World Orders and Decorations
Lameck Chiyaka was probably born in the early 1950s In the Fort Victoria region. He enlisted in the regular Rhodesian African Rifles in 1970, after a period of prior service with the security forces (hence his regimental number changed from R44718 to 644718). Available records suggest that from 4 January 1971 Chiyaka was part of the Army Combat Tracker Wing, which at that time was a sub-unit of the School of Infantry. Having been appointed a young Lance-Corporal, in 1973 Chiyaka volunteered for operational tracking duties in the north-eastern border area (Operation Hurricane).
Service in the Experimental Teams – “First class material, in fact, second to none”
In December 1972, the Rhodesian security forces were faced with new tactics adopted by the Chinese-sponsored ZANLA/ ZAPU insurgents. After carrying out their attacks, the terrorists no longer went to ground in bush camps in either uninhabited areas (the Rhodesians had become expert at tracking them and destroying them in their camps) or villages and towns (where Special Branch informers would indicate their presence). There was nothing for the security forces to go on - no tracks and no information. It was clear that the insurgents had learnt Mao’s lessons and had indoctrinated and merged with the local African population, none of whom were willing to provide information.
Experienced and realistic Special Branch officers were keen to experiment with the use of pseudo teams (friendly forces disguised as and pretending to be insurgents). Brigadier Hickman, the commander of Joint Operations Centre Hurricane, was an enthusiastic supporter. Three teams were set up by the army and another by the Special Branch, combining security force personnel with insurgent captives who had changed sides. The Special Branch had several captured terrorists who had been ‘turned’ by a standard, simple and quick method: the capture was treated well in respect of being fed and his wounds treated, and was interviewed to determine if he could prove useful if he indeed changed sides. If the conclusion was positive, he was told that he had two options. One was to processed by the police, who would prosecute him for offences under the provision of the Law and Order (Maintenance) Act which would result in being hanged; the other was to change sides and work against his former comrades. If, after a short period of intense contemplation, the capture decided to change sides, he was immediately given back his weapon, which astonished and bemused him (the firing pin had been secretly removed). Henceforth he would be kept out of sight, as a secret withheld from both the rest of Special Branch and from the military. He would be paid a bounty and a generous salary through non-accountable Special Branch funds. Then the pseudo teams had to make a difficult decision. Could they trust the ex-insurgent or not? It meant putting their lives into the hands of a former enemy who might turn a second time and betray them. The record shows that they rarely made an error of trust.
Initially, the experimental teams generated a lot of intelligence from the African population but no contacts with actual terrorists. On 31 August 1973 the first contact resulting in multiple kills occurred. Thousands more were to follow. As a result of the teams’ successes, it was decided to form the Selous Scouts Regiment, whose mission was the clandestine elimination of terrorists both inside and beyond the borders of Rhodesia. As cover, word was put around that it was a unit of elite combat trackers. In truth, it impersonated terrorists and deployed turned insurgents (administered and looked after by a small number of Special Branch members, whose task was kept secret from the rest of Special Branch, the police, the army and, above all, the press). Command of the Scouts was entrusted to Major Ron Reid-Daly, a talented leader who had risen through the ranks from trooper to regimental sergeant major to commissioned officer and was capable of considerable innovation and lateral thinking. However, he had never commanded African soldiers, and after almost ten years of Bush War, the Rhodesian African Rifles were never able to match the results in insurgent kills achieved by the all-white units of the regular army.
In his book Pamwe Chete The Legend of the Selous Scouts, which is the source of the abridged quotations in this note, Reid-Daly relates how he met with the two surviving leaders of the most successful experimental teams: “I told both men that a complete regiment was about to be formed as a result of their experimental work, using the pseudo concept. Their success had proved that we were on the right track. Both were absolutely delighted to hear the news. I then outlined my plans for the recruitment and training of the new regiment, and in passing expressed extreme disappointment at the [bad-mouthing gossip that was circulating in the army about the poor performance of the soldiers of the Rhodesian African Rifles.] To my absolute astonishment both Stretch Franklin and Basil Moss immediately jumped to the defence of the Rhodesian African Rifles soldiers, expressing surprise and anger. ‘Sure there had been a few misfits and old soldiers from the Rhodesian African Rifles who’d thought they were transferring to a cushy number. We soon weeded them out and now we have nothing left but first-class material, in fact, second to none,’ said Stretch Franklin. ‘I don’t know where you got that bull from, sir,’ said Basil Moss, ’but all I can say is that I have been very proud to share a roof with them.’… It was bought home to me time and again that the qualities of a soldier have nothing to do with the colour of his skin, but rather the man himself, his training and above all the leadership provided to him.”
A ‘Celebrity Appearance’ during the Selous Scouts Selection Course
Reid-Daly introduced the first of his many innovations, a two-part course designed to select and train complete 30-man Troops (including 25 Africans) from well over 160 volunteers, through an exceptionally hard programme of physical training, marksmanship, bush-craft and tracking. “The catalyst would be the selection course, and on that course colour, rank and racial differences would count for nought. The abilities of each individual person would be proved beyond doubt by an arduous and demanding selection course. This thereafter would be the criterion by which each man who passed would regard his fellow Selous Scouts… By the end of the selection course’s first week we were down to about half of those who had volunteered… The basic course ended with a final four- day endurance exercise. We ensured that they were subjected to a maximum amount of physical exertion, while allowing them little food or sleep… The time had now arrived for the African element on the course to be apprised of the true nature of the regiment’s task and get the final phase of their selection course under way. Stretch Franklin, Basil Moss, Corporals Martin Chikondo, Lameck Chiyaka and two tame ZANLA insurgents had meanwhile arrived, as scheduled, but were kept out of sight. For me this was the moment of truth. At this stage we simply could not afford anyone backing out and, once back with his unit, spreading the news as to what our true role was…”
Reid-Daly told those who had passed Phase One: “You will not become, as you had believed, the Army trackers. Instead, we are going to turn you into insurgents. You are going to be far better freedom fighters than the real ones. You will have to be good because your lives will depend on just how good you are. You will pretend to be ZANLA or ZIPRA insurgents and infiltrate the population. You will infiltrate the circles of the insurgent sympathisers and form your own networks, and you will try to edge your way into the actual insurgent groups themselves.” There was a stunned silence and I called for Basil Moss and the others to come in. Basil Moss introduced the men with him [including Chiyaka] and then, in pure and fluent Shona, spoke to them at some length, spelling out the tasks relating to the experimental teams, telling of the teams’ experiences, their successes, their problems, and of those who had already died. I watched the faces of his audience. They were absolutely spellbound and I knew that in spite of all the obstructions put in my way by the Commanding Officer of the Rhodesian African Rifles, and some of the staff at Army Headquarters, the Selous Scouts had won the day... we were now in a position to have 2 Troop, the first of the Troops, operational by 2 January 1974…
“Being finally satisfied that everything was in hand and on schedule, I drove to [the selection and training base] and found the situation there highly satisfactory too. 2 Troop’s pseudo training was on the brink of completion and the instructors were well satisfied with the calibre of the men and the high standard of training achieved. Their view was that the new men should be deployed into the operational area with experienced men of the experimental teams in command positions. This would mean that the new men would not have to gain experience the hard way, with the very real risk of compromise and exposure. They would have experienced men to guide and lead them. I agreed with them despite my original intention of keeping most of the experimental teams together in 1 Troop.” Accordingly, Lameck Chiyaka was posted to be a Corporal in 2 Troop, effective 2 January 1974.
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