A Brutal State of Affairs

Malcolm Anderson, Henrik Ellert

Description

A Brutal State of Affairs analyses the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe and challenges Rhodesian mythology. The story of the BSAP, where white and black officers were forced into a situation not of their own making, is critically examined. The liberation war in Rhodesia might never have happened but for the ascendency of the Rhodesian Front, prevailing racist attitudes, and the rise of white nationalists who thought their cause just. Blinded by nationalist fervour and the reassuring words of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and army commanders, the Smith government disregarded the advice of its intelligence services to reach a settlement before it was too late. By 1979, the Rhodesians were staring into the abyss, and the war was drawing to a close. Salisbury was virtually encircled, and guerrilla numbers continued to grow. A Brutal State of Affairs examines the Rhodesian legacy, the remarkable parallels of history, and suggests that Smith�s Rhodesian template for rule has, in many instances, been assiduously applied by Mugabe and his successors.

Informations

• Publié par: Weaver Press
• Date de parution: 02 avril 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• EAN13: 9781779223753
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

To John
The burial of Cecil Rhodes in the Matopos on 10 April 1902.

But we – we reckon not with those Whom the mere Fates ordain, This Power that wrought on us and goes Back to the Power again. Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Burial’.
A Brutal State of Affairs
The Rise and Fall of Rhodesia
Henrik Ellert and Dennis Anderson
Published by Weaver Press, Box A 1922, Avondale, Harare. www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com
Distributed in South Africa by Jacana Media www.jacana.co.za
© Henrik Ellert and Dennis Anderson, 2020

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise – without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-77922-373-9 (paperback) 978-1-77922-374-6 (pdf) 978-1-77922-375-3 (e-book)


Typeset by TextPertise, Harare Cover design by Danes Design, Harare
Contents
Foreword and Acknowledgements
About the authors

1 A Prelude to Rhodesia
2 The Rhodesians
3 The Shaping of Rhodesian Society
4 Surviving Sanctions under UDI
5 The Rise of Black Nationalism
6 The Armed Struggle, 1972–1977
7 The British South Africa Police
8 The Central Intelligence Organisation
9 The Selous Scouts
10 The South Africans
11 Mozambique
12 Rhodesia’s External Operations
13 Approaching the Final Hours
14 High Jinks and Low Morals: The Media War
15 Rhodes’s People

Bibliography
Index
Foreword and Acknowledgements
In writing this book, the authors wanted to place the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe into a historical context by asking the question why there had to be a war before Zimbabwe attained independence. We hope to provide some answers, first, by challenging ‘Rhodesian mythology’. Thereafter, the story is told primarily from the perspective of the BSAP and its ‘off-shoots’ (the CIO and Selous Scouts), where both white and black officers were forced to deal with a situation that was not of their own making, which is central to the history of Rhodesia.
The primary source material for this comes from documents and the personal notes of the authors, supplemented by original reports and documents from the Special Branch, the CIO, and the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The late John Whelan was a lifelong personal friend of one of the authors (Ellert), and we have included a dedication to his memory. He worked as a journalist on the Rhodesia Herald in the 1970s before being expelled. John provided the inspiration for this book and direct contributions to the chapter relating to the role of the media in Rhodesia. James MacManus, a journalist who reported from Rhodesia in the 1970s and is now managing director of the Times Literary Supplement, shared his experiences of Rhodesia’s closing days. Our thanks go to James for his continued interest in this project and for coming up with the book’s title.
Former Assistant Commissioner Special Branch, Robin Harvey, provided details of the Détente Exercise in the 1970s and the attempts to reach a settlement with Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU. Former Superintendent Keith Samler, also of Special Branch, provided hitherto unreported details of the role of Rhodesians serving in the 1980s with the South African intelligence services in the Transkei. Former Detective Inspector Andy Field, who is the moderator of the BSAP Association’s website, was supportive of our project and provided additional documents.
Dr Klaus Storkmann (Major) a military researcher in the history of GDR support for liberation movements in Africa, kindly provided details of specific support for ZAPU. Bill Woodman, formerly of the Rhodesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was based in Paris in the 1970s and helped deepen our understanding of the work done by foreign missions. He also carried out research for the authors, interviewing Hasu Patel, who provided material about Rhodesia’s Asian community in support of the nationalist movements. Mark Oxley provided information from the unpublished memoirs of his father, Harry Oxley, who played a significant role in sanctions-busting operations in France, Belgium and francophone Africa countries.
Former Detective Inspector John Padbury shared his experiences running irregular forces in Rhodesia and provided photographic material, and Captain David Padbury, who served at COMOPS in 1978/79, also shared his experiences and a photograph. Award-winning Zimbabwean journalist, Angus Shaw, author of several books about Zimbabwe, provided his own insight into the story of the Rhodesians and shared Wilf Nussey’s unpublished manuscript about the extraordinary life of John Edlin. Photographer Paul Harris, who left Rhodesia in the 1970s after taking controversial photographs of the Rhodesians deploying napalm bombs, has exceptionally allowed us to use illustrations of journalists in Rhodesia’s 1970s. Photographer Peter Jordan provided the photographs of train derailments in Mozambique that he took while on assignment with Edlin in 1974. Photographer Mike McGeorge generously shared images that he had taken in Mozambique and Rhodesia during the 1970s. We have also been able to use illustrations from the BSAP’s Outpost magazine, and other illustrative material has come from official publications of the Rhodesian government and from the National Archives. We have received shared experiences and knowledge from many who sought no particular acknowledgement: their contributions are all greatly appreciated.
Documents obtained from PIDE/DGS archives in Lisbon on the war in Mozambique and its implications for Rhodesia were kindly facilitated by the Arquivo Nacional, Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, with the permission of Paulo Tremoceiro, Chefe de Divisão de Comunicação e Acesso, Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo. The assistance of Dalila Cabrita Mateus, author of a history of PIDE/DGS in the overseas provinces until 1974, in facilitating an introduction to Paulo Tremoceiro, is also acknowledged and appreciated. The late James Bannerman provided materials on the Serviços de Coordenação e Centralização de Informações de Moçambique (SCCIM), and also provided insight into FRELIMO operations in the Manica province of Mozambique in late 1970 and helped research maps of external operations.
Marda Fairlie, Ken Flower’s daughter, provided access to documents from her late father’s archives that were not included in his book, Serving Secretly. Assistant Commissioner Mike Edden provided the authors with a copy of his unpublished memoirs before his death, which contained, inter alia, details of Operation Ballot-rigging during the final days of Rhodesia.
The maps and charts reproduced in the book were carefully crafted by Kevin Philip, based on material provided by the authors and scrutinised by our editor. Finally, the authors acknowledge the excellent work done by our editor Roger Stringer. In pulling our work together, helping us prepare this perspective on events that have shaped present-day Zimbabwe, he demonstrated an acute understanding of the country’s history as he meticulously rendered our raw material into its final form and for this the authors owe him a debt of gratitude. We couldn’t have found a better person to work with us on making this book possible.
Henrik Ellert and Dennis Anderson Harare, February 2020
About the authors
Henrik Ellert was born in Denmark but grew up in Kenya during the Mau Mau emergency. He came to Zimbabwe in 1961 and joined the police force in 1964, initially serving two years in the uniformed branch and stationed in Shabani and Hartley, where he gained his first experience with the nationalist guerrilla insurgency after the killing of the Viljoens by ZANLA in 1966. He later transferred to the CID being stationed in Gweru and shortly after joined Special Branch posted to the Chirundu border post where he was involved in Operation Couldron and Griffin and intel collection from Zambia.
Returning to the Provincial Special Branch Office, Salisbury and Mashonaland, he was first responsible for border control at Salisbury airport and later on the European desk, rising to head of the section where his work brought him into contact with a wide spectrum of society. Throughout the 1970s he was periodically stationed at JOC Hurricane and, after completing Portuguese language studies, undertook liaison duties with Portuguese authorities in Beira, Tete, Chitima and Mukumbura.
In 1978 he was seconded to special duties as UANC liaison on Operation Favour before being transferred as Member-in-Charge of CID/Special Branch Que Que with responsibilities during Operation Grapple and Operation Favour. He retired with the rank of Detective Inspector in 1979.
Dennis Malcolm Anderson was born in London in 1930. Having moved to Rhodesia, he attested in the BSAP on 28 October 1956 and initially served in the uniformed branch at Rhodesville, Salisbury, later joining the CID and then Special Branch, where he became closely associated with nationalist leaders during the course of political rallies in the 1960s. For the first time he came into contact with educated black people, not ‘domestic servants’ or ‘garden boys’, interaction that very few Rhodesians or even his colleagues experienced. He subsequently served in Manicaland province where politically inspired crime became a daily event. In 1967 he was promoted to Detective Inspector and transferred to Salisbury.
In the September 1971 he was posted to Marandellas