RLI
Cool pics!Originally Posted by Pidyon Shevuyim
A really good (lengthy) article to read:
"The Rand study found that countering urban terrorism was best handled by the police, albeit assisted by the military. [note: this was handling 'domestic' terrorism, not terrorism abroad]. This was for a variety of reasons, but the most singularly obvious one was the ability to interact with the public and develop humint. Certain military special operations, though, were particularly successful at gathering humint in actionable form--the closest cooperation of SOF forces and civilian police forces was integral to their high success rate."
"The problems cited by the Rand study of 1991 are largely still applicable. The military is still institutionally unable to overcome its own entrenched mindset and doctrine. The Rhodesians overcame their lack of manpower and crippling financial constraints by embracing innovative strategies, new tactics and novel techniques...the efficacy of these techniques is clearly illustrated by the Rhodesian success facing disproportionate odds; the balance of forces to insurgents was roughly 1: 1 or worse. [Their] results were impressive indeed considering that a balance of forces of at least 10:1 in favor of the [government/military] is the most commonly cited proportion deemed necessary for the effective prosecution of a counterinsurgency..."
Lessons for Contemporary Counterinsurgencies: The Rhodesian Experience
By: Bruce Hoffman, Jennifer Taw, David W. Arnold
http://www.rand.org/pubs/reports/R3998/
The above book in pdf form so you can download it and read at you own leisure. http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&ct=res...Te4k4nfssuqpRA
Okay someone gave me one of this guy's books once, he's a bit of a nutcase who thinks that a Zionist-Communist conspiracy is behind everything.
Free Books are not necessarily good books. However, they are "Free" and even in a nut-cases' book, there is some valuable information to be extracted. At any rate, it's a start. If anyone wants to buy a good book on Rhodesia; below are my recommendations (by no means a complete list):
Winds of Destruction - Grp. Cpt. PJH Petter-Bowyer
Fireforce - Chris Cocks
Stick Leader, RLI - Charlie Warren (alternative title: At the going down of the sun...)
Mukiwa - Peter Godwin
The Great Betrayal - Ian Douglas Smith (alternative title: Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal)
These titles are suggested because they are good, affordable, and readily available almost anywhere. I have read, and enjoyed all of them (plus several more not listed). Amazon has them all under 50 dollars US.
P.S. Thank you for the PDF link mrmeidl.
Of those titles you sugested I would say this: if you only want to buy one book about the Rhodesian Bush War you should go with Chris Cocks' FireForce. Although an autobiography, it covers most aspects of the war, it has a great cover and loads of photos.
Hi,
The grenade question is an interesting one; grenades do not sem to be documented particulary well. Prior to UDI the Energa grenade (and the 3.5 inch rocket launcher) were standard heavy weapons in the British army, and also in the Rhodesian units. I recall reading a post by a Rhodesian National Serviceman doing training on both weapons prior to UDI.
There is a post by a New Zealander who was part of the monitoring force in 1980. He was told of the practice of a patrol pointman leading with a rifle grenade on the end of their weapon, so that the pointman could blast anything that got in their way. The Kiwi got to fire an Energa grenade, and nearly dislocated his shoulder in the process.
The Rhodesians were largely dependant upon South African munitions, and I have come across several references to Armscor's Zulu grenades, which are similar to the AP rifle grenade manufactured by Belgian armaments company PRB (they supplied the propellent for the Iraqi supergun). Armscor also made its own version of the Energa grenade.
I've asked myself the same question about the Portugese. Yosy has been kind enough to answer me (and I'll be following this up). The Portugese seem to have developed a ball-trap similar to the US M1, and I believe the South Africans adopted a similar adapter to take over from the Zulu grenade.
http://www.inert-ord.net/usa03a/usarg/adapts/index.html
There were "grenade launching" setups in some Rhodesian vehicles, which consisted of cut-down Lee-Enfields as firing mechanisms. Quite how these worked is not evident to me, but I believe a cup discharger was involved. (I read about this in a book published in NZ in the mid-1990s about the history of Rhodesian AFVs; I believe the author was called Peter Cooke).
In the same book, I came across mention of the 60mm patrol mortars that were manufactured locally, which would provide similar firepower.
One oddity that I have heard mention of are 37mm Icarus flares. I gather that the Selous Scouts had a rocket launcher that looked like a skinny bazooka, but its purpose was to fire target illumination rounds. I have seen pics of Portugese troops with something similar.
The experience of the war in Rhodesia lead to the development of the Milkor MGL. Incidentally, I came across a pic of the children's film "Bugsy Malone", made in 1974, and their "Splurge guns" predate the MGL, and the Striker, by a decade..
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/music/20...iencing_a.html
Regards, Keith
WOW! One hell of a post (especially a first one IMO.) Thank you Keith! Ok, that cinches it; you're "Rhodesian Grenade Expert"; No take-backs!Welcome!
Thanks, I thought it would be a good idea to follow this up with some sourcing.
There is a reference to a fragmentation rifle grenade being disarmed in an encounter with a Rhino during Alan Roberts tour of National Service in 1976
http://www.alangroberts.com/7plat-01.htm
Here is the reference to Energa grenades being used prior to UDI
http://www.therli.com/iframe/HIS_WE_012.asp
Here is the story about the Kiwi peacekeeper's experience of firing an Energa grenade
http://riv.co.nz/rnza/tales/nagle2.htm
Here is the only picture I have ever seen of a rifle grenade deployed in Rhodesian service; the quality leaves a lot to be desired, and I wondered if it was a phosphorous marker
http://members.tripod.com/~Rhodesian/october.html
There are some insights into grenade usage in this document
http://smallwarsjournal.com/document...e-shooting.pdf
What I do find interesting is a reference to M962 grenades in this document (which appears to be authored by a former RLI troopie called "Ian Rhodes").
The Rhodesians would have been using Energa and Zulu grenades (presumably sourced via South Africa), hand grenades would have been Mills M36 "pineapples", and subsequently NATO M26s. The Portuguese designation for the M26 is M962, which would imply that in the days of military cooperation between Rhodesia and Portugal, some munitions may have been shared. This grenade was used in the Portuguese "dilagrama" grenade projection adapter.
There is an interesting chronology on mortar usage on page 43 of this PDF file
http://www.rhodesia.nl/Cheetah%20RLI...%20Oct1980.pdf
Ultimately, the best source of info is going to be a veteran.
Thanks, Keith
BTW, I came across some interesting Rhodesia pics here from a French fan of the RLI who calls himself The Saint
http://www.onesixthwarriors.com/foru...ad.php?t=31115
To that list you absolutely have to add The Elite by Barbara Cole and the Elite Pictorial by Cole both about Rhod SAS.
As well as the Original CONTACT and later south african produced Contact II
Chris
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