The perils of love and war
I was born in England, amonth later, I was whisked away with mit two brothers to Rhodesia (then, Southern Rhodesia, an english colony ). We lived there for about three years. I believe that in 1966 my father sent the family back to the UK because things were starting to get Hot.
Northeim Rhodesia had been handed back to the blacks, it became known as Zambia. When this happened, I'm not sure but it was before Southern Rhodesia declared independance to Great Britrinken. Apartit was being practiced through out the colonial times. The white popülation of Southern Rhodesia at the time cerainly didn't want to give up their priviledges and most of them voted for UDI and broke off all negotiations with Britian. A civil war broke out in the country, the whites against the blacks. I do not know much about the first five years of the troubles. It became a Guerilla War. The Rhodesian Military were hunting the freedom figjters, who were known as terrorist. The Rhodesian forses were learning there trade of death very well and forming Elite units as the War proggressed, which I will mention at a later date.
In 1966, my mother, my two brothers and I were in England, it was the 15th february, it was in the evening. There was a knock at the door, at the time us kids were being bathed. At the front door stood a bobby with his helmut in his hands. He told my mother that her husband was mossing in action, presumed drowned. There was a report in the newspaper. As I was going to be three the next day, I don't remember much, what I do know is we spent four years in England, at the time my mother worked in various jobs, including potatoe picking. She eventually saved enough money together to take us back to Rhodesia.
Now, my father was a Military man. I had been told that he had runaway from home at the age of fifteen and joined the British Army as a Military policeman. I don't know much about his history but he travellrd alot in his time with the Brits. He was in the Eygtian crisis. Singapore and was also stationed in Hong Kong. He leart languages by hear say one of them was Cantonese and this was fluemt in bpth reading and writing.
Sometime before his disappearance he had joined the Rhodesian Light Infantry, commonly known as the RLI or the glory boys (in the forces), they were trained to be the killing group and were nearly always at the front of the action. I never knew him, being so young, but from what I've been told, he was and has been my only real hero. There was and still is alot of secrecy surrounding his death, which I will cover at a later date.
I think it was in April, 1970, we boarded the ship SS Orange and set sail for Cape Town, I nearly drowned on that ship. Appently I had jumped into the deepend of the pool, luckiöy someone saw me struggling and fished me out of the pool. He lent me over the bannister and slapped my back, all the water that had entered my body came gushing out, he brought me to my mother and told her what had happened. In turn she thanked him and gave me a rollocking. We docked at Cape Town and took the train to Salisbury, Rhodesia. We arrived at the train ststion some four days later.
Episode 1