[dragoon500ly]

On the eve of what the Rhodesians called The Bush War and what the various nationalist fronts would call the Second Chimurenga (Liberation Struggle), saw Rhodesia with a tiny regular Army, a small Air Force, a Police force jealous of its ability to maintain order, government departments reluctant to yield authority and a population that was not ready for any conflict. Yet the Rhodesian Security Forces would soon earn a reputation as one of the best counter-insurgency forces in the world. Yet unlike the British in Malay, The Rhodesians may have won every battle, but they lost the war.

The two major problems facing Rhodesia was the lack of manpower and the sheer size of the area and borders to be defended. Solutions had to be found that focused on quality rather than quantity.

The Bush War never saw any conventional set-piece battles, it was rather a war of small teams of men, fighting each other...

The Rhodesian African Rifles
The 1st Bn, RAR is the oldest regular service battalion in the Rhodesian Army. The RAR would field three battalions and numerous Independent Companies in the war. Like its colonial forebearers(King's African Rifles), the RAR was a traditionally white-officered unit, but African officers entered service by 1979. The companies and battalions followed the traditional British Army set up of three rifle companies with a support company. The RAR was always known for the steadfast loyalty of its troopers, as well as a quirky sense of humor. There is on memorable story about a private who, in mid-contact, found the time to yell "I am the OC's driver, and if you fire that bazooka at me, I'll call the helicopters and you will surely die!"

The Rhodesia Regiment
A total of four battalions wore the RR stable belt and insignia. These four battalions, however, were merely holding units of the numerous Independent Companies that were the real work force of the RR. They would typically operate in 7-8 man sections and could provide mortar and MG support or act as a mobile stop group as the need required.

The Rhodesian Light Infantry
Formed in 1961 as the regular European infantry battalion in the order of battle, the RLI was reorganized in 1964 into a commando. It consisted of 4 Commandos (1,2,3 and Support). The RLI had a high esprit de corps and was widely known by one of its two nicknames---the Incredibles and the Saints. They were the backbone of the fireforce effort and saw service all over the country as well as in numerous cross-border operations. A typical fireforce would consist of three 4-man heliborne sticks and a Dakota-transported 16-man para detachment.

The Special Air Service Regiment
From 1961, the SAS provided Rhodesia's first paratrooper unit. The SAS was primarily a reconnaissance unit, although from 1970 onwards, they focused on cross-border (externals) operations to secure prisoners and intelligence. They always tried to maintain a low profile. They commonly worked in four-man teams.

The Selous Scouts
Formed in 1973 as a combat tracker unit, the Scouts had a more sinster role in real life. Once committed to operations, the Scouts would control "pseudo-ters" using turned terrorists to eliminate their former comrades both inside and outside of Rhodesia. The Scouts were officially a company strength unit, divided into troops, each of three eight-man tracker combat teams. The unit was fully integrated with over 1,000 "tame-ters" on its books. While the Scout's were never supposed to initiate contact, they are credited with involvement in nearly 70% of all internal contacts.

Grey's Scouts
Growing out of an experiment unit in 1975, by 1976, the Grey's were in service. It consisted of three combat and one support squadron, with three troops per squadron and four 8-man sections per troop. The Grey's were always mounted infantry rather than cavalry. An average day's patrol would cover around 40km, the riders alternating between a 7km/hr walk and a 12km/hr trout, with the occasional 18km/hr canter. Height and weight were the only limiting factors; while the horses could carry loads in excess of 150kg, the riders had to weigh 80kg or less.

The Armored Car Regiment
The RhACR was formed in 1972. It consisted of four squadrons, each numbering 300-500 men. Equipment was the Eland 90 and Ferret armored cars as well as a large and diverse collection of funnies (home-made vehicles tailored to specific roles). Each troop consisted of four cars and their crews. The RhACR was trained in both conventional and COIN roles. With the looming presence of enemy armor across the border, the crews reguarly exercised their light armor skills.

1 Field Regiment, Rhodesian Artillery
Established in 1963, the RhA was a flexible organization, noted for its skill in gunnery. Equipped with Mark III 25-pounder field guns as well as various 105mm and 155mm howitzers, the RhA was often broken up and deployed in stratic locations around the country.

The Corps of Engineers
Formed in 1961 and rising to a total of six field squadrons, the Engineers fulfilled their traditional tasks in support of the army. The most (in)famous achievement was the creation of CORSAN---the Cordon Sanitaire---to inhibit movement across the border. The 800km-long minefield has yet to be cleared.

Reinforcement Holding Unit
With the call-up of the 38-40 age group in 1973, at first three, later reduced to two RHUs were formed, they were fully integerated units divided up into seven independent companies and providing static guards, railway patrolling and convoy protection...thus freeing up younger men for the front-line units.

The Rhodesian Air Force
Formed in 1959, the UDI hit the RhAF harder than any other service. In spite of the loss of support form Great Britain, improvisation and local manufacture quickly took the place of imported equipment and technicians. During the course of the Bush War, the RhRAF was able to maintain an 85% serviceability record and they acheived this with an incredibly low man-to-aircraft ratio of 1:25.
No.1 Squadron: equipped with Hunter FGA.9 ground-attack aircraft.

No.2 Squadron: equipped with a variety of Vampire fighter-bombers.

No.3 Squadron: equipped with DC-3 Dakotas. These were the chief means of resupply as well as carrying the bulk of fireforce operations. One DC-3 was fitted out as a flying command center and also provided ELINT.

No.4 Squadron: equipped with "Lynxes", a local slang term for any kind of light aircraft. Primarily used in aerial recon and casualty evacuation. The Lynxes were also armed with MAG mgs and small caliber aerial rockets.

No.5 Squadron: equipped with Canberra B.2s and T.4s. This light bomber squadron provided ground-support with loads of up to 10,000lbs (and the bombs were often homemade) as well as aerial recon.

No.6 Squadron: equipped with Percival Provosts, this was the training squadron.

No.7 Squadron: equipped with over 40 Alouette III and after 1978 reinforced with 12 old Bell 205 Hueys. This squadron was the backbone of the fireforce. Each fireforce would consist of a K-Car (attack) armed with either a 20mm cannon or a quad MAG mount. G-Cars (transport) would carry a four-man stick of troopers and would be armed with a twin MAG or single Browning M-2HB.

British South African Police
For many years the BSAF functioned as an unarmed civil police force, with the advent of UDI, the BSAF took on a more para-military role. Police Antiterrorist Units (PATU) were formed to combat increased guerrilla activty in the border areas. The PATU were primarily a recon unit, although they were noted for extreme fitness and fast cross-country movement, running up to 30km a day were commonplace and one PATU actually ran 40km in one day, taking part in no less than 5 contacts.


The Rhodesian Security Forces were fully integrated units, with two exceptions, the SAS and the RLI. This did not mean black officers, the first of whom started service in 1979.