MASODJA

Alexandre Binda

Formed in 1916 as The Rhodesia Native Regiment, its Shona and Ndebele troops were blooded with honour in the East African campaign, pitted against the wily General von Lettow-Vorbeck and his German askaris. Disbanded in 1919, the regiment was re-formed in 1940 during World War II as The Rhodesian African Rifles, seeing action in Egypt and Burma. In the 1950s, the regiment distinguished itself further during the Malayan Emergency.

Includes the award-winning documentary DVD Frontline Rhodesia by Richard Cecil and Nick Downie. This is the first time this extraordinary documentary is available commercially.

One time Bonus CD: A digitally enhanced version of the vinyl record "The is the RAR", produced by the Band of the RAR in the 1970's, now offered to all who buy this book.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the regiment was at the forefront of hostilities in the bloody Rhodesian 'bush war'. In the specialist Fireforce role, heli - and para-borne, the soldiers of the RAR were to earn themselves a fearsome reputation as counter-insurgency fighters par excellence.

Ironically, it was after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, that the RAR's finest hour came, when, fighting for their erstwhile enemy, Robert Mugabe, the soldiers of the RAR defeated Joshua Nkomo's invading ZIPRA armies at the battles of Entumbane in Bulawayo.

The sadness and tragedy of it all was how the warriors of the RAR faded, almost unnoticed, into history ... Ndichakutengera sweet banana.

$109.95 + Shipping