The Rhodesian government actively recruited white personnel from other countries from the mid-1970s until 1980 to address manpower shortages in the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War. It is estimated that between 800 and 2,000 foreign volunteers enlisted. The issue attracted a degree of controversy as Rhodesia was the subject of international sanctions that banned military assistance due to its illegal declaration of independence and the control that the small white minority exerted over the country. The volunteers were often labelled as mercenaries by opponents of the Rhodesian regime, though the Rhodesian government did not regard or pay them as such.
The volunteers had a range of motivations for enlisting. These included anti-communism, racism, economic hardship, opposition to governments led by black people and a desire for adventure. The volunteers generally joined the Rhodesian Security Forces after seeing advertisements or being contacted by recruiters. Many were from the United Kingdom and United States, some being combat veterans. A small number were black men from other African countries. They generally served alongside Rhodesian personnel, though a separate unit made up of Frenchmen was formed. The Rhodesian government regarded the volunteers as unreliable, and they often received a hostile response from members of the units to which they were posted. This contributed to high desertion rates. The remaining volunteers were dismissed from the security forces in 1980 following the end of the war and Rhodesia's transition to Zimbabwe.
It was illegal for the citizens of many countries to serve with the Rhodesian Security Forces due to the international sanctions that had been imposed on Rhodesia following its illegal declaration of independence, or broader prohibitions against mercenary activity. The governments of the United Kingdom, United States and several other countries were unable to prevent their citizens fighting for Rhodesia owing to difficulties enforcing their relevant laws. The African nationalist groups who opposed the Rhodesian government believed the presence of volunteers indicated that Western governments supported the regime. Historians have published little on the volunteers, with coverage largely forming part of works on broader issues. The volunteers are celebrated by some modern far-right and white supremacist groups that admire Rhodesia.
Background Political situation
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British colony located in southern Africa that had been founded by the British South Africa Company in 1890 and achieved self-government in 1923. Its economy and government were controlled by the small white minority of its population. The white minority enjoyed a good standard of living due to cheap labour provided by the black majority; in 1970 the average income of white Rhodesians was R$3,104 and black Rhodesians R$312.
Between 1953 and 1963, Southern Rhodesia was federated with the British colonies of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland as the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Southern Rhodesia dominated the federation due to its relatively large white population and more sophisticated economy, but was unable to prevent the British government from dissolving the federation in 1963 due to the growth of African nationalist movements in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Both of these colonies achieved independence (as Zambia and Malawi respectively) with governments drawn from their black majority populations the next year.
From 1962 the Southern Rhodesian government was led by the Rhodesian Front political party, with Ian Smith serving as prime minister from 1964 until 1979. This party was deeply committed to maintaining the white minority's privileged status, and this motivated a decision to declare independence from the United Kingdom rather than submit to a transition to majority rule. Accordingly, the government issued Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom in November 1965, and the colony became Rhodesia. UDI was illegal under British law, and was regarded as such by almost all other countries and the United Nations. Britain and the United Nations Security Council imposed wide-ranging trade and other sanctions on Rhodesia with the objective of forcing it to return to its previous status. The scope of these sanctions was increased over time, and included prohibitions on support for the Rhodesian military. No country ever officially recognised Rhodesia's independence. South Africa and Portugal provided Rhodesia with assistance, and it was able to evade the sanctions and covertly trade with many countries. As a result, the Rhodesian economy grew strongly until at least 1974 and the government was able to import military equipment from several countries.
The Rhodesian Front's ideology held that the decolonisation of Africa and the development of African nationalism during the 1950s and 1960s had been the result of international communism aided by a policy of appeasement towards African nationalists by the United Kingdom and other Western countries. The party believed that Rhodesia needed to take a stand against the perceived communist threat to protect Western civilisation in Africa. The academic Michael Evans wrote in 2007 that "the Front's world-struggle ideology was based on a conspiratorial interpretation of modern politics that emphasised virulent forms of Anglophobia, anti-communism, anti-internationalism, and anti-liberalism". He also noted that the party drew on the ideas and language used by the contemporary radical right movement in the United States to justify UDI. The historian Donal Lowry endorsed Evans' views in 2007, noting also that "the Rhodesia Front sought to combine the notion that Rhodesia embodied the best of true Britishness, the notion that white Rhodesians were 'the sort of people who once made the "Great" of Britain', while turning to America as the only remaining champion of the 'Free World'". It took pains to not be seen as racially or politically extreme, and the party's rhetoric was focused on the need to combat the perceived communist threat rather than the goal of sustaining racial superiority.
Attracting white migrants was a key priority for the Southern Rhodesian and later Rhodesian governments from 1945 onwards. Maintaining a large flow of migrants was considered necessary to sustain the white minority's confidence in the future of Rhodesia, given the challenges the regime faced from African nationalism. The number of white people in Southern Rhodesia increased from 82,000 in 1946 to 250,000 in 1965 due almost entirely to immigration from mainly English-speaking countries. As a result, and unlike neighbouring South Africa whose white minority were mainly Afrikaners, white Southern Rhodesians predominately spoke English and their culture was similar to that of other English-speaking countries. The white population was always less than 5 per cent of Rhodesia's total population. Few of the white migrants to Rhodesia intended to settle permanently, with there being high rates of both immigration into and emigration from Rhodesia during most years of the country's existence. This meant that many members of the white population did not have strong feelings of loyalty towards Rhodesia as they had migrated there intending to take up specific opportunities before moving to another country.
Rhodesian Bush War UDI and Rhodesia's racial inequalities led to the Rhodesian Bush War. The resistance to the Rhodesian regime was dominated by two African nationalist movements, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). The ZANU was supported by China and the ZAPU by the Soviet Union, both of which were communist countries. The two movements espoused Marxist beliefs and were regarded as communists by the Rhodesian government. However, they and their guerrilla armies were motivated mainly by nationalism and a desire to end racially discriminatory practices through establishing majority rule in Rhodesia.
Guerrilla activities began in 1966, and mainly involved small groups operating in northern areas of Rhodesia. Until the early 1970s the Rhodesian Security Forces initially had little difficulty defeating the guerrillas. However Rhodesia's security situation deteriorated during the mid-1970s when the nationalists were able to establish bases in neighbouring Mozambique as Portuguese rule there faltered and finally ended in 1975. This led to a rapid growth in the insurgency which the security forces were unable to contain. The Rhodesians' counterinsurgency tactics involved coercing the black population, including through arbitrary arrests and the use of military force against civilians, rather than "winning their hearts and minds". This approach proved counter-productive, and increased support for the nationalists. The Rhodesian government agreed to an Internal Settlement with pro-Western African nationalist groups in March 1978; this led to the country being renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia and the election of a government led by Bishop Abel Muzorewa's United African National Council in 1979 and other reforms. The Rhodesian Front continued to have a decisive influence on the government, and the war continued as the ZANU and ZAPU rejected the Internal Settlement. By mid-1979 the Zimbabwe Rhodesia government was facing defeat, and the war was costing 2,000 lives each month. The economy was shrinking, but not in danger of collapse, and South Africa was providing assistance worth at least 50 per cent of the Rhodesian defence budget. International pressure and a desire by all parties to end the fighting led to the Lancaster House Agreement, which was signed in December 1979. Under the terms of this agreement Rhodesia transitioned to majority rule and became independent as Zimbabwe in 1980.
There was considerable sympathy for Rhodesia and its war effort among conservatives in Western countries, and especially those who believed in white supremacy. These conservatives often saw UDI as a brave rebellion that sought to hold back what they saw as the harmful effects of rule by black people. The Rhodesian government's racial policies were perceived by many Western conservatives to be a form of well-meaning paternalism and meritocracy, and considered more acceptable than the apartheid system in South Africa. The cultural similarities between white Rhodesians and the citizens of other Anglosphere countries helped win support for the Rhodesian cause in countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom and United States, Rhodesia being seen as more akin to the West than South Africa. Rhodesia also attracted support from anti-communists, including many who were opposed to white supremacy. As the military situation for Rhodesia worsened over the 1970s, many believers in white supremacy in the West saw the white Rhodesians as martyrs.
Rhodesian Security Forces
The Rhodesian Security Forces were considerably expanded during the war. At the time of UDI, the Rhodesian Army had a strength of over 18,400, including 15,000 reservists, the Rhodesian Air Force had a small but modern fleet of combat aircraft and the paramilitary British South Africa Police (BSAP) included 7,000 full-time and 25,000 reserve personnel. The way in which the Army structured its branches into administrative corps was similar to that of the British Army, and many of its officers had received training in the United Kingdom. As the war continued, more army and police units were raised. In April 1979, 60,000 members of the military and police were on active duty to protect that month's Rhodesian general election.