Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the

Zimbabwe African People's Union The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant communist organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with ...

(ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. It participated in the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

against white minority rule of Rhodesia (modern

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

). ZIPRA (or often ZPRA) was formed during the 1960s by the nationalist leader Jason Moyo, the deputy of Joshua Nkomo.

Operations

Because ZAPU's political strategy combined political negotiations and armed force, ZIPRA developed as elaborately training both regular soldiers and guerrilla fighters, although and by 1979 it had an estimated 20,000 combatants, based in camps around

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and at the front. ZIPRA's crossing points into Zimbabwe were at Feira in Zambia opposite Mashonaland East and West. For example, the operational boundary was Sipolilo where ZIPRA, Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) and Rhodesian Security Forces clashed. ZIPRA operated alone in Mashonaland West. No ZANLA combatants were present in that area until the later stages of the war. Beside the overall political ideologies, the main differences between ZIPRA and ZANLA were that: *ZIPRA did not follow ZANLA's ideology (inspired by

Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

) but followed Soviet Marxist-Leninist principles. *ZIPRA controlled zones from Sipolilo to Plumtree. ZIPRA was in formal alliance with uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC's militant wing. ZIPRA and MK mounted a celebrated, if strategically unsuccessful, raid into Rhodesia in the mid-1960s. The incursion was stopped by Rhodesian Security Forces, working in concert with the South African Police.

Downing of passenger planes

Air Rhodesia Vickers 748D Viscount Wheatley

In 1978 and 1979 ZIPRA downed two civilian passenger planes of Air Rhodesia, killing a total of 107 passengers and crew. Air Rhodesia Flight 825 (named the ''Hunyani'') was a scheduled flight from Kariba to

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that was shot down on 3 September 1978 by ZIPRA guerrillas using an SA-7

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

(SAM). ZAPU (the political body behind ZIPRA) leader Joshua Nkomo publicly claimed responsibility for shooting down the ''Hunyani'' on

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the same evening, saying the aircraft had been used for military purposes, but denied that his men had killed survivors on the ground. Eighteen of the fifty-six passengers in the Air Rhodesia plane survived the crash, with most of these having been seated in the rear. Three crash survivors who remained at the aircraft managed to avoid being killed by running away and hiding in the bush. A second plane, Air Rhodesia Flight 827 (named the ''Umniati''), was shot down on 12 February 1979 by ZIPRA guerrillas, again using an SA-7 SAM.

ZIPRA commanders and soldiers

* Dumiso Dabengwa, head of intelligence and member of the ZIPRA high command *John Dube, commander at the Wankie battle *Tshinga Dube, head of signals and member of the ZIPRA high command * Alfred Nikita Mangena, first commander of ZIPRA * Robson Manyika, member of the ZIPRA high command * Lookout Masuku, commanded ZIPRA after the death of Nikita Mangena * Report Mphoko, chief of logistics and member of the ZIPRA high command * Austin Moyo, intelligence officer in Northern Front Regional Command * Ambrose Mutinhiri, commander at Morogoro * Ackim Ndlovu, member of the ZIPRA high command *Roy Reagen Ndlovu * Zenzo Ntuliki, intelligence officer and security for Joshua Nkomo * Joseph Nyandoro, member of the ZIPRA high command * Irvine Khulukani Sibanda, commander of the Southern Front * Philip Valerio Sibanda * Eddie Sigoge * Cephas Cele, chief of staff and training and member of the ZIPRA high command

Operations

Downing of passenger planes

ZIPRA commanders and soldiers

References

Further reading