Was the Rhodesian Army the Most Effective in History? - The Abandoned Army
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
- The Rhodesian Bush War is a story of atrocity, of sickening loss of life, and the violent transition of a former European colony through independence towards majority rule.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:13 The Rhodesian Bush War
5:43 The Rhodesian Army
8:33 Escalation, Insurgency, and a Brutal Response
12:43 Why Did the Rhodesians Fail in the Bush War?
19:52 Weighing the Facts
Soldiers win battles, politicians lose wars.
Actually quite opposite mind you. Absolutely don't know a thing about war don't you not😊
@@chiapets2594 Dude why are you even here?
@@FrostbiteDigital he telling the truth, it's a politician who start it ,it's a slodier who fucks it up, then a politician who end it.
@@ebrimajallow9631 That's the FARTHEST thing from the truth
Actually it's the International Bankers who start it, get their corporate pitchman/politicians to "sell it" to the populace, and poor people to fight and die in it
As a Rhodesian/Zimbabwean, growing up during this period, this is one of the most balanced accounts I have heard. Ultimately, everybody lost. Many thanks.
If you don't mind me asking, (and you still reside in Zimbabwe) is Zimbabwe as bad as you read about? Rapid inflation, lack of food, unresponsive government.
@donovannotmyname7306 Hi, no. I left in 2000 as, unfortunately, I had no future, (working for commercial farmers) and, was lucky enough to have the means to.
@@christopping5876 I certainly didn't expect you to get back so quickly. But thank you for answering me.
This is probably the best
czcams.com/video/B3CVQe_m1yE/video.html
@donovannotmyname7306 nahh, people be chilling there. It's all propaganda. Wtf is that question bro?
Our family doctor in Australia was a combat medic in Rhodesia. Dr. Van Opdenbosch was a very tough man and had some crazy stories. He had been shot, stabbed and at one point scalped. He used safety pins to re-attach his scalp and walked 80 km to get medical assistance.
He was an invited guest to our high-school graduation and gave an amazing speech.
don't talk shit
That sound improbable
@@a.m928 What sounds improbable?
@@pikas_palacePlenty of people have survived being scalped. You can look up pictures.
@@KingNoTailsure, but in Rhodesia? Doubt it.
As an ex Rhodie I was involved in transporting the bodies of the passengers ofvthe planes shot down by Nkomo's terrs. Bayoneted babies and women amongst them. South Africa was the Rhidues only pipeline for support and they forced negotiation. I had mates in the Selous scouts ( pronounced Sa- loo by the way) SAS and 2nd commando RLI. All held normal day jobs, would dissapear for a few weeks then we would read about it in the papers later , Awesome fighters and top blokes. I hung on for 1 year of Mugabe, country was being trashed so fast. Shame, it was the country in Africa that had a hope for a great future.
Rhodesians never die!!!
The Rhodesian infantry probably was one of the most effective in terms of pure soldiering. Their use of the vertical envelopment known as Fire force is legendary and well documented.
While true, later when the rebels had gotten training from the Communists the Fire Force proved to be a detriment to the entire war effort.
The tactic was fine against untrained college students that were handed rifles and pointed in the general direction of Rhodesia but when they gained training and actual heavy equipment the Rhodesian light infantry started hurting, sure the Fire Force still succeeded 80% of the time but the 20% it didn't saw catastrophic losses of men and equipment especially for the already thinly stretched Rhodesian Air Force that they quite frankly couldn't be taking.
They were so effective they lost.
@@120mmsmoothbore2
Based communists, as usual.
@@120mmsmoothbore2 All valid points for sure. Rhodesia was solely focused on the elimination of the guerrillas, which just doesn't really work in a true counterinsurgency setting. I think a lot of the idealization of the Rhodesian forces comes from their very distinct look and equipment, FALs and Chopped RPDs wielded by guys in strange camo short-shorts air-assaulting onto your position is not something you see in every war.
@@derekmclellan7337 Effective and Be the winner are two different concepts
The bush war is an excellent example of how complex warfare is and how even if you're stacking bodies left and right you can still lose due to various reasons
Vietnam war comes to mind.
@@ktheterkuceder6825 exactly, Vietnam is also a perfect example
@@TheEmperorsChampion964yeah but veitnam actually put up a ruthless resistance. Americans could get destroy whatever they could lay eyes on, but veitcong were to good at lurking in the jungle and were good at making complex series of caves that the Americans could never flush them out well enough
@@THE_MOONMAN Nah. The Americans destroyed the NVA and crushed most of the VC and were well on their way to crushing all of them, until the cowardly politicians punked out.
@@THE_MOONMAN america had 60k casualties, vietcong had around a 1 million casualties, American army was winning, the American people lost
I worked for a British PMC as a designated defensive marksman and we had a guy who came from the Scouts. Regardless of his age, he was an apex predator during direct action missions
My buddy that was from South Africa was in the Rhodesian army. He loved the FAL and barreled my first FAL out of an old Austrian STG parts kit. My best friend and I became quick friends with Gane and he slowly started telling us stories about living in SA after leaving Zimbabwe in the 80's. We met him in the late 90's and one of the last stories he told us was about Russians in SA helping to secure diamonds from flooding the market. His stories were intense about being in the Rhodesian army, but some really crazy stories about living in Mozambique after he left Zimbabwe in the late 80's. Great video BTW!
A RUSSIAN adviser serving and training Africans against the RHODESIANS, praised the RHODESIANS as GREAT fighters.
As Belgian , I appreciate this comment
I remember reading about them in the old 'Soldier of Fortune' magazine. They actually had ads for mercenaries in the back of the magazine.
And does Any1 care?
@Chia Pets It appears that 16 people do, and one 1 AH doesn't. Go take walk or something. Take your attitude out on the sidewalk.
@@chiapets2594 you cared enough to post variations of ‘who cares’ 4 times on 4 separate posts, so clearly you’re one of those who care
My friends were Mercenaries there in 1976 to 78 But had to be listed as RLI because the british govenment would not allow Mercenaries.
@@chiapets2594
Ça paraît que t’as un compte Twitter.
Ian Smith didn't "retire" in 1987. Mugabe had him kicked out of government. Eventually Mugabe even stripped Ian Smith of his Zimbabwe citizenship without reason even though Ian Smith was born in that country and Mugabe wasn't. . Eventually Ian Smith had to immigrate to South Africa when his farm was illegally seized and handed over to a ZANU-PF member.
Colonialism was illegal to begin with lol
@Destroyer Armor this narrow sighted comment is essentially why the cycle of stupidity never ends.
@@destroyerarmor2846yet those africans kept coming to colonial european lands including south africa. Now after those 2 nations have been subverted and destroyed you have millions migrating to europe and the USA but yes "whities bad" lmao
@@destroyerarmor2846 Go tell China that
@@destroyerarmor2846 There was no legal or judiciary system in the territory of Rhodesia when Cecil Rhodes arrived, so technically you are wrong. What few locals there were had not even invented the wheel yet.
Well well well… look how South Africa and Zimbabwe are doing now ☠️
Both banana republics
@@stevenhull5025typical commies
I was just in Zim and spent a lot of time with some older Zimbabweans who fought in the Rhodesian army. The stories they told me were insane and the love they have for Zimbabwe even after everything they went through is crazy. I asked what it was like after the war and they said "We went back home and tried to live normal lives and for awhile everything was good... for awhile"
living in africa is a good life its like being on the TITANIC
Until gangster Mugabe too farms!
@@patrickcannell2258 we have never claimed a square inch of europe,why claim our homeland.I am sure whites would take up arms if a foreign people invaded them
A couple things I didn't hear in the video: Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain on November 11, 1965 and thereafter were met with some fairly crippling sanctions from both the UK and the UN. The Rhodesians were able to circumvent those sanctions for close to a decade due to support from Mozambique and South Africa but then the situation changed. Mozambique parted from Portugal and cut off Rhodesian support. Then South African government under Vorster began to ratchet down support for the Rhodesians and place conditions on them, such as no external ops. RSF could not strike outside Rhodesia for most of the bushwar and it hampered their effectiveness at bringing an end to the crisis. In the end it was a combination of increasing Nationalist activity, war weariness on part of the population, crushing international sanctions, and lack of local support that force Smith to the negoiating table. If you ever want to read an account of the bushwar from start to finish, read Ian Smith's autobiography "Bitter Harvest." There's been much written about the bush war but Smith's book was one of the better ones for understanding the situation at a higher level.
@@CavebabybeserkerWell yeah. Europe can’t survive without Africas recourses and the understand this.
Best comment. Rhodesia by all accounts were winning handily. It was when they lost not just outside support but the UK and UN Actively sided with their enemies did they start to lose ground. Rhodesia was a great country for most now it is a shit hole for all.
Those countries fell to communists. Too bad the people in charge couldn't early on give participation to noncommunists but in the 1940s communist influence had turned minds to the even darker side & as expected made those countries worse off then the racist government had. As if that was even thought possible.
@@Jean_Jacques148 Africa can't survive without their betters, look at them now all of them have failing states and incompetence on every rung of their system
Another great book that is full of first hand accounts from the SAS is "A Handful of Hard Men". Highly recommend it.
I worked with a guy who was in the Rhodesian Army. He was allowed into the UK. As he never fought against the British. I know another guy living in the UK now was in the south African Army. Rapid Response force , spent most of his time in Rhodesia fighting alongside the Rhodesian Army.
@@davidgarcia5593racists never change
@@deltac222 Yep, and now those racist blacks are flooding into the UK.
@@deltac222 u good there!
@David Garcia in a terrible mess and people are not standing up for their people and country no spine.
@@deltac222 Says the communist fascist.
Here is an old joke I heard: what did Zimbabwean use to light their home with in 1950s?
……electricity
There’s not a lot of content pertaining to this conflict, thanks so much for providing such a thorough and visually informative experience!
My late uncle served 16 years in the British Army then left, moved to Zambia to work on a dam that was being built there, him and my aunt went into Rhodesia for a weekend getaway...when it was over they went back to Zambia, he quit his job, packed up the kids and moved to Rhodesia...that was 1970, he ended up in P.A.T.U (Police Anti Terror Unit) and fought right until the end in 1980, he got my aunt and cousins out and into Johannesburg in 1979 and he was eventually chased out of the country in 1980...
My side of the family joined them in Joburg in 1983...he very rarely spoke about the Bush War but he did regularly get visited by a very secretive man that we all called "Secret Squirrel"...he`d come to the house, never come inside and they`d talk over the chain link fence in the front of the house covering their mouths with their hands, then he`d leave and not be seen again for months...
What always struck me as odd was that my uncle had the SAS "Winged Dagger" tattoo`d on his forearm, he never would tell me why he had it...if iit was from his days in the British or Rhodesian forces...he was very secretive...
Liar suuuurrrreeee
yeah pretty sure my dad was in the light brigade. still has the scars but wont ever talk about them.
Covering their mouth? really???
He probably was selling crack
Chewing tobacco, kids running around who might overhear, lip-readers... I'm perplexed, myself, with the possibilities, now
Your video leaves off the important factor that Rhodesia could not replace its aging military equipment due to their UDI being rejected by other governments.
Why were they rejected by nearly all the other governments of planet Earth?
@@thomasreaves588 Either ignorance or knowingly supporting the enemy.
@@thomasreaves588ask Britain
@@thomasreaves588 juice. ((bankers))
@Thomas Reaves Because the rest of the world realized it's crazy to have no say so in your own country, on your own continent, when you make up the majority of the population.
I am a white African I am Rhodesian and will die being a Rhodesian and as an ex member of the Rhodesian army we "NEVER LOST "the war we were betrayed by the politicians and so called friends
Cope harder
@@Bigwillystyle707nah he’s right, shove your dilator back in
They simply refused to help you preserve your racial oligarchy apartheid state
Whit the (friends) you had you don t needed ennemys !
Rhodesians never die.
Reminds me of a discourse between a North Vietnamese General and an U.S. General post-Vietnam conflict. The U.S. General boasted that the U.S. forces never lost a battle in the Vietnam conflict. The North Vietnamese General responded... "what difference did that make."
The NVA were about to fall when the Democrat Party handed the whole country into Communist slavery and quit .
What did Zimbabwe use before Candles? Electricity
Lmfao
If you only knew how funny that is.
How do you spell Rhodesia phonetically? Robin Hood's Old Dad Eats Sausages in Asia. How do you spell Zimbabwe phonetically? Zero Intelligence Mainly Because All Bloody Whites Emigrated.
Vibranium
Knobkieries?
I spent 2 and a half years in Rhodesia, one and a half on the ground and one flying helicopters for the Airforce. What is said here is partially true, very partially. Once the Airforce received the UH-1H the war turned dramatically in favor of the Rhodesians, as we could reach deep into Zambia and Mozambique to attack enemy bases . It was the politicians and the British Government that gave the country away to the communist terrorists. As a side note: I talked to many Africans in the Security Forces and asked them "Why are you in the Security Forces?" As the Constitution did not allow the conscription of Africans in the Security Forces, yet every white male from 18 to 55 had to server six months of every year in active duty (not all at once). Everyone African answered, " I want my country." Such an eye opener, as these people knew what was going on and would put their lives in danger to protect their country.
Rhodesia's Air Force was small but excellent and South African aircraft, pilots and technicians also played a role in defending Rhodesia. For Rhodesia's black population the conflict was of course a civil war. Some joined the security forces and other Shona and Matabele headed off into the bundu to fight for ZANLA or ZIPRA, although many of the latter suffered very badly when Mugabe came to power.
@@glendodds3824 Honestly speaking it was 'excellent' by African standards....by global standards Rhodesian forces...air or army were barely mediocre... their opponents were more like farmers who had recently been givven guns...not to mention they came from a culture that never created things like a huge army........so it was basically like an army vs lots of civilinas with guns.
I am curious, people have Rhodie fantasy would support idea of white supremacy?
You were the terrorists my guy.
@@AlbertLivingstone He was fighting for the country he was born in.
Saying anything else is racist.
i don't know how many things you got right or wrong but it was an amazing explanation of something i had no real knowledge on before, well worth the time it took to watch, thank you.
Many farmers were descendants of the 1890s settlers. Not that transient. My great great grandfather started a farm with 6 cattle and lived in a thatched mud house to start with.
A lesson to be learnt: Even if it is military victory, that doesn't always mean that it will be a political victory. Look no further than the soviets in Afghanistan, as I see parallels between them.
I mean they were both wars where racist idiots got shot then lied about the numbers to make themselves look better
Or Americans in Afghanistan.
Vietnam
Algeria and Vietnam for France
I thought just about the Soviets... But in the end they were victorious, when they leave Afghanistan the insurgency was somehow controlled, the USSR lasted until 1991, the DRA went untill 1994, when Kabul finally fall, untill it fall again when the Taliban invaded.
I was at a gun show and got to meet a rhodesian soldier who survived and brought his family to the states after the war ended
He must’ve had some stories💯
Was he selling a green yellow painted fal
Lucky guy he was - IMO the US should have allowed them all in. It was American political pressure for black government that forced the whites to lose everything they had.
That’s a shame. You could’ve finished the job
@@desserted5446 huh? why they are cool
Outstanding. That Hideous Strength is a great companion-piece to The Abolition of Man and doesn't require reading the previous two. Lewis' prescience continues to amaze me.
Well done video. Thank you.
I still remember their recruiting motto “Be a man, among men, join the Rhodesian Army.”
still a badass motto
Meanwhile in the US, Emma and her two moms are the face of the Army
@@Chadius_Thundercock🤣🤣🤣
Should be “ be a white man, among white men, join a racist army”
nice and masculine wouldnt see that now lol
As someone much smarter than me once said(can’t recall who) “the Rhodesian army fought a war of hearts and minds as a war of attrition.”
And who cares
@@chiapets2594 You obviously, because you are posting the same non-stop diarrhoea after every comment.
and lost like most.
@@chiapets2594
I do
@@chiapets2594Well I care too
For those of us who were there. We never saw our efforts as fruitless or even in vein. As an olde Rhodie the Spirit of Rhodesia lives on in each of us, we in actual fact never die. For those who accept defeat, only then are U defeated....😊. We may fade a little but to die impossible. We then just mellow like a good olde Brandy...😊😅😂...
very informative, i liked this video as i like to learn about conflicts that don't get as much attention as more mainstream stuff
I once read a passage in a book about the Vietnam War:
The American General to the Vietnamese General, "We won every major battle." The Vietnamese General, "That may be so, but it is also irrelevant."
So the Zimbabweans were brave just like the touted Viets.
It is stupid to compare the two , Africans were very poor guerilla fighters and tactically were bascially dumb as a stump.. the viet cong were extremely intelligent and tactical... what got Rhodesia was purely political where Vietnam was tactic & an incredibly effective guerilla campaign. The Viet Cong were extremely effective at striking killing or wounding and escaping without being caught, their use of trickery , boob traps and manipulation was key to their success... the black guerilla fighters were about as good as 10 year old without guns... what got them was politics and being the minority in a country hostile to them.
@@tritium1998 Rhodesians*
@@seanheaney8303I find it funny the currency is garbage now.
@@seanheaney8303 Well the Viet Cong were actually trained. Not handed weapons and sent off like most were.
My great uncle fought in the bush war as a pilot, he says that every soldier was very professional, motivated and effective in their task due to a no bullshit training approach, no cleaning, no harrasment no useless drill and shit, just instruction and pratical battlefield training.
-----Agreed and that was because that was all there was time for.
they were all mercnaries
That’s exactly the way a real army should be
@@njabuloradebe6273 how? they were fighting for their country so that would make them not a mercenary.
@@dubndrapwilwork Agree - 'most' were not mercenaries but it's well known that even a few American Vietnam vets (mostly SF) had found uses for their skills in Rhodesia.
1 of my employees was born in 1977, and was raised in the rural areas. He told me that his mom, aunts and granny told him many stories of how difficult life was during the bush war. The insurgents/rebels/terrorists, whatever u call them, actually rounded people up. They gathered them into a big barn, slaughter a cow (belonging to a white farmer) and they would be in there all night. They would identify people who were "traitors" or against them, and in front of everyone there, adults, kids, etc, they would murder them with an axe, and tell them that would also happen to anyone who was a traitor. These thugs only "gained support" thru intimidation and violence. My employee said his dad said that times were good, farm workers lived really well. After "land reform" in 2000, things have been getting worse and worse, and the same brutal violence has been a characteristic of this Zanu PF government ever since. They prevented MDC taking over, which was a mixed colour organization.
I was born in 1985.
My Dad was a government minister in Zanu PF govt from 1990 to 2017.
So depressing and scary
My teacher was a Selious Scot. A quiet and humble man.
A 'Selious Scot'?/.....you mean Selous Scout.
@@ggpp4898 Far enough.
So he was a criminal
@@vre7474how so, that’s like saying every Red Army soldier in WW2 was a war criminal
I moved with my parents to Rhodesia in '76. My dad was in the British Army, left that and joined the Rhodesian Army. As a kid it was fantastic. Loved the country. Left in '82 and moved to South Africa, where my dad joined the South African Army. Eventually left there and we all moved back to the UK. I had such a great life as a kid and would do it all over again if I had the chance. 6 year old and firing Uzi's down at the range. Now all kids want to do is look at their phones.
That’s cool as hell, I wanna see Africa one day it’s beautiful. Too bad I won’t get to shoot uzi’s like you lol
Now thats a great childhood
Jealous.
Interesting story not gonna lie but you kinda ruined it at the end, it's kinda prejudice that a kid nowadays only wants to look at a phone there are people that are more than that and also you were six firing uzis?
I don't know what to make of that but it's definitely not a good idea,if you learned it the hard way if you had accidents and if just your parents weren't being careful enough a phone is less dangerous than a uzi to some extent
Im not disrespecting you i have no idea what it would be like visiting Africa especially back then your story is a blast to hear along with more details
@@giorgospapoutsakis5271 In the City where I live we have a light rail transit. You look at kids, heads down looking into their phones. They even interact with each via their phones. You see newspaper articles where kids have lost the ability to interact. This is because it is now all done electronically, even down to finding a partner. They don't even want to learn to drive. They chat via phones, internet, gaming and ride user apps like UBER. At 16 I got my motorbike license to ride a 50cc and at 17 I got my drivers license. When I was a kid we got home from school and went to the local pool on the army base. First thing was clear the scorpions out of the pool, I was six and grabbing scorpions out of the pool. We used to go out in the bush, no parents, just a couple of kids. This is Africa where you have puff adders, rattle snakes and everything else. We used to come across all sorts of wildlife. Didn't bother us as we were out for a laugh and seeing what trouble we could get ourselves into... and we did... But that was part of life and having fun, getting out there, interacting with my friends and having a great childhood. Yes I could fire all sorts of guns by the time I was six up, from 9mm pistols to Uzi, FN's and LMG's (Light Machine Gun). It did make me aware of how dangerous guns were. That was drummed in to me by the army instructors who taught us and my dad. There is nothing better than walking down the side of the range to the butts (bottom of the range where the targets are) and watching tracers whizzing down the range to the target right next to you. You get in the butts and the you work the targets with the adults, bringing them down, patching the holes and sending them back up again.
This is why countries now have "National Security Strategies", which involves a whole-of-government approach to tackling issues like these, not just accounting for the military side of things.
awesome content, thanks alot man.
Thank you for these videos.
Picture of all the European Rhodesians in Company size photo in khakis, taken in Malaya as Rhodesian SAS had just been formed at that time. The bit about the two airliners shot down correct, but placed chronologically in wrong place in this piece... Was relatively near the end of the story... The late 1977 assault on terr base camps that killed 2000 not only had aging Rhodesian air assets, but borrowed South African Puma helicopters (much larger) and Mirage fighter-bombers... The last were not supposed to have been provided by South Africa to Rhodesian pilots by terms of contract with France... However, France unilaterally abrogated the contracts under foreign pressure, which freed South Africa to do whatever it wanted... including equipping a Rhodesian squadron... -YP-
I was there for just 7 months 1975, worked in telephone exchange, lived on (Jackaranda lined) Union Ave. What a beautiful country. Met a young nurse and married her. Her father was head accountant for RBC and Mashonaland basket ball coach but still had to fight. He was killed in ambush 1979 at 49yo. Ive read all the comments, your the only one using the term "terr" Id forgotten but that was all I ever heard them called - never thugs or gangsters etc. Vic Falls will always be the highlight of planet Earth for me :)
Only 2 groups of people I like to see in short shorts, Beautiful women, and Rhodesians!
No
@@chiapets2594 Yes
Don't forget the Australians.
@@Omardelatorr1 Well that would be in Sun hats more so
@Chia Pets you perfer doing pets? Disgusting bro.
This is an excellent video. Well presented.
Very unbiased approach. Good work!
Hannes Wessels's books on the war and the Rhodesian SAS are some of the most captivating I've ever read. Highly recommended for anyone who wants more in depth detail on the RLI, SAS, and Fireforce operations during the war. Some of those small unit SAS ops behind enemy lines were mind blowing in their audacity and effectiveness.
And his interview channel
Yes sir. A fuew hard men about the rodeshian SAS was awesome book. Learned alot about the why and reason of the war from rodeshian people too. The world turned the're back on rodeshia. Now it's a starving country called Zimbabwe. Alot of grimy things the MSM hid like white farmers bieng raiped and killed whole family s
Turned their back on a country supporting racial segregation? Tides of history bend towards justice. The ending of Rhodesia was necessary
@@mikefitzpatrick43damn I wonder if they were killed because they supported an apartheid racist state… anyway oh well.
@@mikefitzpatrick43 Zimbabwe still exists with plenty of people living.
I met a former Selous Scout he was the hardest man I ever met
@@Cavebabybeserker back when I was cadet in the 80’s he had just got out of Rhodesia before Mugabe took over
The hardest men were the Zimbabweans who, despite oppressed and enslaved, decided enough was enough and used inferior arms to fight for their freedom.
Lol
@@tmajecThey're all dead.
Just another criminal
Cheers. Brief but well researched and informative documentary. I was still a school kid during the Rhodesian bush war but I grasped some of the happenings through the media. Salutes to the personalities who partook in the history of Zimbabwe: Joshua Nkomo, Robert Mugabe. Ian Smith, Bishop Abel Muzorewa among others. To those who fell in battle: ZANLA and ZIPRA fighters, members of the Rhodesian military and sadly civilians caught in the cross fire and in the atrocities of war may the Lord rest their souls in peace. Please do provide us with a documentary on how ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas operated in the bush war. Cheers
legit - really really good breakdown.. 👍
There’s an excellent channel called Five Romeo Romeo run by a Bush War veteran who tells lots of amazing stories.
Also "fighting men of rhodesia"
Both right. All these people are fantastic story tellers. John Edmonds Troopie Songs and History stories are priceless. She Was Rhodie Girl , Its A Long Way To Mukumbura and Shumba Drinkers. The Rhodesian Forces Band Playing When The Saints Come Marching In is the best version. Their Version of March of The Belgian Paratroopers is also the best.
Five Romeo Romeo is very interesting but he gives the impression that Rhodesia was full of white liberals. Consequently, he draws far too strong a distinction between Rhodesia and South Africa.
@@glendodds3824 It is my experience that Rhodesians prefer to be considered as distinctly separate from South Africa. In a far more "determined" manner than say, Australians and New Zealanders. If you catch my drift.
@@currawong60911368. Hi. Yes, that is true of many Rhodesians. Former members of Rhodesia's white population can really be divided into three groups: those who loved Rhodesia (the largest category); those who loved Rhodesia and South Africa (a substantial minority); and those who disliked Rhodesia and South Africa.
Ian Smith was himself also a WW2 fighter pilot who's story itself is worth reading. I recommend his autobiography - The Great Betrayal
I've read that book ,it's as boring as hell, all political maneuvering and hardly anything about military operations.
Hi Richard. it's an interesting book but it's unfair to South Africans. For instance, Ian blames the Boers for treating blacks as second class citizens.
@@glendodds3824 Yeah, that's rich coming from a guy who lead the planter class of a deeply racist country.
I wonder if they were performance enhanced by science in those days
@@jeraldsamuel5598 then a few books, from hannes wessels you'll thank me later 😉
reading a book at the moment called "We Dared To Win:The SAS in Rhodesia" with some first hand accounts of the actions described in your video which was very well put together.
My grandpa fought in angola during 1973 to 75 for portugal, he said the rhodesians were amazing pilots.
You must be proud of your fascist gramps.
But they were not many
Weird how the Rhodesians were the only ones with aircraft yet all these Rhodeboos here are crying like they were the underdogs.
@@tritium1998Because they are crybabies and cannot get over having their assess handed to them by infantry armed Bantus. Bunch of racists who, unlike that they did to Aborigines in Australia, thought the Africans won’t get tired of their nonsense.
For all of their success - across centuries, no less - even the brutally efficient Roman legions eventually lost. No one can take on overwhelming numbers forever, regardless of how good they are at killing them.
& like Rhodesia, the new regime was wonderful for the people and what we call human progress. Dark Ages have not been limited to Europe. The post-Smith's Government success in reverting Rhodesia to pre-colonial conditions is a widely reflected pattern, with a few notable exceptions.
iirc later stages of roman empire economy was so lopsided legions lost support of civilians + they had recruitment problem from salary and hearts and minds viewpoint. basicly elite took so much taxes that peasants didnt believe in empire anymore. almost constantly some groups outside empire was trying to break in, but most of time it was impossible.
@@johnmead8437 think the point is most times anyone invades or take land that others have resided in for centuries… you usually end up having to leave in the end.. it’s just a matter of time. There are of course some exceptions to this rule, but unless you can overpopulate the indigenous population (Australia, NZ, Canada, USA for example) it usually ends that way.
The loss of Rhodesian territory reminds me of the Vietnam conflict. In 1967, the Johnson administration claimed to have military control over all but 3 provinces. A Sociologist w/ USAID did a cursory survey in the field and discovered that the Viet Cong were taxing in all BUT 3 provinces, taxing being the base of military control and visa versa. When the Tet offensive occurred in 1968, the only 3 provinces where the VC did not tax were where there was an absence of or minimal attacks. The same pattern appeared in Afghanistan too.
Great episode!
And in the end, Zimbabwe is such a fabulous success story of indigenous rule from net food exporter to net food importer in just a few years.
I visited Zimbabwe in 2000 and always remember the feelings of despair and hopelessness amongst the people.
All of africa is better under white rule....look at American cities where blacks are in control.....just chaos.EVEN WALMARTS LEAVING BLACK CITIES
Zimbabwe was poor as Rhodesia. It also remains an exporter.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 Zims is poorer today then it was after the war ended...Where´s the money gone to????mugarbage and his cronies...The maranke diamonds went to the chinese......Billions of Dollars just mysteriously disappered.Many of my "Brothers in Arms" died for nothing...the british government betrayed it´s people.Cowards.Before mugarbage we could have sorted out our differences and lived and developed the Utopia of Africa.Pity.
America and Europe placed sanctions. The elephant in the room is the west didn't want to see a successful black run African country without their control.
Excellent content. This is one conflict that I knew very little about. Thank you for the informative history lesson.
As a South African i am ashamed to say that awfull Kissinger convinced (or intimidated John Voster) to stop (or drastically reduce) material support to Rhodesia, spelling the beginning of the end for her!
If you’d like to sculpt with foam in layers, using liquid nails or tacky glue works well, both do well at holding layers together without seems showing after shaping and sanding, good video
This was the one with The Selous Scouts wasn't it ? Those guys were BADASS. I remember reading from Jack Carr that they were like one of the most Elite Black Ops Units of the 20th Century or something 🗿🗿
No1 cares and no they were not
@@chiapets2594 the selous scouts were the most badass out of them all
@@chiapets2594 what a sad person
@@No_step_on_snake he didn't get enough oxygen when he was born
Wow try fighting a real threat not these losers
What a time it was! Proud to have served my country. Rhodesians are a special breed.. we fought for our country and our lifestyle. Will never forget those that gave their lives during the war.
Sad to see the current state of the country and what it could have been.
Pointlessly gave their lives because of idiotic politicians...
Rhodesians never die
European immigrants that took over other people's lands...
@@Andy_Bobandy This program talks about 100s of them being killed at a time! 1200! Twice!
Great one, you've got a new subscriber.
A friend’s grandfather actually got to meet PM Ian Smith once, stating that in their short meeting, he knew that Smith was one of the most articulate and intelligent people he had ever met.
Smith was a great statesman that did everything in his power to keep the Rhodesian dream alive, but one man, incredible and ambitious as he may be, can only do so much.
The Bush War ended up being a numbers game. Rhodesia lost because of former allies ceasing to support it as well as international economic sanctions and pressures.
Even if the Rhodesian forces nominally lost, the results of individual skirmishes and battles speak for themselves. Rhodesia put up a hell of a fight.
The pressure london put on smith played it's role. London made it very clear to smith that Rhodesia needed to be ruled by black Africans. Ultimately they were fighting a loosing war.
If anyone wants to read or listen to a SUPERB book that contains first hand accounts of this era from Rhodesian SAS members, I HIGHLY recommend “A Handful of Hard Men” by Hannes Wessels. The audio book is exceptional.
Saw your comment and bought and read the book. It is indeed superb
Absolutely brilliant book
I’m the Roger in that book. Working with Darrell was probably the best education I could have ever wished for as I was only 18.
Fantastic book, probably the best of 4 I've read on the conflict. One day Rhodesia will be back and on that day all the men who died in the pursuit of preserving it will have not been in vain
Very well done, thank-you for the presentation. I've never seen this one before 👍👍
I am British and was 14 during the war so did not know what was happening . I think it was terrible how the British government let the Rhodesians down. They had fought alongside the British in both world wars .Losing many lives in the process only to be let down in there time of peril. Absolutely disgraceful and shameful behaviour of our government and Lords.
I agree 100%
Imagine how incredibly racist you have to be in order for the British government to turn their back on you😂 Apartheid SA was the same story
What could they have done ? I forget who gave the " winds of change" speech , but it was inevitable. Sadly , the human propensity to royally f**k things up, came to pass .
nah, their racial oligarchy apartheid nation was doomed to fall if they didn't reform like South Africa. The British were done with their racist colonialism at that point in time so they were never going to help the rhodesians preserve their apartheid state, the british realized that people really don't like being ruled by a racial minority that doesn't give a shit about them. How would you feel if your country was ruled by a black-only or arab-only government?
So you think it's "terrible" that the British didn't uphold a government that deprived the majority of the population of equal status as citizens? That blacks had no chance of a majority in parliament? Wow, you must have some warped ethics.
This is all you need to know: An excellent Army, let down by political problems.
Exactly. 100% spot on.
Lmao all this daft cope I am seeing in this comment section, militarily Rhodesians had no option stop being like women and accept defeat and move on
Same cope a lot of Americans use "We won the battles but politicians lost us the war!!"
No it's because western Generals (Soldiers) absolutely fixate on tactics and how to integrate the latest toys from the MIC (which guarantees them board membership in Raytheon post-retirement) and ignore strategy and operations.
Guess it was always a bad idea for whites to move to Africa and build it up when the natives can't help themselves and destroy any progress made
@@ihadforeskinwithporkbellyf9306 It's clear you feel emotionally about this subject.
Neat video, I’d like to see you do a series on Cold War mercenaries
I see you in comments everywhere.
No
Fantastic video old chap. Quite possibly one of the best and most objective presentations on the subject I've seen hitherto.
Greetings from Melbourne, Australia.
In Rhodesia the same as in South Africa, the British government plundered resources, especially under mining giant Anglo American (British American) and when things got hot they abandoned the people of Rhodesia and South Africa. This was done by securing future plundering with the new regimes that took over, although Mugabe did not allow this for long as he saw what power can do and eventually turned against the UK and we know what happened after that.
What people deliberately refuse to acknowledge is the word "Apartheid" is just the Afrikaans translation of British rule of Segregation in India, Australia, New Zealand...
The British Empire still continues this looting today, as the Empire need to survive, the latest being Ukraine. At the same time the UK, USA and European leaders miraculously dodge responsibilities of their war crimes, Concentration Camps during Anglo Boer War, invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan...
The world must dance to the tunes of the UK, USA and Europe leadership, while these leaders stuff their pockets their citizens are blissfully unaware of reality. As you correctly pointed out "reporting on the war", as seen on TV as heard on the radio and as read in the paper. If these leaders cannot sanction a country into submission they arrange a Coup or create a civil war.
Your story neglects to high-lite this important factor.
The Bush War has something similar with Algeria war fought by France: you can win on a military level yet still suffer a political defeat.
I LOVE your series on the african wars.
I think that a nice video topic would be the Algerian war of independace.
Keep it up!
Same here in SA, the biggest mistake was giving up while your ahead. And trying to discriminate between your enemy, and their supporters!
Probably the best military history account in CZcams
So all the Rebels had to do was outlast the Rhodesian Army. Something that's been prevalent in many wars were guerillas fight against a more powerful enemy.
In the end, the Rhodesian government was forced by the global community to give up the country to the communist backed rebels. Forty years later the country stands in economic ruin, much as any other African nation. South Africa followed along.
And have outside sponsors like USSR and China. No rebellion has lasted long without outside support except for NPA in the Philippines.
@@renzeusoya5828---Can't argue with that
@@renzeusoya5828 And Malaysia where the commies lost a 30 year civil war.
The rebels were inexperienced illiterate farmers and child soldiers they shouldn’t have won
My step father was in the Rhodesian Airforce. The military kicked ass. The British sold them out.
History has shown, when massively outnumbered, you might win some battles, but you most certainly will lose the war.
Nice 1😊
Be a man among men
Join the Rhodesian army
In booty shorts.
More like a dead man among dead men
amongst.
@@LastBrigadier the poster definitley said among, genius
As a Rhodesian born in 73, I'm proud of my mother and father for fighting in the Bush War. Their sacrifice and those of all Africans who answered the call will never be forgotten or disgraced.
How's life as a refugee?
@forzaviolapoli3 Like anything else in life, it has its ups and downs.
they can't be disgraced if they already had no honour fighting to keep most people from being equal truly evil.
Great balanced video. Well done. I was born there in 1966 and lived this reality.
i remember this as a kid. interesting to hear about it decades later.
Most people fixate on the military aspect of the war, but wars are fought for reasons that have nothing to do with fighting. As said here, if the White minority had considered that survival of " Rhodesia" depended on finding a way for the Black majority to be equally invested in a nation where they had full rights ,then the war would have ended very differently. No nation ruled by a small minority where the majority have no rights can survive for long.
And when the majority took over, everything went to crap
Exactly. It doesn't matter if you can kill 1,000 insurgents a month if the insurgents are recruiting 2,000 more every month. The Rhodesian government had to find a way beyond the old colonial political arrangement and convince a majority of Africans to support it. I'm not sure that was ever really a possibility, though, since the white Rhodesians were a product of the British colonial system and all its attitudes and assumptions.
Perhaps Rhodesia was better off under the old order
Totally agree with you, doesn't matter the 35-1 ratio, if you don't include the majority or represent them equally in the government,things go south.
The west is ruled by very small minorities , it all depends how many 'resources' that minority has :)
A lot of Rhodesian servicemen came to australia. Most welcome additions to our forces.
Bolstered your racists too!
so did they teach you to murder prisoners and kids and drink out of dead guy's legs or were you already on it?
Don't let your great country become like the UK man, we can still preserve greatness.
@@CC-ns2ds Yep, going to need them if black apartheid comes in.
@@dxb338 Thats just the SASR.
They were trained by the Portuguese Comandos,who had been 10 years at war against the guerrilla movments for the independence of the Portuguese Colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guiné Bissau supported by the Soviet Union and China.
But the Superior training of the Portuguese Comandos made them an Outstanding anti insurgency fighting force.
They also trained the South Africans ( the Buffalo Soldiers Battalion) in anti insurgency warfare.
Nicely taken the @varusteleka photo for your thumbnail. :D
This feels a lot like what happened in Vietnam, or Afghanistan... or Afghanistan, where the military of one side wins most or all engagements but loses ground and the war.
in Vietnam, the Viet Cong were destroyed and never became a conventional fighting force again. While the NVA had to actually invade South Vietnam conventionally. In the end a series of economic factors, dwindling political support from the UNited States, and South Vietnamese indecsiveness led to the end of the state.
In all 3 wars the problem was cost
Cost. And cost. They would have won had they had unlimited funds to blow.
Should have recruited more locals to do the fighting. Don't even train them, just send them out to fight to keep the war cheap.
@@jason200912 like ukraine? that seems textbook of that description.... also in many of those former cases, they tried but those people were useless so US troops were sent to clean up mess.
No Afghanistan was different ? The yanks ran away and left everyone else in the shit !!
Lol. South Vietnamese and Afghan national armies were dogsh*t weak, cowards and corrupt. Of course they wanted the US to do most of the work for them. Lol. That's why US made peace with the enemy and bounced leaving the fate of the countries in their own hands.
The breadbasket of Africa now an impoverished banana republic living on foreign aid. What happened to change that?
Yeah, as we all know from Zimbabwe, it was an excellent changed, everyone was happy and they all lived happily ever after.
Things didn't get much worse for most.
Zimbabwe still exists with plenty of people living.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076if you we’re still white.
@@tritium1998 Not that but their currency was 💩
Better to live free than to leave as a third rate citizen in your ancestral land , you as a scot/irish would know that!
The real goal of most military's is to deter an enemy from attempting an invasion or attack of said country or its allies... The point is to make the enemy fear the consequences of any attack on your country enough to not even try... Teddy Roosevelt famously said "speak softly, but carry a big stick" referring to diplomacy...
the problem is there was no real invading party. Both sides felt they belonged in the land.
@@malakupearson1725but one side thought they were superior to the other, and not sharing the land.
@@Bigwillystyle707which they were right to think that lol
@@STEELGMBL good to meet a racist
It is understood that warfare is an extension of politics. Meaning; violence only gets you back to the political table and not an end to itself. Probably the closest parallel would the when a US colonel said to a Vietnamese colonel at the Paris Peace Accords, “‘You know you never defeated us on the battlefield'" The North Vietnamese colonel pondered this remark a moment. ‘That may be so,’ he replied, ‘but it is also irrelevant.’”
The US military has long been struggling with the scope, or definition, of the conflict they have found themselves engaged in; is it a "war" on terror, or a police action? Is it a "war" on drugs, or a police action, etc. Using military force for what are unachievable, nebulous political aims is a recipe for long-term military defeat regardless of the overwhelming force brought to bear.
Well done analysis.
The ironic thing about Vietnam is that after beating the Americans the communists in Vietnam went on to crush other communist regimes the Americans hated. They toppled the Khmer Rouge and drove out the Chinese. Losing the war made basically no difference to America's relationship with Vietnam.
the problem with the usa military is that it has no desire to win, or more accurately the politicians have no desire for it to win. Its goal is just to make money and keep the war industry flowing. Victory is secondary to that.
In vietnam usa could had won but it was also considered politically dangerous due to potentially bringing chinese/soviets into conflict more, and causing an actual great war. Ultimately though the usa technically did win in vietnam, they signed a treaty and pulled out, the north said treaty ha fuck that, invaded south and usa didnt feel like getting back in to the war(mostly due to politics not wanting to be there any longer) so they ignored it. North vietnam took over the south after usa left, not before.
Honestly though they exaggerate how bad vietnam was for usa, we spent roughly a decade there, and only had 60k dead, and like 200k wounded. bad sure, but ultimately thats pathetically low for an actual war with lots of fighting, most casualties were done to actual Vietnamese. We lose around 700k a year to heart disease for instance, so its really not that much when you think about it.
I mean it sure seems like not having support was a problem since they lost lol
oh yeah you so strong fighting and losing the only time you fought XD. GG
I think you need to discuss this conflict together with the South African border war - they were both proxy communist vs. western wars.
some sources say that the rhodesian army's soldiers were so hard to detect that enemies couldn't even find their country of origin on the maps
Be careful, the wannabe apartheid chud rhodesiaboos will be angry that you've pointed that out.
Nobody cares
@@chiapets2594 you do, thats why you write to him lol
@@chiapets2594shut up chimp.
@@chiapets2594 You obviously do considering how much you comment 🤣
Well done and respect from England.
As a Zimbabwean/Rhodesian of British descent, you prepared this video well balanced. Thank you. The ultimate truth is that Rhodesia was the most well-run country, with a prosperous economy, a courageous leader, good governence, a good, kind people made up of British ( as well as other Europeans ) and Africans. However, I agree we were most unfair to the Africans. We should have integrated Africans into our government and given our fellow brothers and sisters equal freedoms and rights sooner, thus avoiding the bush war. It is unfortunate that extremist neo-nazi fools from the US and elsewhere help paint the history of our country in a bad light. The only way our country and the whole world will grow is if we embrace Love, Kindness, Compassion, Unity, Forgiveness and Tolerance for all living beings ( Christ Consciousness ). That is the only way for all of us on Earth to evolve and move forward.
Why do you want integration? You should strive for an ethnostate if you want prosperity and armony and freedom in the long run.
@@Border_patrol974Diversity is a biological, cultural, economic, and political necessity.
@@tristantully1592 for a parasitical entity maybe...
@Border_patrol974 Is this the best version of yourself by saying this? The only way our ethnicity will survive is when we are in union, peace, loving-kindness and friendship with all other peoples. It is the only thing that will save us from extinction and annihilation. What really matters is Unity, Loving-Kindness, Forgiveness, Compassion and Tolerance to all beings and people. Or in simpler terms, Higher/Christ Consciousness. We have to move forward and evolve. Forgive and let go. Zimbabweans, both blacks and whites, are remarkable people who together in unity have achieved remarkable things. You can not condemn an entire people based on the actions of an evil, corrupt, cabal-controlled government. That is simply not the case. Zimbabweans are among the kindest, most generous and hard-working people in the world. We have amazing wildlife and stunning natural beauty. I am bloody proud of this country of mine. When we finally have a good, decent government, the world will see Zimbabwe rise out of the ashes and lead the way. It will be done. Amen.
@@zim_christ_lion you can perfectly have respect for other ethnicities and races, while still being represented by a nationalist State that defend your own group interests.
The rhodesian army is my favorite in history. The short shorts, the mustaches, and the baby green Rhodesian FAL. So much drip. And the fact they were fighting communism is even better. Now Zimbabwe doesn’t even have enough food for people, so the communism was successful it seems
No, it's the fact that the Africans need Europeans. The Africans cannot farm, much less hold any agricultural significance. Whites were the only farmers, and they kicked us out. After a few years, they begged for us back.
Yea I mean having slaves was better.
@@ashishhembrom3905go touch sum grass, white boi
So the communists were the side with less equipment yet you still lost against them. Zimbabwe still exists with more people than Rhodesia.
@@tritium1998 yeah, while attempting a genocide, then they realized not only can Zimbabwe's folks not swim, but cannot farm either, so they brought back the Whites.
There was a Vietnam Green Beret named Bob Cole who won Victorian
Cross fighting in Rhodesian SAS his wife put together a book about him. Great book