scot47

I am old enough to remember UDI in 1965. I was a student in Edinburgh at the time but at a later date I witnessed the whole sad story of "The Chimurenaga" and decolonisation from the vantage point of Zambia, on the other side of the Great River. What tragedies were played out there on both sides. I salute those on all sides who suffered and died. To what end ? Who remebers now Chirepo, Flower and Tongogara ? Or the countless unnamed innocents of all races who died ?

Thairetired2016

I remember those days. I had just applied for an immigration permit to S.Africa where I stayed until 1978.

scot47

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimurenga

I was in Zambia and never entered Smithie's Rhodesia. As a Zambian civil servant I needed special permission from The Officed of The President to do that (ie The Secret Police). While in Zambia I came across some people who were definitely working for Ken Flower, the Duke of Montrose and the rest of that doomed band.

Of course no one wants to hear the rambim
ng tales of an old traveller. I just wear my albatross and hope for the best.
.

Thairetired2016

I never lived in Rhodesia but often visited a friend. My friend's father had interesting stories to tell from his days as airline pilot when a flight from Salisbury to London took 3 days. Every male in this large family fought in the bush war against the rebels. It was a tough time for Rhodesia. Eventually I moved from Jo'burg to Lagos. Visiting became more difficult. We flew from Lagos to Nairobi, from there to Johannesburg and on to Salisbury. My last trip on this roundabout route was a day before Lancaster House agreement was signed and Mad Bob took over.
I'm lucky, I can share these memories with my husband. He had emigrated to S.Africa around the same time. We met years later in Libya. Since I was a more adventurous traveller I have more stories to tell.
Zambia at the time was a no-go country. I later had a German colleague in Libya who had owned a farm in Zambia. He received 10 $/year for it from the Zambian govt. Whether it was later returned to him I don't know.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to live and work on different continents.

scot47

I spent 5 years in rural Zambia while the War was going on in Rhodesia. I did not experience any problems and very little hostility. Not sure why Thai describes it as a "no-go area". . Perhaps for Rhodesians ?

Thairetired2016

I had several colleagues in S.A. who had to leave everything behind in Zambia. They were white S.Africans. From what they told me there was plenty hostility. Zambia supported the "freedom struggle" in Rhodesia. Zambia in thopse days was not a place people were encouraged to travel to.
I visited Lusaka in 2005.

scot47

There was a hot war. The Chimurenga or "Bush War" was not a tea party. I was in Zambia when Lusaka and some military camps were attacked by Rhodesian Airborne Troops. Despite that, I was treated very graciously by Zambian officials, colleagues and students.

scot47

Zambia and its people were hostile to the UDI Regime and to the White Supremacist Regime in Pretoria. History moves on.Mayibuye i Africa !

MartynK

My mother was South African, but my parents were living in the UK when I was born. She took me home to visit her family twice, once when I was a baby and again a few years later, when I must have been about 6 or 7. I was still too young to remember very much about the trip, but I have some memories of the ship (Union Castle mail ship), the long train journey from Durban to Salisbury where my aunt was living, and Vic Falls. I found a lot of photographs after my mother died, and some of those were taken on that trip and show us together at the falls and Rhodes grave in the Matopos. I was 12 when Ian Smith declared UDI, and I remember that very well. My mother fully supported him, but my father wasn't so sure! Anyway, my aunt sent me a Rhodesian First Day cover with the new stamp, which I still have.

Jump forward a few years to the 1970s. I was in Hong Kong, and I got a letter from an old girlfriend from my days at Edinburgh University, which was completely unexpected. We'd had no contact for several years, she didn't know I was overseas, and she sent it to my old address in the UK. It got there just a few weeks before my parents left the UK and moved to Durban. This has some significance, if you have the patience to read on.

We wrote to each other for a year or so, and she mentioned going to Salisbury to visit her own aunt, who had emigrated long before this. I was planning to go to Durban to see my parents in any case, and we decided to meet. We met in Salisbury in 1976, spent ten days together and decided to get married. The wedding was six months later, which was just over 42 years, two children and three grandchildren ago. There must have been something magic about Rhodesia in those days...

I've been back to Zimbabwe a couple of times since then, in 2010, to Harare and Bulawayo. The people were as I remembered, friendly and welcoming. A wonderful country, ruined by its political leadership.

scot47

The settlers in Rhodesia should have listened to Winston Field and Roy Welensky. Instead they went with Smith and the Duke of Montrose.