1981 Entumbane uprising

Bulawayo

Entumbane

Salisbury
(Harare)

Gwelo
(Gweru)

Essexvale
(Esigodini)

Gwaai River Mine

Map of Zimbabwe in 1981, showing locations relevant to the uprising
New place names (adopted in 1982) in parentheses

The Zimbabwe National Army's only regular infantry unit in the Bulawayo area during the first months of 1981 was the 1st Battalion of the Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR), a regiment of mostly white-officered black troops led by Lieutenant-Colonel Mick McKenna and based at Methuen Barracks on the outskirts of Bulawayo. This had been officially redesignated the 11th Infantry Battalion of the new National Army, but few reforms had taken place so far and in practice the regiment remained almost entirely as before, right down to the old Rhodesian uniforms and insignia. At the end of January 1981, McKenna had about 500 men (including officers), and a troop of four Eland 90 armoured cars, formerly of the Rhodesian Armoured Corps, under Sergeant Stephen "Skippy" Devine, an Australian veteran of the Rhodesian Light Infantry.[1]

Amid the rising tensions in Zimbabwe, Shute and McKenna identified Entumbane, the township on the western outskirts of Bulawayo where the November 1980 clashes had started, as a likely flashpoint. There ZANLA and ZIPRA had camps directly next to each other, each with about 1,500 guerrillas. In late January 1981, McKenna set up an operational headquarters in a beer hall overlooking the two guerrilla camps; this building, surrounded by six-foot walls, was dubbed "the Alamo" at the suggestion of Lieutenant F W "Chomps" Fleetwood, an American officer in A Company, 1RAR. Worried that a new Entumbane clash would prompt the ZIPRA forces at Gwaai River Mine and Essexvale to join the fray, McKenna set up a string of observation posts on each of the roads leading towards Bulawayo.[1]

On 8 February, ZANLA cadres at Connemara Barracks in Gwelo surprised their ZIPRA counterparts, killed over 60 of them and forced the rest to flee into the bush. When the ZIPRA portion of the 13th Infantry Battalion, based at Glenville Camp near Entumbane, learned of this later in the day, it waited until its instructors from the British Army left in the evening, then attacked its ZANLA comrades, killing 12 of them and scattering the rest. Charged with restoring order, McKenna sent Devine's armoured cars and D Company, 1RAR, commanded by the American Lieutenant Dave Hill, to Glenville. Arriving late in the evening, the Elands drove into the camp and flattened the ZIPRA tents, killing many of the occupants and clearing the way for Hill's troops. Taken totally by surprise, the ZIPRA troops put up little resistance; 40 were killed and many more captured, including two officers, Captains Mpofu and Dlamini.[1] On the morning of 9 February, the British instructors were bewildered to find the ZANLA half of their unit gone, and the remaining ZIPRA men squatting in rows in 1RAR captivity. "What happened?" asked the British sergeant. "I am afraid that while you were away, your battalion fell apart," replied McKenna.[25]

ZIPRA personnel in Bulawayo used civilian vehicles to smuggle weapons and equipment, including mortars, into their Entumbane camp over the next few days. C Company, 1RAR, comprising 96 men under Major Lionel Dyck (including a detachment from Support Company) and eight armoured vehicles, noticed this while they were garrisoning the Alamo on 11 February. The major reported to Brigade headquarters that the number of ZIPRA troops at Entumbane appeared to have swelled considerably, and that the chain link fence surrounding the camp had been taken down. Superiors ordered him not to intervene. Anticipating an imminent attack, Dyck used a silenced rifle to shoot out the floodlights surrounding the Alamo, lined up his vehicles against the surrounding walls so his men could stand on them while defending, and ranged mortars on a variety of targets in the ZIPRA complex.[26]

1RAR troops atop Mine Protected Combat Vehicle (MPCV) vehicles before Entumbane

Soon after fighting broke out between ZANLA and ZIPRA members of a recently integrated Zimbabwe National Army battalion at Ntabazinduna, just north-east of Bulawayo,[27] the two guerrilla camps at Entumbane began exchanging rifle, machine gun and mortar fire at about 20:00 (CAT) on 11 February. Dyck, at the Alamo, reported that both sides were also attacking his position. He radioed Brigade HQ for instructions and was told to pull out; he replied that this was impossible as he was surrounded. At Shute's orders, McKenna mobilised the rest of the battalion at an airfield near Brady Barracks within an hour. Meanwhile, a detachment of ZIPRA armoured vehicles left Essexvale for Bulawayo, and was spotted on the road by one of McKenna's observation posts. Devine was sent with his Elands to intercept them, supported by 12 1RAR men under Major Tony Husher. At an intersection on the outskirts of the city, Devine encountered a ZIPRA BTR-152 APC and hit it with one high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) round, killing all 20 combatants inside. McKenna then told Devine to advance to the city limits, where he and Husher set up an ambush on the road. Husher's men shot out all nearby overhead street lights, and some of them went to scout ahead; Devine positioned two of his Elands on each of the two lanes of the road under cover of darkness.[28]

Meanwhile, at Entumbane, the ZIPRA fighters overran the ZANLA camp, killing many and forcing the rest to flee.[29] Sporadic fighting between ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas spread into Bulawayo itself, continuing through the night and into the morning.[20] About 700 ZIPRA combatants continued to attack C Company's position at the Alamo, putting it under constant machine gun and mortar fire. Pocketed, Dyck responded in kind. About 02:00 (CAT) on 12 February, a ZIPRA guerrilla with an RPD machine gun took up a position in a house to the Alamo's south-east and "became a nuisance", as the major put it; he and Sergeant Vini Hlatshwayo went out with an RPG-7 rocket launcher and fired at the corner of the house, bringing it down on the gunner and killing him.[29]

On the road, two ZIPRA BTR-152s from Essexvale advanced towards Bulawayo, firing indiscriminately in all directions, and were spotted by Devine around 01:30 (CAT). The Elands waited in the darkness until the ZIPRA vehicles were about 200 metres (660 ft) away, then fired. Both APCs were directly hit and most of the men inside killed; the survivors ran off into the night. Fleetwood then arrived at the head of a 1RAR platoon to support Devine and Husher. Around the same time, men of A Company, 1RAR captured a ZIPRA commander who was trying to enter Bulawayo through a back road in a Peugeot station wagon, and 3 Platoon, A Company captured six ZIPRA officers driving into town on the Essexvale Road in a Toyota Land Cruiser. McKenna ordered Hill and D Company to help Dyck by taking up a position between the city and Entumbane. A group of ZIPRA unsuccessfully attacked D Company as it moved west to high ground at Lurkers' Ridge, just south-east of the Alamo. B Company, meanwhile, took up positions on the railway line just north-east of Lurkers' Ridge. McKenna told Dyck over the radio that reinforcements would come and to "hang in there".[29]

By about 05:00 (CAT), Dyck's ammunition supplies were running low, and the ZIPRA attackers had hit the Alamo a number of times with RPG fire. Nobody inside was killed by these rockets, but when Dyck's dog was wounded, the major flew into a rage and ordered his men to pour more aggressive machine gun fire on the advancing ZIPRA combatants. He requested air support from Brigade HQ in the form of a Lynx light bomber. The air force turned down the request, but Flight Lieutenant Colin James took off anyway in his Lynx armed with an FN MAG machine gun and SNEB rockets. The ZIPRA cadres concentrated a huge amount of fire on James' aircraft, and hit it several times, but failed to shoot it down; the pilot put in a number of ground attacks before returning to base. He reported afterwards that a bullet had entered through the floor of his cockpit and hit his helmet. The 1RAR officers and men expressed great admiration for James's bravery during this air strike, but his air force superiors were furious that he had gone into the operational area against orders.[30]

A National Army relief column including the detachments under Husher, Fleetwood and Devine assembled at Lurkers' Ridge during the morning of 12 February. Under the command of Captain Tony Clark, it flanked through the townships south of the Alamo, engaging ZIPRA guerrillas along the way, then turned north to relieve Dyck. The Elands led the way, with Devine himself standing upright in the turret of one of them with a machine gun. At one point this was shot out of his hands, prompting him to briefly stop the advance so he could jump down into the street to collect it. By the time the relief column reached the Alamo at 13:00 (CAT), C Company had been pocketed for 16 hours. Four wounded 1RAR soldiers were evacuated, and Dyck left the building to point out targets for Devine's armoured cars. During the afternoon, A Company relieved D Company at Lurker's Ridge, and the ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas withdrew into the townships and the surrounding country, sporadically exchanging fire. Devine was sent to Essexvale to engage the rest of ZIPRA's armoured battle group, which surrendered when he arrived; the T-34 tanks were later found by the Zimbabwe National Army to be nonfunctional. By the evening of 12 February, the rebellion was over.[30]

Hundreds of people died in the uprising. The official count released at the time was 260,[6] but historians place the number higher; Martin Meredith records "more than 300" dead,[3] while Alexandre Binda writes that the Zimbabwe National Army units alone killed over 400 guerrillas.[6] The Zimbabwe National Army reported no fatal casualties.[6] Hill and Husher were each awarded the Bronze Cross of Zimbabwe for their part in putting down the rebellion, while Dyck received the Silver Cross.[31] In his history of the Rhodesian African Rifles, Binda describes Entumbane as the regiment's greatest victory, commenting that it was won "by dint of professionalism, discipline and determination" in the face of forces that were far larger numerically.[1] Major Michael P Stewart of the United States Army writes that 1RAR's actions at Entumbane "saved Mugabe's Government from certain civil war", and provided the "final blow to the military might of ZIPRA".[32] A number of analysts comment on the irony that Mugabe and ZANU–PF, who had spent years fighting white rule and the Rhodesian forces during the 1970s, were secured in power barely a year after the Bush War's end by ex-Rhodesian troops under white command.[1][20] Binda furthermore highlights the irony that the RAR's finest hour (in his view) came while fighting for Mugabe.[1]

Joshua Nkomo, ZAPU's leader, in 1978

Mugabe said that undisciplined ZIPRA guerrillas had instigated the uprising; he called them "disloyal, misguided and politically motivated armed hooligans and political malcontents" and said that according to information before him their ultimate goal had been to topple his government.[33] He told parliament that there had been a "definite organised pattern" amid the ZIPRA groups that had rebelled.[20] Local ZIPRA commanders claimed ZANLA had started the fighting, while Nkomo and the mayor of Bulawayo blamed Nkala's inflammatory speech and similar statements from other ZANU–PF politicians.[33] A month after the uprising, ZANU–PF set up a commission tasked with investigating the "mutinous disturbances" at Entumbane and in the integrated battalions at Ntabazinduna, Glenville and Connemara. This body reported to Mugabe in June 1981, but its findings have never been made public. According to the historian Norma Kriger, it blamed both ZANU–PF and ZAPU and therefore "fell short of Government expectations".[33]

Abiodun Alao of King's College London marks the Entumbane episode as the start of the Zimbabwe National Army's politicisation.[34] The ex-Rhodesians' enthusiasm and success during the battle, coupled with Mugabe's readiness to deploy them, convinced many in ZAPU that ZANU–PF and the white community had united against them,[35] and intensified ZAPU opposition to the government.[33] ZIPRA guerrillas deserted from the assembly points and the National Army en masse following the rebellion's failure, fearing for their safety.[6] Mugabe's sense of resolve regarding his political rivals was greatly strengthened, meanwhile; Entumbane satisfied him that white army officers and airmen could be counted on in future conflicts with ZAPU.[36] The Entumbane engagement was the RAR's last—its companies were allocated to other 1 Brigade units later in 1981 during the military reform process[22]—but a number of its white officers subsequently led units of the Zimbabwean special forces during the 1980s. Dyck, for example, headed the 1st Parachute Battalion.[37]

The Mugabe administration promptly decided to reduce the future army's size by about 30,000 and to disarm and demobilise all ZANLA and ZIPRA personnel who had not yet been integrated, thereby breaking the promise of a place in the army for every guerrilla.[38] After ZIPRA commander Dumiso Dabengwa refused to give the disarming order at Entumbane, Nkomo oversaw a parade of the camp and gave the command to disarm himself, doing so "for the sake of peace", in Kriger's words, despite his own opposition to the idea.[39] Mugabe publicly announced his deal with North Korea in August 1981, and 106 North Korean instructors arrived the same month. Nkomo accused the Prime Minister of creating "a special partisan army divorced from the national army" for the "possible imposition of a one-party state".[3] In February 1982, Mugabe announced that huge arms caches had been discovered on ZAPU-owned properties and that this was evidence of a planned ZAPU coup. He likened Nkomo's presence in the government to "a cobra in the house" and promptly fired him, concurrently arresting ZIPRA leaders and seizing ZAPU property.[40]

The new North Korean-trained unit, dubbed 5 Brigade, passed out in December 1982, and was deployed by Mugabe to Matabeleland, where it remained for the next five years. In what became known as Gukurahundi, it perpetrated a number of brutal massacres and atrocities against civilians in Matabeleland accused of supporting "dissidents", far exceeding anything that had occurred during the Bush War.[41][42] Estimates for the number of deaths range from 10,000 to 30,000.[42] The campaign officially ended in December 1987 when Mugabe and Nkomo signed a unity accord merging ZAPU into ZANU–PF with the stated goal of a one-party state.[43]