God Bless you Lorna and fam.used to farm in Tshipie earia sold and know live in Musina.lost a lot of friends during the war. Still got 2 friends in Bulawoyo Charlie and Paul Mc Cay.last been there 8 years ago. Usead to be Gods own country.ja this is Africa hope the Britch and Yankies are proud for offering Rhodesia and Soyth Africa on a platter. Keep well ex Rhodecians God Bless you
A sober reminder of what things were like then for many Rhodesians. Thank you for sharing your experiences...very glad it's all behind you now. Best Regards.
Thank You! I also wrote up what it was like for me as a child growing up during the war. And I also interviewed my sister and that audio story is available too! The written article and the audio story are linked and describe the events from around the same time. Childhood Perspectives of War: gwyncole.medium.com/perspectives-of-war-from-my-childhood-a60a68881e1a Eileen's War: soundcloud.com/familyhistoryfilms/eileens-war-experiences-from-the-rhodesian-bush-war
Rhodesia looks like a lot of other african nations. The first of many proxy wars for the superpowers, leaders who tell it like they are the only alternative, ethnic groups trying to sometimes violently figure out what to do with the shift, the old great powers of Europe withdrawing after yet another huge war at home.
@@satanspy ..... why would you ask a question like that? Why in the world would you even begin to suggest, that a white Rhodesian, did not have black friends? Rhodesians were Rhodesians, do you have any idea how many 'black Rhodesians' .... and later black Zimbabweans were murdered by so-called 'freedom fighters'?!!!!!! White and black Zimbabweans worked and lived closely cultivating and growing a prosperous country, and just about every Rhodesian/Zimbabwean could converse with one another in English, Ndebele, or Shona. People believe what they want to believe, and I suppose you are one of those people. There were/are life long friendships between Rhodesians/Zimbabweans of all colour ........................
@@wesseljordaan7781 What was the big deal with minority rule? When Smith comes to power, that is one of his big promises. Delaying the introduction of majority rule. It looks like they adapt things like coloured conscription just slowly, when getting pushed to it. There's a lot of african leaders, then and now, who make careers from being the only alternative to chaos. When Assad or some other ba'ath leader talks to their people, they always tell it like it's either them or anarchism and banditry.
Lorna, speaks with such eloquence and imagery! I can visually image the scenes she speaks of with my eyes closed! Rhodesians have lost the land, but not their identity!
@@vlermuis2416 China tries to sell itself as the better alternative to european and US investment. China promises to not start dragging you into some weird regime change war or fiddle too much with your local rule. You give them a port and they give you a road system in return, straight exchanges like that. Not that I'd trust the People's Republic to be any better down the line.
@@SusCalvin you haven't seen what they're doing in Africa and west China. Their incursions into southeast Asia and the South China Sea, money market manipulation, currency fraud, slave labor.....
A difficult time. Visited my uncle's farm in the Matetsi area. Was very nervous going out late at night to switch the generator off. RIP uncle Hans and aunty Kay.
It's hard to say what "to late" is but I think we're there. Thing is, Rhodesians, Vietnamese, Guatemalan all has nice places to run too. Americans don't.
a very realistic point of view..well made that reflects reality...i lived those years in South Africa so i do understand your mothers point of view very well......
Thank You 🙏 You might also want to listen to the following audio story from my sister's point of view. She lived a short few miles from the Zambian border during the war. soundcloud.com/familyhistoryfilms/eileens-war-experiences-from-the-rhodesian-bush-war
I grew up in Johannesburg and from 1994 onwards the sound of gunfire at night became commonplace, I finally gave up and left for good in 2017 but oddly, miss the pops and bangs in the night...
And Britain backstabbed Rhodesia and is now paying the price. In another 30 to 40 years this will repeat in Britain, we will be going for a pizza with a browning automatic tucked in our belts
Well if once Great Britain fails at the same pace , as today , in 30-40 year You will escape to Russia in very last plane or ship. ( US will be at civil war then )
Northern Ireland is also a dominion starting to experience trouble at this time. A lot of local nationalists in the post-war era think this will be their shot at independence.
As a policeman in Rhodesia during the war years I kept my FN in my flat, we travelled down to to South Africa in Convoy or if not going over the border travelled with the rifle pointed out the window of the car, if going to another city/town. It was all part of life and you got used to it, you became a bit blase over time. IF I could do it again even knowing the outcome I would, hopefully not doing some of the damn stupid things I said and done!
If you and your racist white friends had treated blacks better, you wouldn't have had to fear black people and ride around with an automatic weapon. But you decided Rhodesia was only for your benefit. You paid the price for your greed and racism.
@@shibuya3185 here you are again being a complete idiot, how many people died thanks to Mugabe? how many are starving now? or living in SA because they cant work in Zim??? you are nothing but a pathetic little twit with no brains
The role of police units and second line troops is often overlooked in favor of the flashy parts, I think. It's not all elite units in helicopters, you need people to hold terrain with available means.
@@SusCalvin here's the issue, white rule as it stood could never last, Mugabe was not the answer though.... but they could never have known that.... you think UK would have backed down had they known how it would turn out un Mugabe? I doubt it, but hind sight is always 20 20... they had no way of knowing... how to move forward was always going to be an issue... you needed a leader to take over who would not turn into a dictator and how many of those are around?
@@nm2000 : Spoken like a typical bitter white racist who hates black people. Sorry to disappoint you but I don't know of anyone who is starving.....but I do know black people who attend schools, universities, hospitals etc that they were previously not allowed to set foot in due to white racism.
@@shibuya3185 BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA sorry bud but i know 100's of Zim's they are all in SA because they where starving in Zim....you are a lying little shit.... i can walk next door and ask the Zim's working next to us what it's like there, or i can ask the many other in our street why they dont go back... they will all say the same, the place sucks, there is no work no money and no food. so dont give me your bullshit
Thank you for the war time stories. I was a kid then in Gwanda. Horrible days they were, no counsilling what so ever but am still alive. How I wish differences could have been solved in a more decent way than having guns blazing for all those years. Thank u for sharing.
@@CapturingMemories There's too many strongmen in the old colonies who start acting like they're the only alternative. You got to give up this and this and that because I'm the only thing between you and chaos. And a lot of european powers who are suddenly unable to maintain the dominions and make very hasty exit plans. I don't know, I think a Rhodesia under unified majority rule would have been much better suited at fighting the marxists. We were able to unite our nation against the soviet union and build a national service to hold them back.
Lived in a suburb of Los Angeles in the early 80s. Visited a local men's clothing store one Sunday afternoon and met the most beautiful young lady I had ever seen in my life. After my purchase was complete, I mentioned to her that her accent was unfamiliar to me. So I inquired 'where are you from ?' Her reply: Zimbabwe. I knew a little of the history of Rhodesia and wanted to say something about it. The only thing that came out of my mouth was, 'Oh Rhodesia ! Well what Cecil Rhodes had done will never be forgotten.' She just looked at me plainly with a great sadness in her eyes. Next time I went back to that store she was gone. I never saw her again.
So much sadness which has effected so many people. It was only yesterday I was chatting with my sister (who you can see in the most recent videos), and she said that she has often had strangers mention the sadness in her eyes.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 why did you dismantle a first world economy and turn it into one of the poorest in Africa?? Maybe good governance is a good system??
@@ropaul8006 they could have governed properly without a system that banned blacks from half the land and 5/6ths of government on an explicitly racial basis. And if you like it so much, then advocate for Eastern Europeans being thrown out of their homes and banned from most seats in government so Japanese can make their countries developed. Why don't you advocate for that? Surely the Japanese can use Ukraine and Russia better than the local Europeans, why should they rule themselves?
@AmazingApe Europe is a center of global advancement. Still Africa will survive without the West, we don't need to be lorded over. And don't project son. Secondly, Japan is more developed than Eastern Europe, should they strip land and rights from them? And you're saying Rhodesia was needed because blacks naturally can't rule themselves. Just get lost.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 "Rhodesia was needed because blacks naturally can't rule themselves." They generally can't. I mean if they want to eat dirt cookies then fine, knock yourself out. But no Western nation should give them a bit of money or food.
I’ve read a lot about Rhodesia these guys kicked ass n took names the whole world sold them out if there was ever a call to arms to retake Rhodesia back I’d sign up Rhodesia dam great country to bad the world stab them in the back
A lot of the wars in theatres like this comes down to second-line units. You have to count in the gendarmeries, the home guard/militia units, the police units taking a paramilitary role. They're the ones holding terrain in a landscape with less easy transport. The rhodesian security forces initially underestimate how much effort this will take, and linger on how to mobilize or not. It's just a few coloureds, how could they be able to wage 15 years of insurgency warfare.
She mentions an AK like it's a cup of coffee lol... I love these people ...they gave the gift of eutopia only to have other people throw it in the garbage..
I've uploaded the photo to my website. It's my brother, sister and me (as a young child) pictured in the photo. The photo was captured by my mother (who you've seen in the film). It was taken not far from the Zambian border on the Umfolozi river near Mushimbi Pools. Direct link below: www.familyhistoryfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OLDPHOTO_0319-Edit.jpg
@@CapturingMemories Truly remarkable sir, it's very honorable that you've taken to sharing your family's unique experience online. You're also documenting a very underreported time in history, many thanks to you for that. That whole album of photos shown in the video would be great to have available on the site as well. They're some of the best quality ones depicting Rhodesian families - unfortunately many photos from private collections are hard to find in good image quality. I'm active in historical/research circles, it will definitely be appreciated there.
Thank you for your kind words 🙏 it’s an interesting idea on publishing the album. I’ll consider that over the coming days. Fascinating you are into historical research!! I did these interviews with my mother in 2015. I found the typical storytelling approaches I use didn’t really work how I intended for this project. So I developed a whole new approach to family history... I spent around 8 weeks doing pre-production and the interviews took 3 months to do. We filmed almost every day. The edited narrative over 23 chapters came to about 8.5 hours. It sounds a lot, until you realise that a decade of life translates into just an hour. The Rhodesia War segments I’m releasing are from chapter 15. Some of the content is very family specific, but I plan to release as much as possible, going right back to life in the 1930’s. My mother will be 90 years old this year. Thank you for your support 🙏
This poor lady seems to have lived in Bulawayo. My sister who lived there said that mugabe's fifth brigade killed Matabele people every night for nearly six months,
My mother did live in Bulawayo when she was younger. She mostly lived near Salisbury. The workers in the factory had family in Bulawayo and they told my mom about what was going on and how the fifth brigade were killing people. Horrifying stories!!
There's two nationalist rebel groups, right? One that's run by Mugabe and one formed by some other dudes? They are both fighting a 15 year insurgency against the rhodesian security forces but also between eachother.
@@CapturingMemories From what I can tell, there was two or more different rebel nationalist groups. Mugabe's guys are both fighting the security forces and other rebels.
Our family has gotten split up all over the world sadly. My mother (in this film) eventually moved to the UK. It wasn't easy to move from Zimbabwe for a number of reasons. The main reason being my parents loyalty to the farmers. My parents started a milking machine manufacturing business for the dairy industry. They grew the business to the point that every milk bottle sold in the country was milked with their milking machines. The farmers depended on the business, but the Mugabe regime demanded to take it over as this part of the agricultural industry couldn't be in private hands. My parents were forced to relinquish the business in 2007. The new ZANU-PF owner intimidated the workers by waving a hand gun around. A year later the factory became a car repair business. The other video on this channel titled "Jailed in Zimbabwe" was an example of the kind of intimidation we received. There is a lot more to say and I will be releasing more from my mother's interviews on this channel. Our family now resides in Australia, Zimbabwe, UK, America & the Dominican Republic.
@@CapturingMemories I see. That's a fascinating story which I hope you'll share. As far as Zimbabwe is concerned I have the impression that it simply fell apart under the combined pressure of the typical toxic African mixture: communism, corruption and, above all, tribalism. From today's point of view it is a real tragedy that the internal settlement between Ian Smith and bishop Abel Mouzoreva didn't work out. These two men could have been the Zimbabwean version of Mandela and de Klerk. But anyway, useless to reminisce I guess. Did I understand you correctly that part of your family is STILL in Zim?
Robert Mugabe is gone. His legacy left here on the soil of Rhodesia. His destiny now before God, where true justice will prevail. All those who have the same heart and mind, also will come before the Lord and His judgements which are righteous altogether.
Mugabe was a pompous fool. Some great leader who ruined a country and stole from his own people... His family is still stealing from the country. Sad people for sometime are really not allowed to speak their mind or the disagree with many things when it comes to race and colour. But you only need stand and look in Zimbabwe today and words need not be said.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 There was a reason for Mugabe's seemingly lifelong aggression. In his lat 20's he got late-stage cancer of the penis and had to be operated on urgently, by 3 White surgeons. The result, though the best possible for the school-teacher, left him unable to perform sexually.
My mother now lives in Wales in the U.K. the scenes at the end of the video were captured not far away. The latest video upload “The reality of the Rhodesian Bush War” covers some of the experiences in more detail including the Agric-Alert system. The next episode later this week is about how my parents kept the dairy farmers running during the war and the dangers of doing so...
@@CapturingMemories Great powers with an interest in raw materials is such a recurring curse. That's something many other colonies resent, being kept artificially dependent on the crown. The Norwegian Oil Fund is the best example I can think of in how to handle national raw material wealth.
It is indeed…. Most of these interviews were recorded for our family archive years ago. But I’m glad to be documenting a lot of these stories now from our family’s perspective.
At least the Rhodesians had the balls to fight the terrorists...Until the Afrikaners sold them out and betrayed them... Here in South Africa, we just sold out and hoped that the terrorists would be merciful...well they won't and they aren't ...and we have nowhere to run...
Hi Sarah, Great question! There was great love for the country and there was a very strong sense of community. You fought for each other and to protect each other. You get a sense of this my my sister’s video, “Women of the front line”. Protecting each other was both white & black. My mother gives you a sense of this feeling in her Part 2 video of how her business served the farmers during the war. Rhodesia was United as a country. But I think I’ll do a video around your question and interview other Rhodesians to get a personal first hand account of why they stayed.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 They don't want to live in a civilized society with the best employment prospects that part of the world has ever seen? Each to their own i guess..
@@rumplestiltskin2104 don't want to be second class citizens in their own country. Is that really worth not having rights? Besides, that part of the world is super young, it's history is just starting.
So the brits managed to get the Aricannrs to believe and fight for them and then they lost everythig, well, what a surprise dealing with pirtes like the brits and expecting honesty, ha!
A lot of whites in the dominions have issues with the homelands. You're on top locally but there's always guys in Madrid telling you how to run things. A lot of the colonies are kept artificially dependent on their home nations. You're not allowed to sell cinnamon to the portugese, you have to sell it to some crown monopoly.
The wars in Europe are an important bit. The european powers are pretty exhausted after yet another huge war with millions dead and ruined cities. Some of them try to fight for controlling the dominions and fail, others make hasty exit plans where they sketch something up about Palestine or Algeria. It's a sort of middle period where the two new superpowers are still figuring out where the conflict lines are going to be. They have about as much interest in locals and their affairs as the old colonial powers had, but much, much less experience dealing with locals.
I understand what you went through , because one night at a grain growers meeting here Canada (2001) I met some these people and I say people very loosely . They came asking for donations of grain , in fact they said it was fair payment for us being racist imperialists . An we hadn't met these idiots before .
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 Because self-serving opportunistic shi7bags have taken what was once the most prosperous and investment friendly country on the continent, the very breadbasket of Africa and turned it into a seething communist shi7hole where people cannibalize their neighbours because they've eaten every emaciated cat and dog in the land.
Rhodesia should be a history lesson for all free world children. This is what happens when good men stand by and do nothing as evil such as communism stir. Rhodesia!
Once the bread basket of Africa sadly the blackman not all have no idea really its so deep its tribal, its old medieval as we know, for the whites to be blamed for all of its ills is sad, the comment of the colonials did this and that it happens where I live. I left South Africa late 70s and worked among the different African people in my job, people should read books like African Tears or Lets Not Go to The Dogs Tonite among other experiences of live in Zim back then, my husband has many books on the war experiences in the Rhodesian conflict, sad for a country to go to rack and ruin much as my beloved South Africa with corruption and killings of white farmers
The old lady does not even mention the brutality that the people of Zimbambwe endured under the white rule. Yes Mungabe messed up as well , but please woman also mention the cause of war . There was no need of war . If white people in so called Rhodesia had treated black brothers and sisters humanly
I wonder why the call the black fighters names like guerillas. They were fighting for their freedom. My grandparents fought for their freedom. What happened afterwards cannot prove that Rhodesia was right. We might be in the worst of situations but that idea of praising Rhodesia makes me sick as a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe shall never be a colony again
@@vestland3877 and you know what? Thats why it is called the Republic of Zimbabwe. Anyway. Sorry Rhodesia will only live in your hearts. It is gone and will never happen again. Enjoy Europe and let us be.
Oh no, did your british dutch apartheid colony collapse under the weight of its own oppressive misdeeds? What a shame. I cannot understand the surprise people have when a country goes from being imperially friendly to being an enemy and suddenly "now everything is bad" it's tired, put it back in the deck.
@@jimmycakes7158 we're all fixna get a 'life' but it will be based on death, violence and turmoil. You'll wish for something easy like the collapse of Rhodesia in comparison to what these Chicoms have for the whole world.
It would also have been an option to allow a democratic system in 1965. Who gave the settlers the right to rule over the Africans there? You have only yourselves to blame. "When the whites came to Africa, we had the land and they had the Bible. Then they taught us to pray with our eyes closed - and when we opened our eyes again, they had the land and we had the Bible." (Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman, 1893-1978)
There is a bunch of white politicians and parties in the rhodesian parliament who want to push majority rule faster. They lose the election against Ian Smith. Personally, I think a united, stable Rhodesia with majority rule and general conscription would have been much more able to fight off the marxists. But that's how a lot of colonies end up, too busy sorting out ethnic lines to hold off outside threats.
"When the whites came to Africa, we had the land and they had the Bible. Then they taught us to pray with our eyes closed - and when we opened our eyes again, they had the land and we had the Bible." So very lame and weak. Only weak people blame others.
Just maybe if the white settlers had tried to share the wealth of the country with the indignous people then there may hve been a different outcome. But one has to remember that originally the land was in the possession of the black people bfore the whites came.
There is an opposition of white leaders who would like to see a faster transition to majority rule. People who are more in line with London's plan. They get ousted when Ian Smith wins the election. At this time, there's a bunch of white settlers in the dominions who don't consider themselves europeans and have less and less in common with the home countries. The crown becomes something distant and oppressive to them as well.
Maybe he had a ak too but that bracket on that truck is for the FAL. Hell it was there main gun. The Rhodesian bush war weapon. She says ak that was the terrorists weapon but akot of Rhodesians used them too. And the rpk.
She was so right about Zimbabwe. Hell they kicked out all white managerial farmers. Then, the black farmers failed because they didn't know how to farm. They never did it before. So, then they had to beg white farmers to come back. It was a sh*$. show.
This is my Aunty Lorna, still going at 80 in Wales, UK...
Bless your family
From Wales myself and my grandmother is rhodesia 🏴
Cheers to your Aunty Lorna. Glad she made it through.
She was robbed of paradise
God Bless you Lorna and fam.used to farm in Tshipie earia sold and know live in Musina.lost a lot of friends during the war.
Still got 2 friends in Bulawoyo Charlie and Paul Mc Cay.last been there 8 years ago.
Usead to be Gods own country.ja this is Africa hope the Britch and Yankies are proud for offering Rhodesia and Soyth Africa on a platter.
Keep well ex Rhodecians God Bless you
A sober reminder of what things were like then for many Rhodesians. Thank you for sharing your experiences...very glad it's all behind you now. Best Regards.
Thank You! I also wrote up what it was like for me as a child growing up during the war. And I also interviewed my sister and that audio story is available too! The written article and the audio story are linked and describe the events from around the same time.
Childhood Perspectives of War:
gwyncole.medium.com/perspectives-of-war-from-my-childhood-a60a68881e1a
Eileen's War:
soundcloud.com/familyhistoryfilms/eileens-war-experiences-from-the-rhodesian-bush-war
Love seeing 5RR here, looking forward to your next upload!
@@colinm2056 Colin, this 5RR boykie walked more kilometres than I've driven!
@@bryankirk3567 True, & I can imagine a good few of those km's were long & hard, perhaps none more so than the one's down to Biet bridge.
Sorta gutted 5RR didnt move to NZ. Be an awesome neighbor
Rhodesia is the classic story of Africa.
Yes. Blacks fighting for freedom against white racists.
@@shibuya3185 ...And then creating a shithole out of a once prosperous country.
@@shibuya3185 Freedom is just another word when there's nothing left to lose.
@@shibuya3185 The only way to hide your inadequacys is to blame someone else.
Rhodesia looks like a lot of other african nations. The first of many proxy wars for the superpowers, leaders who tell it like they are the only alternative, ethnic groups trying to sometimes violently figure out what to do with the shift, the old great powers of Europe withdrawing after yet another huge war at home.
I've had many Rhodesian friends in my life - good, salt-of-the-earth people.
how about black friends.. got any?
@@satanspy ..... why would you ask a question like that? Why in the world would you even begin to suggest, that a white Rhodesian, did not have black friends? Rhodesians were Rhodesians, do you have any idea how many 'black Rhodesians' .... and later black Zimbabweans were murdered by so-called 'freedom fighters'?!!!!!! White and black Zimbabweans worked and lived closely cultivating and growing a prosperous country, and just about every Rhodesian/Zimbabwean could converse with one another in English, Ndebele, or Shona. People believe what they want to believe, and I suppose you are one of those people. There were/are life long friendships between Rhodesians/Zimbabweans of all colour ........................
I’ve met a few. Some are good, some treat you with disdain.
@@satanspy did you notice he is Rhodesian, didnt mention a colour, you did... you know that makes your comment racist :) just saying
@@wesseljordaan7781 What was the big deal with minority rule? When Smith comes to power, that is one of his big promises. Delaying the introduction of majority rule. It looks like they adapt things like coloured conscription just slowly, when getting pushed to it.
There's a lot of african leaders, then and now, who make careers from being the only alternative to chaos. When Assad or some other ba'ath leader talks to their people, they always tell it like it's either them or anarchism and banditry.
Lorna, speaks with such eloquence and imagery! I can visually image the scenes she speaks of with my eyes closed! Rhodesians have lost the land, but not their identity!
Sounds like the new South Africa
methinks so too... Impatience and strange ideologies! Well, China will be happy!
Well on its way !!
@@vlermuis2416 The french still have their monetary union. It's mostly about making people put all their money in Paris banks.
@@vlermuis2416 China tries to sell itself as the better alternative to european and US investment. China promises to not start dragging you into some weird regime change war or fiddle too much with your local rule. You give them a port and they give you a road system in return, straight exchanges like that. Not that I'd trust the People's Republic to be any better down the line.
@@SusCalvin you haven't seen what they're doing in Africa and west China. Their incursions into southeast Asia and the South China Sea, money market manipulation, currency fraud, slave labor.....
Extremely brave woman and such an open hearted interview. Thank you
This is South Africa’s story for the last 26 years now reaching a climax.
A difficult time. Visited my uncle's farm in the Matetsi area. Was very nervous going out late at night to switch the generator off. RIP uncle Hans and aunty Kay.
Thank you for this. America, wake up. This can and will happen here.
It’s already like that in Detroit, Baltimore and parts of Chicago and Los Angeles. Same people doing the same stuff just a different country.
It's hard to say what "to late" is but I think we're there. Thing is, Rhodesians, Vietnamese, Guatemalan all has nice places to run too. Americans don't.
@@excurrahee no plan to run.
Currently happening.
@@excurrahee who's running? They'll have to drag my carcass off this property.
a very realistic point of view..well made that reflects reality...i lived those years in South Africa so i do understand your mothers point of view very well......
Thank You 🙏 You might also want to listen to the following audio story from my sister's point of view. She lived a short few miles from the Zambian border during the war.
soundcloud.com/familyhistoryfilms/eileens-war-experiences-from-the-rhodesian-bush-war
I grew up in Johannesburg and from 1994 onwards the sound of gunfire at night became commonplace, I finally gave up and left for good in 2017 but oddly, miss the pops and bangs in the night...
Move to the USA for that experience.
And Britain backstabbed Rhodesia and is now paying the price. In another 30 to 40 years this will repeat in Britain, we will be going for a pizza with a browning automatic tucked in our belts
I doubt it, Scots reclaiming land
Well if once Great Britain fails at the same pace , as today , in 30-40 year You will escape to Russia in very last plane or ship. ( US will be at civil war then )
Britain stood up and supported the 95% of Rhodesians who happened to be black.
Northern Ireland is also a dominion starting to experience trouble at this time. A lot of local nationalists in the post-war era think this will be their shot at independence.
But without the Browning.
Thank you for story. those times would scare anyone so I’m pleased you are safe now
Yeah go barging into someone's country and steal it all and they may shoot your ass
Thank You! 🙏
As a policeman in Rhodesia during the war years I kept my FN in my flat, we travelled down to to South Africa in Convoy or if not going over the border travelled with the rifle pointed out the window
of the car, if going to another city/town. It was all part of life and you got used to it, you became a bit blase over time. IF I could do it again even knowing the outcome I would, hopefully not doing some of the damn stupid things I said and done!
If you and your racist white friends had treated blacks better, you wouldn't have had to fear black people and ride around with an automatic weapon. But you decided Rhodesia was only for your benefit. You paid the price for your greed and racism.
@@shibuya3185 here you are again being a complete idiot, how many people died thanks to Mugabe? how many are starving now? or living in SA because they cant work in Zim??? you are nothing but a pathetic little twit with no brains
The role of police units and second line troops is often overlooked in favor of the flashy parts, I think. It's not all elite units in helicopters, you need people to hold terrain with available means.
@@Ghoulza If you could go back to 1950 Rhodesia, would you have told them that minority rule is worth the risk of Mugabe?
@@SusCalvin here's the issue, white rule as it stood could never last, Mugabe was not the answer though.... but they could never have known that.... you think UK would have backed down had they known how it would turn out un Mugabe? I doubt it, but hind sight is always 20 20... they had no way of knowing... how to move forward was always going to be an issue... you needed a leader to take over who would not turn into a dictator and how many of those are around?
we failed the Rhodesian people may God forgive us.
Yes, the West failed Rhodesia's black people by not helping them fight Smith's racist regime which refused to allow blacks equal rights.
Amen ,we failed miserably and now that once great nation is a stagnant state
@@shibuya3185 Now you have your Black state, stay there and starve.
@@nm2000 : Spoken like a typical bitter white racist who hates black people. Sorry to disappoint you but I don't know of anyone who is starving.....but I do know black people who attend schools, universities, hospitals etc that they were previously not allowed to set foot in due to white racism.
@@shibuya3185 BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA sorry bud but i know 100's of Zim's they are all in SA because they where starving in Zim....you are a lying little shit.... i can walk next door and ask the Zim's working next to us what it's like there, or i can ask the many other in our street why they dont go back... they will all say the same, the place sucks, there is no work no money and no food. so dont give me your bullshit
Thank you for the war time stories. I was a kid then in Gwanda. Horrible days they were, no counsilling what so ever but am still alive. How I wish differences could have been solved in a more decent way than having guns blazing for all those years. Thank u for sharing.
Agreed... thank you for your comments 🙏
@@CapturingMemories There's too many strongmen in the old colonies who start acting like they're the only alternative. You got to give up this and this and that because I'm the only thing between you and chaos. And a lot of european powers who are suddenly unable to maintain the dominions and make very hasty exit plans.
I don't know, I think a Rhodesia under unified majority rule would have been much better suited at fighting the marxists. We were able to unite our nation against the soviet union and build a national service to hold them back.
Lived in a suburb of Los Angeles in the early 80s. Visited a local men's clothing store one Sunday afternoon and met the most beautiful young lady I had ever seen in my life. After my purchase was complete, I mentioned to her that her accent was unfamiliar to me. So I inquired 'where are you from ?' Her reply: Zimbabwe. I knew a little of the history of Rhodesia and wanted to say something about it. The only thing that came out of my mouth was, 'Oh Rhodesia ! Well what Cecil Rhodes had done will never be forgotten.' She just looked at me plainly with a great sadness in her eyes. Next time I went back to that store she was gone. I never saw her again.
So much sadness which has effected so many people. It was only yesterday I was chatting with my sister (who you can see in the most recent videos), and she said that she has often had strangers mention the sadness in her eyes.
The greatest people. Very badly let down and stabbed in the back.
They failed themselves. Why did they have such a system to begin with?
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 why did you dismantle a first world economy and turn it into one of the poorest in Africa?? Maybe good governance is a good system??
@@ropaul8006 they could have governed properly without a system that banned blacks from half the land and 5/6ths of government on an explicitly racial basis. And if you like it so much, then advocate for Eastern Europeans being thrown out of their homes and banned from most seats in government so Japanese can make their countries developed.
Why don't you advocate for that? Surely the Japanese can use Ukraine and Russia better than the local Europeans, why should they rule themselves?
@AmazingApe Europe is a center of global advancement. Still Africa will survive without the West, we don't need to be lorded over.
And don't project son. Secondly, Japan is more developed than Eastern Europe, should they strip land and rights from them?
And you're saying Rhodesia was needed because blacks naturally can't rule themselves. Just get lost.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 "Rhodesia was needed because blacks naturally can't rule themselves." They generally can't. I mean if they want to eat dirt cookies then fine, knock yourself out. But no Western nation should give them a bit of money or food.
greetings from Portugal.what really surprised me was realizing just how few the Rhodesians armed forces were.
I’ve read a lot about Rhodesia these guys kicked ass n took names the whole world sold them out if there was ever a call to arms to retake Rhodesia back I’d sign up Rhodesia dam great country to bad the world stab them in the back
A lot of the wars in theatres like this comes down to second-line units. You have to count in the gendarmeries, the home guard/militia units, the police units taking a paramilitary role. They're the ones holding terrain in a landscape with less easy transport.
The rhodesian security forces initially underestimate how much effort this will take, and linger on how to mobilize or not. It's just a few coloureds, how could they be able to wage 15 years of insurgency warfare.
This lovely lady looks like one of my sisters.
Rhodesia should be a lesson for us all
Like what? It's better to have a united country fighting the marxists than letting it dissolve into ethnic squabbles?
@@SusCalvin Around blacks never relax
My Grandmother and Grandfather lived in Rhodesia. They never talked about it.
It’s hard for many to re-live what happened... it’s tragic and very sad.
This is the reason for the Internet.
She mentions an AK like it's a cup of coffee lol... I love these people ...they gave the gift of eutopia only to have other people throw it in the garbage..
Yeah I'm in America and I'm feeling it here right now.
I Salyut u. Amen. From Gideon Breedt is South Africa. We going try the same now. Believe me.
If you don't like blacks being equal, why not move to another country?
@@shibuya3185 jesus fucking christ man I've seen you on almost every Rhodesian documentary is this all you do?
At 0:29, does anyone have links to the scanned versions of those pictures?
I've uploaded the photo to my website. It's my brother, sister and me (as a young child) pictured in the photo. The photo was captured by my mother (who you've seen in the film). It was taken not far from the Zambian border on the Umfolozi river near Mushimbi Pools. Direct link below:
www.familyhistoryfilms.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OLDPHOTO_0319-Edit.jpg
@@CapturingMemories Truly remarkable sir, it's very honorable that you've taken to sharing your family's unique experience online. You're also documenting a very underreported time in history, many thanks to you for that.
That whole album of photos shown in the video would be great to have available on the site as well. They're some of the best quality ones depicting Rhodesian families - unfortunately many photos from private collections are hard to find in good image quality. I'm active in historical/research circles, it will definitely be appreciated there.
Thank you for your kind words 🙏 it’s an interesting idea on publishing the album. I’ll consider that over the coming days. Fascinating you are into historical research!! I did these interviews with my mother in 2015. I found the typical storytelling approaches I use didn’t really work how I intended for this project. So I developed a whole new approach to family history... I spent around 8 weeks doing pre-production and the interviews took 3 months to do. We filmed almost every day. The edited narrative over 23 chapters came to about 8.5 hours. It sounds a lot, until you realise that a decade of life translates into just an hour. The Rhodesia War segments I’m releasing are from chapter 15. Some of the content is very family specific, but I plan to release as much as possible, going right back to life in the 1930’s. My mother will be 90 years old this year. Thank you for your support 🙏
@@CapturingMemories Looking forward to it! You're doing God's work. Wishing you well from America!
2what a lovely aunt
This poor lady seems to have lived in Bulawayo.
My sister who lived there said that mugabe's fifth brigade killed Matabele people every night for nearly six months,
My mother did live in Bulawayo when she was younger. She mostly lived near Salisbury. The workers in the factory had family in Bulawayo and they told my mom about what was going on and how the fifth brigade were killing people. Horrifying stories!!
There's two nationalist rebel groups, right? One that's run by Mugabe and one formed by some other dudes? They are both fighting a 15 year insurgency against the rhodesian security forces but also between eachother.
@@CapturingMemories From what I can tell, there was two or more different rebel nationalist groups. Mugabe's guys are both fighting the security forces and other rebels.
I lived in Africa for many years. My advice to you guys, if you don't like the sight of a Black skin, don't live in Africa.
Rhodesians never die!
Someone know what happen to Mike Farqua RIC
This will happen in S Africa to
I wonder where she went for refuge. Where did she and her family go?
Our family has gotten split up all over the world sadly. My mother (in this film) eventually moved to the UK. It wasn't easy to move from Zimbabwe for a number of reasons. The main reason being my parents loyalty to the farmers. My parents started a milking machine manufacturing business for the dairy industry. They grew the business to the point that every milk bottle sold in the country was milked with their milking machines. The farmers depended on the business, but the Mugabe regime demanded to take it over as this part of the agricultural industry couldn't be in private hands. My parents were forced to relinquish the business in 2007. The new ZANU-PF owner intimidated the workers by waving a hand gun around. A year later the factory became a car repair business. The other video on this channel titled "Jailed in Zimbabwe" was an example of the kind of intimidation we received. There is a lot more to say and I will be releasing more from my mother's interviews on this channel. Our family now resides in Australia, Zimbabwe, UK, America & the Dominican Republic.
@@CapturingMemories I see. That's a fascinating story which I hope you'll share. As far as Zimbabwe is concerned I have the impression that it simply fell apart under the combined pressure of the typical toxic African mixture: communism, corruption and, above all, tribalism. From today's point of view it is a real tragedy that the internal settlement between Ian Smith and bishop Abel Mouzoreva didn't work out. These two men could have been the Zimbabwean version of Mandela and de Klerk. But anyway, useless to reminisce I guess. Did I understand you correctly that part of your family is STILL in Zim?
I know what you mean!! We still have family there! 😳 I could never return to what it is now...
@@CapturingMemories ...ruined. Let's please just say it. But anyway, you'll be far better off in Australia anyway. 😂👍👍👍
Robert Mugabe is gone. His legacy left here on the soil of Rhodesia. His destiny now before God, where true justice will prevail. All those who have the same heart and mind, also will come before the Lord and His judgements which are righteous altogether.
Soil of Zimbabwe.
Well said
Mugabe was a pompous fool. Some great leader who ruined a country and stole from his own people... His family is still stealing from the country. Sad people for sometime are really not allowed to speak their mind or the disagree with many things when it comes to race and colour. But you only need stand and look in Zimbabwe today and words need not be said.
@@016162877 Mugabe was a monster. One Smith and his constituency paved the way for.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 There was a reason for Mugabe's seemingly lifelong aggression. In his lat 20's he got late-stage cancer of the penis and had to be operated on urgently, by 3 White surgeons. The result, though the best possible for the school-teacher, left him unable to perform sexually.
Rhodesia never dies
Hi which country is this lady living in today.
My mother now lives in Wales in the U.K. the scenes at the end of the video were captured not far away. The latest video upload “The reality of the Rhodesian Bush War” covers some of the experiences in more detail including the Agric-Alert system. The next episode later this week is about how my parents kept the dairy farmers running during the war and the dangers of doing so...
And Mugabe became a multimillionaire ? Imagine that !
They don't work in millions, only Billions
I know! I mean the billions agreed in diamond sales in collaboration with the Chinese Army for example!
@@CapturingMemories Great powers with an interest in raw materials is such a recurring curse. That's something many other colonies resent, being kept artificially dependent on the crown.
The Norwegian Oil Fund is the best example I can think of in how to handle national raw material wealth.
Rhodeisa is such a sad and tragic story.
It is indeed…. Most of these interviews were recorded for our family archive years ago. But I’m glad to be documenting a lot of these stories now from our family’s perspective.
At least the Rhodesians had the balls to fight the terrorists...Until the Afrikaners sold them out and betrayed them... Here in South Africa, we just sold out and hoped that the terrorists would be merciful...well they won't and they aren't ...and we have nowhere to run...
It’s so tragic what’s happening to these beautiful countries. I miss them... all I have now are memories of what used to be.
Why did you stay in a war zone ?
Hi Sarah, Great question! There was great love for the country and there was a very strong sense of community. You fought for each other and to protect each other. You get a sense of this my my sister’s video, “Women of the front line”. Protecting each other was both white & black. My mother gives you a sense of this feeling in her Part 2 video of how her business served the farmers during the war. Rhodesia was United as a country. But I think I’ll do a video around your question and interview other Rhodesians to get a personal first hand account of why they stayed.
Ruined country,ruined lives, ruined family ties, my family is all over the world.
The same here... our family is spread across from Australia, America, Dominican Republic, U.K. and Zimbabwe.
Rhodesians never die.
Oh what they have dun to us
The best Africa ever had it!
Isn't that for locals to decide?
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 the locals without jobs? Compared to the locals who had jobs back then?
@@rumplestiltskin2104 the ones who tore it down didn't want it. The ones of today don't want it. Your opinion is irrelevant.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 They don't want to live in a civilized society with the best employment prospects that part of the world has ever seen? Each to their own i guess..
@@rumplestiltskin2104 don't want to be second class citizens in their own country. Is that really worth not having rights?
Besides, that part of the world is super young, it's history is just starting.
So the brits managed to get the Aricannrs to believe and fight for them and then they lost everythig, well, what a surprise dealing with pirtes like the brits and expecting honesty, ha!
A lot of whites in the dominions have issues with the homelands. You're on top locally but there's always guys in Madrid telling you how to run things. A lot of the colonies are kept artificially dependent on their home nations. You're not allowed to sell cinnamon to the portugese, you have to sell it to some crown monopoly.
The wars in Europe are an important bit. The european powers are pretty exhausted after yet another huge war with millions dead and ruined cities. Some of them try to fight for controlling the dominions and fail, others make hasty exit plans where they sketch something up about Palestine or Algeria.
It's a sort of middle period where the two new superpowers are still figuring out where the conflict lines are going to be. They have about as much interest in locals and their affairs as the old colonial powers had, but much, much less experience dealing with locals.
I understand what you went through , because one night at a grain growers meeting here Canada (2001) I met some these people and I say people very loosely . They came asking for donations of grain , in fact they said it was fair payment for us being racist imperialists . An we hadn't met these idiots before .
Who are "they". Black Africans?
'We prefer our own chaos to your imposed good order' Gandhi!
My father flew helicopters for Fireforce. #MakeZimbabweRhodesiaAgain
Why though?
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 Because self-serving opportunistic shi7bags have taken what was once the most prosperous and investment friendly country on the continent, the very breadbasket of Africa and turned it into a seething communist shi7hole where people cannibalize their neighbours because they've eaten every emaciated cat and dog in the land.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 This is what happens when you give the popular vote to people who go to the witch doctor for medical advice.
@@haggismacphreedom why not leave them alone? It's still their country.
@@haggismacphreedom ...okay?
20,000 fead Matabele agree with you about Mugabe
Soon to be America...
Rhodesia should be a history lesson for all free world children. This is what happens when good men stand by and do nothing as evil such as communism stir. Rhodesia!
It was white supremacy trying to preserve itself. There were no communists involved at all on the ground.
@@ayodejiolowokere1076 That is a flat out lie. The two insurgencies were both communist backed. You're a lying commie Ayodeji
The African way - If you can't steal it destroy it
Once the bread basket of Africa sadly the blackman not all have no idea really its so deep its tribal, its old medieval as we know, for the whites to be blamed for all of its ills is sad, the comment of the colonials did this and that it happens where I live. I left South Africa late 70s and worked among the different African people in my job, people should read books like African Tears or Lets Not Go to The Dogs Tonite among other experiences of live in Zim back then, my husband has many books on the war experiences in the Rhodesian conflict, sad for a country to go to rack and ruin much as my beloved South Africa with corruption and killings of white farmers
The old lady does not even mention the brutality that the people of Zimbambwe endured under the white rule. Yes Mungabe messed up as well , but please woman also mention the cause of war . There was no need of war . If white people in so called Rhodesia had treated black brothers and sisters humanly
I wonder why the call the black fighters names like guerillas. They were fighting for their freedom. My grandparents fought for their freedom. What happened afterwards cannot prove that Rhodesia was right. We might be in the worst of situations but that idea of praising Rhodesia makes me sick as a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe shall never be a colony again
You are a colony of China now. How has it been to eat sawdust so long?
@@vestland3877 and you know what? Thats why it is called the Republic of Zimbabwe. Anyway. Sorry Rhodesia will only live in your hearts. It is gone and will never happen again. Enjoy Europe and let us be.
Africa for Africans we don’t claim any place as Africans in the world why should you ??
Europe for the Europeans, then.
@@jimmycakes7158 Africans and other non Europeans must never establish minority rule over Europe's natives. So yeah, I agree.
Oh no, did your british dutch apartheid colony collapse under the weight of its own oppressive misdeeds? What a shame. I cannot understand the surprise people have when a country goes from being imperially friendly to being an enemy and suddenly "now everything is bad" it's tired, put it back in the deck.
I wonder if zimbawians have been enjoying eating sawdust the last 30 years. Now they are a colony of China.
Well, Lady, would you have preferred a boring safe life? Who wants to hear about that?
Get a life.
@@jimmycakes7158 we're all fixna get a 'life' but it will be based on death, violence and turmoil. You'll wish for something easy like the collapse of Rhodesia in comparison to what these Chicoms have for the whole world.
It would also have been an option to allow a democratic system in 1965. Who gave the settlers the right to rule over the Africans there? You have only yourselves to blame.
"When the whites came to Africa, we had the land and they had the Bible. Then they taught us to pray with our eyes closed - and when we opened our eyes again, they had the land and we had the Bible."
(Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman, 1893-1978)
There is a bunch of white politicians and parties in the rhodesian parliament who want to push majority rule faster. They lose the election against Ian Smith.
Personally, I think a united, stable Rhodesia with majority rule and general conscription would have been much more able to fight off the marxists. But that's how a lot of colonies end up, too busy sorting out ethnic lines to hold off outside threats.
Now you have land again but iyou dont know to use it. Rhodesia was better 50-60y ago then Zim now..
"When the whites came to Africa, we had the land and they had the Bible. Then they taught us to pray with our eyes closed - and when we opened our eyes again, they had the land and we had the Bible." So very lame and weak. Only weak people blame others.
Just maybe if the white settlers had tried to share the wealth of the country with the indignous people then there may hve been a different outcome. But one has to remember that originally the land was in the possession of the black people bfore the whites came.
There is an opposition of white leaders who would like to see a faster transition to majority rule. People who are more in line with London's plan. They get ousted when Ian Smith wins the election.
At this time, there's a bunch of white settlers in the dominions who don't consider themselves europeans and have less and less in common with the home countries. The crown becomes something distant and oppressive to them as well.
Share what? They brought then education and jobs!
Maybe he had a ak too but that bracket on that truck is for the FAL. Hell it was there main gun. The Rhodesian bush war weapon. She says ak that was the terrorists weapon but akot of Rhodesians used them too. And the rpk.
She was so right about Zimbabwe. Hell they kicked out all white managerial farmers. Then, the black farmers failed because they didn't know how to farm. They never did it before. So, then they had to beg white farmers to come back. It was a sh*$. show.