RHODESIA: RHODESIAN ARMY LOOKS TO BLACK TROOPS FOR HELP IN FIGHT AGAINST AFRICAN GUERRILLAS.

Record ID: 376174

  • Title: RHODESIA: RHODESIAN ARMY LOOKS TO BLACK TROOPS FOR HELP IN FIGHT AGAINST AFRICAN GUERRILLAS.
  • Date: 14th November 1976
  • Summary: 1. GV PAN Soldiers on horseback riding past 0.08 2. GV Soldiers on horseback going through training exercises (4 shots) 0.35 3. GV Mounted troops riding through village (3 shots) 0.58 4. SV Black soldiers going through training routines (5 shots) 1.26 5. SV Black soldiers marching and singing 1.46 Initials BB/1640 Script is c
  • Embargoed: 29th November 1976 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: INKOMO BARRACKS, NEAR SALISBURY, RHODESIA
  • Country: Zimbabwe
  • Reuters ID: LVA6HPUQX19XPQJR3G9N4FWV1421
  • Story Text: While talks continue in Geneva on the future of Rhodesia, the authorities in Rhodesia are still facing the threat of guerrilla warfare.

    SYNOPSIS: The Rhodesian Army's main problem is shortage of manpower. Already army reservists are being called up frequently for long periods of service, with a subsequent harmful effect on the country's economy. In its attempts to contain the guerrilla situation, the army is using mounted infantry to patrol isolated villages where the guerrillas find their provisions, often by means of intimidation. The training for the mounted infantry includes learning to shoot from horses moving at the trot and even at the gallop.

    These mounted troops were also used in the recent raids on Mozambique by the Rhodesian Army in what it calls "hot pursuit" operations. These were against the African guerrillas, many of whom are based in camps near the Rhodesian border in Mozambique.

    But it's to the ordinary black recruit that the army is looking to bridge the manpower gap. Of 55,000 men under arms, blacks already outnumber whites by two to one. They are all volunteers who joined despite threats by guerrillas that reprisals would be taken against them after black majority rule.

    Their incentives are basic -- regular pay, regular food and somewhere to sleep.

    As these recruits marched off after 10 weeks basic training, the message of their song was clear -- "we're for the friendship of the African people", they chanted, and "we're against the terrorists".
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