Dingo Firestorm: The Greatest Battle of the Rhodesian Bush War

by Ian Pringle

Overview

On 23 November 1977, an armada of helicopters and airplanes took off from Rhodesian airbases and crossed the border into Mozambique. Their objective: to attack the headquarters of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, where thousands of enemy forces were concentrated. Codenamed Operation Dingo, the raid was planned to coincide with a meeting of Robert Mugabe and his war council at the targeted HQ. It would be the biggest conflict of the Rhodesian Bush War. In this fascinating account, Ian Pringle describes the political and military backdrop leading up to the operation, and he tells the story of the battle through the eyes of key personalities who planned, led and participated in it. Using his own experience as a jet and helicopter pilot and skydiver, he recreates the battle in detail, explaining the performance of men and machines in the unfolding drama of events. DINGO FIRESTORM is a fresh, gripping recreation of a major battle in southern African military history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781909384781
Publisher:	Helion and Company
Publication date:	04/19/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

After national service in the South African Air Force, Ian Pringle migrated to Rhodesia to work as an industrial chemist and flew aircraft as a hobby. He was drafted into the Police Reserve Air Wing as a pilot, and was involved in numerous enemy contacts. Pringle read his MBA in the UK and worked for Castrol International and BP plc at a senior executive level, spending much of his career in Asia and Europe. He learnt to fly helicopters and ex-military jets in England. He retired to Cape Town in 2004, bringing two Cold War jets with him, and he teamed up with Thunder City, where he still flies the Hawker Hunter, Buccaneer and aerobatic aircraft.

Table of Contents

Author's note ix

Acknowledgements xi

Maps

South-east Africa, 1977 xvi

Helicopter routes to Chimoio and Tembue xvii

The attack on New Farm, Chimoio xviii

The attack on Tembue xix

Prologue 1

Part 1 The gathering storm 3

1 Stirrings at home 5

2 The birth of ZANU and UDI 10

3 The Silver Queen sows a seed 15

4 ZANU starts the Second Chimurenga 20

5 New strategy for ZANLA 29

6 Lessons from Sinoia 33

7 Tete Province 38

8 Tongogara's Phase 1 41

9 Phase 2: The hit-and-run war begins 44

10 Hurricane and Tete 49

11 Détente and the Carnation Revolution 58

12 ZANU falls apart 61

13 Mugabe heads east 64

14 Mosi-oa-Tunya 69

15 Meat-axe diplomacy 73

16 Geneva 79

17 Finding Chimoio 83

18 Planning Dingo 89

19 The Year of the Fire Snake: 1977 95

20 ComOps is formed 102

21 Autumn in spring 105

22 Walls between the SAS and RLI 109

23 Secret is secret 112

24 There's a kind of hush 118

25 The Dingo commanders 120

26 The Dingo briefing 130

Part 2 Zulu 1: Chimoio 139

27 Short Handle 141

28 D-day 144

29 Brand - the marksman 146

30 Lake Alexander 155

31 New Sarum 160

32 The magnificent seven 165

33 The mass paradrop 175

34 Cover Point chaos 184

35 Long Stop 187

36 Rubbernecking and the sweep 193

37 Pit-stop bingo 201

38 Centre Wicket 204

39 Sleepless in Chimoio 209

Part 3 Zulu 2: Tembue 213

40 Lightning over the Saudi desert 215

41 Tembue by train 218

42 Mount Darwin, P minus 1 224

43 P-day 226

44 Square Ring 234

45 The battle 235

46 The mystery of the empty parade square 239

Epilogue 245

Glossary and abbreviations 253

Select bibliography 256

Index 257

Editorial Reviews

"Ian Pringle has written a fast-paced, engaging book about one of the most successful Rhodesian “fireforce” operations in history … His style is such that the reader feels intimately the tension, pressure and speed of the execution … this is an excellent read and a thoroughly engaging book. I highly recommend it for those interested in a regional conflict that has largely been lost in the shadows of history."

Strategy & Tactics

"Ian Pringle has written a fast-paced, engaging book about one of the most successful Rhodesian “fireforce” operations in history … His style is such that the reader feels intimately the tension, pressure and speed of the execution … this is an excellent read and a thoroughly engaging book. I highly recommend it for those interested in a regional conflict that has largely been lost in the shadows of history."

Strategy & Tactics Magazine