The C Squadron 22 Special Air Service webpage

Mudzi Operation

Mozambique -Tete Province

Situation

The Portuguese had capitulated in Mozambique after a military coup in Lisbon in April 1974. The whole Rhodesian eastern border with Mozambique was now open. ZANLA with FRELIMO’s blessing were establishing new permanent and transit camps along the border from where they launched attacks on farms and infiltrated into the Tribal Trust Lands. The Mudzi camp attack was the start of several transit camp attacks in Mozambique towards the latter part of 1976 with the aim of driving the terrs away from the Rhodesian border. This was firstly to make them feel anxious, nervous and threatened in areas where they felt safe before. Secondly, by driving them further away from the border they then had to travel longer distances often through inhospitable terrain from “safe” bases carrying their heavy equipment before even crossing the border into Rhodesia.

Mudzi was a transit camp in Mozambique, Northeast of Elim Mission and fairly close the border. It served as the main transit base for ZANLA infiltrations into Rhodesia into the Mudzi and Inyanga Tribal Trust Lands which flanked the Mozambican border south of Nyamapande. A few terrs captured and interrogated by Special Branch had led to the need for a recce along the banks of the Mudzi River to find the camp. After a careful infiltration into the area, a SAS recce call sign found the camp situated on the northern bank of the Mudzi River and was watching it from a nearby OP1.

Map showing the area in which Mudzi Camp was found. The camp was occupied by many terrs, and that information was radioed back to the forward base at Elim Mission. As a result, SAS troops back at Cranborne Barracks were being mobilized for an attack on the camp. On the night of 12 June’76 there were about 80 ZANLA2 terrs in the camp and they had huge booze up and were particularly rowdy singing chimurenga3 songs. The following morning, the recce call

1 OP – Observation Post

2 ZANLA - Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army

3 Chimurenga – Shona for ‘revolutionary struggle’

sign saw about 50 terrs leaving the camp with packs and rifles probably on their way to infiltrate into the Mudzi region of Rhodesia. The forward base was radioed informing the SAS commanders about the new developments. It was nevertheless decided to continue with the attack on the camp although most of the birds had flown. Other troops were to be deployed in ambush positions along the border to try to intercept the large group that left the previous night.

Preparation

On Friday morning 11th June’76 para-course BSL4-57 consisting of the 22 of us from Intake 150 who had passed selection, did our last qualifying static line parachute jump at New Sarum. Parents and family members were allowed to attend the occasion and I was glad that my folks and sister Nelia had made it from Que Que for the event. The jump went well and afterwards we were all presented with droopy parawings and para-logbooks, and we could briefly visit with our family members and friends. Although we were now fully-fledged paratroopers, these wings were not the coveted SAS wings we all were striving for. And then you don’t just get your SAS wings either, they had to be earned. Major Robinson, our SAS Commanding Officer at the time, had given instructions that newly selected soldiers would have to prove themselves in the field under battle conditions for a period before being badged and being presented with their SAS wings and colours.

Para-course: BSL 57: 24/5 - 11/6/76

Back Row (L to R): Ens van Staden, Martin du Plessis, Sgt.Dennis Croukamp (Selous Scouts), Pat Devenish, Andre Klopper, Norman Pilossof, Mark Kleinhans, Len Hearns, Graham Thwaits, Mike Ashton, Frans Nel, Mike Mingay. Centre Row (L to R): Dave Arkwright, Johan Bezuidenhout, Simon Hinde, Steve Donnelly, Ian Robertson, Stu Pattison, Owen Williams, Larry Bowen-Davies, Pat Kenee, Johann Joubert (yours truly), David Niven. Seated (L to R) (PJIs): Sgt Paul Hogan, Flight Boynton, Sqn/Ldr Derek De Kock, Sgt Mike Wiltshire

Note: The names in bold were those who were later killed in action during the bush war.

We arrived back at Training Troop in Cranborne Barracks just before lunch and found the barracks abuzz with SAS troopers drawing weapons and ammunition and preparing their kit. We were called to one side and received a Warning Order to pack and prepare our equipment for an operation. For us Intake 4 BSL – Basic Static Line parachuting course 3 150 recruits, the real ‘freshies’, this was exciting news. We had hardly finished our para-course and here we were about to take part in our first operation! Our ‘proving period’ would start soon.

Included in the Warning Order were the call sign5 members, the equipment each man had to carry, rations and water that had to be taken with as well as the expected duration of the deployment. I was to be in a call sign with Corporal Jake Harper-Ronald, the call sign commander, Trooper Rob Slingsby from Intake 149 I think, who would carry the RPD6 machinegun and the fourth member was Larry BowenDavies. Larry and I had been in the same year at Plumtree School and had completed Intake 150 Recruit Course and Selection together. A real solid guy who could always be relied on. The Corporal, Larry and I were to carry FNs. I loved the FN7. It was a good reliable weapon with which we now could be classified as being good shots after all the shooting we had done during training. But I was a bit concerned that we had not had an opportunity to zero our weapons after the last few para jumps, we had done with weapons and kit. During landing a weapon gets knocked around a bit as you landed with the weapon attached to your person. Hopefully it was going to be fine. We went to draw our ammo and rations. Each person had to carry their personal weapon with 180 rounds of which a minimum of 120 rounds had to be in magazines.

Additionally, each trooper had to take an HE8, a White Phosphorous and an Orange Smoke grenade, 6 to 8 bottles of water, rations for four days, one 60mm mortar bomb, a spare A769 battery, a sleeping bag, personal clothing, and a gas cooker. I was to carry the medics pack…each call sign had to carry one and for me it would be the start of a trend that would continue for many deployments. All of us had done a basic medics introduction course during training but there were many others who were trained troop medics and a select few who did the more advanced MA310 medics’ course. The call sign commander carried the A76 radio. The dress was to be our Rhodesian camo which was all we Intake 150 chaps had at that stage, anyway, not having been issued our ‘greens’11 yet. Our camo was good too, very well suited to the African bush and we all felt comfortable and proud wearing it.

Orders

Saturday morning after breakfast, Orders were given to the 100 odd SAS troops. Sitting there listening to Orders, jotting down the odd note, and seeing the badged SAS members I thought to myself that this had to be a big camp to have so many troops participating. There were some real mean looking seasoned troops, many young-looking blokes like us Intake 150 lads while others just looked like ordinary guys. Why did I think they would be different? The common factor however was that they were all attentive and alert paying attention to the officer giving the Orders.

The plan for the attack was as simple. After crossing a breach in the fenced minefield, prepared by the Corp of Engineers, the attack column would walk in 20 odd kilometres to the camp. Near the camp the column would meet up with the recce team who would position the call signs before a dawn attack. A 60mm mortar baseplate position would be establishing a known distance from the camp where everyone was to drop off their mortar bombs before the stop groups would be placed around the camp followed by positioning of the assault group. The attack would be initiated with a mortar barrage after which the assault group was to sweep through the camp. The stop groups had to stay put taking out any terrs taking

5 Call sign – A four-man sub-unit with its own radio identity.
6 RPD - Russian/Chinese made light machinegun used as by SAS as its group support weapon.
7 FN - Assault rifle used by the Rhodesian Security Forces. FAL FN originally manufactured in Belgium used a 7.62 x 51mm NATO round. It weighed 4.25kg.
8 HE – High Explosive hand grenade
9 A76 - VHF radio
10 MA3 – An advanced medical course
11 greens – a green uniform used for clandestine external operations.

flight and once the camp was secured, the stops would sweep in towards the camp from all sides. Our call sign was to be one of the stop groups. But a 100 odd SAS troops to take out 80 or so terrs? At that stage of my fledgling army career, I didn’t know how many troops would be required to successfully take out a terr camp but thought that a one to one ratio would definitely mean that they were not going to have a good day!

After Orders Corporal Harper-Ronald got us together to clarify a few issues and asked if we had any questions. There were none, everything seemed clear. He then reminded us about our order in the column and the marching SOP12. We went off to do last minute preparations and get our kit onto the waiting trucks

Mobilization

We left for Mtoko by truck at about 12H00 and from there via Elim Mission to the border. We got to the fence just before dark and crossed the minefield using the path cleared by the Engineers. The moon had already risen in the east and would be up until the early hours of the next morning so there would be ample light for the walk in.
Our call sign was about halfway in the column of 104 and after crossing the minefield we waited in file for the last call signs to catch up. The column was long and like a great serpent started winding its way through the thick bush. Being near the middle of the column, the track we made was nearly as wide as a jumbo’s trail. We had to keep the person in front within almost touching distance so that they could be stopped quickly if there was any sort of delay behind you. Soon the whole column was moving like a concertina as obstacles were encountered going slowly then speeding up and then slowing down again. I just concentrated on Corporal Harper-Ronald in front of me trying to make sure that I always had him in sight just a few metres ahead and trying to see how he negotiated the different obstacles along the way.

The responsibility of leading the column fell on Sergeant Watkins and Sergeant Roberts with Major Robinson just behind them. Trooper Steve Hewitt was just behind the ‘boss’ and found himself wondering what he had in his pack because he just seemed to be ‘skipping along nicely’. During the first break Sergeants Watkins and Roberts climbed under a bivvy with a small flashlight to check the route on the map. It would be a procedure that was repeated several times that night since it was imperative to lead the column to the correct RV point with the recce call sign.

The head of the column maintained a steady pace and were moving through the bush silently in the moonlight. So silently in fact that at one stage Trooper Hewitt recalls seeing a herd of waterbuck no more than 20m away staring at us. The thought went through his mind, “strange thing, here in the moonlight, a column of Western European soldiers silently passing through the night, intent upon killing indigenous people and so adept to the environment that even wild animals were not disturbed by them.” Strange indeed yet so true!
It was mid-winter but in the Lowveld areas, where we were now, it was much warmer than on the Highveld. During our recruit course and just lately during our para-course, we had done all our training in the Highveld where the nights and early mornings had been cold, but the days warmed up to comfortable temperatures. As the column progressed the night became distinctly warmer for us ‘freshies’ because most of us were overdressed for the march with our most recent experience of the Highveld chill at night. I, for example, had a combat jacket over a combat shirt and T-shirt and not long into the march I was getting hot and was overheating and sweating like a dog. During the second stop I took the combat jacket

off but was still sweating profusely. I just wanted to drink water but with the uncertainty of what lay ahead I tried not to. That whole night was a series of approximately one-hour legs with brief 5-to-10-

Sergeant ‘Horse’ Greenhough

minute breaks in between. The breaks brought brief moments of respite as we got the weight of our pack off our shoulders. The terrain was broken and undulating topography with thick bush and long grass.

In the column ahead of us, as we found out later, was a call sign consisting of Trooper Alan Hider with a Sergeant ‘Horse’ Greenhough and Trooper Merve Jelliman. Horse had a 60mm commando mortar strapped to the top of his pack. He was a big, strong brute of a man and was a born and bred Englishman who had come across from the Brit Paras to do selection and joined the Rhodesian SAS. Horse, we learnt later, would always carry more than anyone else and hence probably his nickname. Just ahead of Horse Trooper Hider was concerned about losing Horse behind him bashing his way along the route while simultaneously trying to stay in touch with the man ahead of him. Horse was dropping further and further back, and Alan had no way of stopping the guy ahead of him. Then he found the man in front of him had stopped to point out an obstacle as per the SOP and he continued walking. Alan looked back to see where Horse was and could hear him noisily bashing his way along the trail a way back. He looked up the trail again and the man ahead was gone. What should he do? Lose the column on the walk into a camp or wait for Horse? Horse was still a way off he surmised, and he decided to quickly check the spoor ahead and then return to point out the obstacle to Horse before his arrival. Alan went forward 20 metres and found that the column had stopped for a break. He quickly dashed back but his timing was out as there was a loud crash and bang as Horse tripped over the obstacle and face-planted into the ground, the big pack pinning his arms and the commando mortar collecting his head on the way down.

Ahead of us the column suddenly came to a standstill and there was a commotion with plenty of swearing as Horse was trying to get up. His pack had gone over his head pinning him down and he had lost his rifle which had catapulted two or three metres away into the long grass when he fell. He was cussing and fuming but we didn’t know the reason why at the time. Alan and Merve managed to get him upright by removing his pack. Alan knew it was pointless to explain to him the circumstances that lead to his fall and had to take the poking of Horse’s riffle barrel in his chest. “You f……. c…..., why didn’t you tell me there was a f……… log there, I’m going to bend ya ya c…,” he hissed in the dark in his heavy pommy accent! He also told Alan off for not showing the person behind him where the obstacles were...old news to Alan of course.

It took a while to regroup the column and get moving again. At the time I thought that he was just rather clumsy. It just wasn’t Horse’s night. Well, the column certainly was not moving quietly and after that incident I think the whole of Mozambique knew we were coming.

At some stage during the night, the head of the column came across a track and sent the message back “track ahead.” The message that the back of the column received was “anti-track.” “Anti-track” ja right! Now with about 100 odd guys walking in single file, it looked like a jumbo path and to think that we had to anti-track across the path was laughable! A typical case of a message changing from beginning to end with so many involved!

LUP for the day

At dawn a suitable LUP13 was found and after making a dog’s leg, an ambush party was left in position to watch our incoming tracks. We received a message that we would be staying put for the rest of the day and continue that night to the target. All round defence consisted of two members of each call sign being on watch at all times facing outwards while the other two would be resting or ‘off duty’.

As the day awakened, we found that the LUP was in a great spot next to a stream. There were tall shady trees with long grass and good cover beneath them. Making a brew and having breakfast was a top priority for most after the long night’s walk. Being such a big group, the LUP was spread over a large area. It was not long before everyone was settled down to wait out the day. I was amazed how well the Rhodesian camouflage worked in the bush and looking around only the occasional slight movements would reveal the position of a soldier. During the day the recce team joined us at the LUP. That night we proceeded to a thicket within a few kilometres of the camp to wait for the early hours of the morning to be positioned before the dawn attack.

Positioning of Stop Groups

About three hours before sunrise with the moon still giving good light, everyone was up and ready to move out. As the column was shaking out into marching order, I remember distinctly seeing this trooper who was nonchalantly holding his rifle as well as an RPG-714 and was carrying his pack with such ease and thought to myself, “Boy he looks too young to be here” only to remember that I was in the same boat! That trooper, Trooper Steve Hewitt from an earlier intake, later became a good friend and confidant and I learnt that he was an excellent soldier.

13 LUP – Lying Up Place. A secure position where a call sign would rest. Usually a ‘dog’s leg’ would be done before entering a LUP so that the call sign can watch its incoming tracks.
14 RPG-7 - Russian/Chinese made anti-tank recoilless rocket launcher.

The recce team led the column to the proposed mortar BPP15 next to the Mudzi River. As the column approached the river, a dog barked, and several huts could be seen through the trees in the moonlight. The whole column came to a halt. Then the head of the column came back along the path as we all turned around and at a safe distance silently walked around the village.

The BBP was a small clearing amongst the riverine bush of the Mudzi River, a known distance from the camp. All the call-signs passed through the BBP, and quietly dropped off their mortar bombs. The mortar crews started setting up the three 60mm mortar tubes making as little noise as possible while the rest of the column was led around the sleeping camp by the recce team, positioning stop-groups as they proceeded to the assault group’s start-line. We had to move slowly to make as little noise as possible and the stops were positioned to cover likely escape routes.

Sergeant Major Snake Allan who was in charge of the mortars, did a quick recce of the immediate area and found a large path right next to the BBP leading towards the camp. While Corporal Willem Ratte was organising the mortar bombs and the mortarmen, the Sergeant Major positioned their protection party consisting of Sergeant Major Jock Hutton and the Doctor, Captain King, a little way up the path behind the BBP to watch their backs.

Our call sign was eventually sited on a slight rise amongst some rocks and small bushes overlooking a vlei16. In the moonlight Corporal Harper-Ronald quickly assessed our position and placed Larry facing away from the camp watching our backs while the Corporal, Rob with the RPD machine gun and I faced the camp. There wasn’t much cover but if we stayed low, we would be OK. The Corporal gave each of us our arcs of fire and we settled down to wait for H-Hour at sunrise. I didn’t think we were in a good position being on a rise because anyone bomb-shelling from the camp would stay in as much cover as possible and try to escape along low-lying routes. No one runs uphill or across open ground when taking flight. Some of the other call signs had been positioned to cover the ravines. Sunrise was about an hour away and time seemed to drag by. After the previous two-night marches and the little sleep the previous day plus the sudden inactivity, I just wanted to dose off. I battled to stay awake, and I recall nearly nodding off a couple of times. I think Larry had the same problem and I had to throw a stick or two in his direction to remind him to stay awake and alert.

The attack

Back at the BPP there was a bit of a commotion unbeknown to us. Just before dawn the protection party suddenly came running past the mortar crew whispering animatedly that they had heard a group of people coming down the path. They dashed into the cover of a little gully near the river in front of the mortar position. The protection party who was meant to be protecting them was now seeking their protection! A couple of mortarmen not knowing what was going on, also took cover in the gully while the Sergeant Major and a few others took up an ambush position behind the mortars waiting for whoever was about to come down the path. Just then the order to open fire was given by Major Brian Robinson over the radio and Sergeant Major Allan quickly had to order the mortarmen back to the tubes to execute their respective fire-orders. If there was anyone coming down the path, they probably took cover with the sudden noise of the mortars firing. Meanwhile the protection party was watching their backs from the safety of the gully in front of them!

While waiting for the rest of the stops to be positioned, the assault group could hear the terrs starting their morning PT session. Major Robinson waited for all the stops to be in position before giving the order for the mortars to initiate the attack. After the bedding in rounds, about a hundred 60mm bombs

15 BBP – Base Plate Position for mortars
16 Vlei - a low lying, marshy valley sometimes covered with water during the rainy season.

rained down with deadly accuracy onto the camp within a few minutes. The assault group could see the bright flashes accompanied by the loud explosions just ahead of them as the accurate barrage hit the camp.

From our stop position the sudden tunk, tunk sound of the mortar fire starting jerked us out of our sleepy mood as we realised that the attack had started. The bombardment of mortar fire continued for a good few minutes. I was glad I was not at the receiving end of that lot! A mortar is an area weapon, and you can hear that the bombs are on their way, but one doesn’t know where they will land exactly. Worst of all is when they are on target, and you know that more bombs are on the way! The best thing to do is to find a hole, jump into it and hope for the best or do what the terrs could do so well – adopt the swastika position and run like hell. Once the tubes had finished their respective fire plans and the last bombs had landed, the assault group moved forward and started skirmishing through the camp. Trooper Hewitt started shooting at likely cover in the camp and to his right he noticed a guy in a white shirt calmly walking towards the assault line – ‘tickets for him’, he thought…and continued firing down his channel. He then took out a hut on the other side of the parade ground with the RPG-7. Next to him was Lieutenant Graham who sarcastically remarked “that was a great lot of good” but Steve was chuffed with his effort. Amazingly amongst all this, Steve noticed a white chicken come walking out of the hut with its head kept low to the ground. He knew farm animals well and never before had he seen a chicken behave like that! What next and this in the heat of battle! The terrs were stunned and those who could, started taking the gap in every direction. Those who stayed fired at the advancing troops but were taken out by the efficient fire-and-movement of the advancing assault line. Others tried to hide. The resistance was scant, and the assault group quickly went through to beyond the parade ground and secured the camp.

Some terrs must have taken off when the first bombs landed but ran into the stop groups placed around the camp. Trooper Gerry de Lange later mentioned that his stop group was a good distance from the camp and within a very short time after the first bomb landed, a terr came jogging down a path in a hurry looking furtively over his shoulder back at the camp. It was the last thing he ever did. It seemed impossible that someone could have covered that distance from the camp in such a short time yet there he was.

Trooper Mike Mingay was in Seargent Frank Viviers’s call sign. Seargent Viviers had been one of Intake 150’s Training Troop staff and may have had some paternal feelings towards Mike because he positioned Mike behind some rocks that would have withstood a frontal assault without him being hit. Mike was not impressed.

Troopers Steve Donnelly and Dave Arkwright, both “freshmen” from Intake 150, were in one of the stop groups positioned to the north of the camp on some high ground amongst some broken rock and gullies overlooking a vlei area with a deep donga running down one side. Their call sign stayed in position well after the attack had started and then crossed the vlei to check whether any terrs may have used the donga to escape. No one had passed that way and the call sign took up a position on a rocky outcrop overlooking the donga. It was not long afterwards that they heard voices and two smartly dressed African males carrying AKs were seen coming up the hill from the camp. During training Sergeant Mark Kruger, one of the Training Troop Sergeants, had said that someone in our group will say, “Look Sarg, there’s a terr” when he saw his first terrorist and sure as nuts that’s what happened. Steve saw the terrs coming up towards their position and whispered hoarsely, “Hey Corporal, there are terrs coming”. “Shoot them dammit”, was the Corporal’s terse response. Steve let them both come close before downing them both

with two well aimed shots. Trooper Arkwright wondered why these two were so smartly dressed here in the middle of the bush quite isolated from civilisation. Were they possibly cross-border liaison personal who had been caught up in the attack?

Mudzi terr camp secured

Nothing came our way. Sometime after the firing from the camp had stopped, we were ordered to sweep towards the camp. At the camp, a perimeter guard had been set up while some call signs were systematically searching the huts and shelters looking for arms, ammunition, and documentation. Others were combing the surrounding bush looking for gooks, equipment, and arms caches. Trooper Steve Hewitt and two others were posted as sentries on a small hillock beyond the parade ground. As they were sitting there chatting, they suddenly heard a perfectly English accented voice say, “Here I am, my name is John” as a young black man appeared with his hands raised from behind a bush right next to them! They took him captive and upon quizzing him found that he had attended the larney private school of Peterhouse in Salisbury! Had he been abducted or was he a trained terr? A couple of women and children were also found.

Later after all the action and with the area declared secure, Captain Wilson was walking around talking to the troops. He found out about Steve Donnely’s success and congratulated him. Wilson recalls that Steve was “pale and wide eyed behind his glasses, not quite sure if he had done the right thing still being in ‘recruit mode’ but very chuffed with himself none the less.”

Trooper Steve Hewitt quizzed the others in the assault group if they got the guy in the white shirt? “No” they said. No one had shot him. He did not fit the profile of a terr – no rifle, no panic running, no camo kit, nothing that would trigger the appropriate action – to shoot him.

In one of the other stop groups was Steve Seward in Sergeant Koos Loots’s call sign together with Bates Marais. A lone terr ran into their stop and a short burst from Bates’s RPD dropped him. He was wailing from pain being lightly wounded in his left leg saying, “I am an abductee”. The call sign patched him up and he was taken captive.

Later the two choppers arrived to pick up the captured terrs, the woman and children together with the weapons, ammunition and documentation that had been seized.

Trooper Stu Pattison also from our Intake 150 who was in Sergeant Bruce Fraser’s stop group, later told me that they had shot a terrs who ran in their direction. Stu recalls that the terr wore a ring with the inscription ‘Bata Wako’ – ‘take what is yours’ in Shona. A forewarning for the future perhaps but it certainly was not going to be that day!

Altogether 28 terrs were accounted for with another 3 terrs captured. After setting the camp alight, we set off westwards towards the border to be uplifted by chopper enroute.

We had only gone a short distance from the camp when we were fired at. No one was injured and the return fire was so ferocious that the terr or terrs who had fired at us thought better of it and did not shoot again. There was no time to follow up and the column continued towards the border. Later that day we were choppered out to waiting vehicles and we returned to Salisbury.

Postscript

1. After this trip – Dr King’s gave us the ‘radiator’ lecture – a lecture about our bodies being like a car’s engine...that it needs water which produces sweat which in turn cools off the body. One cannot keep the heat in... i.e., clothing …being dressed too warmly – but needed air to cool the working ‘engine’ otherwise the result would be heat fatigue.
2. What was learnt from this deployment? Probably that we didn’t need so many to take on the smaller camps.
3. The terrs got a clear message and possibly someone escaped to pass it on, “don’t mess with the Rhodesians”
. 4. Of significance were the terrs who were smartly dressed...what had been their function?

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