DURING THE RHODESIAN WAR

SATURDAY 29 AUGUST 1977
Second ambush in Park about 200 metres from previous ambush – occurred about 16:10

TUESDAY 27 DECEMBER 1977
Ambush on road to Shumba – somewhere between White Hills and Shapi. Beyond Shapi about 4kms.

It was a scary time for us children being between the ages of 14 and 11. We had huge grenade screens put up outside our bedrooms windows that were filled with granite chips for about ¾’s of the way up. About 1½ metres from the main bedroom window they had built a wall about ¾’s of the way up and then chicken mesh from there to the roof. In front of our entire glass doors on the verandah we had “Trojan horses” (these were wooden boxes on wheels filled with granite chips). The verandah was also enclosed in chicken mesh, and this was an ideal place for me for keep my budgie. During the day we went about our exploring without much thought for the war, but night times was fearful for me. I would be convinced that there would be terrorists sitting in the trees and they could see me from above the granite chips and were going to shoot me. If I was really scared then I would creep into the passage and grab a sleeping bag and go and sleep on the floor at the foot of Mum and Dad’s bed. I felt safe there as Dad had a revolver by his side of the bed.

Some nights though I would jump into my sister’s bed and hug her tightly and talk to her. Our conversation would go something like this:
“Did you hear that noise?” me
“Yes I did.” Karen
“What do you think it was?” me
“I don’t know.” Karen
“Can you repeat the noise?” me
Silence – then I knew that she was talking to me in her sleep and I would just hug her tighter in the hope that sleep would come back to me and the noises would go away!

When I got a little older, I was allowed to have to room at the end of the house, which was normally the guest room. I put all my toys in there and decorated for myself, BUT, I never spent one night in there, I always slept in the middle room with my sister, as I was just too scared.

Mum also decided that the spaces on the ground between the wall and the chicken mesh would be a good place to breed rabbits to sell to the staff in camp, and they would make the most awful noises during the night which would add to the idea that there were definitely terrorists out there in the dead of night.

We had am agric-alert radio in our house and there was one in the house behind us which was linked to all the farmers in the Gwaai area, which was about 35kms away. So when the alarm went off at night it set our hearts racing as you were never sure if it was right behind you or one of the farmers, as we had not learnt everyone’s call signs.

Our trips to and from Bulawayo we were supposed to join in a convoy from the Gwaai Hotel, which had an armed vehicle in the fron, the rear and one in the middle. Unfortunately, our vehicle could not always go the speed that the convoy went at, so we would go it alone, which was not always wise, because if you broke down then no-one from a convoy or individual would stop and help you. I would spend most of the 3 hour journey holding my thumbs.

Thankfully we were left alone at Main Camp, even though there were a lot of ambushes along the Victoria Falls/Bulawayo road and also in the National Park. I think we were quite lucky having the wild animals around us. There were siting’s of suspicious boot prints around Sadina pan which was at one end of the airfield, and they tracked them to the compound, but we never found them. Dad did have an informer, Umfigaroro, who would listen in to conversations of movements etc. and then let Dad know. When we had left Hwange and moved back to the Gwaai area we used to go and visit him at his home kraal and take him oil, mealie meal and sugar. In exchange he would give us baskets, drums or other items that they had made. When we left the young children of the village would love to jump on the back of the bakkie and get a ride to the end of the road.