Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot

by Peter Petter-Bowyer

  Dinner with ZIPRA

  ZIPRA COMMANDERS TOLD ME THEY had no difficulty in opening up to any Rhodesian but they strongly distrusted ZANLA and the Brits. Both Masuku and Dabengwa said they could not talk to me freely at the Audio-Visual Centre or in the grounds of Government House—the only places we met. So, when I suggested they come to my home for dinner, they immediately agreed. The reason I did not offer dinner at a hotel or restaurant was that I had no funds to meet expenses that I could better afford at my own table.

  The look on Beryl’s face when I told her that the ZIPRA commanders were coming to dinner was one of utter disbelief. When Beryl relayed the news to our Shona housekeepercook Sarah, her eyes widened in horror whereas our N’debele gardener Obert was delighted. Sarah’s fears were calmed and she was asked to provide a three-course meal, including roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, just as she would do for any of our regular friends.

  Accompanying Lookout was his wife Gift and Dumiso came alone. Beryl drank brandy and ginger ale and I had beer even though the three visitors asked for cool drinks. Before and during dinner, Debbie and Paul were with us and the general conversation was very easy-going. The visitors were at pains to greet Sarah and later praise her for an excellent meal.

  Throughout the evening it was very noticeable that Gift kept her right hand covered with the shawl she was wearing, even when eating. After dinner the children had gone off to their rooms when Beryl asked Gift how she felt about being with us. Following a moment of hesitation, Lookout suddenly uncovered Gift’s hand and placed his palm directly on hers. “Look we are whole,” he said raising they hands, “Five fingers.” We knew Lookout had a finger missing on his left hand, but had not realised that Gift hid her hand to cover the loss of a thumb. By showing that her missing thumb and his missing finger were obscured by the presence of the other’s hand, Lookout was handling Gift’s hesitation and expressing in this strange way that all was well. He then told us how he and Gift had lost their digits.

  When he heard explosions during the SAS attack on Nkomo’s home in Lusaka, Lookout awakened his sleeping wife and two children, got them into his car and rushed off to a safe house with his bodyguard in tow. He made the mistake of routing via Liberation Centre just as the SAS force was withdrawing from it. Having driven through a blinding hail of gunfire, Lookout pressed on to a friend’s house close by and only just reached there when his damaged engine seized. The bodyguard was dead, Gift and both children were severely wounded and Lookout had also been hit. The whole family was flown to Moscow where they recovered to health after many weeks of medical attention. The only externally visible signs of the ordeal were the missing thumb and finger.

  A few days after their first meeting, Beryl bumped into Gift who was very distressed because one of her children, who had survived the shooting, had drowned in a private swimming pool in one of Salisbury’s posh suburbs.

  Dumiso carried on with the subject of Nkomo’s house attack to tell how Joshua and his wife left home in a hurry for Kaunda’s palace immediately upon receiving a late-night warning of the impending attack. Whilst on the subject, I asked him about the NSO attack. Dumiso confirmed that he and other senior men had kept well clear of the NSO for fear of a Rhodesian attack, which he thought would only take place at night. He had taken up night-time residence with a girlfriend and returned daily to the NSO no later than 06:00. On the day of the attack, he intended to do the same but his girlfriend said she had dreamed of jets attacking at dawn. She insisted he remain at home for at least two hours to relax with a cup of coffee and listen to the radio. Dumiso obliged.

  As it happened, Hunters attacked FC camp at dawn, but Dumiso did not know this at the time. The first he knew of any hostile activity was when he heard explosions and firing at NSO. He claimed that this was not the only occasion that dreams had saved him from RSF attacks.

  I asked Dumiso and Lookout why, when difficult issues were raised during ceasefire meetings they and the ZANLA commanders always addressed me. The answer was surprising. They said ZIPRA’s reason for doing this was identical to ZANLA’s. Both insisted that the Air Force was superior to the Army. They considered themselves to be on an equal footing with the Army because they used similar equipment and fought on their feet. The Air Force was quite different. In their minds it was this complex high-tech force that had been responsible for the devastation visited upon their own forces. Because of this I was held in highest esteem at the Ceasefire Committee meetings.

  Breaking away from the after dinner chat for a moment— Rex Nhongo had much the same to tell me later. But when I challenged him on the issue and said that the RLI had knocked hell out of his forces, he asked, “When did that happen without Air Force direct support and fire power?”

  I tried again. “What about the SAS, they knocked the socks off you guys?” “Yes”, he said, “but they are Air Force troops!” I told him he was wrong. “Rex, SAS are Army troops.” His reply was typical. “Comrade Group Captain PB, the war is over so you do not have to lie to me any more. You know, and I know, that the SAS are Air Force troops. They live over the runway from Air Force, they are always with Air Force, they wear wings and blue belts, their badge has a helicopter rotor blade (in the illustration it can be seen that this is actually a dagger) and, just like the Air Force pilots, they only attacked my men, never civilians.”

  Returning to the afterdinner chat, Dumiso and Lookout happily answered many questions and I answered theirs. They confirmed ZIPRA’s intention to launch an invasion but this was stymied by the destruction of bridges during Op Dice. Worse still, it removed any hope of joining up with the RSF to bring about the destruction of ZANLA.

  They had a lot to say about the efficiency of Rhodesian-made air weapons and told me they had recently learned that I was the prime mover in developing them. Rather than being annoyed by this they were deeply impressed because, like ZANLA, they had previously believed the weapons were South African products.

  We then came to the matter of ZANLA’s Josiah Tongogara. I asked them why they had been so distressed about the news of his death. The story went back a long way to a time before Tongogara and his DARE had been imprisoned following the death of ZANLA’s Operations Chief, Herbert Chitepo. From those early days right through to Lancaster House, ZIPRA had found Tongogara to be open and scrupulously honest. He was the only ZANU or ZANLA man in whom they had implicit trust.

  During the Lancaster House Conference, Josiah Tongogara made telephonic contact with Lookout and Dumiso from his hotel room. Tongogara said there was urgent need for a serious discussion on proposals he wished to place before them. He offered to meet at any place of ZIPRA’s choice. Dumiso and Lookout said they were happy to meet Josiah at his hotel, in his own room.

  On arrival, they found that Tongogara had Josiah Tungamirai with him. They were not at all happy about this knowing that Tungamirai headed ZANLA’s political commissariat, a communist affliction ZIPRA used but which the seniors of ZIPRA could not abide. Anyway Tongogara seemed unperturbed and, working from notes, he got straight down to business.

  He started off by expressing the hope that the conference would succeed because he was not prepared to see a continuation of war and the loss of more young lives simply to satisfy greedy politicians. He said he feared that either Mugabe or Nkomo, possibly both, would walk out of the conference. If this occurred, he for one wished to take matters out of political hands but he needed help to achieve this. If ZIPRA agreed with his wish to withdraw all forces from contact, it would then be essential to get to General Peter Walls before he left London and draw him into also taking joint action. Tongogara then spelled out a plan that was unconditionally accepted by the ZIPRA commanders.

  For me it was really quite incredible to learn that Josiah Tongogara, the man we took to be our radical archenemy, was a man who really sought peace and stability. Recorded here are the points of agreement he made with ZIPRA—as I recall them.

  First was the matter of setting up a military triumvirate o
f the RSF, ZIPRA and ZANLA, initially in London. Their joint task would be to bring into immediate effect a disconnection of forces. Tongogara had no difficulty in accepting that General Walls should head the triumvirate whose headquarters would be established in Salisbury and separated from existing RSF establishments. ZIPRA and ZANLA would order all their forces to move into military camps on home soil at locations agreed by General Walls.

  Under direct control of the military triumvirate, a process of weeding-out and disarming undesirables would be implemented. Those who wished to retire or return to their homes would be free to do so. Thereafter integration of the three forces would commence. Since Tongogara believed this would take at least five years to complete, he expected that many more willing volunteers would leave the ranks during this time.

  Sir Humphrey Gibbs.

  The military triumvirate would impose on ‘Zimbabwe’ a 100-seat interim government of national unity represented in equal part by the parties currently headed by Muzorewa, Smith, Nkomo and Mugabe. Overseeing this government would be an ‘Executive Governor’ who Tongogara believed should be Sir Humphrey Gibbs because he was the only person who would be acceptable to all parties, including the British and African governments.

  Selection of ministers to administer existing civil services was to be established by majority vote for approval by the Governor. Existing RF ministers, if not returned to their positions by popular vote, would be asked to assist new ministers for a period of at least one year.

  A general election would be withheld for five years or be undertaken after the military integration process was complete; whichever was the longer period. No direct British interference or participation would be tolerated. If South Africa objected to the new order, African ports would be used to the mutual benefit of central African states. Mandatory sanctions could be expected to fall away automatically and the South African Government’s stranglehold on the country would no longer be an issue. (I was surprised to learn that Tongogara knew of this.)

  No active support would be given to any nationalist party or force acting against South Africa. This was to guard against any external aggression from that quarter.

  It would be the military triumvirate’s urgent task to settle any fears within the population, black and white, and seek their backing and assistance to make Zimbabwe a prosperous and happy place again. Tourism was to be actively promoted and anyone wishing to leave the country should be allowed to do so without any restrictions or penalties being applied so as not to induce doubt or panic in others.

  This was the basic plan that may very well have come into being if Mugabe, having walked out at Lancaster House, had not been forced to return to the talks by President Machel. Mugabe was at Heathrow Airport intending to fly off to New York when Machel told him to get back to the Lancaster House talks immediately or else withdraw his forces from Mozambique.

  ZIPRA believed Mugabe relied heavily on Tongogara’s strength and backing and that he would have been in a stronger position had Tongogara returned to the country. However, the radical political members of ZANU saw him as a threat to their own futures, having obviously been given the details of Tongogara’s discussion with ZIPRA by Josiah Tungamirai. Whatever their reasons, they hired a well-known East German assassin to kill Tongogara. This particular assassin specialised in ‘vehicle accident’.

  Lookout said that the assassin, whose typically German name I have forgotten, arrived in Maputo ten days before Tongogara’s death. Three days after the fatal vehicle ‘accident’ and immediately prior to his departure for Europe, Enos Nkala met him at Maputo Airport to make payment, in American dollar notes, on behalf of himself, Simon Muzenda, Dr Herbert Ushewokunze, Edgar Tekere, Edison Zvobgo and a couple of others, for services rendered.

  Visits to ZANLA Assembly Points

  THE SEVENTEEN ASSEMBLY POINTS IN which ZANLA and ZIPRA personnel were being housed and fed by the CMF were given the name of the place upon which each was established. For simplicity’s sake, alphabetic identification was also used. These were A to R. (the letter ‘I’ is not used as a military abbreviation to avoid confusion with the numeral ‘1’)

  Sequentially identified around the border areas in a clockwise direction were the APs commencing with the first ZANLA group located at AP Alpha near Hoya in the northeast. AP Romeo at Rukomechi Mission in the north was the last ZIPRA point. All APs were to be visited by the Ceasefire Committee.

  Because we would be the first senior RSF officers any of our former enemies would be seeing in the flesh, General Barnard and I were apprehensive, but not to the same extent as the ZIPRA and ZANLA commanders who were about to visit each other’s armed forces.

  We set out for AP Alpha early one morning in an RAF Puma helicopter. The crew of this helicopter, like many of their colleagues, had experienced difficulty in map-reading their way around the country with no familiar navigational aids to help them. I told the skipper not to worry as I would be keeping an eye on our position from the rear cabin and he could call me forward if he needed to do so.

  I sat with Rex Nhongo and Mugabe’s deputy Simon Muzenda because we would be traversing areas that Rex had walked eight years earlier. I found it both strange and surprisingly pleasing to show Rex such places as his original base on the escarpment next to St Albert’s Mission, the route he had taken from the Musengezi River up the escarpment and the location of Altena Farm where his first action triggered Operation Hurricane.

  The visits to AP Alpha and Bravo went off well enough, though it was patently obvious that most of the men in the camps were anything but bona fide ZANLA. The few regulars were easy to spot because they carried standard issue AK-47 assault rifles that were in fair condition. The rest carried old beaten-up SKS rifles that had been out of use for over ten years save for the few issued to LTTs in 1972. At Marymount Mission (AP Bravo) I saw half a dozen sophisticated Swiss sniper rifles. They were obviously brand spanking new, never having been exposed to the rigours of the bush, but none had ammunition.

  I stayed very close to Rex Nhongo wherever he went, just in case anyone decided to take a pot shot at me. I noticed that Lookout and Dumiso were doing the same and that Generals Acland and Barnard, accompanied by Brigadier Gurdon, kept close to the CFM officers.

  Of all the ZANLA APs we visited I remember AP Charlie best. It was situated at the disused Nyagoma School in the extreme northeast. Here the ZANLA inmates were accommodated in British Army tents set in lines under a forest of superb trees that formed a continuous overhead canopy over many acres.

  This photograph was taken late in the visit during a refuelling stop at Kariba. From left: Rex Nhongo, unknown standing in for Tungamirai, General Acland, Lookout Masuku, Brigadier Gurdon, PB, General Barnard and Dumiso Dabengwa.

  During our briefing in one of the classrooms by Australian CFM officers, a landmine detonated in the Cordon Sanitaire some five kilometres to our east. A few minutes passed before a second mine detonated causing the AP’s senior ZANLA man to rise from behind me and move to Rex who was sitting directly in front of me. He bent down and whispered in Rex’s ear, “Madora wa tuka.” This annoyed Rex who, in a loud voice, asked the man if he thought he was deaf. Of course he had heard the mines explode, “They must have been triggered by baboons.”

  After the briefing we strolled through the camp to an open patch of ground where over 1,500 armed men stood five lines deep along three sides of a box formation. We positioned at the centre of the fourth side and Rex Nhongo moved to the centre of the square to give the gathering the same message he gave at every assembly point. This was to say the war was over and everyone had to work together to establish the new Zimbabwe. He had brought two senior RSF ‘comrades’ with him to prove that he was already working with his previous enemies. He said nothing about the Brits.

  Having completed his talk he signalled me forward to address the gathering and introduced me in Shona. “This is Comrade Group Captain PB, once our enemy in the sky but now my friend. He will tell you why he has
come to see you.” I asked Rex if I should speak in the vernacular. “Certainly not,” he said, “I do not want these people to know you understand their language. I will interpret what you say.” So I made a series of short statements in English and Rex passed these on in Shona.

  Right to left: General Barnard, General Acland, PB, Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku.

  At one point Rex misinterpreted what I had just said, deliberately I think, so I asked him to correct this. He immediately told the men that I was not satisfied with his interpretation and corrected the error. I nodded in agreement and completed what I had to say in mediocre Shona. Only in Africa could such anomalies pass without fuss. Rex then led the gathering in song, as was ZANLA’s custom at the conclusion of every meeting.

  Only people who have experienced massed African voices in the open will understand the power, richness and purity of sound that comes from a people who harmonise perfectly without training or effort. I hated the chimurenga lyrics but the sheer volume and beauty of voice overrode the objectionable racial hatred expressed in the words.

  Having left our position, every head was turned to watch us passing behind one echelon when I spotted a face I recognised. I immediately broke away from the official party and strode through five lines of perplexed men, mostly armed mujibas. The man I was moving towards turned away abruptly.

  When I reached him, I asked, “Hey Timothy, what are you doing here?” There was no reply and he remained facing away from me looking down at his own feet. Accepting this rejection, I said, “Behave yourself Timothy. Visit me when you get to Salisbury.”

  The official party had come to a halt to see what I was doing. As I returned to Rex’s side, he asked me who it was I had spoken to. I said I knew him as Timothy. Our servants in Salisbury had told Beryl and me about a youngster who was sleeping in a toilet in the suburb of Hatfield where we lived. He had lost his parents in the Mtoko area and, though tended by an uncle, was living a miserable existence. We decided to take him on as an assistant to Obert, our gardener. Timothy was given a warm comfortable bed, clothing, food and spending money. He was fine for many months and we were about to send him for schooling at our expense when he began to give Sarah and Obert a hard time. He had been warned to behave himself, but this did not work so we got rid of him. A year had passed since last I saw him.