Magazine of the Rhodesian Regimental Association (May 2018 Edition) TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editors Garble REPORT RL Chairman’s Message Patron’s Praat Sad Farewells’ A Tribute to our Fathers (RLI Son) New Signing Up Tribute to Col TG Desfountain Africa Branch- Report History of the Regimental Association in Africa Australia Branch Report Down Memory Lane Day of the Generals in Pictures Old Cheetah Rags BSAP & the RLI Spiels from Saints and Friends

FROM THE ED Well first time as Ed flying solo without Jimmy’s invaluable help in cobbling the Cheetah together. Although only five months into the year Australia has had their annual Anzac Day celebration and Doug’s report appears here and as usual the ‘Afrika Korps’ has been a flurry of events and activity. Under Brian’s leadership this branch cannot seem to slow down. Reports on their Bush Trips are detailed down below. Brian and his committee has decided to publish a regular Sitrep and the first of these has been done and will be added to the website under “Africa News” in due course The sad farewell to members is listed below and it is a fact of life that we are all inexorably marching to the ‘door’ for our final jump. This is particularly poignant that so many who have died did not do so as a result of natural causes but by some dreaded disease or other incident. We in this period saw one of our stalwarts and a fine officer, Trevor DesFountain pass away in Cape Town, South Africa. A prominent character in the Association and he always gave his all to keep our merry band of malcontents going forward even after so many years. Our lives are the richer for having known Trevor. This edition of the Cheetah is dedicated to him and thank you to Neill Storey for compiling the tribute. Thank you to Eleanor and Jo-Anne for their combined editing skills on the tribute to Trevor Our website is virtually up-to-date with a few more pictures added to the galleries and the Vale almost there with one further death to record. The Africa Branch has posted the minutes of their recent AGM and financial results. You can view these on the link at: http://www.therli.com/Content/Images/AGM2018.pdf Thank you all very much for submitting articles and allowing me to lift some stories from the social media. Contributors that I would like to acknowledge are Nigel Henson, Carl Henderson, Stu Grover and Padre Bill Dodgen (Pictures appear in the “Day of the Generals’” section.) Brian Lewis and Neil Swart (Africa Branch Gauteng Rep.) A special thanks must go to the ex BSAP members who sent in articles for the RLI affiliates theme of this edition. I believe the SAS are next up in the November Edition. Well done to Officers Willar and Prinsloo for their flanking manoeuvre in producing the hilarious article of their escapades “Maharani Hotel”. Stuart Strachan’s Tribute to RLI Fathers is a special interest piece I am sure you will enjoy reading Recently Ian Bate (Mention in the Patrons message below) and I attended a meeting on invite from the Flame Lily Foundation (FLF) and were joined by Grahame Wilson (SAS Association President) and Pat Armstrong ( Association President). The Flame Lily Foundation are themselves at a cross road in their many years of serving the ex Rhodesian populace and especially in helping them to secure pensions still owed by the Government to these folk. The idea behind the meeting was to see where the Foundation and the various military associations in South Africa could benefit from our long standing relationship. The RLI Association became members of the FLF in 2003 I believe. There will be more feedback on this meeting in due course Billy Wiggill

CHAIRMANS MESSAGE Greetings to you all, it seems like yesterday that I was writing for the last Cheetah! A big thank you for Jimmy Swan for Editing the Cheetah until the last Edition, very much appreciated, and a thanks to Bill for stepping into the breach and taking over as Editor until we find a more permanent one. As normal the early part of the year has been busy, with the Africa Branch having a very successful Birthday Reunion in February and the Australia Branch having an equally successful ANZAC Day event in Perth this year, and in this regard very many thanks goes to Dawn Losper, for energizing the ouens in Perth and organizing the event for them, well done. Despite several members sadly moving on to the 2 nd , other former members have come out of the woodwork and our membership has increased to 1010 globally, which is excellent. The Branch Chairmen and their committees continue to do an excellent job, organizing events and running their branches, which has encouraged more ex members to join, which is great. Best wishes to you all May the Saints keep marching on! Ian Buttenshaw

PATRONS PRAAT

Hello all you fantastic RLI ouens and crows out there.

I have been blessed in my life with some wonderful things. Foremost is my wife Alannah of 53 years and my great family. Ranking up at the top is the comradeship and spirit of the RLI. It has been a most exhilarating experience.

I have recently been presented with a summons to appear in the high court by an ex officer, This officer it applying for leave from the court to sue Pat Armstrong, Nigel Henson and me, he claims that that he was unfairly posted out of the RLI amongst other nasty claims against us. This is for an event that happened damn near 40 years ago, in a country and army that no longer exist.

Let me tell you that the support we have had from around the world has been incredible. Here I include receiving affidavits from all ranks that knew or were involved with this officer, but also includes legal advice from members. Once again the RLI spirit of looking after each other is still as strong as it ever was. Thank you! From the bottom of my heart, to all those who have assisted us. The battle has yet to be won but we are confident that we will succeed.

On the theme of the RLI spirit, I attended the AGM last Saturday. Wow what a great year it has been. Well done to Brian Lewis and his dedicated committee. We are all so grateful to this band of stars. The AGM was followed by the long awaited Support day. This was once again an immaculate day and congratulations to Bucks Theron and his team for laying on such a super event. My only suggestion is that perhaps us old deaf farts could be given a bit more time to catch up with mates not seen for ages instead of being drowned out by the band. The money raised for welfare will be well used.

Bill Wiggill our CEO is doing a super job with the Cheetah, but he has his own company to run plus the extra duties of CEO Is there someone out there who can take over? Please step up and volunteer your services.

I have heard of the success of the ANZAC parade in Perth excellently organized by Dawn and Doug. I have a strong connection to Perth as my daughter and granddaughter live there and attended and told me how well it went Congratulations Dawn, proud of you girl. Here’s a toast to the ongoing success of our newest branch. Thank you to Doug for supporting this year’s move to Perth.

Bill, Pat Armstrong and I attended the Flame Lily meeting this week where inter-service cooperation was discussed. All our Rhodesian associations are suffering from declining membership and I certainly believe that there is considerable scope for cooperation. Early days yet but hopefully this will see the beginning a something which will benefit us all.

I look forward to the next issue of Cheetah and trust that you will all stay in good health. The 60th anniversary is not far away.

Keep the flames of the RLI spirit burning.

As aye

Ian Bate SAD FAREWELLS!

We bid farewell to the following RLI members who have marched off the parade ground for the last time (December 2017 – May 2018) Vic Gladwin John “Duck” Dunmow David Denning Phillip William Stapelberg John Gilbert Kirkman Fraser Mackay Brigadier William Arthur Godwin Colonel Trevor G. Desfountain Danny van Schalkwyk Kim Farmer

. A TRIBUTE TO ALL RLI FATHERS

Stuart Strachan at this years’ Battalion Birthday Memorial Service (2018)

“Today, it is a privilege for me to address a tribute to the fathers of the ; to those that are with us, and to those who are not. Whilst it is a privilege, it is also an unenviable task of having to encapsulate and put into words what each RLI father means to their sons and to their daughters. Growing up, I was surrounded by RLI influence through my father and through his friends. I was well aware that they had served in the Rhodesian war, but because I was so young, I couldn’t fully comprehend exactly what their service had meant. As I grew older, I slowly came to understand and appreciate – as much as one can, if they have never fought a war – the gravity of their service in the RLI. Today, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you a few of the things I came to understand and appreciate: First , I came to understand just how young they were. I have since surpassed the age at which these men in front of me once fought. Even at my age now, and even at the ages of most of the legacy members of whom I represent today, I cannot imagine how we would handle ourselves in a full, combative war. Second , I came to understand how incredibly brave they were. Although many of the RLI men will today look back at their years in the war with fondness, there were many times where they placed themselves at great risk of injury and death. By fighting in the war, these men were ultimately willing to offer the greatest sacrifice for something they truly believed in. Third , I came to understand how selfless they were. Their service in the RLI came with little expectation of material reward. Nor were they doing it for themselves, but rather their reward came from knowing that they were fighting for, and protecting their friends, their family and their country. Lastly , I came to understand some of the values that these men stood for. Values like loyalty, duty, respect, honour, integrity and personal courage. They never gave up, and they always gave 100%. Although these are not all the things I came to appreciate and understand as I grew older, I certainly felt the need to highlight them today, as we pay tribute. I think it’s important for me to say that the characteristics and values that I have spoken are not taught in a classroom. You can’t teach bravery, loyalty, selflessness and courage, but rather, these characteristics and values are informed by the person you strive to be. When these men left the RLI, they did not leave these characteristics and values behind. Instead, they carried them throughout their lives, striving to be their best self, and they particularly carried these characteristics and values in their attitude and actions toward their friends, families, sons and daughters. Their sense of duty, bravery, loyalty and selflessness have allowed them to give their best towards their families and afford their families opportunities that they never had. They have been leaders, role models, and have set the highest example of the man that I want to one day become. In this moment, I am reminded of a quote “ my father didn’t tell me how to live: he lived, and let me watch him do it ”. To the RLI fathers, I wish to address you directly as we pay tribute. I am proud to be associated with every single one of you, I am lucky enough to be associated with every single one of you and I am grateful, not only for your service in the Rhodesian war, but grateful for you as fathers and what you have done for us. As we come here today to remember, we also come here to celebrate. And today, I celebrate everything that you have done for us, and pay tribute to you for the lives that you have allowed us to live.”

NEW BAYONETS MUSTERING (December 2017 – May 201

Charles Richardson Simon Green Rob French John Watson Andrew Hutton Mick Olsen Inge Nesje Michael Cunningham

A very warm welcome to our new members and hope we see you at the various functions being held in the regions. Faithfully Billy Wiggill CEO TRIBUTE TO COLONEL TG DESFOUNTAIN

TREVOR GEORGE DESFOUNTAIN

Trevor was born in Salisbury on 6 July 1945 and attended Milton School, , from about 1958 to 1962. He enlisted into the Federal Army in 1963 and was posted to 1RLI. In 1964 he attended an officer cadet course at the School of Infantry and was posted back to the RLI as a troop commander in 1 Commando. During his three years as a troop commander he was selected to be the Ensign to the Regimental Colour (Doug Lambert was the Ensign to the Queens Colour) at the Presentation of the Colours parade, which was an honour and privilege he cherished, and one which he was always very proud. (See separate article by Robin Tarr)

Presentation of the Queen’s Colour on 19 June 1965 His Excellency the Honourable Sir Humphrey Gibbs KCNG, OBE, Governor and Commander - in - Chief, the Federation of and presented the Colours and is saluting. Trevor DesFountain is the ensign to the Regimental Colour; Major Bruce Campling (OC 1 CDO) is assisting in handing over the Colour. Lt Col GP Walls (CO) is in the background. Ensign to the Queen's Colour is Doug Lambert. Trevor also had the distinction of being involved in the RLI’s first contact in 1966. Here below an article Trevor wrote for an Association publication a few years ago:

THE RLI’S FIRST CONTACT: OPERATION YODEL By Trevor DesFountain

A murder of a pantechnicon driver outside Chirundu on 17 September ’66 caused 1 Commando, who was on Border Control operations at the time, to draw their swords and go on full alert. Captain Dick Lockley acting on information that several terrorist groups had crossed into the Zambezi valley re-deployed the Commando into a number of ambush positions and criss-crossed the valley with patrols to locate tracks. I was tasked to take a night patrol down the ‘old’ Chirundu/Makuti road to determine if there was any suspicious activity (lights) or terrorist presence. The original contact report is presented elsewhere on these pages and although the incident took place over a three hour period the actual fire-fight only lasted about four minutes which was more than enough time to leave two killed and four wounded. We had been expecting it – sometime, somewhere, with some call sign. It was a lottery as to which sub- unit would have the first punch-up. This was the bottom line of soldiering and I was able to experience, at first hand, that the guys were capable and cool due to their training and confidence. And confidence produces courage no matter how frightened a person may be inside. Nevertheless, it was a massive reality check for us all and over the next 13 years there was no time for the swords to get rusty.

OPERATION YODEL: LESSONS LEARNT

What was particularly significant about this, the first, RLI contact was that the lessons learnt and recommendations were studied and acted upon by the CO 1RLI, the Brigade Commander and the Army Commander with the following subjects being spotlighted: (refer to contact report) - Camouflage shirts and denims – although already in the pipe-line – were expedited. - Vellies soon took over from boots - Shotguns and FN’s (including the Heavy Barrel FN) and Uzi sub machine guns were expedited. - Pencil Flares and Icarus Flares replaced the Verey Light. - The MAG was never replaced by any other weapon and, instead, became the ‘weapon of choice’ over the next decade. There was never anything wrong with the weapon – the MAG gunners skill-at-arms just improved massively. What a beauty! - Police/Army relations and operational procedures improved dramatically due (in part) to the Captain Lockley / Superintendant Sanderson experience. - The need for specialized army trackers was re-enforced (we utilized game scouts and Police - dogs in the follow up of the Yodel contact – Lt Tom Douglas and his team tracked for five hours the next day and finally caught up with the remnants of the terrorist group). - Night firing was practiced and improved: At first light the next morning I saw that the Jesse bush on either side of the road had been sheared off at chest height by the terrorists AK fire – if we had not been kneeling ….. Our fire hit the two front men in the chest and thereafter went over their heads because we were kneeling and firing uphill. The lesson reiterated the “lights down – sights down” maxim during night firing contacts. Because no ‘State of Emergency’ had yet been promulgated, Civil Law was followed and the surviving members of the terrorist group were (eventually) charged with illegal entry into the country and being in possession of weapons of war with the intent of causing acts of treason and/or terrorism. An Attorney was appointed to defend them. I was subpoenaed to attend the High Court on a charge of murder. The Attorney General of Rhodesia was appointed to defend me for and on behalf of the State and I was acquitted on a plea of self-defence. Once a State of Emergency was declared, this type of circumstance of having to defend ourselves in court fell away. The resultant publicity of the contact and court case through radio (RBC), newspapers (Rhodesia Herald/Sunday Mail) and articles in magazines, all resulted in the RLI’s name, and its role as an operational counter insurgency , to become more widely known. The seven of us who took part in that first RLI contact are all grey haired now and our swords have rusted over. But in our era, and during the nineteen year life span of the Battalion, we were all motivated by a strong sense of duty, a strong sense of comradeship, pride and performance. The first RLI contact took place on 25/09/66 the last RLI contact occurred on 28/12/79. They were different times and different men – but we all wore the green and silver.

Trevor became an avid sky-diver (encouraged by his Commando Commander, Major Peter Rich) and regularly spent his free weekends indulging in this exciting sport. RLI SAINTS FREE FALL CLUB By Trevor DesFountain The Saints Free Fall Club was formed in 1967 and the prime movers were George Oldbury & George Murray who asked Garth Barrett to get clearance from Peter Rich (OC 1 Cdo) & (CO) . They both enthusiastically agreed and the CO provided some PRI funds towards the purchase of Para training equipment to be set up in the RLI gym and, later, towards parachutes and related equipment. Sky diving then became a recognised sport within the Battalion! The early club members (1967) were as follows (as memory serves me): Peter Rich ; Peter Batty (who carried out the first jump) ; John Pearson (who became the most qualified and prestigious free – faller in Rhodesia and a mentor to all of us ) ; George Oldbury ( who designed our SUPERB badge ) ; George Murray ; Garth Barrett ; Ginger Jones ; Ronnie Tennis ; Dennis Croukamp and myself , Trevor Desfountain (there were other ouens but , embarrassingly , memory fails me.) Members who joined the club from outside the RLI were : Frank Hayles (PTS New Sarum – who helped train us re “ chin tucked in , elbows in , knee’s together , side right / left/ front /back ,etc “ , and became our chief Dispatcher ) ; Paul Simmons (SAS – also a Dispatcher and character of note ) ; Keith Samler ( BSAP –CID ) ; Buster Brown (Salisbury Sky Divers Association ). We started with a C9 Candy stripe chute (2 nd WW canopy) Single Blank and Double Blank (LL) and then – when funds and opportunity afforded it -- we progressed to the (wait for it!) TU 5Gore and (hold your breath!) TU 7 Gore which gave us a serious (we thought) “driving” capability. Then the P10“Para Commander “ appeared on the scene but only the real ‘stick’ okes (like JP) could use this chute as it opened with one hell of a crack and you had to be ‘feet – to- earth ‘ on opening otherwise you would do yourself an injury in the groin or neck area . Whenever we were back in camp (from ops ) we jumped each weekend – but it was expensive because we had to pay towards the altitude we were jumping from (below 5000 feet AMSL ) was affordable – anything over that was too expensive in fuel costs for us ouens . ) We used Cessna 180 and Cessna 206 aircraft to jump from. All the seats are taken out and the door off. Tony Smit (?) who was an Rh Air Force pilot was one of our stalwart pilots and it was fun being loaded up with him and 5 sky divers (sitting on the floor) and having to “bounce “off the dirt farm airstrip in order to gain lift under the wings to give “” enough for take off --- hiccup moments I tell you! The airstrips and DZ’s we used were:

• Delports Farm (outside Sby ) • Bellinghams Farm (outside Sby ) • Mt Hampden Airport (Sby) In those early days we did four types of “jumps”: 1) Fun Jumps (most weekends from the farm strips ) 2) RLI ‘ Advertising’ Jumps (School sports days / fetes ) 3) RLI ‘Formal ‘ Jumps ( Trade Fair – Byo , Inter Cdo Rugby, Children’s Xmas Party, etc) 4) Competitive Jumps (formal entry of the Saints Free Fall Team at local or national competitions ) Some memorable jumps were: (a) RLI kids Xmas party 1967 : Peter Rich (Father Xmas), Garth Barrett and Trevor Desfountain (Elves) – Peter dressed in a red outfit with beard, Garth and Trevor in Pixie green outfits all carrying huge bags of sweets – the LZ was the RLI rugby field – we exited at 3000 feet , opened at 1200 feet and hit a thermal at 1000 feet – we were last seen disappearing over the horizon still at a 1000 feet—much to the wailing and sobbing of the kids because the parents had told them that we had all the presents and sweets. We all landed south of the Widdicombe road (beyond the quarry) , gave all our PRI sweets to the kraal- line kids who said God had sent us to them –and hitched back to camp. Our bar books were open all night -----. (b) A spot – jump competition at Mazoe with the target being a tractor tyre in a 5 meter radius sand pit. The whole team ended up at Salisbury Central Hospital on Monday morning with each of us having our right foot in a tub of molten wax (which was the only way to treat a bruised heel in those days – caused by stretching the leg out to try and reach the sand pit so as to score points) and the matron asking us if we had come first! Hardly ----- (c) Night fun jumps onto the Mount Hampton airstrip with torches flashing to create ‘circles – in – the – sky’ and singing The Saints come ‘drifting’ in as we descended. (d) Water jumps at Lake Macllwaine—three in a day (tournament rules) – which meant the ‘chutes (and the reserves) were wet, as in ‘wet material sticks together and doesn’t open too easily! ------Fun! (e) Our kit became so used and so old that often we experienced the dreaded ‘floating ripcord’ which meant it separated from the shoulder sleeve in the free – fall and ended up flapping around your helmet somewhere making it quite an ass – clenching time when you came to pull ! (f) Ronnie Tennis was so skraal (and therefore so light) that he was often used as the ‘drifter ‘ to mark our dispatch point on the final “run in “ ! What guts and what character he had – a great team man. The Saints team always benefited from his ‘ranging round’.

Trevor was also a keen golfer and with colleagues Doug Lambert and Tom Douglas they were feared opponents on the golf course! Trevor was posted out of the battalion in about 1967 to HQ 2Bde as GSO3(Ops and Trg) and this was followed by a posting to the ‘Artillery’ as the Adjutant of the Training Depot and then, after attending the long gunnery course in Potchefstroom, as Training Officer. Trevor’s uncle Dennis had been a gunner through and through and Trevor had always been fascinated by ‘the guns’; he so much enjoyed serving with the Rhodesian Artillery that he chose to be rebadged RhA. He was then posted back to the RLI to 3 Commando. The RLI Regimental Colour was again trooped through the ranks on 27 June 1970. Trevor was in command of the Escort to the Colour, Don Price was the Ensign to the Colour and Robin Tarr was the RSM, passing the Colour on to Don. Trevor married Eleanor (nee Parkinson) on 12 July 1969 and they produced two daughters Debra (born 29 June 1971) and Jo-Anne (born 19 July 1973). In about 1974 Trevor was posted to the National Service Training Depot at Llewellyn Barracks as a Company Commander. He was then posted to the School of Infantry as Chief Instructor, and later appointed as the Commandant, a posting which suited him and his abilities, and of which he was very proud. In 1981 Trevor was appointed Commander Midlands District and promoted to the rank of Colonel. In 1981 Trevor left the Zimbabwe Army and relocated with his family to Knysna. Trevor took a job in a local hardware store, but soon realised that he had more potential and ability than selling hardware, so he enrolled with Insurance Company, learnt the insurance business and set out as an agent. But, he was so successful that he soon had sold policies to all of the available local community! He then moved with his family to Cape Town and was quickly employed by the Cape Town Disaster Management Division. However, a security company had identified Trevor’s ability and value and made an employment offer which ‘could not be declined’. So, Trevor and family moved to Pretoria and soon had that executive admitting that they had made the correct choice! Tragedy struck the DesFountain family on 27 February 1996 when their daughter Debra lost her life in a light aircraft accident. Trevor then decided that life in Cape Town was more desirable and moved the family back to Cape Town where he launched his own Consultancy and Training Company TDF . Trevor specialised in security staff training, property security surveys, polygraph testing and general security planning, and anything else that required a security bias. He was always available to offer and recommend security , and his advice has always been regarded as valuable, realistic and sensible. Trevor planned and arranged the 54 th RLI Birthday celebrations in Cape Town on 1 February 2015. This was a hugely successful event and was marked by the loan of the Colours from the RLI Regimental Association and a small but very significant parade was held at Timor Hall (the International Police Establishment in Cape Town). Trevor and Don Price were the Ensigns to the Colours, and Robin Tarr the RSM. In 2016 the RLI subalterns of Skydde Row decided on a once in a life time reunion and selected Trevor to be part organiser and PMC for the event. The ‘subbies’ who were living ‘all over the world’ realised that the success of this event would be dependent on someone who lived and breathed the values of the RLI, was clear thinking and competent from an organisational point of view, had gravitas and was someone with whom all ‘subbies’could identify and accept. Trevor was the unanimous and obvious choice and the reunion – held in Durban - was an outstanding and brilliant success.

Trevor’s military career spanned twenty years and his civilian career another thirty five years. Throughout, his work ethic has been supreme and his ability to nurture, assist and develop has been outstanding. He will always be remembered as being an intelligent and perfect gentleman, an outstanding officer and a person who could always be relied upon to change any situation for the better. Always respected and admired for his empathy and willingness to be involved and assist, and for his unending sense of humour. Trevor died on 13 March 2018 after a lengthy battle with a cancer growth in his lung. Trevor’s Memorial Service was held at the Methodist Church in Somerset West on Friday 23 March 2018. The Reverend Ralph Afghan conducted the Service, Jo-Anne delivered a tribute to ‘My Dad’, Major General Leon Jacobs gave the Eulogy and Major Steve Cary gave the RLI and Artillery tribute. Piper Andrew Imrie The Eulogy started the Service by playing ‘The Saints’ and later played the RLI Lament. The congregation sang ‘Amazing Grace’ and Last Post and Reveille were sounded by a bugler. Piper Imrie played Ode to Joy before the congregation left the church for the Wake at the Somerset West Country Club.

RIP Trevor ...... it was great knowing you, serving with you and enjoying your company. Neill Storey With thanks to Major General Leon Jacobs for extracts from his Eulogy.

FIRST COLOUR PARTY – 50 YEARS ON. By – Robin Tarr CSM 1 Cdo. May – Sept 1965. RSM 1965 – 1971. Trg Offr 1971 – 1975. The Colours of the First Battalion the Rhodesian Light Infantry were approved by Her Majesty The Queen on 15 July 1963. The original drawings of the Colours produced by the College of Arms and bearing the signature of Queen Elizabeth II, hung in the commanding officer’s office. A unique aspect is the wreath of Flame Lilies, the national flower of Rhodesia, surrounding the Regimental crest on the Regimental Colour, instead of the traditional wreath of roses and thistles. On the 19 June 1965 The Battalion was presented with their Colours at a full ceremonial parade by the Governor of Rhodesia, His Excellency Sir Humphrey Gibbs KCMD OBE on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II. The parade was held on the barracks parade ground, a dedication and drumhead ceremony was conducted by the Chaplains of the Rhodesian Corps of Chaplains, followed by an inspection, trooping of the Colours through the ranks, and finally the march past in slow and quick time. Parade Appointments: Parade Commander – Lt. Col. G P Walls MBE. Second in Command – Maj. P A Conn. Parade Adjutant – Capt. D G Parker. Parade RSM – WO1. {RSM} R F Reid – Daly MBE. Colour Party. Lt. D R Lambert {Ensign to the Queens Colour} 2Lt. T G DesFountain {Ensign to the Regimental Colour} WO2 {CSM} Tarr O R. Sgt. Murray C A. Sgt. Farndell C P. Guard Commanders. No 1 – {Escort to the Colours} Maj. P A Conn. No 2 – Maj. H St. J Rowley. No 3 – Maj. J H Cole. No 4 – Maj. A B Campling. The selection of the Colour Party was the responsibility of the Adjt and the RSM; it certainly was a privilege and an honour to be selected as a member of this Colour Party, as it in fact was, with all Colour Parties over the years. However, this was the first time the Battalion mounted a Colour Party and because of the importance of the occasion, it possibly was the most important colour party ever mounted by the Battalion. A number of members – Officers, WO’s and senior NCO’s were considered, eventually after considerable deliberation the Colour Party was announced, comprising as above. Extract: From Africa’s . The CO then ordered “March on the Colours….Battalion present arms”. The Colour Party marched on to the parade ground from the 3 Commando area to the Regimental march, “The Saints” This was the first time the Colours had been viewed by the public. Everyone to a man stood up; the atmosphere was electric. The Colour Party marched directly in front of the VIP’s, executed a left form at the dais and marched down, taking up its position in the centre of the Battalion.

L – R. Sgt. Murray C A. Lt. D R Lambert {Ensign to the Queens Colour} WO2 {CSM} Tarr O R. 2Lt. T G Desfountain {Ensign to the Regimental Colour} Sgt. Farndell C P. FIRST COLOUR PARTY 50 YEARS ON

In late November 2015 a very significant and some what emotional reunion was made at the GFL which was held in Durban. Three members of that first Colour Party attended this function and, in so doing met up with each other after 50 years. It can be well appreciated that considerable proud reminiscing and banter was the order of the day. It indeed was a pity, that the two Snr NCOs’ were not available to complete the Colour Party. AFRICA BRANCH REPORT

Gauteng AFRICA 2018 – A GREAT START TO THE YEAR

What a great start to 2018 for the RLIA Gauteng branch, starting with The RLI Birthday, Prayer meetings, Bruce Upton’s fund raiser, Support Commando day and the hosting of intake 163’s reunion and Ian Frasers reunion after 38 year’s. Although year on year, the cost of living sky rockets, we are amazed at how generous our Association members remain when raising the much needed funds for our Ouen’s in need.

A big thank you to all the committee members and the many helpers who volunteered their services during those many complex days.

So this is how the year 2018 has progressed:

February – The RLI Birthday

• Another fantastic turnout from the Ouen’s from all over the world marched on for yet another RLI Birthday. The parade was superbly handled by our parade commander Kevin Taylor, keeping the Ouen’s in step.

• Good support for the 50/50 boards, raffles and auction of the stick leader painting and D.J. Butch providing some excellent music to set up a very festive atmosphere

Seen at the RLI Birthday

The “28 th ”…Never forgotten. One Commando pays their respect to those brave men killed in action on the 28 th February 1976. Both on and off the Parade square

And then let the RLI Birthday festivities begin!!!

March – Prayer Meeting day

• An easy lazy hazy Saturday prayer meeting after a hectic Birthday celebration in February made way for yet another successful fund raising day on the 50/50 boards

• DJ Butch on the decks providing the best music as always April – Prayer Meeting (Bruce Upton Day)

• Bruce Upton Day - Raising funds for RLI welfare. Food, wheelbarrow raffle & 50/50 boards

• Bruce’s “Bad boy” Boerie rolls all sold out within the hour and with all food and booze for the wheelbarrow raffle sponsored, Bruce raised a tremendous amount for welfare on this day

• The Spillage People provided great music for the day at no charge. Thanks Andy Dyer

April – Prayer Meeting (Bruce Upton Day)

• Bruce Upton Day - Raising funds for RLI welfare. Food, wheelbarrow raffle & 50/50 boards

• Bruce’s “Bad Boy” Boerie rolls all sold out within the hour and with all food and booze for the wheelbarrow raffle sponsored, Bruce raised a tremendous amount for welfare on this day

The Spillage People provided great music for the day at no charge. Thanks Andy Dyer

Intake 163 reunion – April

Jimmy Gallagher and James Wessels played hosts to the RLI intake163 reunion at Dickie Fritz in April. Over 20 Ouen’s arrived from all parts of the world in what was an exceptional re bonding experience as most mates had not seen each other since 1980.

The Ouen’s moved down to the statue to pay their respects the fallen comrades which created an air of emotional sadness but pride in serving this great unit with such great soldiers. Then it was back to the Ridgeback bar for some hectic war stories music and festivities.

Two of our RLI members here having both had hip replacement surgery but shunned the pain and came out to meet their mates. It is clear that these two could never master “the side right” during their Para jumps!!!

May – Support Cdo Prayer Meeting day

• Another great Cdo day with supporters turning out from all over the world to attend probably the best Cdo day so far. A magnificent sunny day made all the more brighter by the famous yellow T shirts inspired an atmosphere of long lost friendships being rekindled, a multitude of “Officers” (for a change) and Troopies sharing a cold dop and some hot war stories. With Col Bate, Col Armstrong, Major Henson, Sergeant Major Beatie, Capt Murdoch, Lt. Carpenter and Lt. Prinsloo in attendance, one couldn’t feel much prouder that the spirit of the RLI in leadership and in the Battalion members was so alive and well.

• Buck’s and Lynette Theron are to be highly congratulated on running and hosting an excellent day with some killer curry and rice selling in minutes and some unbelievable funds raised in the booze barrow raffle, the great Buffalo painted by Lynette won on raffle and re- auctioned raised a staggering amount.

• Gerrie Cilliers once again donated a knife for auction for the day and raised a great amount

• And yes…not one but 2 bands provided some excellent table dancing music plus one of the most moving renditions of “The Saints” ever heard. This brought on a wave of pride and huge Goosebumps for everyone there. The best day ever!

The Ian Fraser reunion

• Finally, Ian Fraser from One Commando visited us at Dickie Fritz. This was hosted by Alan Strachan and some 20+ ouens and family members came out to meet Ian.

• With Ian Fraser leaving the Battalion in early 1980, many of us in One Commando had not seen him in 38 years.

• Again a trip to pay our respects to fallen comrades at the statue was a sad but proud moment for Ian and all there.

With this great start to the year, we are even more encouraged to continue raising funds for RLI welfare as well as hosting more reunions as they come to be.

The Battalion spirit is alive and thriving in South Africa. We hope to one day see those whom have not visited us as yet. Remember, there are always a warm heart, cold beer, lekker chow, and good music and war stories for you when you visit.

Until next time….Red light. Green light…..if you don’t Jump…..

Neil Swart Regimental Association in Africa

By Brian Lewis (Chairman Africa)

“Those Who Also Served” A Personal Tribute to the Chairmen and Committee members who served the RLIRA in Africa. Zimbabwe The RLIRA committee in 1982/3 was chaired by Col John Cole, and met roughly once a month, in , in “the dead of night”, in the First Street CABS building, in an office on the top floor. I was recruited by Colin Dace to take over as Secretary as he was moving on soon. As I recall in those days we had to operate clandestinely, and so we developed a strong and reliable network of communication between us which would give us early warning if there was any hint of possible scrutiny or worse from the powers in charge. Despite the “cloak and dagger” stuff, and under the leadership of John Cole, we successfully managed to run the affairs of the Association for a few years. The membership was approximately 25 strong and I only recall ever attending one RLI function [Regimental Day 1983/84] on the banks of Lake Macllwaine. I recall this event being well attended, despite the need to be clandestine. It was a great opportunity to catch up with men I had last seen in the days of service in the RLI. However, an ever dwindling membership, as the “ouens” packed up their families and headed south, made it difficult to operate. This, coupled with the political situation at the time, meant the writing was on the wall for the RLIRA in Zimbabwe and it was decided to wrap up the Association in Zimbabwe. I cannot recall the exact date the RLIRA ceased to exist in Zimbabwe, but I am sure someone somewhere can enlighten me. South Africa Using existing records and the personal accounts from some of the members, I have attempted to put together some information regarding the RLIRA in South Africa from the early 1980’s. The numerous Committees, elected over the years were successful at ensuring that the men of the RLI were always in one way or another “kept in the loop” with regards to well being and general business of the Association. 1980 Informal gatherings were arranged from time to time normally by Jono Dixon at the Fourways Hotel in , and RLI matters were discussed over a few drinks. Usually in attendance were Jono Dixon, Charlie Aust, Pat Hill, Ian Bate, Ken Bothma and Deryck Stokes. 1981 –1983 In January 1981 John Cole was elected as the first Chairman of the RLIRA in South Africa. His committee was made up of some well known and respected men of the RLI namely: Ian Bate –Vice Chair. Jono Dixon –Secretary Deryck Stokes-Treasurer Area Liaison members comprised: Kip Donald Simon Harroff Pat Hill Steve Carey Frank Gerber. Other RLI personalities who also served in the first committee were: Rob Korb Bill Moon Theo Serfontein John Pearson Allen Lindner Membership was estimated at 18. Highlights and Achievements *About six crates of kit and Equipment plus The Trooper Statue had to be cared for and were secured in the Military History Museum in Saxonwold, Johannesburg. Charlie Aust, in his capacity as last Commanding Officer of the RLI, held talks with SA Government officials regarding suitable storage and display of RLI Trooper and memorabilia. The SA officials would not allow the RLI to display their statue or memorabilia in any Municipality owned building, and would only allow such display should a new wing be built at the Military Museum within the next five years. For a while the Troopie statue stood under the trees sans plinth at the museum without any recognition as a perch for the local pigeons The Fourways Hotel was chosen as the permanent venue for the RLI functions which included the RLI Birthdays. A draft constitution was to be formulated for the Johannesburg Association. 1983- 1985 In August 1983 a new committee was elected comprising: Ian Bate –Chairman John Cole –Vice Chair Secretary –Ken Bothma Treasurer –Mrs Beech Property Member –Alex Porterfield Other committee members were: Frank Gerber Titch Brotherton Del Bolton Frank Guthrie Dave Russell Membership estimated - 32 During this time John Cole acknowledged that Jono Dixon and his wife were regarded as the catalyst in keeping the RLIRA alive and well over the past three years. Members within the Association that many of you may remember were: Alf Logan Geoff Liversedge Peter Eldridge Gerry Strong Highlights and Achievements A Dedication service was held at Dickie Fritz on 5 th February 1984. This was regarded as a tremendous success with some R400 after expenses being raised on the day. Approximately 150 people attended a function for the Dedication and RLI Birthday at the Fourways Golf Course on the 9 th February 1985. Alan Gerrish played the pipes. Brian Streak started putting together material for a book on the RLI. The RLIRA joined with RASA (Today’s’ Flame Lily Association) who had accepted RLI members as members of RASA. The introduction of an RLIRA Newsletter. The possibility of joining MOTHS and or establishing our own “Saints“Shellhole was investigated. I now have to rely on individual memories and word of mouth, in the absence of definitive records until 2007. For various reasons the RLI Association went into a hiatus of sorts for a number of years, with only occasional informal and social gatherings taking place at various venues in Johannesburg in a bid to keep the camaraderie and RLI spirit alive. These were largely done on the spur of the moment and by word of mouth. Acknowledgement should be given to these men, and although their names may not be known at this time, we thank them for their loyalty and dedication during some trying times in our 38 year history in South Africa. 1995 Derrick Taylor became Chairman and attempts to hold meetings and revive the Association were made. At time of going to press it is unknown how successful Derrick was, but all credit must go to him for rallying the Ouens and for keeping the Flag flying. Unfortunately there are no official records and very little information is available to record events during this period. We do know that the Troopie for a while was kept safe inside a container at Derrick’s security business, (Commando Security) 2006-2007 Hamish MacIntyre became chairman and attempts were made to reignite the Association, but this was met with limited success. Again no records are on file for this period. Membership estimated at 120 2007-2009 George Dempster stepped in as Chairman and appointed a committee. George and Chris Cocks worked extremely hard at keeping the Association and RLI Spirit alive and are generally regarded as the catalyst in getting the Africa Branch back on the map so to speak. Acknowledgement must given to Shirley Dempster, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that events and functions arranged by the Association were managed professionally and to a high standard. Membership estimated at 223 Highlights and Achievements In cooperation with Tony Young and Chris Cocks, George formalised a new constitution. Working with Martyn Hudson in the UK, the committee was instrumental in getting RLI Colours safely ensconced in the UK and the UK Museum becomes a reality. The successful launch of the book, The Saints, by Alex Binda and edited by Chris Cocks, in London provided a rallying point for the RLIRA to take off in the UK and Africa. George set up and to this day maintains the RLIRA Website which he provides free of cost to the RLIRA. 2009-2012 Billy Wiggill - Chairman. His committee comprised: Mervyn Kluckow-Treasurer (Rob Marsh stepped in after Mervyn’s unfortunate passing). Chris Ras- Secretary (Alan Strachan stepped in after Chris Ras had to stand down due to work commitments). Gary Huxham served as QM Estimated membership -426 Highlights and Achievements Bill and his committee are credited with a number of successes in their term of office. The Cheetah Magazine was brought back to life after some 29 years of dormancy, with Chris Cocks as editor. In November 2009, the first electronic version of the e-Cheetah as it is known was published and disseminated to members worldwide. The 49 th RLI Birthday Reunion held in Durban South Africa with 249 members’ friends and guests in attendance. A first for the RLIRA Association worldwide, as on parade together were General Peter Walls, Colonel Charlie Aust and the Patron Ron Reid Daly. Another milestone was that under the same roof were some 23 ex RLI Officers and 12 Warrant Officers. The 50 th RLI Birthday and Reunion was held at Swartkop Airforce Base with some 352 members, friends and guests attending. The event kicked off with former Commanding Officers’ of the Battalion, Gen Hickman, Col Ian Bate and Col Charlie Aust, together with former RSM’s, Robin Tarr, Harry Springer and Ken Reid being flown into the base on a Puma helicopter. The registration of the RLI and Association Trademarks in South Africa. (Ably helped by Attorney ‘Rocket’ Ron Wheeldon) Initiation and publication of the legacy book Africa’s Commando’s. Bill became Webmaster of the RLIRA site in 2012 and initiated the first major overhaul of the RLI website and still performs this function to the present day 2012-2015 Charlie Norris was elected as Chairman. His committee consisted of: Rob Marsh -Treasurer Alan Strachan- Secretary Len Beechey – QM Bucks Theron – Jo’burg Rep Skippy Mitchell Durban Rep Maurice Gabriel Cape Town Rep The Africa committee, affectionately known as the “Africa Korps” by Bill Wiggill who was now CEO of the Worldwide Association, focused on injecting a spark of life back into the African branch of the RLIRA. The prevailing aim was to improve and maintain the camaraderie so essential to a successfully operating branch. The first thing was to realign the monthly prayer meeting from a Friday evening to lunch time on the first Saturday of each month. Attendance went from less than to an average of 30+ within two months. These meetings were held at the Dickie Fritz MOTH shell hole in Edenvale and continue some six years later. Another innovation introduced was the reading of the Roll of Honour of all members of the Battalion who had died during that particular month. The committee held fortnightly meetings at the Chairman’s house to keep a handle on and plan the business of the branch. The first major event was the planning of the 52 nd birthday and reunion which was held at Victoria Lake in Germiston. The event went off well and was well attended. Notable was the amount of people appearing in the requested dress code. The various parades and memorials around Johannesburg and Pretoria e.g. The Delville Wood Parade were religiously attended by members of the committee and other members started to support us too. This led to the RLIRA becoming more visible and had benefits as we were able to get a band of volunteers to form a marching band for our annual parade. A standardised dress code for formal parades, designed to reflect Africa and the Battalion’s history was introduced. This consisted of beret, RLIRA tie, blazer, sand coloured chinos and Vellies. This has now become our trademark dress code and it is not unusual to see 100+ members attending formal parades thus kitted out. It became apparent that there was a growing need to help former members of the Battalion who had fallen on hard times or were in urgent need of medical funding. Thus the welfare program was started up and continues to attract support to this day. The 53 rd and 54 th Annual birthday parades/two reunions were held at Dickie Fritz which had now become the spiritual home of the RLIRA-Africa. For the first time a band was used and the ouens took great pride and pleasure into forming up and marching into position to the tune of “When the Saints go Marching In”. We were starting to get upwards of 50 plus members on parade and along with spouses and children etc attendance at these events were in the region of 150+. All subsequent birthday parades have been held at Dickie Fritz on the first Saturday in February each year. The committee also arranged and held various outings/functions over the three years all of which were well supported and attended. Some were fund raisers for a specific project e.g. Patron’s Day for welfare funding and others were break even events to improve the camaraderie of the group. Two of note was a range day where participants had a pistol competition and also fired Heckler and Koch MP5s. Another great nostalgic day included a shooting competition firing FNs and AKs as well as rides in a camouflaged Alouette lll with doors removed. Charlie still serves the Africa Branch as our Welfare Officer. At the time of writing Charlie and Toni are preparing to immigrate to the UK. Finally members of the committee invited Brian Lewis to brunch and by the end of the meal had a new chairman elect. ______

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND BRANCH Doug Paxton- Chairman Anzac Perth 24 th and 25 th April 2018.

The past few months have been quiet on most fronts but quite hectic in the organisation of the Anzac gathering in Perth. Dawn Losper and her team in Perth doing all the heavy lifting to facilitate our gathering this year. Our annual Anzac get together has just had a most successful conclusion in Perth. There were many highlights to the 2 days, but the biggest was just getting together and having a few beers with old and new friends. In a country as big as Australia with the relatively small number of Ex RLI ouens it is always a pleasure to have upwards of 30 in the same place at one time. This year’s celebration of the Battalion was tinged with sadness at the sudden death of John Kirkman (3cdo 1975-1977). We were able to pay respect to our fallen and to John following the Anzac March at a Riverside Service at the conclusion of the Parade, there were over 50 Rhodesians marching and most stayed on for our short service. I was deeply honoured that Ali, Fiona Kim and Joanna (John’s Wife and three girls) were able to make it to the service as hard and as raw that must have been for them. Dinner: On the Anzac eve evening we had our Association dinner; Dawn did us proud with the venue and organisation for the evening.

I was pleased to meet Lt Col Harry Harvey (SAS) and Capt Peter Glynn (signals 2Bde) who are President and Secretary respectively of the RAA (Rhodesian Army Association) Western Australia who had been invited to the dinner. There were 30 other RLI ouens with their wives. A few had made the trip over from the “East” and was particularly grateful for Richard Johnson (who brought the Colours with him) and Mark Eales who made the trip over from Brisbane. It was a huge pleasure as always to catch up with Gert Wantenaar (SAS) who made the trip over from southern New South Wales. Unfortunately, for the first time in many years Shaun Ryan could not make it out from Jersey because of work commitments. There were a few from other units including my good friend Gobby Collins (Armoured Cars and 1RR) The Dinner was well supported by the local RLI ouens and some who had travelled from distant parts of WA. The highlight of the evening was the excellent walk through the Parachute Training School (Rhodesian Airforce) by Squadron Leader Derek de Kok.

Derek entertaining the “troops” with another tale I had asked Derek to give our talk this year following his Blog publication about the many stories from the PTS in social media over the last couple of months. Derek who has lived in Melbourne for many years organised his own flight over to Perth and was put up by Tony Hughes (PJI parachute jump instructor) and his wife for 2 days. I am personally grateful for the huge effort he made and to adding to the fabric of the evening, and heritage of the Battalion. Derek was involved from the beginning of the Parachute Training School from the late 50’s through to the end of the Bush War. Hearing the stories brought back the humour and the extraordinary feats of skill to overcome the many problems faced with a small number of chutes and very different operational conditions faced, compared to the training in that many in the early phases of the PTS did at RAF Abington. In the early phases of the bush war, it was solely the SAS who were Para-trained. The need to train more paras was following a deployment near Chiredzi. Derek was directly involved as the PJI, a couple of sticks of the SAS were inserted to block the retreat of a group of gooks that were being pursued by ground troops. The SAS stops ambushed them and accounted for them all. Following this and with some tweaking that the application of Para dropped troops would have a positive influence to the Bush War and development of vertical envelopment: Fire Force. There was an almost exponential increase in training requirements and trying to get the best gear despite the constraints of sanctions. The original X type parachute (descent at 22feet/ second – 28 feet in diameter, first used in 1941) was not suited to the higher-altitude landings in the Rhodesian Highveld especially if there was any wind about. Derek and his team tried a number of different chutes many not robust enough for the bush conditions, eventually he was able to use the South African developed SADVAC parachute which was based on an American design but with a much stronger fabric that could be used over and over. This was a larger chute (35 feet) and had a little better performance when soldiers had all their gear as well. Importantly, Derek explained the parachutist was able to keep is personal weapon next to him during the jump where with the older X type and the American T10 needed the weapon and gear to be in a separate container. Operationally, there was to be huge expansion as a decision to Para train the RLI and the RAR as well as the SAS and Selous Scouts. There was also a need for a freefall chute for HALO insertions, no better men than the PJI’s and the Boss to test these newer chutes. So, on one day Derek was able to do the testing 32 times, after one of the PJI’s had hurt himself on one of the early morning jumps. With the large number of operational jumps and the training courses keeping all the team at the PTS fully occupied. From 3-4 courses a year with 8 students in the course to 40 courses/ year and over 80 in each course. From the original 6 PJI’s by the end of the bush war there were over 40 PJI’s, some coming from the ranks of the RLI. Some of the was taken off by having men trained in Bloemfontein but a huge number of soldiers went through the PTS Rhaf. The 8 Dakotas the Rhodesian Airforce had, had been on close rotation from Para training courses, operational jumps and externals but despite all of this there were very few parachute related accidents. Indeed, in the last year of the war there were 14998 jumps recorded. The operation records are well known to all of us for the numbers of operational jumps / day, the lowest deployment and Totals of jumps and it is largely due to the dedication of Derek, the PJI’s and the “Dak” pilots there were not more injuries. The PJI’s knew many of those jumping so would make sure there was a safety margin to protect those jumping and if need be go back to the FAF with a full plane. We presented Derek with an Association polo T-Shirt as a token of our appreciation for the great talk and effort to come over. Stalwart Award:

Granny Johnson with Dawn

There are a few people more deserving of this award than Dawn. Richard Johnson presented to Dawn a framed certificate granting her stalwart status within the RLI Association. Dawn has been the driving force behind the RLI Association in Western Australia and has been involved in a large number of other bodies and committees representing Servicemen and women in the Perth region. She has been the spark to keep the ouens together and contributing to various gatherings and outings. Together with Glynn (Dawn’s husband) they have organised the catering and “light refreshments” for the post Anzac Day parade braai. Dawn joined the RWS, following the death of her fiancé in the bush war. She was posted to RLI and 1Cdo where despite her many protestations the Cdo garden never looked any good especially after the trucks were parked on it on return from a bush trip. Dawn got things in order though and even got to take stores and resupplies out to the fire force bases.

Anzac Day Parade. The early morning dawn service in King Edward Park saw some 30 000 Aussies see the sun come up and a memorable service where the contributions of women to the fighting cause was highlighted and pertinent to our previous evening’s dinner.

Stu Hammond keeping a watchful eye on the “Ouens” The march itself saw a good many more RLI ouens gather, over 25 were on parade. This year the Rhodesian contingent was led by Lt Col Harry Harvey (SAS- President of the Rhodesian Army Association (western Australia)), The RLI contingent followed Dawn and the Colours who were carried by Gary Lieberman and Rod Howden, we were followed by the SAS contingent who had 9 men on parade. The rest of the Rhodesians followed behind, in total over 60 men and women marched, getting a smile and salute from the Governor General when we passed the saluting dais. Unlike other parts of the world, we here in Australia are short of senior NCO’s and officers in the Association who can be tasked to protect and secure the colours so each year we nominate respected ouens to carry the colours on the March

Post March Group Shot

Post March group 2 At the end of the March, the Rhodesian contingent gathered on the banks of the Swan River to pay respect to our fallen and in particular this year to pay respect to John Kirkman who died suddenly a week before Anzac Day. John’s wife Ali and her three daughters (Fiona, Kim and Joanna) were able to come down to the riverside and we were able to embrace them and pass on our condolences personally, I hope that this was some solace for the family, it being still so raw for them.

Dawn reading a poem for Ali Kirkman at the riverside service As part of our service, I had the privilege to read Dave Hodgson’s(SAS) prayer which I copy here, It encapsulates the many thoughts behind why, when how and gives me great purpose in understanding what happened so long ago but which runs in our veins and sinew today. “Our Heavenly Father:” We are assembled here before You today as Veterans of the Rhodesian Armed Forces – The Rhodesian Light Infantry, C Sqn Rhodesian SAS, the Selous Scouts, The Grey Scouts, The , , The , BSAP, Patu, Intaf, and other units, along with our families and loved ones. We are here to remember those of our comrades, the manne, the ouens, the Shamwari, our china’s, both men and women, who were killed in the Rhodesian war, and also those members who have since died directly or indirectly from the traumas of that war. We also remember the wives, fiancés, girlfriends, children, families and friends of those who were killed in action. We empathise with their pain and their anguish even after all these years, and decades. And even after the century rolled over, and on into the new Millennium, we still remember them As we look back now from a different vantage point, we recognize that despite the macro-politics of self- centered world powers that forced Rhodesia into submission, these lives were not lost in vain, but were sacrificed in the pursuit of what we still hold dear- that is freedom, righteousness and prosperity for all. A Fair-go as it is called here in Australia. And although these incredible military units are long disbanded, and Rhodesia the country is fading into history, that same battle continues on today in a Zimbabwe having been ravaged by a despotic dictatorship, overt corruption, rampant incompetence, desperate poverty, starvation, and human misery. Despite world opinion on the day, IT IS THIS CORRUPTION AND HUMAN MISERY THAT WE FOUGHT AGAINST AND FOUGHT TO PREVENT, under the proud ensigns of the Rhodesian Armed Forces. We have now adopted new countries and many of us have become citizens and sworn to defend these nations. Therefore, this means the battle for freedom, righteousness and universal prosperity continues in our adopted lands but in a different format. Lord in Heaven, let us not be deceived as the corruption and unrighteousness prevails here in these adopted lands, albeit more sophisticated and covert. There is homelessness, sex slavery, domestic violence, substance abuse, and massive suicide – the biggest killer of men aged 17 to 45 in Australia today, and all manner of human misery which will trash this land just as thoroughly as Zimbabwe has been trashed, if we do not continue the Battle. Therefore Lord, in memory of those members killed, we still uphold the same values that we fought and died for in Rhodesia. As the memory of Rhodesia, the country fades with aging and passing of Rhodesians themselves, the legacy of the Rhodesian Armed Forces lives on and continues to gather legendary status in magazines, journals and the annuls of the military around the world. The formidable task of defending a nation against insuperable odds, of fighting a war day after day which was nearly 3 times as long as World War II, and of physically winning this war on the ground, has set a new standard in military excellence. Almighty God, we are not here to glorify war but to honour the lives and the achievements of those who died defending the standards and principles that are Your Will in the Earth and doing so with innovation, excellence, devotion and courage and against all odds. And today, we stand together and we acknowledge that WE WILL NEVER FORGET THEM.” SIR FANCIS DRAKE was the son of an ex-mariner and poor protestant lay preacher. He became the greatest mariner of his day, a vice Admiral in the English Navy, and the first man to captain a circumnavigation of the globe. Evidently, he also had a real faith in which he expressed in a powerful poetic prayer, to challenge us all today Disturb us, O Lord

- When we are too pleased with ourselves; - When our dreams have become true because we have dreamed too little - When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore Disturb us, O Lord

- When with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life; and having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity. - And in our efforts to build a new earth, we allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim Disturb us, O Lord

- To dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show Your Mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find stars. - We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into the future with strength, courage, hope and Love -

Following the march many of us made our way up to Kings park for a great afternoon of catching up and realising that for Rhodesians there is only likely to be 4 degrees of separation with many of the ‘Ouens’ meeting up for the first time since the war. Gert Wantenaar(SAS) meeting up with a colleague who he had last seen after trying to get the fat man in Lusaka. Many of us realising we have friends in common and who like most Rhodies moved to all corners of the world including Perth. Dawn and Glynn had done a magnificent job in catering for nearly 50 people and laid on beers/ wine and Boerie rolls and salad which helped to make for a most pleasant afternoon near the cenotaph in Kings Park and end to another great gathering of the RLI association. RLI Association Australia and New Zealand Although the official gathering was in Perth this year there were other RLI members gathering closer to home to commemorate our memories and recognise the sacrifices of all the Anzac’s and other commonwealth forces. Marek Malujlo, Allan Cauvin and Dallas Falconer gathered at Marek’s local RSL in Adelaide for the Dawn Service and the three were treated as dignitaries laying a wreath for our fallen. In true RLI fashion, the designated photographer failed to produce a single picture. Others gathered throughout Queensland, New South Wales to remember. Our last Chairman, Jimmy Swan laying a wreath in Hervey Bay (Queensland) on behalf of the RLI and the Z-commandos. These brave men in World War Two doing remarkable covert operations forming the pre-cursor to the Australian SAS. We had made some Association polo T shirts this year to help raise some funds. These were ideal for the post March activities. We have a few left which can be purchased from Granny Johnson (AU$40 + Postage). We only have 2 sizes (both the wrong size)- Granny wearing the Large and Ian the XL.

Richard (Granny) Johnson and Ian Cameron-Macintosh We all go home following this year’s Anzac thankful for our health, good friends and new ones who all speak and think along the same lines, recharged from our gathering. In Memory of John Kirkman (3cdo) RIP This photo taken at the last RLI Association Anzac Day in Perth 2009

John Kirkman (fawn coloured jacket) standing to the right of the picture, in the front row behind the colours between Jimmy Swan and Granny Johnson DOWN MEMORY LANE

“DAY OF THE GENERALS”

“Excerpts from Cheetah Magazine June 1979”

OUR AIMS (a): To establish liaison between the Regiment, E.R.E. and ex-members. (b): To nurture the traditions of the Regiment. (c): To organise social functions for the re-union of all ex-RLI members (d): To rehabilitate wounded ex-soldiers. (e): To render guidance to members leaving the Regiment. (f): To offer welfare assistance to widows. (g): To assist with the Public Relations of the Regiment. (h): To raise funds. (i): To implement any projects which may, from time to time, be approved by the National Executive Committee?

Branches at; Head Office: SALISBURY: P.O. BOX 8294, CAUSEWAY. GWELO: P.O. BOX 734, GWELO. CAPE TOWN: P.O. BOX 2574, CAPE TOWN.

“The OC had an extended period away from the Commando, having been on swot leave which was followed by some exams. These of course he passed, leading by example again. The OC then went on leave down South to "Durbs" by the sea, not eh Mtoko Branch as was the trend in the past. Having informed us what good value Durban is the subbies and CSM promptly followed suit, to follow up on this hot "gen".

While the Boss man was away power crazy Lt Rick van Malsen was at the helm. This was quite an experience for Rick and the rest of the Commando. To save a lot of hassles most of the Commando went on leave, with the bare minimum of bods to uphold the front. On the OC's return the troubled waters were smoothed and the Commando was seen back on its toes.

Contrary to all rumours the occasional member of Bn HQ, has been seen outside Salisbury City limits. In fact one Commando has it on good authority that one of these rare species even did a Para jump, but was casevac'd on arrival. 2Lt Gavin Wehlberg was awarded the "purple heart" on Christmas Eve; — a fine performance, but he didn't even condescend to go to hospital “

DOWN: 1. Appeal for help to the padre (4, 3, and 5). 2. A 1 across used for Pot shots (3). 3. The Generals whiskers found in the metal work shop (5,8) 4. and 4 Across, Raise the taxi stand for the troops at the back (4,4). 6. Officers who should be good at staging operations (6,6). 8. Ground holes, there would be if they went off (4,5). 9. Drunken troopers lose nothing as drinkers (7). 10. Engineers coached, again! (9). 13. Flying state of America (5). 16. Disappear slowly, as Old Soldiers do (4). 18. Girl employed in code (3).

ACROSS: 1. Adhere to the Commando section (5) 4. See (4) Down. 5. Drive on even though the surge lost its head (4). 7. Batman’s civilian occupation (5). 11. Blockade, due to burst note (9). 12. Barely a straight rank? (9). 14. Contradiction in terms for the inefficient Company (5,4) 15. Employed second hand stone, as the caveman did for his spear tip (4,5). 17. Supplement two by the sound of it (3,2). 19. Understand and entrenches (4). 20. Shoot the flames (4). 21. Nests for machine guns (5). “The last bush trip proved to be very successful, 67 kills in four weeks. The Commando was split in two for most of the bush trip and they couldn't have picked two more faraway places. With bad weather and poor living conditions, a very high spirit was still kept throughout the bush trip. Unfortunately we did take some casualties:

Tprs Stringer, Solomon, Jefferies and Cummings sustained minor wounds but all seem to be smiling and happy.

The Commando mascot Henry that well known "Killer" has been exchanged for a Walberg's Eagle as it was considered in "Henry's" interest that he be given something constructive to do.

The Commando lines and surroundings are nearly completed with the gardens considerably improved and a new tarred-over mat is so sacred only people are allowed to walk on it. The PRI swimming pool, tennis court, sauna bath and boathouse should be going up shortly!”

TPR ON FRONT GATE GUARD 16.2.79 Maj Snelgar approaches gate at approx 14.30 hrs in civvies. Tpr on guard busy on phone — after about a minute or so opens the gate. Maj Proceeds through gate and waves at Trp. Tpr In return waves back at Maj instead of saluting. "RP's" On questioning Tpr why didn't he salute the Maj. Reply of Tpr Was, "We haven’t been introduced yet!!" An hour later a second Maj approaches from the inside of camp in civvies. Tpr just opens the boom and lets him out. On telling him that was a Maj as well, he replied, Maj who. After telling him who Maj was, Reply of Tpr Was, "I haven't met him before either"

Jokes for the blokes Cop testifying: "I arrested him for making a withdrawal from the bank." Magistrate: "What's wrong with that?" Cop: "He was making the withdrawal at four o’clock in the morning." • • • Mrs. Green had a truly remarkable parrot and when the vicar came to tea one afternoon she could not resist demonstrating how clever her pet was. "If you pull this little string on its left Polly will sing 'Abide with me'," said Mrs. Green proudly. "And if you pull the string on its right leg it will sing 'Onward Christian Soldiers'." "How remarkable!" exclaimed the vicar? "And what happens if you pull both strings at once?" "Simple!" replied the parrot.” I fall off my bloody perch." ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The BSAP AND THE RLI

THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY REGIMENT

Ex Asst. Commissioner Mike Edden PMM Formed in 1960 to support the Federation, it found itself in new barracks in Salisbury, on the breakup. Many of its recruits were not long out of school and the nature of their high quality training left them with an irrepressible talent for mischief and high spirits. On operations these young men were well trained, top quality soldiers who defeated the enemy insurgents at a rate of 10 to 1 and after their successes in the field it was no surprise that their high spirits clashed with the police and public on a number of occasions,. There was never anything malicious about these activities and a proverbial flick on the ear was enough to resolve the offence. However, removing the flag at Cecil Square required a high degree of agility and since at least one of the offenders was well known to me, his father phoned me to see if I could sort it out. Luckily for him I had the rank and position to intervene on his behalf with the uniformed police Commander, who realised it was just high spirits and let the youngster off. Then there was the smoke bomb in a nightclub in Avondale and later one at the Salisbury main police station. Undetected but members of the Regiment were suspected. I had personal meetings with a variety of Officers Commanding, Lt. Colonels John Salt, Peter Walls, Peter Rich and Ian (Tufty) Bate and these men personified the leadership of a fine Regiment which, together with the Air Force pioneered the , which covered its operations with glory. I was the SB rep at Hurricane when the Fireforce was formed; Ian Bate was the BM under Brigadier Sandy MacLean. It was a formidable unit in the war against terrorism. In those days we were the winners. Long after the war was over Tufty and I formed a partnership in Johannesburg Training and Providing Security Officers for the South African Security Service. In his dotage, Tufty has become Secretary to the Transvaal (Gauteng) Branch of the BSAP cementing an association forged in the war we never lost. It was the peace where we were conned. Adventures with the RLI Parry Jones BSAP

I joined the BSAP in 1962 and had a few minor run-ins with The Saints. In 1964/5 I was driving a Bee Car in Salisbury and occasionally had to try and sort out problems with RLI troopers who had over-enjoyed their R&R. There was generally not too much of a problem, but when one arose, a threat to call the RPs or MPs to sort it out generally resulted in the trooper seeing things my way. At the end of 1965 I joined CID and on New Year’s Eve 1967 with some of my colleagues Mike Harlow, Ginge Cuthbertson, Dennis O’Hara and Jok Winton enjoyed more than a few chibulis in the Blue Room at the Windsor Hotel. We were joined by the late Joe Conway and Gungie Beast (who may, or may not have been the much missed Andre Rabie – I can’t now remember.) As the Blue Room was closing at 14:30 we scrabbled round for somewhere to have a few more chibulis and so went to the Airport where the bars stayed open all day. I, somehow and in all innocence, managed to get in a rather nice sort with some bloke who, I’m glad to say, came off second best, but there were very few tables and chairs standing at the end. Somehow an airport bus went walkabout from the terminus and Joe Conway and Gungie Beast were somehow blamed and spent the New Year in the guard room. They both swore to us that they were innocent. My next dealing with RLI was in the Kandeya TTL in 1973 when a Bailiff Acorn and Charlie Aust was commanding his Commando there. I spent some time with Charlie in his ops tent and was very impressed with his intelligence, dedication and industry. He was always prepared to listen. I fancied my map-reading skills (no rude comments please) and had looked for likely places on the map were I though gooks might set up a camp. I pointed these places out to Charlie and a few days later he reported back that he had patrols check these locs out and found signs of gooks holing up in most of them, but nothing very recent. Unfortunately, the Commando was moved on while I was mid-stint and replaced by a company of SAP. We did very well out of them as a well-thumbed copy of Playboy or Penthouse was worth a load of steak. That, however, was the only advantage of the SAP over the RLI. A few years later I was in Rutenga working with 2RR, under Cedric French. Information came in that a Lynx had attacked a pick-up containing a number of gooks and Freddie, a few hundred meters from the border fence. A Troop of RLI was flown in by Dak and I was volunteered to accompany them to Mabalahuta, where a few RLs and a platoon of 2RR would join us. We were then to go to the locstat where the attack on the pick-up had gone in, cut the fence and locate and remove any bodies and seize any int. that was available. We went through the border without difficulty and did what needed to be done. I had been loaded up with half-a-dozen mortar bombs stuck in my jacket and if the proverbial hit the fan to pass them without delay to the mortar-men. I just hoped I wouldn’t take a hit with that explosive tucked in my jacket. All went well without and enemy presence and we returned safely to Mabalahuta where the bodies were dropped off for local disposal. While there I tried to collate all that had been recovered and, having noted what there was, handed the items back to the trooper. I knew quite a bit of Rhodesian currency had been recovered, but despite my best efforts and the assistance of the CSM, and promising that every cent would be returned to the soldier, I could not get anybody to say how much they had liberated. RLI 1, BSAP 0. Last year I attended the funeral of Charlie Aust and along with a number of Saints enjoyed a convivial break in a local hostelry, where many stories were swapped. Not many of them were war-stories.

Bored Rhaf Technicians (A letter to Eddy Norris 2009) Pat Galleymore-BSAP I’m sure we could spark up a bit of a discussion on the various pyrotechnic devices conjured up by the 4 and 7 Sqn techs during those long hours at the FAFS between callouts, servicing and cleaning. These inventions fell mostly into 2 categories. 1. Devices that moved along the ground. 2. Devices that moved through the air. The “aerial” category was then divided into 2 types mainly; Type 1 rocket - std and Type 2 rocket - rotary or flying saucer. There were a number of vehicles produced during those times which were constructed and powered by very innovative means, using limited production facilities but never limited imaginations!! As I remember the competition was fierce in all categories and the Brown Jobs, having experienced a number of near misses, always steered well clear of the launch/start sites! I might mention at this point that the devices intended to compete in the “aerial” category were not always capable of entirely overcoming the effect of gravity and would sometimes head off at ankle height through the ranks of a passing brown job squad and the devices intended to challenge the land speed record sometimes overcame the effects of gravity quite easily and it would seem that direction control was almost always sacrificed in the quest for speed - hence the Brown Job’s reluctance to witness any launchings/starts. (Fortunately, they had a bit more confidence in our ability to service aircraft and provide cover fire than to produce fully controllable pyrotechnic devices!!) The easiest and most popular was the straight forward rocket made of masking tape and .303 cordite sticks simply attached to a suitable stick to provide balance and a means of support for launching - much like your standard 5 th of November variety. Construction was a bit tricky as the masking tape had a limit as to the /pressure it could endure whilst maintaining it’s tubular integrity, thus allowing the thrust to be directed in the desired direction (preferably downward). Failure of the tape resulted in either an explosion or disintegration of the whole device or blow holes which diverted the rocket (usually in the direction of the unsuspecting Brown Jobs). We soon discovered that the only way to achieve results in terms of altitude AND direction was to introduce various short burning stages and as memory recalls a 3 stager was about the limit and held the altitude record. The rotary or flying saucer version was a different animal altogether. This consisted of a small flat tin (usually obtainable in the std issue rat pack with the guava juice tin being the most sought after) which you pierced to drain the juice then made a number of thrust holes around the side and at the bottom which had to be carefully positioned and angled depending on altitude, speed and acoustics required. Again, the amount of cordite inserted was crucial as the device, although it was a bit more predictable than the rocket, it would explode if the charge was too great. Like I say, a bit more predictable in that only the altitude would vary at the time of the explosion if the calculation was out, and not the direction! (Much to the relief of aforementioned Brown Jobs). If all went well, you could achieve 6 to 10 feet with the tin spinning at a remarkable speed producing an impressive whistle at the same time… without any explosion. This device was less popular for 2 reasons, one being availability of suitable tins, and the other being the obvious risk of injury caused by an exploding guava juice tin at eye level!! I don’t have too much experience in the quest to conquer the land speed record, maybe someone else could fill in. Kind Regards Pat. SPIELS FROM SAINTS AND FRIENDS

Carl Henderson (ex 1 Commando)

THE GREEN BERET OF THE RLI COMMANDOS!

For many years and to some extent still, the Green "Commando" Beret and Parachute Wings, of the Rhodesian Light Infantry defined who I was and who I am! The quiet self-confidence, competences, self- sufficiency, tactical thinking, and pride are still mine and the years have not taken them away! In fact, they have only grown stronger because they were built on the foundation of the elite Rhodesian Light Infantry soldiering skills and aggression. I have worked out all these years and still workout, always remembering that I cannot do as well as others my age or others from my career field (US Border Patrol and Federal Air Marshalls). I must do better, I must excel because of who I was and am, because of what I learned, what I experienced and what I had to do, to earn my Green Beret and my Wings. This has kept me from mediocrity to this day and I am by the Grace of God 62-yrs old now. I am older, slower, and have a lot of injuries to work around but I still hold my head high and push my chest out because I am what my Sergeant said he would make me! I became what he trained me to be and I will always be a Commando with a Green Beret, even if now it is only on the inside that I wear it. Still, I carry myself even now as if I was wearing it and it was visible for all to see. I still remember the words to our Commando's song which we used to sing over our beers, "There are no better fighters than you or I, One Commando, RLI!" Life is hard but it is not as hard when you remember the amazing and powerful start you had with your comrades in the RLI and when you remember, that we made more combat parachute descents than all the armies in the history of the world combined.

Wear your Green Beret proudly every day, even if you are only wearing on the inside! Cheers to my old mates, "The Ouens" of the RLI. ______

Nigel Henson

”Long Service Medal”,

There was still a peacetime army in Salisbury plodding along as it had done for years: to these officers the war was something that was happening "over there" and was a minor irritation: a distraction from the real task at hand of running an army that should be in every sense procedurally and administratively up to snuff! The incident I am to recount is amplification of the above!

Part of the essential equipment of a fire force commander was a pair of mini binoculars which were extremely useful for looking at objects on the ground from a helicopter: these binos were expensive, highly prized and most desirable.

My binoculars were always kept in my webbing which during every day was placed in the K Car. Inevitably these binos would go AWOL (up to 1 or 2 pairs per trip) and I would end up by paying for these ($100.00 per shot out of a Major's take home pay of $850 per month!) After a couple of times, I decided I would pay no more and if the army didn't take note of my special circumstances, they could charge me - but I wasn't going to pay for one more pair of binoculars!

Anyway, this message eventually found its way to the appropriate desk at Army HQ, who then instructed 2 Bde that I was to be charged "contrary to good order and military discipline in that Henson was negligent etc. etc.

On my next R+R, I was instructed to report to 2 Bde where I was relieved of my beret and belt, and, escorted by Tom Douglas frog marched in front of a very apologetic John Mcvey who was Bde Comd of the time. He was very understanding and embarrassed, and having listened to all the evidence, found me guilty as charged. As to sentence, he then advised that he had two choices - he could fine me - or admonish me: he preferred the fine as it would not appear on my service record: the admonishment would appear, and as a result I would become ineligible for the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal which I would automatically be entitled to after 20 years. What did I think?

I then replied as follows - :

"Sir, when I am on ops, I can subjected to enemy fire three times a day twenty four seven: I have been doing this job for 28 months (longer than anyone else) I find it ironic that given this, the army is interested in preserving the - integrity of my LSGCM - what odds would you put on my survival in, the next six months. Let alone 20 years!

There was an extremely lengthy silence, eventually broken by John McVey - "I see what you mean." He said, and - then there was further silence!

In the end, John sensibly took the decision away from me and ordered that I pay for the binoculars! Back to square one! The system cannot be beaten!

Afterwards we both had a good chuckle about it - he was a great chap and sad that he was the one who did not get a full term

“Snakes in a Plane”

It was a particularly wet December I January and we were (including living in a motley collection of hastily assembled canvas under the tamarind trees on the river bank. The aircraft were in the open and subjected to continuous downpours.

On day in January we got airborne for some sort of callout to Sengwe which I didn't have much faith in the outcome-the area was flat and there it didn't lend itself to OPS - the callouts were re-active in nature.

, Anyway we got airborne (I forget who my pilot was) and set off into mist to a target about 15 minutes away. When we had been going about five minutes and the aircraft in motion was calling me into a kind of vapid stupor, I felt something brush my leg, so without looking down I brushed whatever it was away with my gloved hand and continued to stare out of the window.

Again - another brush - this time I did look down - $%^&- there was a f&*(&^%snake - green and about 4' long slithering around under my seat.

"Snake!" I yelled, “Fu@#@#$k” the Pilot yelled and took his feet off the pedals.

"Leave it to me” the tech was the only calm one aboard, and getting into a kind of crouch made a dive under my seat eventually emerging with the reptile in his firm grip

The pilot didn't even turn around - I was transfixed in terror as the Tech held it aloft, and then as if he was flicking a Frisbee, tossed the snake out of the door.

"Fooking thing" was his only comment .Something one doesn't generally look for are snakes in a pre-flight!

The rest of the journey was completed in silence (the callout was a lemon) and when we arrived back at Malapati, another snake was found in the bay under the aircraft used for storing all the expended 20mm cartridges cases!

“Barrel” of Laughter

We ran to the aircraft and readied her for flight and I connected the barrel of the 20mm to the breech mechanism as I had so often seen done whilst pilot Bam Bam fired up the aircraft. I settled in the gunner's chair and as we were about to lift off, Bam Bam asked me if the barrel was fitted properly to the weapon "Of course" I replied gaily "what do you take me for - an ignoramus?"

We got airborne quickly with instructions left that when the relieving aircrew arrived they were to join us at the target, and away we went. I cocked the cannon and as we approached the area Dave suggested we do an orbit and fire a round or two to confirm everything was in order. He put the aircraft into an orbit and selected a tree stump as a target. I lifted the cannon, took a bead on the stump and fired. Well! Instead of the dull thud of the shell firing, there was a meek "pruftt" - and the barrel disappeared!

"f#$%#@t" was my reaction – Bam Bam was far more explicit - gone was the barrel, plummeting somewhere into the thick bush below the aircraft!

"You said you put the barrel on properly-f**&k - now we have got problems" Bam Bam was rightly indignant - whatever the rights and wrongs of our sortie, I had dropped him in the proverbial!

We carried out another couple of orbits vainly trying to locate the barrel on the ground (hope against hope) but to no avail. In the meantime, the Ters had called off their attack on the mine (probably in fear of being hit by other flying cannon barrels!), and with our tails between our legs set course for Karoi where we were the laughing stock of all for miles around.

Maharani Hotel ‘79 - Officers Behaving Badly Willar and Prinsloo

Another 6-week fire force deployment in Grand is almost at an end. Officers Willar and Prinsloo are sitting in the Mess tent planning the R&R of all R&Rs over a chibulis. “We’ll drive down to Durbs-by-the-sea, catch a tan, hit the local bars (always a double entendre when Prinsloo, aka The Mudzi Mauler, is involved) pull some chicks, buy some Wranglers, Coco Rico and Cadbury chocolate, pull more chicks then head home” Prinsloo chirps, totally chuffed with his solid planning skills honed at The School of Infantry two years previously.

Willar responds, “Sounds like a plan, let’s conduct an admin and log check: Car? My Datsun 120Y, check! “Fuel? “How many coupons do you have? I’ve got four.” “Er…none as such.” Prinsloo admits with a whisper “but that’s a minor point.” “How can it be a minor point? We won’t get past Lake Mcllwaine, then what?” Willar wonders. “Listen, don’t be so negative FFS, we’ll get some - I have contacts in places where there aren’t even places… next!” Prinsloo fumes, now irritated at the Kimberly-size hole in his plan being exposed so early on in the critical op planning phase. “Ammo? “I can scrape together $145 before I pay my mess bar bill, how much do you have?” Prinsloo checks his tattered blue CABS book

“About $200 and I still owe $45 for my bar bill…..But that should be ok.”

“Right then. Accommodation? How much should we budget for a hotel for 5 days?” Prinsloo asks. “Dunno, but it won’t be much” Willar confidently replies… “Probably in the region of $10 to $15 a night, definitely not more.” A few days later, the intrepid subbies head down south with sufficient petrol ration coupons to just make it to …as long as they don’t speed.

Speeding through the night to make the border by 6am with Prinsloo at the wheel, the two look forward to the prospect of having the sea visual by last light.

Around the Lion & Elephant, the fuel gauge is positioned just north of empty.

“Hey, wake up you, I think you have a hole in your fuel tank” Prinsloo says with the authority of an MTO as Willar stirs from shallow sleep. “What? Hold on, how can we be at this locstat already? You’ve been putting foot haven’t you?” Willar angrily chirps. Prinsloo doesn’t dare look to his left “Naah, only once in while - we had the wind behind us.” After managing to scrounge a healthy resupply of coupons from naïve, but nonetheless kind civvies with stories of the Hondo, the two are on their way.

Arriving in Durban at last light, the two head for the beach, kungela the sea and decide to celebrate at the Maharani Hotel - mainly because it looks quite swanky with the red fluorescent lifts that are ‘inside out’ on the building exterior. Reaching the top floor, the two less-than-dapper-dressed subbies step out and are confronted by an FBI (F-ing Big Indian), the club bouncer. “Only guests and residents are permitted entry. Which are you and produce proof” the FBI aggressively probes Prinsloo whose heckles are already rising. “We have driven all the way from Salisbury just to have a drink here – so please let us in” Prinsloo replies with clenched teeth. “You are to exit the club immediately, rules are rules, now leave” The FBI rudely responds. Prinsloo looks up at the behemoth of a man and gives him the legendary Mudzi-Mauler ‘I am about to knock you out’ glare. The FBI, unfazed by the bravado, shows the two the exit and shouts “Out!”

Being School-of-Inf-trained-officers who see a barrier as nothing more than a challenge, the two decide to beat the FBI and gain access to the Raffles Club – only because of his rudeness, they convince themselves.

And so, they hatch a plan.

They rapidly approach the Maharani Hotel reception and enquire about ‘their room booking’ under the name of Prillar and Winsloo – made by the honorable Prillar, an esteemed Johannesburg judge. Obviously not finding the booking in the already full hotel, Prillar and Winsloo create an Oscar-worthy performance tantamount to verbal toy-toying. The GM promptly arrives to quell the unrest and offers the two an emergency standby room whilst they attend to the embarrassing ‘mix up’ with the booking. “By the way, what does a standard room cost per night” Prinsloo enquires. The receptionist responds, “Seventy-five Rand Sir.” Prinsloo glares at Willar “Ten to fifteen Rand at most eh?”

Handing them a room key, the two make a beeline for the lift and shoot straight up to Raffles where they dangle the key in front of the FBI as they nonchalantly walk past him.

The affable pair are instantly befriended by all – or is it because they order drinks for everyone in the crowded bar and sign for the bill?

After a healthy surf ‘n turf meal and numerous rounds, the two identify that exfiltration has become critical when they notice staff and the FBI are watching them suspiciously as the bill mounts up with each progressive round of drinks.

The two take the swanky inside-out lift down to ground and head for the beach where they throw the room key into the sea, get into the car and head off in search of less extravagant lodgings and polite hotel staff.

______Stu Grover The year, late 1967, Friday night, myself and my good friend, no names but his legs are a bit out of alignment, we hear that a good place to meet chicks is at the Catholic church in Rhodes Ave, they have their youth meetings on Friday evening, so dressed in our finest and after a few bottles of Dutch courage we venture forth. We arrive at the church and we are immediately spotted by the Priest who comes over to query our presence, not being one of his regular flock, it would appear he then got a whiff of said Dutch courage and immediately tells us to leave, this doesn’t go well with my bow legged friend, who then points his index finger at the priest and says “Listen China” but before he can finish his sentence the Priest grabs the offending finger and twists it, not gently either, there was a serious shriek from bow legged friend just before we get arrested by the Crime Prevention Unit, (CPU) and carted off to the “station” in the vehicle bow legged friend is whining about how painful his finger is. I drew his attention to the fact that he had stuck his finger up the nose of one of Gods appointed people, what did he expect, this dude has serious back up. Today that finger is still bent.

A PASSING THOUGHT

The Difference between Civilian Friends & Military Friends?

(Submission by Darrell Watt-ex SAS)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Get upset if you are too busy to talk to them for a week. MILITARY FRIENDS: Are glad to see you after many years; and will happily carry on the same conversation you were having last time you met.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Never ask for food. MILITARY FRIENDS: Are the reason you have no food.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs. MILITARY FRIENDS: Call your parents Mom and Dad.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and then tell you what you did was wrong. MILITARY FRIENDS: Would be sitting next to you saying, 'Mate...we stuffed up ...but wasn't that fun!'

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Have never seen you cry. MILITARY FRIENDS: Cry with you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back. MILITARY FRIENDS: Keep your stuff so long they forget it is yours.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Know a few things about you. MILITARY FRIENDS: Could write a book with a shed full of direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will kick the backsides of whole crowds that left you behind.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Would knock on your door. MILITARY FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, 'I'm home, do you want a beer!'

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Share a few experiences. MILITARY FRIENDS: Share a lifetime of experiences no civilian could ever dream of.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will talk crap to the person who talks crap about you. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will knock the crap out of people who use your name in vain.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are for a while. MILITARY FRIENDS: Are for life.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will ignore this. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will forward this to their military mates.

Museum Sitrep

The Eagle Has Landed!

The first job that we had to do was to move our Alouette III from the Classic Flyers Museum into our museum in order to paint it in the Rhodesian camo pattern. We are grateful to Downtown Vehicle Recoveries who shifted it for free. Once it has been painted we will begin moving the CQ Store in and to build display cabinets.

Stay tuned and we will keep you informed of progress.

Facebook group

Through social media we are able to quickly and widely publicize what we are doing. If you are on Face book you are welcome to join us - click on this link Rhodesian Services Association

That's all for now

Cheers

Hugh Bomford

Editor for Rhodesian Services Association (Inc) New Zealand Registered Charity CC25203 PO box 13003 Tauranga 3141 New Zealand