I was brought up to believe...

[Chris Boonzaier]

... that this was the best special forces unit in the world...

of course, their way of operating was very unusual.

Imagine my suprise when I saw a set of original numbered wings at a show in germany.... for just USD10 in a german dealers "I dont know what the hell these are so just gimme a buck for them" box.

I could not believe they were real, the last original pair I had was anout 15 years ago... but I bought em and had it confirmed by a collector.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here is an example of the numbering... a different one to mine but a better photo...I think there were 1000 or 1500 numbered wings.. about 400 or so issued (maybe someone can be a bit more accurate there). The last issued one I saw for sal was upward of USD500 the unissued ones quite a bit less I would imagine.. still, I was pleased as can be.

[Ciaran Byrne]

Err...sorry Chris, what are they???

[Chris Boonzaier]

You mean you dont know!?! REALLY!

[Ciaran Byrne]

You mean you dont know!?! REALLY!

Honest mate...I don't know....what are they?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hmmmm, well, so much for the British education system


They are SS Operator wings. Once the guys had passed the SS Training and Para course a certain amount went on to do the "dark phase" training and they qualified for these.

[Ciaran Byrne]

SS ?

I know I am being really thick here but help me out mate...if they were Soviet or German WWII I might have recognised them

[Bill D.]

The "SS" refers here to the British "secret service", which unlike the very public U.S. organization of the same name, is Britain's cloak and dagger operations arm. In fact, I think that until only recently the organization did not "officially" exist as far as the British government was concerned.

[NavyFCO]

SS ?

I know I am being really thick here but help me out mate...if they were Soviet or German WWII I might have recognised them

Ciaran:

You're not the only one!

--Dave

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hmm... Phew.... would the word Skuzapo give it away?

[Ciaran Byrne]

Hmm... Phew.... would the word Skuzapo give it away?

Sorry mate, lost me again. I'm giving up on militaria and taking up flower arranging or summink!!

[Dave Danner]

Hmm... Phew.... would the word Skuzapo give it away?

How about Nyadzonya and Pungwe Bridge?

[Ciaran Byrne]

How about Nyadzonya and Pungwe Bridge?

Off course..!!!! I am an arse!

The Selous Scouts...the most daring bunch of covert troops and masters of unconventional warfare...the penny has dropped.

On the subject, I have a set of Rhodesian Raliway Police cammo fatigues which are said to be rarer than rocking horse ****e...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Call me psychic, but I knew it would be Dave.
Here is the most famous of their raids...


Throughout the summer of 1976, Rhodesia became aware of a major ZANLA staging and training camp located in Mozambique and identified as the Nyadzonya Base. This camp appeared to be the main insurgent and logistics base for operations conducted in the THRASHER operational area. Both aerial reconnaissance and captured guerrillas had confirmed that the camp contained a large hospital, and approximately 5,000 ZANLA personnel.

This constituted the largest center of insurgent activity discovered to this point in the war. As a result, a combined force was organized to include members of the RLI, RAC, SAS, Selous Scouts, and members of selected Territorial Units. The success of the “Flying-Column Attack” during the Mapai raid served as the basis for the tactics devised for a strike against the ZANLA forces at Nyadzonya. Once again, air support would be provided for serious medevacs on the objectives, and close air support would be available in the event of a dire emergency. The planning included a table model of the camp and its surroundings. Captured insurgents provided information concerning the defenses, positions of the armories, hospital, living quarters, the daily routine, and a general outline of the escape drills of the ZANLA insurgents. The “Flying-Column” consisted of 14 vehicles and 85 men. The vehicles were of two types: 10 UNIMOGS and 4 FERRET Armored Cars. The transports were armed with a wide assortment of weapons: 20mm aircraft cannons, medium and light machine guns, and a captured Soviet 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The men were dressed in captured Mozambique FRELIMO uniforms with their distinctive caps (the European members of the force wore black ski-masks). The vehicles were painted using the FRELIMO colors, and Rhodesian Intelligence had provided genuine FRELIMO registration numbers for the vehicle license plates.

The detailed planning depended upon achieving total surprise in conjunction with both FRELIMO and ZANLA demonstrated inability to mount a rapid response to a decisive strike. The route to the objective utilized a secondary road which SAS Reconnaissance Units had found to be guarded and patrolled only during the hours of daylight. Once the objective was reached, it would be necessary to destroy the Pungwe River Bridge in order to isolate the area, and allow the column to move north from the objective without fear of pursuit from a numerically superior force equipped with better mechanized assets.

The Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organization had established that an “all hands” formation took place each morning at 0800. This muster was attended by everyone with the exception of cooks, patients, and hospital staff. The assault force set 0810 as the time of attack. At 0005 on August 9, the Rhodesian Force crossed the Mozambique border. The FRELIMO guard detachment was absent as had been anticipated. At 0200, the convoy entered the town of Vila De Manica, and passed without incident while returning the salutes of several FRELIMO sentries. At 0330, the column established a bivouac several kilometers past the Pungwe Bridge. At 0700, the force moved toward Nyadzonya without incident. By 0825, the column reached the entrance to the camp. There were six ZANLA soldiers on duty. They should have been accompanied by two additional FRELIMO soldiers, but they were absent. The ZANLA were never allowed to forget that they were guests in Mozambique, and were reluctant to interfere with a FRELIMO convoy. The Rhodesian Force was allowed to enter the camp.<SUP>3</SUP>

Upon entry, the vehicles moved to pre-established positions surrounding the camp. As the lead vehicle moved forward-

the parade ground suddenly opened up in front of them, and there were few men in the column who did not gasp in amazement at the sight which greeted them... there could never have been enough rehearsals... never enough briefings and mental preparations to have readied them for the sight which met their eyes. A short distance away from them as their UNIMOGS formed into line just off the parade ground, was the largest single concentration of terrorists mustered which would ever be seen by any members of the Rhodesian Security Forces, throughout the entire war. (one soldier simply commented), I just hope we don’t run out of ammunition.... (approximately 4000 insurgents) were milling around the parade ground in a state of flux.<SUP>4</SUP>

When all the vehicles were in place, a Rhodesian soldier announced over the vehicle loudspeaker in SHONA, the native language of the ZANLA, “Zimbabwe tatona”...we have taken Zimbabwe. The crowd immediately began cheering and singing, and ran toward the vehicle on the edge of the parade ground.

Soon 4000 yelling and singing terrorists were jam-packed around the vehicles and more were streaming in from all corners of the camp.”<SUP>5</SUP>

Then the Rhodesians began firing with their machine guns and rifles. An 81 mm mortar section dismounted, and fired into the crowd. The firing continued at a maximum sustained rate until all movement in the kill zone had ceased. There was some return fire, and five Rhodesian soldiers received minor gunshot wounds. Two Ferret armored cars had been positioned to block the escape route. These vehicles killed an additional 150 ZANLA before the retreating crowd broke toward the river. In their attempt to cross the Pungwe tributary, another 200 insurgents were drowned. At this point, the Security Forces had been in the camp approximately 45 minutes. The task force had captured 14 prisoners, and a good deal of documentation. As the main force withdrew from the camp, the Pungwe Bridge was destroyed.



The Rhodesians turned north along their planned route of withdrawal. Along the road, the column entered a village with approximately 100 FRELIMO soldiers. As the convoy passed through the hamlet, the lead vehicle made a wrong turn, and the force drove onto a football field without another exit. A FRELIMO officer approached the lead vehicle and offered directions. As the column began to withdraw, two of the vehicles stalled. The FRELIMO officer became suspicious, and noticed several European soldiers. A brief firefight ensued, and the attacking force required the assistance of a section of Hawker Hunter jets in order to fight their way to the Rhodesian border.<SUP>6</SUP>

On 22 August, 1976, the New York Times reported the attack:

This was seen as the beginning of a campaign to strike out at the guerrillas before they entered Rhodesia in small units, spreading thin the, limited reserves of the Rhodesian army. The international condemnation of that raid, and the private protests made by South Africa, which has feared the provoking of a wide-ranging racial war, prevented other strikes at encampments across the Mozambique border ...(in addition), South Africa withdrew 50 helicopter pilots who had been flying with the Rhodesian Air Force.<SUP>7</SUP>

Both the ZANLA and ZIPRA factions claimed that Nyadzonya had been a refugee camp. In May, 1976, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had visited the camp, and verified its refugee status. After the attack, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the High Commissioner of UNHCR, issued a statement in Geneva.

I have no doubt that a settlement of Zimbabwean refugees which has been receiving United Nations’ assistance was attacked, and that hundreds of refugees were killed and wounded. To be a refugee is in itself, a tragedy. That such large groups of refugees should have been made victims of indiscriminate bloodshed makes this incident particularly shocking and abominable. It escapes my understanding as to what those responsible thought they were accomplishing through such are atrocity.<SUP>8</SUP>

This appears to be convincing evidence that the Rhodesian Forces had attacked a refugee center. It is balanced by three facts. The Salisbury government claimed throughout the war that the inspection of refugee camps by UN officials was never impromptu, and that prior to these tours the insurgents were removed, and their families with augmentation remained. In addition, it is interesting to note that upon Robert Mugabe’s assumption of legitimate power in Zimbabwe, this incident was never mentioned, and there were no “war trials”. The final fact remains the most conclusive. The official ZANLA Report, dated August 19, 1976, clearly indicates that Nyadzonya was an insurgent camp. It specifies that on August 9 there were 5250 personnel in the camp, of which 604 were “povo” or refugees. The ZANLA Report gives the casualty figure as 1028 killed, 309 wounded, and approximately 1000 missing. The report is exceptionally candid. The paragraph entitled ATTITUDE OF COMRADES offers the final synopsis:

It should be mentioned once again that the comrades have only one desire, to go for training. This desire more than strengthened after the massacre on the 9<SUP>th</SUP> instant. The attitude of the comrades towards the revolution is now much deeper than before. They are highly committed to the cause of the liberation of ZIMBABWE more than they ever were. Keeping them in bases often referred to as “Refugee Camps” keeps robbing them of their morale and their desire to concentrate seriously on revolutionary matters.<SUP>9</SUP>

[leigh kitchen]

Had a mate who was ex-RLI (& a 1/2 dozen other ubits, Brit & SA). For a while he a couple of mates had a little business selling this type of thing, Rhodesian badges, camo gear, caps & berets etc he had these but they were un numbered or repro, same as the bronze versions. What's the difference in terms of orders of dress for w/m & bronze?