Dingo Firestorm (38 page)
Rich Brand left the Rhodesian Air Force in 1978, the year after Dingo, and, after a spell in the South African Air Force, emigrated to Las Vegas. He joined the flight department of Circus Circus, one of the main casino groups in the desert city, as an executive jet pilot. He soon realised that he wanted a career in gaming, so he started at the bottom, managing slot machines, and rose to general manager at Silver City Casino, part of the Circus Circus Group. But his passion for aviation never faded. With his considerable skill for building model aircraft – most apparent in the perfect scale-model, radio-controlled replica he built of the Percival Provost, in which he flew his first solo – Brand built some excellent full-scale aircraft, including a Super Eagle called
Springbok
, an Ultimate called
Bateleur
and a Rans S-16 Shekari called
Flame Lily
.
Rich’s ultimate achievement was building a Giles G-202, named
Panzer One
after the callsign of No. 1 Squadron, adopted under Brand’s leadership. He made over 50 modifications to the G-202, in which he went on to win Reserve Grand Champion at the EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh in 1998. He participated as a pilot in the aerobatic show circuit in the US with his wife, Susan, also a pilot, who took part as commentator.
A good example of Brand’s incredible eye for detail, a trait he was remembered for in the Rhodesian Air Force, is illustrated in an article that appeared in the March 1999 edition of
Sport Aviation
. Brand is discussing the application of seven coats of paint and primer to an aircraft he was building: ‘The finish is determined not by what you put on, but what you sand off. I went over every square inch of it with a magnifying glass, looking for pinholes before shooting the finishing coats.’
After retiring from gaming, Rich continued to build aircraft. He completed a Lancair Legacy, named
Protea
, in 2011. Its registration is N3QB. The letters ‘QB’ stand for Quintin Brand, his famous uncle who, in 1920, piloted the first flight from London to Cape Town.
aileron accumulator:
small tank on an aircraft that stores reserve hydraulic energy for the ailerons
air-strike log:
written air force record of an air-to-ground attack
AK-47:
Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle
AKM:
modernised Kalashnikov automatic assault rifle
ANC:
African National Congress
BCR:
Bronze Cross of Rhodesia
Black Watch:
the Royal Highland Regiment
BSAP:
British South Africa Police
callsign:
a combination of numbers, letters or words used to identify a unique radio transmitting station (a group of soldiers, an aircraft, a base, etc.)
Can:
Canberra aircraft
Capewell:
quick-release device to separate a parachute from its harness
casevac:
casualty evacuation
Chimurenga:
Shona for ‘resistance struggle’
CIO:
Central Intelligence Organisation
ComOps:
Combined Operations
CT:
Communist terrorist
Dak:
Dakota aircraft
Dare reChimurenga:
ZANU’s war council
dispersal:
aircraft parking and manoeuvring area at an aerodrome
donga:
gully or ditch
DShK:
Degtyarov–Shpagin Krupnokalibernyj, Russian-made anti-aircraft machine gun
elevator:
controls the pitch axis (nose up/down) of an aircraft
ESM:
Exemplary Service Medal
FAF:
forward airfield
flechette canister:
warhead carrying darts known as ‘flechettes’
FN:
Belgian-made light automatic rifle
frantan:
frangible tanks; form of napalm-based ammunition
FRELIMO:
Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Freedom Front of Mozambique)
G-car:
troop-carrying helicopter
G-force:
gravitational force
gook:
slang for insurgent, terrorist
HQ:
headquarters
int:
military intelligence
IP:
initial point
JPT:
jet pipe temperature
K-car:
command car – helicopter gunship fitted with a 20-mm cannon
LTT:
locally trained terrorist
LZ:
landing zone
MAG:
Mitrailleuse d’appui général, general-purpose machine gun of Belgian manufacture
mark one eyeball:
in military contexts, the human eye
MBE:
Member of the British Empire
MiG:
Mikoyan-Gurevich military aircraft (Russian)
MP:
Member of Parliament
NDP:
National Democratic Party
OAU:
Organisation of African Unity
OCC:
Operations Coordinating Committee
OLM:
Officer of the Legion of Merit
op/ops:
operation/operations
OP:
observation post
operations order:
written battle plan
PTS:
Parachute Training School
RAF:
Royal Air Force
recce:
reconnaissance
RF:
Rhodesian Front
RhAF:
Rhodesian Air Force
RLI:
Rhodesian Light Infantry
RPD:
Ruchnoy Pulemyot Degtyaryova, type of Russian hand-held machine gun
RPG:
rocket-propelled grenade
RRAF:
Royal Rhodesian Air Force
SAAF:
South African Air Force
SAP:
South African Police
SAS:
Special Air Service
SB:
Police Special Branch
Selous Scouts:
Rhodesian military unit that specialised in pseudo warfare (i.e. imitating the enemy)
shamwari:
Shona for ‘friend’
sitrep:
situation report – daily report on the enemy’s and own forces’ tactical situation
SKS:
Samozariadnyia Karabina Simonova, type of Russian semi-automatic rifle
Sneb rocket:
rocket-propelled warhead fired from an aircraft
SSU:
Short Service Unit
stick:
group of four soldiers, usually deployed from an Alouette helicopter
stop group/stop:
group of soldiers positioned to intercept (stop) fleeing enemy forces
terr:
terrorist
TTL:
Tribal Trust Land
UDI:
Unilateral Declaration of Independence
VHF:
very high frequency
VSI:
vertical speed indicator
ZANLA:
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army
ZANU:
Zimbabwe African National Union
ZANU-PF:
Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
ZAPU:
Zimbabwe African People’s Union
ZBC:
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
ZIPRA:
Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army
Extracts from the Operation Dingo operations orders, log and air strike reports, located in Box 844, British Commonwealth and Empire Museum, Bristol, by courtesy of J.R.T. Wood
Adams, Mark, and Chris Cocks.
Africa’s Commandos: The Rhodesian Light Infantry
. Johannesburg: 30° South, 2012
Chung, Fay.
Re-Living the Second Chimurenga: Memories from Zimbabwe’s Liberation Struggle
. Stockholm: Nordic Africa Institute, 2006
Cocks, Chris.
Fireforce: One Man’s War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry
. Roodepoort: Covos Books, 1988
Cole, Barbara.
The Elite: The Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service
. Amanzimtoti: Three Knights Publishing, 1984
Flower, Ken.
Serving Secretly. An Intelligence Chief on Record: Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, 1964 to 1981
. London: John Murray, 1987
Geldenhuys, Prop.
Rhodesian Air Force Operations: With Airstrike Log
. Durban: Just Done Productions Publishing, 2007
MacKenzie, Robert. ‘Fast Strike on Chimoio’ (Parts 1 and 2),
Soldier of Fortune
. Boulder, Colorado, January and February 1994
Martin, David, and Phyllis Johnson.
The Struggle for Zimbabwe
. London: Faber & Faber, 1981
Meredith, Martin.
The State of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence
. Jeppestown: Jonathan Ball, 2005
Moorcroft, Paul, and Peter McLaughlin.
The Rhodesian War: A Military History
. Jeppestown: Pen and Sword Military, 2008
Petter-Bowyer, P.J.H.
Winds of Destruction
. Victoria, Canada: Trafford Publishing, 2003
Presler, Titus.
The Transfigured Night: Mission and Culture in Zimbabwe’s Vigil Movement
. Pretoria: Unisa Press, 1999
Salt, Beryl.
A Pride of Eagles: The Definitive History of the Rhodesian Air Force 1920–1980
. Weltevreden Park: Covos Day Books, 2001
Smith, David, and Colin Simpson.
Mugabe
. Falmouth, UK: Sphere Books, 1980
Smith, Ian.
The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith
. London: Blake Publishing, 1997
Tekere, Edgar.
A Lifetime of Struggle: Edgar ‘2-Boy’ Zivanai Tekere
. Harare: SAPES Books, 2007
Wood, J.R.T.
Counter-Strike from the Sky: The Rhodesian All-Arms Fireforce in the War in the Bush, 1974–1980
. Johannesburg: 30° South, 2009
Abraham, Chris
153
admin base
attack on Chimoio (Zulu 1)
142–143
,
184–186
,
209
attack on Tembue (Zulu 2)
220–223
,
228
,
234
Adriano Antonio farmstead
67
,
82
,
247
Aero Commander aircraft
125
Aeromodelling Championship
149
African National Congress (ANC)
5
,
58
Afrikaans press in South Africa
58
agriculture in Rhodesia
23
Aitcheson, Mark
153
Alamein Farm
249
Alouette helicopters (G-cars and K-cars)
attack on Chimoio (Zulu 1)
141–142
,
144–145
,
155–159
,
171
,
178–181
,
185
,
187–190
,
193
,
195–199
,
205
,
209–211
attack on Tembue (Zulu 2)
219–220
,
222–225
,
226
,
228–229
,
232
,
234
,
236–237
,
240–243
planning for Operation Dingo
90–92
,
108
,
114
,
123–124
,
134–135
Second Chimurenga
22
,
24–25
,
37
,
53–55
Alpha bombs
98–99
,
172–173
,
193–194
,
206
,
207–208
,
231
Altena Farm
46–48
altimeters
153
America
see
United States
ammunition trains
106–107
ANC
see
African National Congress
Andrew Fleming Hospital
135
ANFO
152
Annan, John
54
,
153
,
166–167
,
170
,
202–203
,
211
anti-aircraft weapons
81
,
132
,
179–180
,
196–197
,
204
,
212
Armageddon Gang
24–29
Armstrong, Pat
248–249
Aust, Charlie
248–249
aviation in Rhodesia, history of
15–19
Baldwin, Baldy
197
Banda, Hastings
58
Banket
23
Barfoot, Frank ‘Slash’
27
barrage trains
106–107
Battle of Britain
16
Battle of Chimoio (Operation Dingo, Zulu 1)
1–2
,
155–225
,
245–247
Battle of Sinoia
20–28
Belgian Congo
7–8
Bellringer, Finch
198
bird strikes
124
Bland, Robert
49
Blue Section
133
,
137
,
167–168
,
173
,
179
,
194
,
201
,
227
,
239
Blythe-Wood, John
137
,
166–167
,
173
,
203
,
227
,
231
,
239
Boer Union
147
bombs
Alpha bombs
98–99
,
172–173
,
193–194
,
206
,
207–208
,
232
CB-470 cluster bombs
251