The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was the tier one special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army . It comprised:
65-532: C Squadron, SAS Regiment was formed during the Malayan Emergency by volunteers from Rhodesia . It was disbanded in 1953 and became the nucleus of "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service, operational from 1961. In June 1978 "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service became 1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment until Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980. During the Malayan Emergency (1951–1953),
130-520: A Sinologist who as early as 1954 claimed that Templer merely continued policies begun by his predecessors. At all levels of the Malayan government (national, state, and district levels), the military and civil authority was assumed by a committee of military, police and civilian administration officials. This allowed intelligence from all sources to be rapidly evaluated and disseminated and also allowed all anti-guerrilla measures to be co-ordinated. Each of
195-449: A dual threat: the MNLA guerrillas and the silent network in villages who supported them. British troops often described the terror of jungle patrols. In addition to watching out for MNLA guerrillas, they had to navigate difficult terrain and avoid dangerous animals and insects. Many patrols would stay in the jungle for days, even weeks, without encountering the MNLA guerrillas. That strategy led to
260-418: A forward, military operating headquarters. It was home to military, political and other civilian occupants, and included a hospital, schools, and stores. The complex included: The intention of concentrated air and ground firepower was to exploit the concentration of inhabitants, both refugees and militants, on the parade ground for morning parade. On that occasion, the morning parade had been cancelled, making
325-575: A government which would be subservient to Britain and allow British businesses to keep control of Malaya's natural resources. The first shots of the Malayan Emergency were fired during the Sungai Siput incident , on June 17, 1948, in the office of the Elphil Estate near the town of Sungai Siput . Three European plantation managers were killed by three young Chinese men suspected to have been communists. The deaths of these European plantation managers
390-715: A group of men from Southern Rhodesia volunteered to go to Malaya and were initially known as "The Far East Volunteer Group" later to become the Malayan Scouts . While in Malaya, they were renamed as "C" Squadron (Malayan Scouts). When British 22 SAS was officially named as British unit at the end of 1951, with its "A", "B" Squadrons, the Rhodesian contingent was renamed C (Rhodesia) Squadron 22 SAS. When "C" Squadron concluded their tour of duty in March 1953, they came back to Southern Rhodesia and
455-577: A number of related monuments and graves, are located some 18 kilometres north-northeast of Chimoio Municipality.( 18°57′24″S 33°30′58″E / 18.95667°S 33.51611°E / -18.95667; 33.51611 ) New Farm was a farm acquired by the Frelimo Government in 1975 from its Portuguese owner, known as 'Adriano'. It was handed over by the Mozambican government to ZANLA, which made it their refugee centre (illegally) and subsequently
520-435: A particular region. The regiments had political sections, commissars , instructors and secret service. In the camps, the soldiers attended lectures on Marxism–Leninism , and produced political newsletters to be distributed to civilians. In the early stages of the conflict, the guerrillas envisaged establishing control in "liberated areas" from which the government forces had been driven, but did not succeed in this. During
585-502: A regular European SAS Squadron. In late 1960, No 1 Training Unit was formed, and once assembled and trained they would form the nucleus of what was to become: Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) and "C" Squadron SAS. In early 1961 six volunteers from the Air Force were sent to RAF Abingdon in England for parachute instructor training and a further group of volunteer officers and NCOs to complete
650-764: A selection course with the SAS in Britain. On their return, they called for volunteers from No. 1 Training Unit and in August 1961 the first of many selection courses was run in the Matopos just outside Bulawayo. No 1 basic training course completed their training in November and were presented their wings by Sir Malcolm Barrow , and then Deputy Prime Minister. In late 1961 the SAS were moved to Ndola Barracks, Ndola in Northern Rhodesia along with
715-452: A sharp increase in civilians joining the MNLA and communist movement. However, these tactics also prevented the communists from establishing liberated areas (the MCPs first, and foremost objective), successfully broke up larger guerrilla formations, and shifted the MNLA's plan of securing territory, to one of widespread sabotage. Commonwealth forces struggled to fight guerrillas who moved freely in
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#1732848130450780-559: Is the Batang Kali massacre , which the press has referred to as "Britain's My Lai ". The Briggs Plan forcibly relocated between 400,000 and 1,000,000 civilians into concentration camps called " new villages ". Many Orang Asli indigenous communities were also targeted for internment because the British believed that they were supporting the communists. The widespread use of decapitations on people suspected to have been guerrillas, led to
845-711: The Anti–British National Liberation War , (1948–1960) was a guerrilla war fought in Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya and Commonwealth ( British Empire ). The communists fought to win independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a communist state, while
910-586: The Briggs Plan , was appointed to Malaya. The central tenet of the Briggs Plan was to segregate MNLA guerrillas from their supporters among the population. A major component of the Briggs Plan involved targeting the MNLA's food supplies, which were supplied from three main sources: food grown by the MNLA in the jungle, food supplied by the Orang Asli aboriginal people living in the deep jungle, and MNLA supporters within
975-514: The Kuala Langat swamp is described in The Guerrilla – and how to Fight Him ): On 7 July, two additional companies were assigned to the area; patrolling and harassing fires were intensified. Three terrorists surrendered and one of them led a platoon patrol to the terrorist leader's camp. The patrol attacked the camp, killing four, including the leader. Other patrols accounted for four more; by
1040-605: The Rhodesian Security Forces against the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) run camps at Chimoio and Tembue in Mozambique from 23 to 25 November 1977. Chimoio was a series of ZANLA-run refugee camps and, illegally, training facility, and a launchpad for insurgents infiltrating into Rhodesia. It was located at New Farm, known locally as Adriano's Farm. The old farmhouse, and
1105-416: The 'squatter' communities on the jungle fringes. The Briggs Plan also included the forced relocation of some 500,000 rural Malayans, including 400,000 Chinese civilians, into internment camps called " new villages ". These internment camps were surrounded by barbed wire, police posts, and floodlit areas, all designed to stop the inmates from contacting and supplying MNLA guerrillas in the jungles, segregating
1170-605: The 1940s were brought back into use for the operation. At 0745 in the morning, directly after a strike by the Rhodesian Air Force 's aging Canberra and Hunter strike aircraft, the camps were attacked. 96 Rhodesian SAS, 48 Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) paratroopers, and an additional 40 helicopter-borne RLI troops took part. In the first pass, four Canberra bombers dropped 1200 Alpha bombs (Rhodesian-designed anti-personnel bombs) over an area 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) long and 500 metres (1,600 ft) wide. Following
1235-628: The 1952 British Malayan headhunting scandal . Similar scandals relating to atrocities committed by British forces included the public display of corpses. Although the emergency was declared over in 1960, communist leader Chin Peng renewed the insurgency against the Malaysian government in 1968. This second phase of the insurgency lasted until 1989. The economic disruption of World War II (WWII) on British Malaya led to widespread unemployment, low wages, and high levels of food price inflation. The weak economy
1300-602: The British Empire by targeting the colonial resource extraction industries, namely the tin mines and rubber plantations which were the main sources of income for the British occupation of Malaya. The MNLA attacked these industries in the hopes of bankrupting the British and winning independence by making the colonial administration too expensive to maintain. The Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) employed guerrilla tactics, attacking military and police outposts, sabotaging rubber plantations and tin mines, while also destroying transport and communication infrastructure. Support for
1365-599: The British colonial occupation banned the PMFTU, Malaya's largest trade union. Malaya's rubber and tin resources were used by the British to pay war debts to the United States and to recover from the damage of WWII. Malaysian rubber exports to the United States were of greater value than all domestic exports from Britain to America, causing Malaya to be viewed by the British as a vital asset. Britain had prepared for Malaya to become an independent state, but only by handing power to
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#17328481304501430-560: The Chinese community. The communists' belief in class consciousness , and both ethnic and gender equality, inspired many women and indigenous people to join both the MNLA and its undercover supply network the Min Yuen . Additionally, hundreds of former Japanese soldiers joined the MNLA. After establishing a series of jungle bases the MNLA began raiding British colonial police and military installations. Mines, plantations, and trains were attacked by
1495-548: The MNLA mainly came from the 3.12 million ethnic Chinese living in Malaya, many of whom were farmers living on the edges of the Malayan jungles and had been politically influenced by both the Chinese Communist Revolution and the resistance against Japan during WWII. Their support allowed the MNLA to supply themselves with food, medicine, information, and provided a source of new recruits. The ethnic Malay population supported them in smaller numbers. The MNLA gained
1560-467: The MNLA with the goal of gaining independence for Malaya by bankrupting the British occupation. The British attempted to starve the MNLA using scorched earth policies through food rationing, killing livestock, and aerial spraying of the herbicide Agent Orange . The British engaged in extrajudicial killings of unarmed villagers, in violation of the Geneva Conventions . The most infamous example
1625-652: The Malay states had a State War Executive Committee which included the State Chief Minister as chairman, the Chief Police Officer, the senior military commander, state home guard officer, state financial officer, state information officer, executive secretary, and up to six selected community leaders. The Police, Military, and Home Guard representatives and the Secretary formed the operations sub-committee responsible for
1690-546: The Malayan Federation and Commonwealth forces fought to combat communism and protect British economic and colonial interests. The term "Emergency" was used by the British to characterise the conflict in order to avoid referring to it as a war, because London-based insurers would not pay out in instances of civil wars. The war began on 17 June 1948, after Britain declared a state of emergency in Malaya following attacks on plantations , which had been revenge attacks for
1755-515: The Pacific fought on the side of the British backed Federation of Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. These forces included troops from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Kenya, Nyasaland , Northern and Southern Rhodesia . Operation Dingo [REDACTED] Rhodesian Army Second Phase (1972–1979) Related incidents Operation Dingo , or the Chimoio Massacre , was an attack by
1820-646: The Selous Scouts Armoured Car Regiment. By July the following year, No 9 basic course received their wings from the Federal Prime Minister himself, Sir Roy Welensky . In August 1962, the Unit had sufficient men to become operational and became known as "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service. With the breakup of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland at the end of December 1963, the Squadron
1885-580: The ZANLA also put the death toll at over 1,000, adding that hundreds who were killed were actually civilians and not guerrillas. While two Rhodesian SAS soldiers died (one in the fighting and one by anti-aircraft fire on the return). Bishop Abel Muzorewa called a week of mourning for raids on both camps as they contain many civilian refugees. A new base was later built in the Chimoio area. The Rhodesians attacked it in 1978 under Operation Snoopy . Operation Dingo
1950-406: The aforementioned herbicides, were sprayed along a number of key roads. From June to October 1952, 510 hectares (1,250 acres) of roadside vegetation at possible ambush points were sprayed with defoliant, described as a policy of "national importance". The experts advised that the use of herbicides and defoliants for clearing the roadside could be effectively replaced by removing vegetation by hand and
2015-421: The cluster bomb strike on the parade ground assembly ineffective. As part of a deception plan, a Douglas DC-8 airliner was flown over the Chimoio camps 10 minutes before the airstrike; the inhabitants assumed a second false alarm, and did not disperse or try to take cover when the bombers subsequently approached. In order to strike as many ground targets as possible, six mothballed Vampire jets dating from
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2080-688: The communists from their civilian supporters. In 1948 the British had 13 infantry battalions in Malaya, including seven partly formed Gurkha battalions, three British battalions, two battalions of the Royal Malay Regiment and a Royal Artillery Regiment being used as infantry. The Permanent Secretary of Defence for Malaya , Sir Robert Grainger Ker Thompson , had served in the Chindits in Burma during World War II. Thompson's in-depth experience of jungle warfare proved invaluable during this period as he
2145-502: The conflict as the Anti-British National Liberation War. The MNLA's camps and hideouts were in the inaccessible tropical jungle and had limited infrastructure. Almost 90% of MNLA guerrillas were ethnic Chinese, though there were some Malays, Indonesians and Indians among its members. The MNLA was organised into regiments, although these had no fixed establishments and each included all communist forces operating in
2210-565: The conflict suffered from serious exposure to dioxin and Trioxone. An estimated 10,000 civilians and guerrilla in Malaya also suffered from the effects of the defoliant, but many historians think that the number is much larger since Trioxone was used on a large scale in the Malayan conflict and, unlike the US, the British government limited information about its use to avoid negative global public opinion. The prolonged absence of vegetation caused by defoliation also resulted in major soil erosion . Following
2275-585: The conflict when de Havilland Vampires replaced Spitfires of No. 60 Squadron RAF in 1950 and were used for ground attack. Jet bombers came with the English Electric Canberra in 1955 The Casualty Evacuation Flight was formed in early 1953 to bring the wounded out of the jungles; it used early helicopters such as the Westland Dragonfly , landing in small clearings The RAF progressed to using Westland Whirlwind helicopters to deploy troops in
2340-414: The day-to-day direction of emergency operations. The operations subcommittees as a whole made joint decisions. During the Malayan Emergency, Britain became the first nation in history to make use of herbicides and defoliants as a military weapon. It was used to destroy bushes, food crops, and trees to deprive the guerrillas of both food and cover, playing a role in Britain's food denial campaign during
2405-597: The domestic clandestine operation, counterinsurgency, and special operations effort during the Rhodesian Bush War . The SAS and the Selous Scouts , were the principal special forces units used in external operations. In terms of some of the most important of the external operations, the SAS and RLI both participated in Operation Dingo , in November 1977, which was one of the most successful operations conducted during
2470-451: The early 1950s. A variety of herbicides were used to clear lines of communication and destroy food crops as part of this strategy. One of the herbicides, was a 50:50 mixture of butyl esters of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D with the brand name brand name Trioxone. This mixture was virtually identical to the later Agent Orange, though Trioxone likely had a heavier contamination of the health-damaging dioxin impurity. In 1952 Trioxone and mixtures of
2535-413: The emergency was one step nearer. MNLA guerrillas had numerous advantages over Commonwealth forces since they lived in closer proximity to villagers, they sometimes had relatives or close friends in the village, and they were not afraid to threaten violence or torture and murder village leaders as an example to the others, which forced them to assist them with food and information. British forces thus faced
2600-399: The end of July, twenty-three terrorists remained in the swamp with no food or communications with the outside world. This was the nature of operations: 60,000 artillery shells, 30,000 rounds of mortar ammunition, and 2,000 aircraft bombs for 35 terrorists killed or captured. Each one represented 1,500 man-days of patrolling or waiting in ambushes. "Nassau" was considered a success for the end of
2665-697: The end of the Emergency, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk advised US President John F. Kennedy that the precedent of using herbicide in warfare had been established by the British through their use of aircraft to spray herbicide and thus destroy enemy crops and thin the thick jungle of northern Malaya. The British Army soon realised that clumsy sweeps by large formations were unproductive. Instead, platoons or sections carried out patrols and laid ambushes, based on intelligence from various sources, including informers, surrendered MNLA personnel, aerial reconnaissance and so on. An operation named "Nassau", carried out in
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2730-428: The first two years of the Emergency, British forces conducted a 'counter-terror,' characterised by high levels of state coercion against civilian populations; including sweeps, cordons, large-scale deportation, and capital charges against suspected guerrillas. Police corruption and the British military's widespread destruction of farmland and burning of homes belonging to villagers rumoured to be helping communists, led to
2795-419: The incident rate fell from 500 to less than 100 per month and the civilian and security force casualties from 200 to less than 40." Orthodox historiography suggests that Templer changed the situation in the Emergency and his actions and policies were a major part of British success during his period in command. Revisionist historians have challenged this view and frequently support the ideas of Victor Purcell ,
2860-401: The infamous Batang Kali massacre in which 24 unarmed villagers were executed by British troops. Royal Air Force activities, grouped under "Operation Firedog" included ground attacks in support of troops and the transport of supplies. The RAF used a wide mixture of aircraft to attack MNLA positions: from the new Avro Lincoln heavy bomber to Short Sunderland flying boats. Jets were used in
2925-622: The initial air strikes by the Canberras, Hunters and Vampire FB9's, ten Alouette III helicopter gunships ("K-Cars" in the Fireforce tactical terminology) engaged opportunity targets in allocated areas that together inflicted the majority of the casualties, while two Vampire T11's flew top cover . The paratroopers and heliborne troops were deployed on three sides of the objective into various stop groups and sweep lines, and were also effective in killing large numbers of fleeing ZANLA cadres. Nevertheless,
2990-410: The jungle and enjoyed support from rural Chinese populations. British planters and miners, who bore the brunt of the communist attacks, began to talk about government incompetence and being betrayed by Whitehall. The initial government strategy was primarily to guard important economic targets, such as mines and plantation estates. In April 1950, General Sir Harold Briggs , most famous for implementing
3055-585: The jungle. The MNLA was vastly outnumbered by the British forces and their Commonwealth and colonial allies in terms of regular full-time soldiers. Siding with the British occupation were a maximum of 40,000 British and other Commonwealth troops, 250,000 Home Guard members, and 66,000 police agents. Supporting the communists were 7,000+ communist guerrillas (1951 peak), an estimated 1,000,000 sympathisers, and an unknown number of civilian Min Yuen supporters and Orang Asli sympathisers. Commonwealth forces from Africa and
3120-628: The killing of left-wing activists. Leader of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) Chin Peng and his allies fled into the jungles and formed the MNLA to wage a war for national liberation against British colonial rule. Many MNLA fighters were veterans of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), a communist guerrilla army previously trained, armed and funded by the British to fight against Japan during World War II . The communists gained support from many civilians, mainly those from
3185-487: The morning. The Rhodesian force withdrew, having lost one SAS member, Tpr. F.J. Nel, being shot and killed at Chimoio, and one Vampire pilot, Flt Lt Phillip Haigh, killed trying to crashland his jet in a field after his aircraft was damaged by ground fire. The pilot chose to attempt a forced landing rather than execute the dangerous act of bailing out of the Vampire which was not fitted with an ejection seat . A similar attack
3250-526: The remaining Malayan communists retreated to rural areas and formed the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) on 1 February 1949. The MNLA was partly a re-formation of the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), the communist guerrilla force which had been the principal resistance in Malaya against the Japanese occupation during WWII. The British had secretly helped form the MPAJA in 1942 and trained them in
3315-409: The small size of the ground force and the lack of a complete envelopment allowed a number of fleeing ZANLA cadres to escape. Two important targets of the attack, ZANLA commanders Josiah Tongogara and Rex Nhongo escaped. A "stay-behind" force of Rhodesian SAS remained in ambush positions around the area overnight, to wait for any ZANLA who might return; these SAS were then extracted by helicopter in
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#17328481304503380-615: The spraying was stopped. However, after that strategy failed, the use of herbicides and defoliants in effort to fight the guerrillas was restarted under the command of Gerald Templer in February 1953 as a means of destroying food crops grown by communist forces in jungle clearings. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft despatched sodium trichloroacetate and Trioxone, along with pellets of chlorophenyl N,N-dimethyl-1-naphthylamine onto crops such as sweet potatoes and maize . Many Commonwealth personnel who handled and/or used Trioxone during
3445-443: The support of the Chinese because the Chinese were denied the equal right to vote in elections, had no land rights to speak of, and were usually very poor. The MNLA's supply organisation was called the Min Yuen (People's Movement). It had a network of contacts within the general population. Besides supplying material, especially food, it was also important to the MNLA as a source of intelligence. The MNLA and their supporters refer to
3510-1250: The transition to black majority rule on 31 December 1980 as Rhodesia became Zimbabwe . "D" Squadron was the "cover" name given to the South African Special Forces (Recces), Alpha Group from 1 Reconnaissance Commando (1 RC) & Bravo Group from 5 Reconnaissance Commando (5 RC) who worked alongside "C" Squadron SAS in the South-East corner of Rhodesia and Gaza Province, of Mozambique both separately and jointly from late 1977 – June 1978. SA personnel were also deployed with Rhodesian SAS on Op Splinter on Lake Kariba, in 1978. Malayan Emergency British Commonwealth victory British Commonwealth forces: [REDACTED] United Kingdom Communist forces: [REDACTED] Malayan Communist Party [REDACTED] United Kingdom [REDACTED] Malaya [REDACTED] Singapore [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] New Zealand [REDACTED] Malayan Communist Party [REDACTED] Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) Over 451,000 troops Over 7,000 troops 1950 1951 1954 1956 The Malayan Emergency , also known as
3575-613: The unit was disbanded. The formation of the Rhodesian SAS goes back to November 1959 when it was decided in the Federal Assembly to form a Parachute Evaluation Detachment to examine the practicalities of military parachuting and parachute training in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , with a view to the possible formation of an airborne unit. This was announced by the then Federal Minister of Defence John Moore Caldicott , but it
3640-672: The use of explosives, firearms and radios. Chin Peng was a veteran anti-fascist and trade unionist who had played an integral role in the MPAJA's resistance. Disbanded in December 1945, the MPAJA officially turned in its weapons to the British Military Administration , although many MPAJA soldiers secretly hid stockpiles of weapons in jungle hideouts. Members who agreed to disband were offered economic incentives. Around 4,000 members rejected these incentives and went underground. The MNLA began their war for Malayan independence from
3705-421: The wages of their workers. Colonial police responded to rising trade union activity through arrests, deportations, and beating striking workers to death. Responding to the attacks against trade unions, communist militants began assassinating strikebreakers , and attacking anti-union estates. These attacks were used by the colonial occupation as a pretext to conduct mass arrests of left-wing activists. On 12 June
3770-451: The war, where more than 3,000 ZANLA fighters were killed and 5,000 wounded. The numbers of men in the SAS went up to approximately 250 when in June 1978 "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service became 1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment. The unit moved to their new barracks called "Kabrit" in 1979 and continued to serve with outstanding success and distinction until it was disbanded with
3835-606: Was Sir Roy Welensky who was the reported driving force behind the reforming of what was to become the SAS. In 1960 a detachment of RAF arrived under Squadron Leader E. Minter to conduct the training of the Parachute Evaluation Detachment (PED). By March 1960, the PED was complete and those on the course were presented their wings by the said Minister of Defence. The "experiment" was a complete success and in July decided to form
3900-548: Was a factor in the growth of trade union movements and caused a rise in communist party membership, with considerable labour unrest and a large number of strikes occurring between 1946 and 1948. Malayan communists organised a successful 24-hour general strike on 29 January 1946, before organising 300 strikes in 1947. To combat rising trade union activity the British used police and soldiers as strikebreakers, and employers enacted mass dismissals, forced evictions of striking workers from their homes, legal harassment, and began cutting
3965-580: Was able to build effective civil-military relations and was one of the chief architects of the counter-insurgency plan in Malaya. In 1951 the British High Commissioner in Malaya, Sir Henry Gurney , was killed near Fraser's Hill during an MNLA ambush. General Gerald Templer was chosen to become the new High Commissioner in January 1952. During Templer's two-year command, "two-thirds of the guerrillas were wiped out and lost over half their strength,
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#17328481304504030-500: Was relocated to Cranborne Barracks in Salisbury . The initial years after the break-up found the unit having difficulty in attracting recruits. This was largely due to the high standards required of an SAS soldier and also due to the "ill feeling" between the SAS and the RLI (from where most of the recruits should have been selected). Nevertheless, both the SAS and the RLI played crucial roles in
4095-506: Was repeated two days later at Tembue. ( 14°47′33″S 32°50′10″E / 14.79250°S 32.83611°E / -14.79250; 32.83611 ( Tembue ) ). Though there was a Mozambique Liberation Front base nearby at Chimoio they did not interfere in the Rhodesian force's activities. According to the Rhodesian government at least 1,200 ZANLA terrorists were killed in Operation Dingo. Most sources sympathetic to
4160-462: Was used by the British colonial occupation to either arrest or kill many of Malaya's communist and trade union leaders. These mass arrests and killings saw many left-wing activists going into hiding and fleeing into the Malayan jungles. Although the Malayan communists had begun preparations for a guerrilla war against the British, the emergency measures and mass arrest of communists and left-wing activists in 1948 took them by surprise. Led by Chin Peng
4225-526: Was virtually destroyed when members were offered either a " golden handshake " or to return with unit to Southern Rhodesia. The unit, at the point of the federal dissolution, consisted of 193 men. Only thirty-one men returned to reform the SAS. The rest, some returned to their original units, others joined the new Zambian Army, some joined Mike Hoare in the Congo, and many others returned to civilian life. The new commanding officer became Major Dudley Coventry. The unit
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