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Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority population of Rhodesia and collecting intelligence on insurgents so that they could be attacked by regular elements of the security forces. The unit did this by forming small teams that posed as insurgents and usually included captured insurgents. Over time, the Selous Scouts increasingly attacked insurgents themselves and operated in the countries that neighboured Rhodesia. The unit developed a reputation for brutality and was responsible for attacking and killing civilians. The Selous Scouts were also involved in the Rhodesian chemical and biological weapons program and used poisons and biological agents in some of its operations. The methods used by the unit led to the deaths of large numbers of insurgents, but proved counter-productiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during World War II, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including Airborne forces, airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, Covert operations, covert ops, Direct action (military), direct action, Hostage crises, hostage rescue, high-value targets/Manhunt (military), manhunt, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, intelligence operations, Mobility (military), mobility o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). Operations ZANLA was formed in 1965 in Tanzania, although until the early 1970s ZANLA was based in camps around Lusaka, Zambia. Until 1972 ZANLA was led by the nationalist leader Herbert Chitepo. He was followed by Josiah Tongogara from 1973 until his death in 1979; by then ZANLA had an estimated 25,500 combatants. With the war drawing to a close, commands fell to Robert Mugabe, previously ZANU's number two leader after Tongogara and head of the movement's political wing. Until about 1971, ZANLA's strategy was based on direct confrontation with the Rhodesian Security Forces. From 1972 onwards, ZANLA adopted the Maoist guerrilla tactics that had been used with success by the Mozambique Liberation Front (F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodesian African Rifles
The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) was a regiment of the Rhodesian Army. The ranks of the RAR were recruited from the black African population, although officers were generally from the white population. The regiment was formed in May 1940 in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia. The RAR were officially declared the successor to the Rhodesia Native Regiment (RNR) which had existed in World War I from 1916 to 1918, and was granted the RNR's battle honours earned fighting in the East African Campaign. The RAR were the second-oldest regiment of the Rhodesian Army, after the Rhodesia Regiment which was raised in 1899. The RAR used the " greens" uniform and wore slouch hats as headgear. History After disbandment, selected members of the RNR formed the Askari Platoon of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) at Government House in Salisbury. Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) from this platoon provided the instructors when the RAR was formed in 1940 to fight in World War 2. Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodesian Special Air Service
The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency, 1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–1978) *1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment (1978–1980) 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. Formation During the Malayan Emergency (1951–1953), a group of men from Southern Rhodesia volunteered to go to Federation of Malaya, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British South Africa Police
The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, from which it took its original name, the British South Africa Company's Police. Initially run directly by the company, it began to operate independently in 1896, at which time it also dropped "Company's" from its name. It thereafter served as Rhodesia's regular police force, retaining its name, until 1980, when it was superseded by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, soon after the country's reconstitution into Zimbabwe in April that year. While it was in the main a law enforcement organisation, the line between police and military was significantly blurred. BSAP officers trained both as policemen and regular soldiers until 1954. BSAP men served in the latter role during the First and Second World Wars, and also provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Rhodesian Military Involvement In The Malayan Emergency
Southern Rhodesia, then a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom, sent two military units to fight with the Commonwealth armed forces in the Malayan Emergency of 1948–60, which pitted the Commonwealth against the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA), the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party. For two years, starting in March 1951, white Southern Rhodesian volunteers made up "C" Squadron of the Special Air Service (SAS). The Rhodesian African Rifles, in which black rank-and-filers and warrant officers were led by white officers, then served in Malaya from 1956 to 1958. Of the hundreds of Southern Rhodesians who served in Malaya, eight were killed. "C" Squadron, which was formed especially to serve in Malaya, was the first SAS unit from a British colony or dominion. Several veterans of the conflict, Peter Walls and John Hickman among them, subsequently held key positions in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Bush War of the 1970s. One former member of C Squa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces of the Federation of Malaya and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth (British Empire). The communists fought to win independence for Malaya from the British Empire and to establish a communist state, while the Malayan Federation and Commonwealth forces fought to combat communism and protect British economic and Colonialism, colonial interests.Deery, Phillip. "Malaya, 1948: Britain's Asian Cold War?" Journal of Cold War Studies 9, no. 1 (2007): 29–54.Siver, Christi L. "The other forgotten war: understanding atrocities during the Malayan Emergency." In APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper. 2009., p.36 The term "Emergency" was used by the British to characterise the conflict in order to avoid referring to it as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
False Flag
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrepresentation of someone's allegiance. The term was originally used to describe a ruse de guerre, ruse in naval warfare whereby a vessel flew the flag of a neutral or enemy country to hide its true identity. The tactic was initially used by piracy, pirates and privateers to deceive other ships into allowing them to move closer before attacking them. It later was deemed an acceptable practice during naval warfare according to international maritime laws, provided the attacking vessel displayed its true flag before commencing an attack. The term today extends to include countries that organize attacks on themselves and make the attacks appear to be by enemy nations or terrorists, thus giving the nation that was supposedly attacked a casus bell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, Zambia to the north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. With a population of slightly over 2.4 million people and a comparable land area to France, Botswana is one of the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute nearly 80 percent of the population. The Tswana ethnic group are descended mainly from Bantu peoples, Bantu-speaking peoples who Bantu expansion, migrated into southern Africa, including modern Botswana, in several waves before AD 600. In 1885, the British Empire, British colonised the area and declared a protectorate named Bechuanaland. As part of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the south and southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte, and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct Swahili culture and dialect. In the late medieval period, these towns were frequented by traders from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India. The voyage of Vasco da Gama in 1498 marked the arrival of the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese, who began a gradual process of colonisation and settlement in 1505. After over four centuries of Portuguese Mozambique, Portuguese rule, Mozambique Mozambican War of Indepen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of , the country has Demographics of South Africa, a population of over 64 million people. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest, most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban. Cradle of Humankind, Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guerrilla Warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, raids, petty warfare or hit-and-run tactics in a rebellion, in a violent conflict, in a war or in a civil war to fight against regular military, police or rival insurgent forces. Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in '' The Art of War''. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy, and in China Peng Yue is also often regarded as the inventor of guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
