till when ever and then a brief time on the pillow. What a life and what it was like to be young.