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Steely-eyed Killers
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19.01.2022 No 1 (Hunter) Squadron, RRAF
17.01.2022 How we'll all look when stuff gets back to normal. We'll tear up the days in short-shorts, vellies and cunt caps. We'll try to help you all do the same with mor...e Rhodesian Brushstroke offerings! Have a great Saturday.... or is it Sunday? Maybe Monday? We've lost track of the days. PHOTO: Members of 11 Troop, 3 Commando, Rhodesian Light Infantry, circa. 1973. Prior to the official ban on short-shorts, you could see the pasty legs of an RLI troopie for miles.
15.01.2022 No ! Squadron, Royal Rhodesian Air Force, 1970. L>R - Rob Robert Dayton, Rikki Culpan, Ed Potteron, Alastair Bruce, Nobby Nightingale, DAG - David Jones, Hon Mi...nister of Defence Jack Howman, OC 1 Sqn Squadron Leader Roy Morris, Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Archie Wilson and yours truly Prop Geldenhuys See more
09.01.2022 Like many thousands of black Africans, Edward Piringondo enlisted in the Rhodesian Army to stop the scourge of communism being imported into his homeland. He en...listed in the Rhodesian African Rifles. A good friend of Fireforce Ventures who we’ll call Madala for opsec reasons attested into the army with him the same day, and vividly recalls the determination he showed as a junior soldier. It was no surprise that they quickly volunteered to Ron Reid-Daly’s newly devised Selous Scouts in 1973. He completed Selous Scouts selection, and quickly began his legendary pseudo-ops career. He adopted the nom de guerre Ringo, grew out his beard, keeping his fingernails long, never bathed and sported earrings. He looked and smelled pretty convincing as far as fake terrorists went. He often went out alone on long range reconnaissance missions, and regularly waltzed right into the camps of hapless terrorists. Piringondo notably distinguished himself Operation Murex, when he infiltrated a terrorist ZIPRA Brigade in the Kabanga Mission area in November 1979. He found himself sneaking into Zambia, impersonating at enemy he was completely surrounded by. At extraordinary risk to himself, he undertook an extensive solo surveillance of the large enemy force and kept nerves of steel as he drew suspicious gazes and the occasional questions about his activities. Amazingly, he was able spend 5 full days behind enemy lines and report back to Rhodesian forces. Acting on Piringondo’s intel, a joint strike unit from the 1st Battalion, Rhodesian African Rifles and Selous Scout operators assaulted the terrorist base as ZIPRA insurgents cleaned their weapons at mid-day. The operation went off like clockwork, with 35 ZIPRA insurgents killed and many more wounded or routed. Due to his the critical intel Piringondo had provided, the Rhodesians only lost one man. For his exceptional courage over multiple operations including Op Murex, Piringondo would become one of the first black Africans commissioned into the Rhodesian Army, and was presented with the Silver Cross of Rhodesia. In his citation, he had personally accounted for at least 14 enemy kills and 8 captures during the course of his solo missions. He was also nominated for the Grand Cross of Valour, which would have made him Rhodesia’s most decorated soldier. Sadly, the Selous Scouts would disband shortly he was commended for his operational prowess, and he was re-mustered into the temporarily formed Holding Unit (HU), Rhodesian African Rifles. On 13 February 1980, he and another former Selous Scout, Corporal Morgan Moyo parked their car outside St. Mary’s Anglican Church in a Harare township. A bomb inside their vehicle exploded, killing them both instantly. The next day, Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. The circumstances of his death will always remain a subject of murky conjecture, as he and Moyo are both recorded as being Killed On Active Service in an Accidental Explosion. Whether he was on a final internal op, assisting in the Op Quartz efforts, or himself a victim of an assassin will never be known. The bitter truth is that Rhodesia became history the day after he died. However, the memory of Piringondo will never be forgotten in the hearts of his two living children in Zambia and Capetown. He is not forgotten by us here at Fireforce Ventures either, Rest in Peace Lieutenant Piringondo SCR.
