Rhodesian Fireforce: history's most lethal counterinsurgency tactic - Teaching Tactics
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- Fireforce was a daring tactic developed by the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War of 1965-1980. Following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom, Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe) became a heavily sanctioned pariah-state, condemned for its insistence on maintaining a system of minority rule in the face of a global wave of decolonization. A violent insurgency, supported by the Communist Bloc of the Cold War, sought to overthrow the Rhodesian government. The tiny Security Forces, chronically short on manpower and struggling to maintain an aging fleet of outdated vehicles, developed an aggressive Search&Destroy tactic to inflict devastating losses on the insurgents: Fireforce. These company-sized actions used small, unarmoured Alouette helicopters to insert 4-man teams in the path of the enemy, WWII-era C-47 transport planes to drop paratroopers directly into combat, and modified civilian aircraft to throw locally made ordnance in close support of ground forces. This almost reckless tactic proved highly effective against the militarily incapable insurgents, inflicting one of the most staggeringly lopsided casualty-counts of modern war.
This special episode of Teaching Tactics explores Rhodesia’s Fireforce. Part 1 provides a background to the conflict, counterinsurgency theory and the origins of Fireforce. Part 2 covers the organization of the elite Rhodesian Light Infantry, a unit of Fireforce experts. Part 3 will show Fireforce in action, featuring a recreation of the tactic using a detailed map animation.
Teaching Tactics by DigitalBattlefieldTours is a documentary series covering the development and application of 20th century military tactics. Teaching Tactics combines in-depth analysis with a highly visualized presentation to provide an approachable yet comprehensive guide to military tactics.
BONUS CONTENT
A paper reviewing the state of academic literature on Rhodesian counterinsurgency is available for free on Patreon:
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COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS
DBT has performed its due diligence in tracing the rightful claimants of the copyrighted materials used in this production. Materials whose claimants could not be contacted have been used in accordance with the ‘fair use’ principle. Rightful claimants of these materials are invited to contact DBT.
Acknowledgements:
John Frame, author of The Rhodesian Civil War (1966-1979).
IWM CT 1448
Screenshots captured in the EDEN 3D Editor from ARMA III (Bohemia Interactive).
ABRIDGED LIST OF SOURCES
Cilliers, ‘Counter-Insurgency in Rhodesia’ (1985).
Moorcraft and McLaughlin, ‘The Rhodesian War: a Military History’ (2008).
Wood, ‘Counter-Strike from the Sky’ (2009).
De Boer, ‘Rhodesia’s Approach to Counterinsurgency’, Military Review (2011).
Grant, ‘Rhodesian Light Infantryman 1961-80’ (2015).
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
04:00 Origins of Fireforce
16:05 Rhodesian Light Infantry
30:24 Fireforce in Action
42:28 Closing Remarks
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Did you notice the racist comments from Apartheid and Rhodesian apologists in the comments? That's why memories of Rhodesia turned off their comments. That's why most youtubers do not talk about Rhodesia keep that in mind when dropping these videos even self hating Blacks
@@bskiez cry more, communist. RHODESIANS NEVER DIE!
35:1 ... i dont want to be that guy but that sounds like soldiers shooting everyone with something that looks like a gun and than calling it a very succesful mission with almost no collateral damag. It sounds like a tactic to fight wildfires...but people are different and i highly doubt the coordination of this troops. but then again...they just needed to shoot at black people...didnt they? That at least lowers the friendly fire ratio. And the 14-16 year old kids...well they were very bloodthirsty.
Please help me understand this thing...because i just see some very white(like comically white(british Wccchite") people jumping out of planes.
At least they lived there before. I heard some very ugly stories of german(my country) mercenaries fckin the place up(especially congo).They arrived with a....lets call it - less mercyfull outlook on non-white people. And they knew that those wars had the highest odds to shoot untrained militias with card blanche. Because - well they were untrained and poor. The germans were Ex Wehrmacht or SS. I bet they were a quite fun crowd.
CCan a Rhodesian here tell me...if those...sentiments...influenced this war from you side? Because i am honestly just assuming by human nature.(i hate this argument...but its true often enough and i have this gut feeling)
The feeling of an extremely privileged owning class...feeling...endangered? Like the Big 5?!
@@meinschmerz6074 you should get over your self hatred. You are a White European. Unarguably the greatest Race of Men on this Earth. Be Proud.
.." TheCommunist soul is the soul ofJudaism. Hence it follows, that in theRussianRevolution * , the triumph ofCommunism was the triumph ofJudaism. " - RabbiWaton, ' A Program For TheJews And Humanity ', NY 1939. ☠️☠️......" TheBolshevistRevolution * inRussia was the work ofJewish brains, ofJewish dissatisfaction, ofJewish planning, who's goal is to create a NEW ORDER in the world. What was performed in so excellent a way inRussia, shall become reality all over the world. " - ' The AmericanHebrew ', September 10, 1920. ( * aCoupDétet funded from WallStreet thatGenocided over66million WhiteRussians, another16+million in Ukraine'sHolodomor's, tens of millions inChina afterRittenbergCoeEpsteinAdler brought in theirCommunism). 🎄....... " You have to understand, the leadingBolsheviks who took over Russia, were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatered they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. It cannot be overstated. BolshevismCommitted the greatest slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant and uncaring about this enormous crime is proof that the global media is in the hands of the perpetrators. " + 🎄...... " WithoutJews there would never have beenBolshevism. To aJew nothing is more insulting than the truth. The bloodthirsty jewishTerrorists have murdered sixty six million inRussia from 1918-57. " - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, writer, gulagPrisoner, Nobel Peace Prize recipient. ☠️☠️☠️....... "We mean the word 'red' literally because we shall shed such floods of blood as will make all the human losses suffered in the capitalist wars quake and pale by comparison. The biggest bankers across the ocean will work in the closest possible contact with us. If we win the revolution, we shall establish the power of Zionism upon the wreckage of the revolution's funeral, and we shall became a power before which the whole world will sink to its knees. We shall show what real power is. By means of terror and bloodbaths, we shall reduce the Russian intelligentsia to a state of complete stupefaction and idiocy and to an animal existence... At the moment, our young men in their leather jackets, who are the sons of watchmakers from Odessa, Orsha, Gomel and Vinnitsa, know how to hate everything Russian! What pleasure they take in physically destroying the Russian intelligentsia - officers, academics and writers !..."
Taken from the "Memoirs" of Aron Simanovich, a jeweller at the court of the Tsar's Imperial Majesty. worldtruthvideos.website/v/J1yvnj .... gab.com/ROBODAN/posts/109404819053367088 ......gab.com/BothEyesOpen/posts/109578707246188552
It used to be that you went to Rhodesia to see the Zimbabwe Ruins. Now, you visit Zimbabwe in order to see the Rhodesia ruins... From 'bread basket' to basket-case?
Rhodies where not wrong about their predictions about the future.
Overused.
@@cyberphox1 Yes, people can say whatever they want about white minority rule, but all of their fears came true and they were proven to be right. Leave the running of countries to those who actually know how to run countries. I unapologetically support the white minority in the case of Rhodesia
@@cron1165 they were concerned about not controlling the country not its proper management. This is why seats were reserved in the majority for whites not the educated.
Secondly, why should an alien population rule a country against the will of the natives?
@@cyberphox1 if they were they would have integrated an educated native class into the government. They instead relocated them to reservations and blocked them from most of it.
The last time I was in Zimbabwe our driver told us his wife and 2 kids were all born in the same hospital, but 3 different countries.
Imagine being born in Lemburg in say 1912. You would start primary school in Austria be conscripted from Lwow into the Polish army, work most of you life in Lvov in Russia and, if you had been very, very luck retired in Lviv in The Ukraine.
That's called a timeline Warp.. you got you got to be real careful with them kids don't let them touch or anything like that.. they might end up causing further fractures in the universe..
Same thing as a lot of people with area codes. I’m born in 93 and have lived in 3 all in the same city
@@cyngaethlestan8859Lvov was never part of russia except for a brief period in WW1. After WW2 it was in the USSR, part of the Ukrainian SSR
@@h-hhh In my honest opinion the U. S. S. R. was just the Russian empire under a different name. Of course you could divide and sub divide (was the Russian empire the whole U. S. S. R. or just the R. S. F. S. R. Etc) but for practical purposes I think it all was the whole U. S. S. R. Just as Circassia was once a free nation and is now 'Russian.'
Rhodesian camouflage was so good you can’t even find the country on the map anymore
It's easy to find, just look for all the farms that aren't producing food.
@@dougearnest7590 That isn't really specific in Africa...
@@hyperion3145 Correct. It isn't specific to Africa. It is common to all places with successful communist revolutions. Rhodesia has perfected this communist ideal. Rhodesia used to produce enough food to feed itself and the surrounding countries. Now everybody is starving.
Just one example, a very productive farm was redistributed to a high ranking military leader in Mugabe's army. He kicked the white owners off the land as well as all the workers employed at the farm. He sold all the farming equipment. He even sold the pumps from the wells, and pulled the copper irrigation pipes out of the ground and sold them. All the fruit trees died. The building where the fruit was processed and canned lies empty. This has been repeated across Zimbabwe.
@@BrettonFerguson Cry harder colonist
@@JohnDoe-zb5mt I'm not the one crying. I'm laughing at the $100 Trillion dollar bills with Mugabe's face on them. I don't live in Rhodesia. I don't wake up every morning and figure out new ways to blame my failure on white people and capitalism.
Dunno. I mean, if my kill ratio was 35:1, I'd probably think I could kill my way to victory, too
You’d have to kill every native in the surrounding region to win against an insurgency fighting for the right to be first class citizen on their own land.
that shit never works.
@@GooseGumlizzardonly works for the commies on unarmed people, I hate jewish marxism🤬
Unless they just keep coming… and coming… and coming… and get soviet rockets…
Those figures are grossly over represented. Just like Nam
As a 7 year veteran of this conflict, and a survivor of being shop down in a kcar, I must congratulate you on an excellent presentation.
Well done.
Thank you very much!
@@DigitalBattlefieldTours you've just been congratulated by an eminent Rhodie war hero.
Thanks, a very explanatory excellent video on a topic too sensitive to touch for most parts of western culture think tanks. This gave me as a non Rhodesian/Zimbabwean a much better understanding how this conflict played out. Respect to all people of Zimbabwe but no respect for Mugabe who fucked things up even though he got the power he craved for
Thank you for your service, my father was a mechanic in The Rhodesian Army ( Trevor William Whitmore)
@@mrdemokrative8018 they were better off under Ian Smith
Of note: the 4-man 'stick' was entirely based on the carrying capacity of the Alouette helicopter. It was not only vital for rare large-scale operations, but also to have on-hand for a vast majority of RLI patrols. If a stick happened to have a fifth man, they would have to be left behind at great risk until another sortie could be tasked to pick them up.
wouldn't it make more sense to take 1 man first and get the other 4 with a second sortie?
@@busteraycan only if it doesn't risk 4 men instead of 1
A typical section was 8, or two sticks
@@AnonEMus-cp2mn Ah Thanks for the source. It makes a lot more sense now. The helicopter that took them was going into combat so they needed everything they can get in the 1st sortie.
I was thinking about an EVAC situation to the base.
@@busteraycanno because you're picking up a stick to take them to an active contact. If it's no hurry the 5 men walk to a road and get picked up by truck. I definitely get what you're saying but helicopters were so precious they couldn't use them just to pick up a group to take them home
I used to think Paratroopers were not effective and mostly a desperate measure from WWII, but I see How they can be implementos in small scale conflicts. Similar tactics were used here in Brazil to fight Comunist guerrilas. Good video!
Right on the number with that one, it's better in conjunction with helicopters but those are expensive and Rhodesia didnt have the capital
Airborne and air assault ops are still effective but you have to know when to use it. Dropping a battalion right on the enemy usually doesn’t work out well, but if you are dropped where you can flank and enemy activity is minimal at the LZ it’s still effective. It’s just not an end all be all tactic a lot of commanders think it is.
Airborne opperations are high risk and high reward.
The helicopter was already starting to see military use at the time. Korea/Vietnam was also seeing helicopter deployments.
Division-scale parachute/glider operations like Crete and Market Garden quickly went out of style even during the war I think. They were way too risky, units that landed were hard to supply and big landings had huge problems with cohesion. Determined militia and territorial defence units had a fair chance to fend them off.
@@vinz4066 I think that's the lesson they took from Crete, Market Garden etc. There was a chance even militia, partisan or reserve units could face down paratroopers and destroy them.
Excellent analysis. Fireforce was a complex military tactic that is quite hard to explain and you managed it superbly. As for the strategic analysis I would like to point out that the Rhodesian security forces were coping quite well with the insurgency until Mozambique gained independence vastly increasing the border the security forces had to defend. It really was from 1976 that things started to become untenable
Confusing battlefield successes in small engagements with an actual strategy (radicalizing the population and overthrowing the state through mass action) is the same mistake the guy writing this makes.
They were British colonialists, surreptitiously supported by and through Apartheid South Africa.
The greatest long term damage was done by the British to Mozambique by the creation of the pseudo gang MNR/Renamo and the resulting Mozambican civil war.
@@mindlesslink0191 That in itself is the flawed thinking the video presents though. The popular opinion had ultimately zero influence on the conflict. Rhodesia was destined to lose regardless of their strategy because western nations from the start stood for the communists agenda and not Rhodesia. Wars are won and lost by logistics and unless you are a superpower with a comprehensive manufacturing industry, you are dependent on trade to survive as a nation in peace or war.
If Rhodesia had a population centric approach, they would have fallen far earlier than they had. In contrast, had they had the support of an outside nation like the guerillas had, they would have undoubtedly won the war with their existing strategy. Progressive emigration from Rhodesia as a result of economic isolation is what ended the war, it wasn't a surge of domestic popularity for guerillas who while numerically superior to the Rhodesian supporters, were less popular per capita as the vast majority of the country did not take any side during the entire war. Rhodesia was essentially fighting two superpowers (Russia and China) all by themselves, and they managed to do it for over a decade.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj LoL. How can you conclude by the same argument served by Russia today, fighting against "45 nations"? And when did you dreamed that West stood for "communist agenda"? Can't you remember that Rhodesian regim was as South African? Apartheid was saw as one last stand of barbarism in all modern countries. No wonder Rhodesia became a rogue state the minute Whites seized the power.
Noneless you are right that a counter-insurgency need to be fuelled for a very long time, even ages. You can't hope to tame in a clap of hands a full population on so obvious issues than racism and colonialism in modern ages. Algeria, Columbia, Vietnam... As I write, I can't think of a succesful counter-insurgency other than in Sri Lanka and some little countries like Chechnia and Syria (where it's scored by depopulated states banned from the world). And I still stare to Israël, where politics and military operations show more schizophrenia than pursuing victory goals (unless at the End of the Times ;-) )
I highly recommend readings of Gérard Chaliand. One of the best observer and analyzer of guerillas practices, now emerit teacher at French Ecole de Guerre.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj it’s amazing the lengths people will go to to protect their financial interest. Rhodesians would gladly send their own son’s into the sh!t before they’d give up their position of power. Colonialism was coming to an end and instead of taking their money and running they fought a losing battle like fools. Western nations wanting a government where all were equally represented isn’t a communist agenda. I find that a very foolish thing to say.
A perfect example of tactics winning battles while logistics win wars. Often the weakness of a more advanced and better equipped side is that it requires more resources to keep that edge. Inflicting greater losses on the enemy means little if the enemy can afford losses better than you can.
it was much more than logistics, it was politics. the willingness to fight and die, not only of the rhodesians and zimbabweans, but also of their respective allies.
They failed to cut off the snakes head.
@@ernstschmidt4725 Politics ultimately did not play a role in the conflict. Not only did the security forces tactics negate their numerical disadvantage, but the vast majority of the country did not take a stand for either side throughout the entire war. Rhodesia lost solely because of logistical inferiority as they were matched against two superpowers (Russia and China) but were disavowed by all western powers. They were destined to lose which is why the fact they lasted over a decade entirely on their own is amazing.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj being disavowed by your main allies, benefactors, and weapons provider IS politics, foreign politics to be exact.
@@ernstschmidt4725 That's logistics not politics. The deficiency was not lack of popular support, but lack of supplies. Let's assume Rhodesia had like 90% popular support in the country, the result would have been exactly the same because they had logistical deficiencies.
You can have a whole bunch of people rooting for you on the sidelines, but logistics are about physical assets, not perception. International politics in support of Georgia didn't stop Russia from invading it, and in contrast separatists gained control of a chunk of Ukraine in spite of no international support because they established logistical lines early on with the defection of several powerful Ukrainian officials, giving them operation like a sovereign country without relying on original Ukrainian infrastructure.
"By 1979 the RLI had exhausted itself winning battles in a lost war."
30:15
That is such a powerful quote.
If only they had the treasury of the US. If only the RLI wore tiny little hats. For shame..
it gets hard when literally the entire world is funding your enemy
@@frogfinance4605 Yeah, that’s why they lost. Uh huh 🙄
@@Bob-kk2vg oh I cant wait to hear this uninformed opinion
@@frogfinance4605 The video discusses it, I don’t have to. It was pure incompetence on the part of Rhodesian leadership. Any idiot with a basic understanding of grade school math could tell you that they were bound to fail.
One of the critical aspects of fire force success that isn't mentioned nearly enough was the ability of the men to ALWAYS move forward into contact ALWAYS! Very, very brave men, highly trained. highly disciplined.
I always read about rhodesian fireforce tactics but i never knew how it was implement.. Thanks for making this video 👍
hi for first hand acount of Rodesian bush battles , see the channel five romeo romeo,,
Very proud to have served in the RLI, Support Commando.
Would you mind answering some questions about your service
Sometimes, I wish I was a blue job..
@@beav2Kup in the sky
@@HumanThePerson I wouldn’t have to walk if I could fly
@@beav2K But, I'll be a Brown Job until I die
It must be remembered this video is about the RLI Fire Force actions and not the Rhodesian Army as a whole. We (foot-sloggers) spent the majority of our time criss-crossing the bush in four-man sticks (sometimes combining two sticks to form an eight-man section) and fire-force deployed when we got into strife. Many times the action was over before fire-force arrived or before they were even requested. Our own indep company troops were often deployed to give support without calling fire-force in.
right, a lot of the history surrounding this conflict is centered around the SF side of the military, they acted in very small very coordinated strikes in a limited scope sometimes deployed by special means and with special weapons and tactics, but its important to remember that the bulk of the Veteran's experience during the conflict is still your average riflemen in the regular army walking around with lots of gear for a long time interrupted by brief moments of extreme violence
The amount of live planning, communication and coordination required to pull this off was nuts.
I would suggest that Fireforce was only effective so long as the Terrs had no effective anti-aircraft weapons. Within a year of the Terrs first using a surface to air missile, Rhodesia came to the negotiating table. The loss of two helicopters and 17 RSF lives in Operation Uric September 1979 was the writing on the wall for Fireforce tactics.
to put in perspective, US lost over 3000 helycopters in Vietnam war despite little to none manpads in Vietnam hands
@@Tonyx.yt. True., but over 12 years. The weapons used were almost all from the USSR. See any parallels with Ukraine today?
@@markaxworthy2508 war in ukraine is definitly not assymetrical... And short and medium range SAM are widespread so Flying around in anything more valuable than a uav is not advised at all
@@Tonyx.yt. Which then leads to the question, "What the heck is the point of the Russian air force if they can't use it even against a much weaker power? The US was able to use its air force throughout the Vietnam war.
@@markaxworthy2508 during Vietnam war, US lost 5607 helycopters, 3744 planes and 578 UAVs, combined with allies, the numbers reached 12500 in total and this with much less dense and much more primitive anti air defenses compared to what ukraine or Russia had right now.
and all of this with complete air superiority since north Vietnam air force was little to none.
Although I spent several years going out with Fireforce units, in a support role (Pronto/Ops Clerk) I'm certainly no sort of expert - but always refreshing to see something like, this where I not only can't fault the accuracy, but even learn something new!
never hurts to learn more.
Any stories?
The Rhodesians are the Spartans of our time, you might have lost to the forces of darkness but your deeds will live on and be remembered.
@@abrahamedelstein4806 "spartans of our time" , *how pathetic* // What did they face ?? "A Superpower" like the USSR ??? No, just a Bunch of basic African rebels with basic equipment that had to learn how to fight from the get go / Not that the Rhodesian military wasn't skilled or so, but you are just a silly meat rider that's all
@@abrahamedelstein4806 So the Rhodesians also, like Spartans, ruled with terror and slaveworkers? Think I' ve heard that.
Another amazingly detailed & thoroughly researched video. The Rhodesian Bush War has been largely assigned to the "backwaters" of history but it deserves to be recognized as a significant insurgency at the end of the colonial era. Thanks for making these fascinating videos, I'm looking forward to watching many more, keep up the good work!!!
That's because it was. An insginificant conflict in an irrelevant backwater. The romance some associate with Rhodesia, I think, is the only reason anyone takes interest in it, in much the same way children on internet chat boards gravitate towards interest in the Nazis.
Yeah I always found it interesting how selective Cold war history gets, really kind of glosses over Africa, and I get it to some degree, especially in the case of South Africa because deep diving South African history is an incredibly linear slog of just bleak misery.. punctuated by an end that doesn't end at the end.. but ends with a story seems like it should, when everybody stoped paying attention after briefly tuning in and considered the matter closed, like most things in Africa when it comes to The wider world's attention span regarding it.. for better or worse.
It's like the amount of extended conflicts from post colonial European factions that almost seem to be disqualified on account of being disowned eventually... And honestly I should probably stop here because I can't sum up anything without a couple of pages.. and the actual information out there is so fragmented someone's going to jump in and say well actually.. and then I got to write more pages and go well actually actually..
Laurence Salomon has a series on here called history of South Africa.. it's a 12-part series, and I recommend you set the speed to about 1.5 or 2 by.. not cuz it's boring or anything like that but I think there was a recording error maybe, and it actually listens better at that speed for what it's worth.. and if you're going to do that, also read the comments as he has had annotations as commenters bring up things and address different things.. but it's one of the most comprehensive series that I've ever encountered in any medium apparently he goes into Rhodesia as well but I never got that far, as by the time I got to the end of South Africa I was just too depressed.. I already knew how it was going to end sadly but it's still I think should be checked out by anybody interested in African history and definitely post-colonial African history.
Absolutely. Without it, Zimbabwe would not be the bastion of order, commerce, freedom, education, and honest rule that it is today.
A quote from "On Strategy - A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War:"
Conversation in Hanoi, April 1975: "You know you never defeated us on the battlefield," said the American colonel. The North Vietnamese colonel pondered this remark a moment. "That may be so," he replied, "but it is also irrelevant."
Also an ex-Rhodie on the RhAF side - I found this very balanced and accurate. Thanks and Subscribed
Thank you for your service to Rhodesia. You lot were real men, perhaps some of the last in this world.
So u fought for a bunch of racist colonials. Congrats
I'm sorry you lost your country to terrorists
@@virileagitur7403 wtf
Thank you for your service
The political pre-amble to the video takes the percived conventional approach.
However, new information of what happened politically in the early 1960s is now being unearthed through research done by an eminent and highly-respected historian (to be published within the year) that shows the Rhodesian leadership - pre the RF era, in concert with the British Government, in a different light. Best to wait for this book to be published.... Suffice it to say, the fact that Russia and China had started backing the nationalists - financial, educational and military - narrowed the options for the way forward considerably.
A few other points to comment upon:
- the Rhodesian Army started switching from conventional to COIN very early in the 1960s.
- whilst SA was supporting the Rhodesian war, the Rhodesian Government was quite correct in their thinking that the situation could continue for an indefinite period - no overestimation about their abilities to do so. In fact, the Rhodesian currency in the latter half of the 1970s was stronger than the GBP - at that time R$1==£1. This was mainly due to the fact that, despite the war, the Rhodesian budget was balanced - no overspending and growing national debt. In addition, sanctions were having an increasingly limited effect on the economy due to the resiliience and ingenuity of all the population.
From a national perspective, the main long term concerns were i) logistical - how to train responsible leaders quickly - and ii) psycological - in that many of the whites could not see a settled future and were leaving the country (as you rightly mentioned).
Your summation of the political situation in the late 1970s is questionable. The Rhodesian leaders were open to compromise: their main concern was that there were insufficient blacks trained sufficiently to actually run a country which, as it happens, is borne out by history.
It is no coincidence that Kissinger and Owen appeared on the arena a couple of times to 'bash' heads together in the late 1970s. I often wondered what the Russians and Chinese thought of this last minute interjection - one has to ask: was it an attempt to gain control of the mineral wealth of the country? No doubt UK and US companies did well during the early stages of Independence but, anyone can see which country now has the upper hand....
BTW, the description of the fireforce methods is accurate. Thanks for recording this instance of Rhodesia for history.
May I please have at least one link to where this book is going to be published / the announcement for it?
Rhodesia had laws that limited which education and jobs where reserved for whites, and which army units would be whites-only. Then they can't complain that the army and government is understaffed in 1970. They are just so slow with mobilization and everything, like they fail to take the threat seriously and only implement changes little by little when necessity force them to compromise.
The Rhodesian army itself didn't switch to COIN operations. Most of the veterans that served in the regular army are going to be doing regular army stuff patrolling, setting up CPs, generally just projecting authority and influence into the surrounding areas. A relatively small number of participants in the conflict were assassinating people, planting cars bombs, doing raids on guerilla outposts and spreading disinformation to make it seem like rival communist guerrilla units were attacking each other and causing retaliatory hits. Most guys were walking with heavy loads across the bush for hours on end only to hear maybe a gun shot and spend the next 3 hours trying to figure out where it came from only to find nothin anywhere because that was the bush... and then someone steps on a fucking mine.
The Rhodesia African Rifles and Rhodesia Regiment were also used in Fire Force. Another great read is ChopperTech by Beaver Shaw. Based on his flying Log Book
They never mention RAR because it goes against the British propaganda that it was a White vs Black war, and mention of RAR would mean mentioning that the greatest part of the RA was black. I hate this as the RAR deserves the recognition was they were awesome troops.
I remembered when there was classified ads looking for mercenarys in the back of Soldier of Fortune magazine back in the 70s.
It was one way for Rhodesia to make up for manpower shortages. A lot of guys from that era still don't want to be called mercenaries. From what I can tell, it looks like the usual group of adventurers, mercenaries and anti-communist idealists who show up.
They tried to bolster securtity units around the countryside, primarily.
A good book on this is titled "Fireforce" by Chris Cocks. Imagine 3 years in the RLI and racking up over 70 combat jumps.
Great recommendation. I've read it while researching this video and found it very insightful.
Wouldn't your back and knees be absolutely wrecked after that? I mean your joints must become absolute jello.
@@eliyahuohiyon7461 I think you're quite correrct.
RLI were a tough breed
I appreciate you going over the background of the conflict, and the reasons why this tactic was used and why it was so effective. Having known nothing about the Bush War before this, ice come away afterwards with a basic understanding of it and the sort of combat it saw.
hi for first hand acount of Rodesian bush battles , see the channel five romeo romeo,,
I'm the son of a former C Squadron trooper and the step-grandson of the late General John Hickman. This was a great presentation! Very similar to the descriptions told by my family
Based
@@hyperboreanforeskin No you
@@SoupSlayer94 thanks pal 😀
do you also carry on the fascist racist ideology? the colonialist apologia? do you also still have a hitler picture in your living room?
Tell him that Africa belongs to blacks and he’s literally the baddie
1. An excellent analysis. 2. A comment on the search and destroy tactic. Man tracking was taught. 4 man diamond formation. Mutual support in rapid movement. A person could read the "sign" and tell a lot of details about the persons being sought" right or left handed, approximate height and weight, in a hurry, injured (?), when the person had passed by, Sand traps were used. You would end up giving a narration of what you observed - like - two men came from the left and two men from the right. This guy on the left was favoring an injury, was anxiously looking about When the men met, the uninjured man gave a heavy object to one of the men from the right. The injured man continued walking to the right. The man on the left was joined by the man from the right who had not been given the heavy item and the uninjured man from the left returned in the direction from whence he had come.
Portuguese air force used a similar tactic using 4 or 5 alouettes troop carriers carrying comandos or paras to engage the enemy. A helicanhão ( chopper with a cannon) would cover the ground troops. When the contact was over, the troop carriers would return to evacuate any wounded and the rest of the troops.
In the mid 70s I met a guy in Florence who claimed he'd been conscripted into a commando unit. He said that the casualties were wildly asymmetrical - his unit had never taken a fatality. They had managed to convince the insurgents that they were protected by powerful magic and were unkillable - he claimed that because of this the rebels called his unit the Ghosts.
His most grisly story was about how the intelligence officers conducted interrogations on captured insurgents. He claimed they would take them up in their helicopters and threaten to throw them out if they didn't talk. After they had pumped them for whatever they could glean, they would throw them out anyway...
I actually had the opportunity to see him in action. We came across a burly Italian guy beating up his girlfriend and he disabled him in the blink of an eye. I suspect he was the real thing.
*🤌 noises*
mama mia
cummunists natural habitat is flying out of a helicopter, outside of shooting each other in the back of course
It is a very common thing with the native people in Africa - often the only way that South African Farmers in the Transvaal and other places stop cattle stealing is through having a Sangomas to put down markers etc. or what the Sangomas will do is 'curse' a farm then tell the workers and scare them into staying away from the farm until the farmers pay the Sangoma or a different Sangoma to remove the curse
An Italian beating his gf? Well colour me shocked!
Ugh im actually sick of youtube not showing the creators with lesser subs in m notifications, your videos are some of the best i watch, thank you! I rememer your comment from your last vid, love this episode!
The details you have presented here are invaluable. There is so much to be learned from this conflict.
hi for first hand acount of Rodesian bush battles , see the channel five romeo romeo,,
Hi, if it's of any interest to you I believe the APCs at 19:56 and 27:15 are actually pumas. They're interesting as they were a weight saving attempt which used the line of thought that from ambush angles the top half wouldn't be a threatened angle so isn't protected, hence the low side walls. at 19:56,I believe that may very well be the police variant, owing to a 1 man cab design, though full width 2 man ones existed, I can't quite tell with that photo tho. The crocodile, came out in 77 as opposed to 76 of the Puma, uses the same Nissan's UG 780 chassis (and a few others such as Isuzus I think), but it has full height plating in a different arrangement, more like the side edges of a hexagon, I did a 3d model on one a while back and doing all that research forced me to learn a bit too much about the improvised vehicles! I find fighting vehicles and weapons of rhodesia 1965-80 an invaluable source on the topic, got a pdf copy of it myself. Love the work, keep it up!
Thank you very much for the expert insight!
The photograph that is shown at 27:15 is also used in 'Rhodesian Light Infantryman 1961-80' by Neil Grant, where it is called a Crocodile APC.
Now that you have pointed out the differences I can see that it is indeed a Puma.
This video is extremely good, a detailed and understandable explanation of a military tactics in a detailed and understandable format. Thank you for making this, and I hope you decide to make more!
Fantastic handling of the topic - treating politics and warfare as inherently related and correctly identifying the manner in which the Rhodesian state misunderstood it is an important, if not vital, part of examining these events.
The chest rig that he is referring to being captured from the insurgents are commonly referred to as chaicom. It ended up inspiring the local improvements and thus were produced in decent quantities. Some of them are local stuff, which then got picked up by the south africans and further developed into the pattern 83.
I really appreciate the research and craft that went into this video; thank you. Channels like yours are what keep me coming back to TH-cam.
This was a fascinating video. I've heard many things about the Rhodesian War, but mostly the politics are the main focus and Fireforce is a secondary topic. It's nice to see it given the detailed dive that it certainly deserves.
I am discovering this channel. Great work. I have had the chance to work in Zimbabwe in the 90's with former Rhodesian soldiers... and the stories they told were were really amazing! camaraderie and innovative tactics!
Outstanding presentation-Thank you for all of hard work with this "forgotten war'.
It fills me with joy to see and hear You use correct military terms
This presentation is the very best analysis of Fireforce I have seen. Well done Sir.
Thank you!
This was super informative 👏 thanks for the display. I've always heard of the Fireforce tactics of the Rhodesian Security Forces, but never seen it in action. 🤙
This is an excellent and thoroughly well-researched video, and I appreciated its sober, level-headed, even-handed examination of the historical topic in question. Truly well done!
Thank you very much!
Excellent description of tactics and strategy. Dutch accented English is great to listen to. Many thanks, enjoyed and subscribed.
Over and out !
Unbelievable what the UK did to the Rhodesians.
Not just Rhodesia.... A few other African country as well... Turning their backs on their own and leaving them to sort the crap out, while they milked the resources...
the detail and explanation of your videos is excellent, truly, beyond anything anyone else is offering. subscribed
Thank you very much!
Incredible effort put in the video, good job man.
A trivial fact is that in the late 1970's and early 1980's the current Russian president Vladimir Putin, was the KGB officer assigned with supporting Southern African liberation movements. There are photographs of Putin together with liberation army leaders that later governed their respective countries, visiting Rhodesian guerrilla training bases in Mozambique.
This is not true
@@tendaimatambanadzo5900 Then ask Jacob Zuma who has been a friend of Putin since Zuma was stationed in Angola as the ANC's Head of Intelligence.
@@CasperLabuschagne so you were told this about Putin by Jacob Zuma???
This is true. I saw the photo of a young Putin in Africa with the insurgents.
Waited eagerly for the next vid. Thanks for posting!
Glad to have learnt something new today.
regardless of political considerations, the commando / troop / stick structure is absolutely brilliant, and you can see it's advantages in complex battlegrounds.
The four-man sticks were dictated by the four-man carrying capacity of the Alouette helicopters.
24:55
THANKS MARK
@@MasonBryant All parts of the RSF used the term "stick" rather than section or sub-section regardless of whether they had any connection with airborne operations or not. I had an eight-horse "mounted stick" in my unit and there was no way they were going airborne!
Very fascinating video. I love how thorough the break down was.
A Handful of Hard Men - Hannes Wessels A history of the Rhodesian bush war from the SAS paratroopers who fought it. Fascinating book.
BEST book! He has done another about it since that book. Also excellent read.
Seen as an example of an Int brief, this is one of the most effective I have encountered. I particularly liked the bredth of the information presented. And I thought the use of moving counters illustrated the airmobile tactics extremely well.
I would like to see a comparison of the airmobile tactics used by the French in Indochina; the Rhodesians here; and the British in South Armagh.
As regards the use of Air Cavalry as they would be called in American doctrine, Vietnam and the 1980's police actions in Grenada and Panama would be the ultimate expression. Helicopter-mobile troops would seize and occupy decisive in terrain in preparation for further operations, and from there could stage into rapid-moving combined arms operations involving armor and artillery assets as base of fire, helimobile infantry as maneuver elements, and tactical aviation in support.
There's really no comparison. Simple tactics arising out of desperation are of no interest next to a proper armed force.
@@jamesharding3459 I agree, no comparison. Rhodesian Fire Force tactic only worked in RSR,Moz and Zambia. 4 choppers, a lynx against 30 or 50 wellarmed CTs on the ground. A lot of Troopies,Police,Internal Affairs, CMEDs, Farmers got ambushed and survived it....20 gooks shooting at a single Vehicle from 20 meters....no hits.A real threat were LMs. You had a lot of Rhodies or Foreigners who served for years in Fire Force..by 2 WW Standard they would be dead after (average) 20 Combat days (for a Wehrmachts Lt. the average was 14 Combat Days (Grosskampftage)
This Chanel is pure gold, greetings from a Cuban in Miami, FL USA.
this is superb, and massively under-viewed and subscribed. instant subscription thank you
What an amazing presentation (down to the colors of the "slides") and content. Congratulations and keep up the good work.
"Tactics without strategy (or in this case, without an appropriate strategy) is the noise before defeat."
I'm surprised this only has 21k views, the production quality is really high for such a small channel!
Thank you!
I’m a big NCR fan, but I find the irony of this comment coming from your account very funny.
@@anon_148maybe they shouldn’t have politically disenfranchised 95% of their population because of their stupid racist beliefs.
If white people are so smart then why did they fight a war they would only ever lose from the beginning?
I would love to see a video on how you make your maps as good as they are for the tactics in action. What impresses me the most is the gradient and foliage shown, which I have been unsuccessful to replicate in a meaningful manner. Thank you for the great content!
Excellent video, well researched and very informative, the graphics were superb, thank you.
Excellent presentation, would love to see even more modern tactics analyzed
This is the first time I've ever encountered your channel, and now I'm most certainly sticking with you indefinitely.
Out of all the Rhodesian military videos I've watched, this is by far the most detailed in explaining away the Armed Forces' success throughout the military war. Now I would love for a comparison of the three primary factions' tactics and strategies in the Rhodesian War.
If the Rhodesian Military was so successful, enlighten me. What is Rhodesia called now?
@@Wolfsbane1100 God damn, you just murdered that man
@@Wolfsbane1100 ZIPRA and ZANLA performed so horribly in the Bush War, that their only chance at success was to rely on public outcry and international pressure for the Rhodesian government to reform.
Take this for example, during a patrol, Rhodesian forces successfully ambushed a ZANLA contingent, killing them to a man and what they found in their camp were mission plans, objectives and coordinates just out in the open without security measures put in place whatsoever.
To add insult to injury, the insurgents' AKs were so poorly maintained, that the springs were caked in gunk and likely were bound to jam sooner or later.
Imagine being so bad that you actually kill an AK.
@@Wolfsbane1100 And to answer your question, a basketcase.
@@somerandofilipino6957 You fascists sure have a thing for Rhodesia.
Thanks for your work. Great as the previous ones. Can’t wait your next work
This was really amazing. Such great research and such a talent for putting everything together in such a clear and comprehensive manner. I can't believe I just watched a 45min video about Rhodesian war tactics!
Thank you very much!
Reminds me of an old man who used to come to gym I worked at in my youth. I thought he was British, and he had an American wife. I don't recall how but we got to talking one day and he became very excited when I told him I'd applied for USAF SpecOps Weather Team (doesn't exist anymore). Told me he'd been a Rhodesian Major. Wish I'd picked his brain more.
You should do a video on the Selous Scouts. 80% of the enemy kills by the Rhodesian forces could be attributed to their work. They were lethal on their own, but they were responsible for guiding in many of the Fireforce units - who needed to know where the enemy was to fight them. The successful 'reports of insurgent activity' and the OPs you reference came mostly from them and were indeed the most effective.
Additionally - there was a lot of terror applied to the local population to provide support to the insurgents, it wasn't a hearts and minds campaign alone by any means. This was reflected by Mugabe's first action once taking over the country - sent his best troops into Matabeleland and ethnically cleansed tens of thousands of native matabele, the primary supporters of his opposing insurgent/nationalist group. The Rhodesian leaders understood what was happening to the rural populations - they just didn't have the troops to provide security for the entire country. Realistically they had no hope once Mozambique fell.
Yeah it sounded a bit like he wanted to paint the insurgents as the good ones.
There were multiple insurgent groups. Mugabe being a ruthless opportunist didn't stop the Rhodesian state from being an utter aberration (one that even Apartheid SA found hard to support).
The Matabeland atrocities were after the war and the result of infighting between the two main victorious insurgent factions (ZANU-PF suppressing its rivals in ZAPU), not a part of the bush war.
There was popular support for the insurgency because the black population were disenfranchised both economically and politically.
The Rhodesian government had no problem carrying out indiscriminate acts of terror against population groups living in areas judged to be sympathetic to the rebels, for example use of very indiscriminate biological and chemical warfare, poisoning water sources etc. (including an entire river).
Regardless of what you think of Mugabe and the rebels it is the Rhodesian government who were entirely responsible for the war by refusing to allow the vast majority of the population to have any political agency, keeping them in dismal conditions and crushing any non-violent dissent (e.g. trade unions, political organisations). And it was not only in Zimbabwe that the Rhodesian government stoked conflict but also in neighbouring Mozambique.
@@felixprime8291 While not excusing the minority rule of the Rhodesian government, they still managed to fight a multi year insurgency without resorting to targeted ethnic cleansing of civilians like Mugabe did as soon as he took power. I'm well aware that these atrocities were not part of the bush war, but that makes them worse, and they reflect the brutality that was employed against the population during the war to coerce support.
You describe Mugabe as a ruthless opportunist, but it could be argued that it was obvious he was a self interested autocrat. This is born out by his dictatorial rule of the country, during which the entire population was once again without political or economical agency. The country is now far poorer, less productive and with lower standards of living, for everyone, than 40 years ago.
I wasn't aware of the CBW efforts during the war, again, while not excusing, it does seem to pale in comparison to the efforts of the US in Vietnam.
The real tragedy of the situation for me is that the end of the Rhodesian state resulted in everything it was, rightly and wrongly, accused of as well as things far worse. One party rule, secret police enforcing one party rule with terror, ethnic cleansing, corruption and the disenfranchisement of the 'liberated' native population. Mugabe did all of this while running the country into the ground to the point where it relies on food aid, when it could feed most of Africa alone if governed and managed competently.
@Felix Prime Please. Mugabe racked up a higher body count than the Rhodesian regime could ever hope to match. Estimates range up to 3 million over his reign, in country with a 5 mill pop that's insane. Life expectancy for blacks plummeted under Mugabes rule. By every metric things worsened. The only advantage Mugabe offered was that the new oppressor was the correct skin colour.
The ZANU-PF forces were within six month of total collapse by the summer of 1979 by their own accounts. It was only the US refusal to recognize the internal settlement and majority lead Zimbabwe-Rhodesia government of Abel Mozorewa that led to the Mugabe rule.
I love these tactics breakdowns. Fantastic job
Thanks!
Love this! Your videos are always so interesting! Keep it up :)
Extremely interesting. The example at the end is very informative.
So very thorough and well done. Thank you
The Rhodesians realised that they had to change tactics for gathering intelligence by 1973-74. That's why they established the Selous Scouts. The Selous Scouts guided in many fire force contacts. They also collected a lot of intelligence for the Rhodesian forces but even with their capabilities and the amounts of intelligence collected Rhodesia was on last legs by 1977-78.
Those WW II era Dakota transport planes were every bit as tough as the troopers they carried. I know, I've flown in them in the Philippines in the 1960s.
Sadly the Zimbabwe government has never been capable of good governance, like most post-colonial African nations. Corruption, poor education, tribalism rivalries and western corporate greed for resources (funding more corruption) has doomed them.
Incredible effort put in the video, good job sir...subbed
Great video, thanks for the upload.
Excellent video. Thanks!!!
when i was younger i had a friend who went to this war from australia.... got paid to fight.... he talked about it, however i was always confused with vietnam.... it was not until a couple of years ago that i met a man who fought in this war and explained thing to me.... since then i have been very interested in the fight and the whoe of the southern africa conflicts..... this video was very interesting... thank you
Rhodesia had NO mercenaries ever. ALL soldiers were paid to fight - and a soldier's wage was minor.
he was paid........ a lot of money
@@AnnE-mn8ny
Excellent film.
Thank you very much.
Excellent stuff, it gave me a good insight in how the Fire Force tactics worked.
The great betrayal will forever be a stain on Britains 20th century history. Nonetheless, great and interesting video.
Conflict has a way of bringing out the inventiveness of humanity. For good and bad.
This was a fantastic video. Definitely got my sub; I cannot believe this video doesn't have more views (aside from it's relatively niche topic) and you have more subs. Just wanted to leave this comment to help the algorithm
hi for first hand acount of Rodesian bush battles , see the channel five romeo romeo,,
This is easily the best video on Fireforce
Amazing detail and easy to follow walk through on the tactics . 👏 Great job !
Thank you!
Fantastic work. Thank you for this information. It's very interesting.
Thank you for the info...superb!!
Very detail, thank you
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing. 👍🇿🇦
Dude having an Alouette with a side mounted 20 mm and the commander in it to coordinate is such a genius idea.
This is literally the core of conventional warfare.
Unfortunately fun is over when anti air assets arrive but not like those farmers would have known how to use them.
Great Video on a topic that is rarely talked about
A very comprehensive video , not only relating how the RLI operated but also why they operated in that manner.They won their battles, but winning all the battles isn't enough as Vietnam showed and body count only matters if your opponent is concerned by such things.
Do you have plans for a video on the Selous scouts ? Or 32 battalion of the SADF ?
Your thoughts disgust me. Its like killing arouses you and the the enemy is what? a zombie? You think this is call of duty?
Damn even the russians...i hate their cause...but its proof. There is a fine line between stupidity and bravery. Oh and whats called "crazy zombie behaviour"(brave/fearless or dumb) if its the other team.
Give the people a reason and they shoot anyone up. I dont know the cause of the zimbabwe militas and mugabe was certainly no angel.
But this war feels dirty.Especially dirty. The Iraq/Afgahnistan kind of dirty. Or Chechnya.
I wonder why the FELLOW WESTERNER/WHITE LIBERALS shunned them. i hope the JEWS didnt stab their backs while they were on the front...black jews? man im getting all confused here.
Forgive my profanity. I just see some special people in this comment section(not you specifically) and then i get all railed up.
I dont want a trump in my country.
Can't win the battle when you keep 90% of the population in bondage.
They won battles murdering unarmed civilians, as soon as the Nationalists obtained weapons the Rhodie cowards were all bleating at the Lancaster House conference for Mrs Thatcher to rescue them.
"Body count only matters if the opponent is concerned with such things"
I WISH UKRAINE REALISES THIS ASAP!
They're winning Bakhmut but losing the war 😢
@Anton Adelson so, what, you think they should just surrender? Lmao. Look back at the winter war, and it's follow up. They lost some land, but that's greatly preferable to losing your whole country.
Remember when the war in Ukraine was going to last two weeks? The Russiaboos with no real understanding of strategy were celebrating in three days when the Russians were approaching Kiev... in the wake of a retreat clearly intended to bog them down.
Very good video. Well illustrated and well explained, thanks :)
Thanks so much for this breakdown
"Rhodesians Never Die!" keeps playing in my head
Rhodesia died
Agreed. Black people simply can't govern or even feed themselves.
Brilliant and succinct historical summary
Thank you!
Awesome video, thank you for this
"Trust in each other. Strike as one will! Let our last stand burn a memory so bright, we will be remembered forever!"
I think Rhodesia would have been a lot more coherent if 5 million people had been able to vote and act in unison against the rebels.
@@SusCalvin
> being a democracy believer in 2023 😂
An organized minority can act in unison. 5 million people can only be led. Rebels were willing to brutalize people who wouldn't accept their leadership; gov't weren't willing to match their brutality. Many such cases.
@@bl-rp 5 million is nothing for a normal nation-state. You can definitely run a democratic nation of that size.
Like what manpower are you going to use to police five million, if it's moved so far that the government is an occupying force of its own country.
Dictatorships are run like clown shows in comparison. Stable dictatorships focus on regime survival and little else.
Great video, thank you.
Rhodesians never die
They do and did
@@thebadstation8416 And now Zimbabweans starve to death. Rhodesians had the last laugh.
@@Sercer25 It'll get better. China is making trade with Africa. Stay out of Africa
@@thebadstation8416 you're being colonized again
@@thebadstation8416 it's like saying the east india company will make india great because trade, how did that workout exactly?
Very accurate video, I was in Fire Force in 77 and 78.