Selous Scouts
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The cap badge of the Selous Scouts was a stylised osprey. |
The
Selous Scouts were a special forces regiment of the
Rhodesian Army and operated from
1973 to majority rule and the country's independence as
Zimbabwe in
1980. They were named for British explorer
Frederick Courteney Selous, and their motto was
pamwe chete,
Shona for "all together" or "together only".
This period was known as the
Second Chimurenga or "bush war". This was a
civil war fought between Black Nationalist guerillas (
ZANLA/
ZANU) and the white minority government of
Ian Smith. Unlike the Rhodesian Light Infrantry, the Selous Scouts were a mixed race force and had many black Rhodesians in its ranks.
The regiment was proposed by members of the
British South Africa Police Special Branch, and many of its earliest recruits were policemen. The Selous Scouts differed from the
SAS, in that it was formed specifically to take part in tracking and infiltration operations in which soldiers would pretend to be guerrillas -- so-called pseudo operators. In addition, it often recruited from enemy forces; captured guerillas were offered a choice between prison, a trial and possible execution or joining the Selous Scouts (see
Pamwe Chete, Reid-Daly, 2001, pp. 189-190).
There is no doubt that the regiment achieved many of its objectives; its members became acclaimed trackers, and the unit was responsible for 68% of all guerrilla deaths within the borders of Rhodesia (
Service Before Self, M. P. Radford, 1994). However, its
C.O., Ron Reid-Daly, was irascible and enjoyed a poor relationship with many of the Rhodesian Army commanders (
Rhodesians Never Die, Godwin & Hancock, 1995, pp. 241-2); in addition, from 1978 there were persistent rumours that soldiers in the regiment had been implicated in ivory poaching in the
Gonarezhou National Park and that an ivory processing "factory" existed at the regimental barracks at Darwendale (
Rhodesians Never Die, p. 241).
Following the dissolution of the regiment in 1980, many of its soldiers travelled south to join the
South African Defence Force, where they joined
5 Reconnaissance Commando.
The name Selous Scouts was also given to the short-lived Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment, a regiment in the Army of the
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between about
1960 and
1962.
*
Pamwe Chete - the legend of the Selous Scouts, Reid-Daly, R. F., 2001. Covos Day Books, Weltevreden Park, South Africa. ISBN 1-919874-33-X
*
Rhodesians Never Die - the impact of war and political change on white Rhodesia, Godwin, P. & Hancock, I., 1995.
Baobab Books,
Harare,
Zimbabwe. ISBN 0908311826
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Rhodesian Light Infantry*
Rhodesian African Rifles*
The Selous Scouts Home Page an unofficial site with a lot of information
*
Rhodesian and South African Military History: An extensive collection of histories and analysis of Rhodesian and South African military operations, to the early 1980's
