Indeed there were some interesting vehicles in Rhodesia. A friend of mine
locally in Pitt Meadows, BC was born in Rhodesia and became a Sgt. there
during the fighting.
They found with armoured vehicles that enemy would fire an RPG rocket into
rear armour plate of an armoured truck and take out a row of guys inside who
were manning the sides. They had to put in cubicle walls to partition the
inside to reduce the hazard.
The enemy were nicknamed "floppies", because when you shot then, the flopped
down dead.
The Rhodesian forces became very professional and practical from the sound
of things. Field experience was quickly adapted -- less bureaucracy to deal
with?
There is a good article in French about the Rhodesian vehicles in an old
issue of VEHICLE MILITAIRES of FIRE! (which replaced it) which I have tucked
away. There should also be something in back issues of SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
magazine etc. At least two other vets that I know of the Rhodesian fighting
live in the Vancouver BC area.
Interestingly, although my Ford GPA USA 7012118 never made it over there as
planned, the owner, a former British paratrooper from WWII did, and his GPA
came to me with his 1970 Rhodesian Driver's Licence and a document denying
him entry to the country in 1969 (as well as many other photos and
documents).
Colin Macgregor Stevens
**** My e-mail system lost 34 messages 2001 July 28, and another 20 or so on
Aug 1/2.. If you wrote then and have had no reply, please send again. ****
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS to try to avoid lost messages: seaforth72@hotmail.com
Can still reach me at old one: colin@pacdat.net
MVPA Member 954 (since 1977)
Editor: "Maple Leaf Up!" newsletter & Webmaster
of Western Command Military Vehicle Historical Society
(Established 1977) http://www.westerncommand.com
Pitt Meadows (East of Vancouver but not beyond Hope)
British Columbia, CANADA
Owner of:
1944 Willys MB jeep (ex-Norway)
http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net/colin_stevens'_1944_willys_mb_photos.htm
1942 BSA airborne bicycle
http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net/bsa_airborne_bicycles_(aka_parabike).htm
1943 Ford GPA amphibious jeep http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net/gpa.htm
Personal web site: http://bcoy1cpb.pacdat.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "William R. Benson" <Benson@eqe.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 5:27 PM
Subject: [MV] Here's a twist out of the blue...
>
>
> How about some information on the vehicles used by the (former) Rhodesian
Forces
> and the rest of the lads who were on the move from about 1960 to 1981?
>
> Apparently there were some rather interesting constructs on the roads back
then.
>
> Bill
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Sep 02 2001 - 11:15:38 PDT