318 commercial farmers, wives, sons and daughters were killed on their farms during the ‘Bush War’. They are honoured in this first section which covers from 1964 to April 1980.

 

Farmers that died while away from their farms on military service are included with details of where they fell.

 

The first victim was Andrew Oberholzer of Melsetter when driving home one evening in July 1964 after dropping off daughters at boarding school, then Babs and Johannes Viljoen of Gadzema were shot in their farm house in May 1966.

 

Mr R. Abbot, Odzi, 10/04/78.
Major Ernest Charles ‘Doomps/Damps’ Addams (aged 45), Hull Farm, Odzi, a Major in Territorial Service as OC ‘A’ Company, 4RR, was seconded to HQ 2 Bde and was serving with 1RAR in Madziwa TTL when Mabonzo, sniping from a tree, hit him in the stomach. Mabonzo was killed in the contact with ZANLA but Damps died after casevac to Bindura Hospital, 14/08/74. S Lunderstedt
Mr Leonard Ashby (aged 59), Mzingwane. Leonard retired after 30 years with the Rhodesia Railways and ran a farm store on a small ranch. He made a phone call around 5 p.m. after returning from the weekly visit to Balla Balla. Then, when checking up on the farm store with Marion his wife, terrorists had been waiting inside and they were both shot. Leonard died at the scene and the farmhand bravely hitch-hiked 20 km to Essexvale to raise the alarm. Marion recovered in Bulawayo Central Hospital from a gunshot wound.

Leonard had served with the Black Watch in WWII and was wounded in Tobruk. He lost two brothers in that war but was survived by three sisters, his wife, two sons, a daughter and seven grandchildren. 07/07/76. R Ashby, grandson and Bulawayo Chronicle.
Mr Jack Ashworth, Killridge Farm, Umtali, when returning from Umtali late that afternoon, the Datsun pick-up drove into a 10 member ZANLA ambush and was hit by RPG rocket and small arms fire. Jack and his wife, Evelyn, died instantly but their daughter, Ivy, who was in the back was wounded. 18/01/78. S Lunderstedt

Mrs Evelyn Ashworth, Killridge Farm, Umtali. 18/01/78
Mrs K. Backe-Hansen, Matetsi, 09/09/76.
Mr D. C. Bagnall, Headlands, 14/03/78.
Mr Donald Arthur Baker (aged 58). Had survived being shot down as bomber pilot over the sea in 1941 then was POW. Farmed in Virginia, Macheke, but died from wounds from a landmine blast during a follow-up on Police Reserve duty on Far Vista Farm, Mtoko, 18/08/79. S Lunderstedt
Mr Alexander ‘Alex’ Barclay (aged 39), manager of northern section, Liebigs Ranch, Gwanda/West Nicholson, gunned down in targeted ambush 4km from his homestead by large ZANLA gang while driving a Land Rover and accompanied by a consultant who was unscathed, 12/08/77. S Lunderstedt
Mr D. Barclay, Ayrshire, 07/12/77.
Mr Solomon Hertzhog “Sok” and “Sokkie” Barnard (aged 49), Honeykloof Farm, Cashel, ambushed in his Isuzu truck with his neighbour Jopie Coomans, about 6kms from their homes on a steep hill and both died instantly. Survived by his wife Daphne and family. 06/12/77. A Barnard and S Lunderstedt
Mr Ronald A. Barton, Melsetter, 06/04/77.
Mr David Patrick Bashford (aged 30), Karoi. Gwebi graduate, Course 17. Field Reservist, Police Reserve, BSAP killed on active service in a vehicle accident when a Land Rover struck a pantechnicon, 24/12/76.
Mr Peter Scott Bassett (aged 50), about to retire from Valhalla Farm, Rusape, he was ambushed on a neighbouring farm by a sniper as his routine had been monitored, 19/08/79. S Lunderstedt
Mr Arnold Bathhurst (aged 34), Karoi, Field Reservist, Police Reserve, BSAP killed on active service in a vehicle accident when a Land Rover struck a pantechnicon, 24/12/76.
Mr C. P. Beale, Nyamandhlovu, 27/06/79 .
Mr Arthur C. Beamish, Horseshoe Block, Sipolilo, murdered on his farm. Arthur was a Captain with 5^th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment. 02/11 /78.
Mr Raymond W. Beamish, Sipolilo, brother of Arthur who pre-deceased him, on call-up with Artillery was attending an Army course in Gwelo when deployed to a commotion at Gokwe Phumo re Vanhu where he was shot, 20/07/79.
Mr J. A. Bennett, Shamva, 23/12/78.
Mrs M. Bennett, Shamva, 23/12/78.
Minor Bennett, Shamva, 23/12/78.
Minor Bennett, Shamva, 23/12/78.
Mr Basil Gibbon Beverley (aged 68), Faversham Ranch, Chiredzi, after an overnight rocket and small arms fire attack on his homestead, Basil followed some ZANLA he had sighted early the next morning. He was killed instantly in gunfire when he walked into an ambush. His foreman, dip attendant and both domestic workers were viciously murdered. 26/12/1979.
Mr Piet J. Bezuidenhout, Bunabni Ranch, Nuanetsi, 14/02/78.
Mr Willie Bezuidenhout, Chipinga. “Oom Willie” was ambushed and killed when delivering milk to Chipinga, 20/12/78.
Mr Albany Charles ‘Charlie’ Bickle, Nyamandhlovu, was killed in a vehicle accident on the Bulawayo/Victoria Falls Road, 08/12/1977.  
Mr Kevin Howard Bicknell, farmer from Selous, during National Service with RAR, Kevin was shot and killed with another three on the rifle range by a soldier who fired on them when their rifles were stripped for cleaning, 10/04/78.
Mr I. D. Black, Odzi, 17/05/78.
Mr Dennis Doughty Bleasdale, working for Wattle Company, was killed with his wife when they detonated a landmine on their farm in Penhalonga at 07:00 on 21/10/79.
Mrs Patricia Bleasdale ,with Dennis on their farm, in Penhalonga, 21/10/79.
Mr H. Blignaut, Doma, 20/04/78.
Mr J. Blignaut, Ayrshire, 17/06/77.
Mr O. Bordini, Shamva, 31/07/78.
Mrs Elizabeth Fenna Johanna ‘Beb’ Botha (aged 41) of ‘Goeie Hoop’, Chipinga was killed by a landmine on the farm access road. Three daughters from a previous marriage were also killed – Marianne Irene Johanna Habing (14) and Bertie Louise Marina ‘Loubertie’ Habing (10) both instantly and Yvonne ‘Vonnie’ Habing (16) survived for 15 days. 06/06/78. Shirley Wicksted (16) survived but both her legs were amputated and Mr Louis Botha was relatively unscathed.
Mr Jochgan Frederick Botha (aged 55), employed at RNTC sawmills was shot as a passenger on his way home after work in a Tribal Trust Land 60 km from Victoria Falls by a lone gunman standing behind a tree, 26/07/1976. P Lunderstedt

Mrs S. Bother, Somabula, 18/07/79
Mr Peter Bouwer, killed by a ZIPRA gang on his farm in Tengwe leaving behind a wife and two sons, 13/07/78. S Lunderstedt
Mr B. Brakenridge, Gadzema, 06/01/78.
Mr B. Brakenridge (son, 15), Gadzema, 06/01/78.
Mrs S. Brakenridge (senior), Gadzema, 06/01/78.
Mr C. Brent, Marula, 20/10/78.
Mr P. J. D. Breytenbach, Headlands, 25/06/79
Mr Michael Brooke-Mee, Gwelo. Shot and killed by three CTs dressed in denims that saw him outside when they were robbing Ascot Beerhall. Pte John Joule, 10 RR, was then shot in his car. 30/03/79.
Mr L. L. Brooks, Mount Darwin, 19/03/79.
Mr Matthew Charles Thomas ‘Matt’ Brooks (aged 23). Gwebi graduate, Course 24. Field Reservist, PATU, BSAP, killed on active service whilst trying to apprehend an absconding suspect, Rutenga, 05/06/77.
Mr Ian Rowland Brown (aged 34), Sipolilo, died from wounds sustained in action on call up with the Police Reserve, 28/03/79.
Mr Walter Barclay ‘Scotty’ Brown (aged 56), murdered in an attack on his farm together with his wife, Hazel and John Gilbert, Hartley, 12/11/1979.
Mrs Hazel Sheila Brown née Hornby. Hazel, wife of Scotty, was sister of Eric Hornby who was also farming in Hartley. She was murdered with her husband and John Gilbert, Hartley, 12/11/1979.
Mr A. P. Burger, Matetsi, 12/06/77.
Mr D. Burton, Lonely District, 25/05/78.

Mr Neill Carmichael Campbell (aged 33), Marandellas, was shot during an ambush in the abdomen and died nearly two weeks later in Andrew Fleming Hospital, 23/05/76.
Mr Colin Andrew Capell (aged 42), Shamva, was killed by friendly fire between two Police Reserve sticks deployed in the Shamva area, 09/03/77. KOAS.
Mr David Ashton Carshalton (aged 26). Killed in action in Gona-re-Zhou, 27/08/76.

Trooper Dave Carshalton was with call-sign 24 Bravo, Grey’s Scouts, while on the spoor of a 70 member strong ZANLA gang in the Gona-re-Zhou area. The spoor was being rapidly followed on horseback in an attempt to make contact before they escaped to Mozambique.

After some five hours tracking, the troops encountered a well-prepared ambush, and in the initial fire-fight, Dave was sadly shot and killed, having been the lead scout on the left flank where the contact was initiated. This action allowed the other members of the patrol time to dismount and skirmish towards where Dave had fallen.

G Cars and K Cars Fireforce deployed elements of 2 RAR to assist the horse troop, resulting in at least 40 deaths and several captures. Dave was on his own horse - a mare by the name of “Nuisance”. The horse survived and was discovered and recovered sometime later when she was spotted by engineers escorting a convoy through the contact area.

He was the first of the Grey's Scouts to be killed in action. Gwebi ROH
Mr Michael John ‘Mike’ Chance, Bindura, was killed by ‘friendly fire’ when RLI fireforce was deployed in heavy bush near Mtoko, 15/05/79.
Mr Colin Chapman, Estate Manager, Tilbury Estate, Melsetter. Section Leader, Police Reserve was deployed to observe a store which was expected to be hit by ZANLA. Tragically another stick was sent to the same location at night and Colin was killed in the ‘friendly fire’, 22/05/77.
Miss Kathleen “Kathy” Chesworth (aged 19), Figtree, 14/08/77.
Mr Ebenhauser Bernadus ‘Eben’ Claasen (aged 32), Odzi, was on horseback following tracks next to the fast flowing Odzi River having been called out by the Police to help with stock theft investigations. His body was found three days later and he had died from a heart attack. 29/09/77.
Mr M. D. Cleave, Juliasdale, 01/05/79.
Mr C. M. Cloete, Filabusi, 31/10/76.
Mrs M. Cloete, Filabusi, 31/10/76.
Mr Pieter Jacobus Cloete (aged 27), Centenary. Killed in action. 08/08/78.

When farming in Centenary, he was killed in action. He had been called up as Field Reservist, Police Reserve, British South Africa Police and died from wounds he received in a contact. Gwebi ROH
Mr Vincent John Conlon (aged 20), Mazoe, died in an ambush with BSAP at Wedza, 11/01/79.
Mr Douglas Joh ‘Doug’ or ‘Mukamba’ Cookson, Centenary, was killed in series of five firefights by 1 Commando, RLI in Chibara Hills, Mt Darwin. The pub has been named ‘The 28^th’ in honour of this day when four, including a National Parks tracker, were lost. 28/02/77.
Mr Jopie Fourie Coomans, leasing Ruwaka Farm, Cashel, ambushed with his neighbour Sok Barnard in Sok’s Isuzu truck about 6kms from their homes on a steep hill and both farmers died instantly. 06/12/77.
Mr David R. de Courpelay, Macheke/Virginia, was killed by ‘friendly fire’ after a navigation error by two 4RR sticks, 04/06/78.

Mr Edward Robert Court (aged 48), was murdered by terrorists at Mukorsi River Ranch south of Lake Kyle. July 1976. Bulawayo Chronicle.
Mr Douglas Llewellyn Courtney (aged 38), Mrewa, was killed on service in Mtoko serving with Police Reserve, 06/04/78.
Mr Bernard Couve, Shamva, 06/06/73.
Mr G. Crane, Goromonzi, 19/03/79.
Mr Kenneth Cremer (aged 51), manager of Zona Tea Estate, Tanganda Tea Company, Chipinga, died after collapsing when on service with Police Reserve, 18/08/78.
Mr William Peter ‘Pete’ Cremer (aged 31), Bindura, was killed in an ambush while on patrol with PATU in the Bindura area, 26/01/77.
Mr D. I. Crombie, Macheke, 08/08/78.
Mr Paul Elliott Crouch (aged 25), Windsor Farm, Ayrshire. Gwebi graduate, Course 23. Field Reservist, PATU, BSAP, killed in action in a vehicle ambush on Dave Chadwick’s farm ‘Manyangau’ near Karoi. 17/12/76.
Mr Arthur Cumming, Matetsi, 05/11/76.
Mrs S. A. Cumming, Norton, 07/01/78.
Miss S. C. Cumming (15), Norton, 07/01/78.

Mr Cecil James “Jimmy” Davies (a week before his 78^th birthday). Owner of farms near Umtali, he was told late one afternoon that a cow was ill on “Burma Estates” in Vumba. On investigating, he was ambushed in the parking area of the homestead by a ZANLA gang where he died. Busy, his wife, gave the alarm on the AgricAlert when the home was attacked but the attackers had fled before the reactionary stick from Burma Valley arrived, 20/08/78. S Lunderstedt
Mr S. Llewellyn Jack Davies (aged 64), shot at 19h00 while having dinner with his wife on Sotani Ranch, 26 km from Lupane, Gwaai Valley, 26/07/76.
Mr Bruce Davison (aged 23), a mechanic renting a house on Dagbreek Farm, Inyazura died from gunshot wounds from a vehicle ambush at Mazarabani, Centenary while on call up with OPA, 4^th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment. 23/04/73.
Mr A. de Nadai, Mayo, 21/08/78.
Mr Bradley J. “Brad” Dean, forester in charge of Tarka Estate, Melsetter. A New Zealander, married to an Australian. He went with Claude Delaney on a motor cycle from the estate to a business centre in Ngorima TTL to buy some beers and both were ambushed by a ZANLA gang just inside Glencoe Forest on their return. 30/09/77. S Lunderstedt
Mr Claude A. Delaney, living with his wife Anne and son Tommy on Glencoe Estate and worked on Tarka Estate, Melsetter. A descendant of the Melsetter pioneer family Delaney and had previously worked in the Tsetse Department. He went with Brad Dean on a motor cycle from the estate to a business centre in Ngorima TTL to buy some beers and both were ambushed by a ZANLA gang just inside Glencoe Forest on their return. 30/09/77. S Lunderstedt
Mr Douglas McFadzean Dodd (aged 31), Ayrshire, was killed in an ambush with PATU in the Mtoroshanga area, 06/04/77.
Mr John Sinclair Donald (aged 26), from Glenburn Farm, Vumba, on call-up with Police Reserve was killed in ‘Friendly Fire’ by Bright Lights at the homestead on Makore Farm on the Burma Valley fringes, 26/04/76.
Mr Stephen Michael Camph ‘Steve’ Donnelly, La Pieta Farm, Karoi, was killed during an external with SAS in the Chimoio area, Mozambique by ’friendly fire’ from a Vampire air strike, 21/06/78.
Miss Jenny Douglass, killed with sawmill operator Eugene Swanepoel in Melsetter, 22/08/78.
Mr Herman Carel du Plessis, Landsdowne Farm, Chipinga, was delivering milk in the morning to the DMB when he was ambushed. 28/01/79. S Lunderstedt
Mr Boesman du Preez, Gutu, ambush, 1978.
Mrs Francina M. du Toit, lived on Amatula Farm and was a nursing sister in the clinic in the village, Gutu, gunned down in an ambush, 23/07/78.
Mr Denzil William Scott ‘Billy’ Dunn, Shamva. 13/09/77.

That evening, as he returned from his duties irrigating his lands he was captured when ZANLA pushed Mrs Ogilvy, the owner’s wife, whom they had captured while she was walking, at gunpoint in front of his vehicle. His chivalry prevented him from making a break for it. In a similar manner he was forced to drive behind this gallant lady, who was made to walk at gunpoint immediately in front of his vehicle, to her homestead approximately a kilometre away. There they waited for Mr Ogilvy to arrive.

Details are not clear but it was obvious that soon after his arrival both men attempted to intervene when one terrorist broke into the house after Mrs Ogilvy had managed to lock herself in and shooting commenced. The two men were gunned down. Gwebi ROH

Mr Brian L. T. Eastwick, Gwebi graduate, Course 12. Centenary, 17/8/79
Mr Simon Richard Edridge (aged 26), award winning tobacco producer on Makombe Farm, Wedza, was killed in action when serving with Police Field Reserve in Wedza, 11/09/79.
Mr Sid Eggersglusz, Mutala Ranch, Sinoia, 9/10/1979.
Mrs Verna Eggersglusz, Mutala Ranch, Sinoia, 9/10/1979
Mr I. J. Eksteen, Inyazura, 11/01/79.
Mrs J. M. Eksteen, Inyazura, 11/01/79.
Mr T. H. Elton, Cashel, 19/05/78.
Mrs Annette Margaret Evans “Ann” née van Heerden (aged 25), farming on Tokwe Block was killed by a landmine on Ironmine Hill Road, Tokwe, when travelling in a Land Rover driven by  Roger her husband. Three labourers were injured but two children, Shepherd and his sister Puro (both aged 9) were killed. 6 p.m. on 01/11/79. Former teacher at Lord Malvern School. Tom Hogg and Rhodesia Herald

 

Mr Peter Hendrick J. Fairbanks, was killed in the Chipinga area when serving with RAR, 2/9/78.
Mr Fabio Giovanni Falzoi, Karoi, was killed in an external operation with RLI in an engagement with the Zambian Army in Zambia, 12/6/78.
Mr Gerrard Leon Farge (aged 49), joint French national, farming on the Mozambique border at Chipinga.  Gerrard went to check water supply lines at the Customs and Immigration buildings on adjacent land when he detonated a booby trap that had been set up by the Rhodesian military and died instantaneously. 24/10/76.
Mr Herbert Fenzel, forester killed in an ambush on Lemon Kop Farm, Melsetter, 16/04/78.
Mr E. Fletcher, Centenary, 17/02/74.
Mrs B. Fletcher, Centenary, 17/02/74.
Mr John Turenne Vivian Forbes (aged 21), Mount Darwin, died from gunshot wounds from a vehicle ambush at Mazarabani, Centenary, 23/04/73.
Mr Felix Forward (aged in his 70s), Sinoia, beaten and bayoneted, 16/09/79.
Mr F. N. J. Fourie, Tengwe, 14/08/78.
Mr K. Layton E. Francis (aged 37), husband of Meryl, graduate from Cirencester and on Maplanka Farm near Mtoroshanga. He was killed in action in a call-up with PATU on a neighbouring farm. 31/12/79.

Mr H. Franken, Selukwe, 17/07/78.
Mr Brian Trevor Furber (aged 33), Gwanda, died from wounds received in action with the Police Reserve, 16/04/79.

Mr D. A. Galloway, Melsetter, 24/10/78.
Mr Robert James ‘Rob’ Gash (aged 28). Detective Section Officer, CID, BSAP, killed in action. 15/02/79.

Three weeks before his 29th birthday, on 15 February 1979, he and Detective Constable Choba travelled from Mount Darwin to the Chesa Purchase Area to investigate a possible sighting. On their return drive on Chesa Road they were ambushed and Rob was killed instantly. Detective Constable Choba managed to escape the ambush and ran to seek assistance. Gwebi ROH
Mr Kenneth Cecil ‘Ken’ Gifford (aged 41), Wolverhampton and Wolfscrag Farms, Chipinga, Gwebi graduate, Course 8. Was gunned down by ZANLA while servicing a Caterpillar on his farm and was underneath it when attacked. He was survived by his mother and father, wife Jean and their three sons, a brother and two sisters. Within two months of his tragic death, his father died and six months after his death, one sister, Rosemarie Hacking, died in a landmine blast in Odzi. 06/07/78.

Mr John Edward Gilbert (aged 74), murdered with Scotty and Hazel Brown during an attack on their farm in Hartley, 12/11/1979. Herald
Miss Natasha Glenny, six month old baby of Miranda and Michael Glenny, was ripped from her nanny’s back by members of a 20 strong ZANLA gang and bayoneted at the homestead on Highlands Estate near Silverstreams, at 10h00. A short time earlier, her parents had been ambushed on the estate by a separate gang but escaped injury. 29/09/77.
Mr Dennis R. Campbell Greef, Hungerford Farm, Plumtree, gunned down in an ambush, 15/05/77.
Mrs Marjorie Alison Greef, Plumtree, ambush, 15/05/77.
Mr Theo Greyvenstein, Mayo, farm attack, 16/09/76.
Mr Flip A. Grobler, Matopos South, 17/06/78.
Mrs A. E. Grobler, Matopos South, 17/06/78.
Mr Peter John Gunn (aged 45), married to Ethel Margaret “Peggy” née Parsons and father to Allan, Stuart and Susan, a Police Reserve Air Wing pilot, Peter was ambushed early one morning by two combined ZANLA gangs when on his way to the wheat on “Struan”, No 2, Middle Sabi, on his motorcycle. Peter drew his pistol but died in a hail of gunfire. 05/10/78. S Lunderstedt

Miss Bertie Louise Marina ‘Loubertie’ Habing (aged 10), ‘Goeie Hoop’, Chipinga, landmine on farm access road, 06/06/76. Her mother, Mrs Elizabeth ‘Beb’ Botha and two sisters also died.

Miss Marianne Irene Johanna Habing (aged 14), ‘Goeie Hoop’, Chipinga, landmine on farm access road, 06/06/76. Her mother, Mrs Elizabeth ‘Beb’ Botha and two sisters also died.
Miss Yvonne ‘Vonnie’ Habing, (aged 16), ‘Goeie Hoop’, Chipinga, landmine on farm access road, 21/06/76. Her mother, Mrs Elizabeth ‘Beb’ Botha and two sisters died on the scene on 06/06/76.
Mrs Rosemarie Adele Hacking née Gifford (aged 44), Wild Park, Odzi, detonated a boosted landmine. Rosemarie had gone to work that Saturday morning and stopped at her neighbour and school friend Jean Barry’s home for a chat. She had been looking forward to a game of bowls that afternoon and her forthcoming two weeks leave. A few minutes after leaving for her own home her vehicle detonated a boosted landmine. Her death was instantaneous.

“Gone was a wonderful friend and neighbour, and the bravest girl I’ve known,” said Jean. She was married to Ernie from Odzi and their homestead had been first attacked on 26^th December 1976.

Rosemarie and Ernie had four children – the late Mike, Bernard (Ox), Dawn and Shirley. Her brother Ken had been shot on his farm in Chipinga and killed six months previously in 1978. 08/01/79.

Mr Peter Leonard Hanson (aged 31), manager of Charleswood Estates was stick leader in a Police Reserve patrol following tracks of about seven ZANLA in the Chimanimani mountains. After a contact, a wounded CT sniped PR Hanson, Holstenburg and Hunt before he in turn was captured by reinforcements, Melsetter. Peter schooled at Plumtree. 20/10/77.
Mr Eric J. Hards, Shamva, 10/4/78.
Mr T. Hartley, Headlands, 8/7/79
Mr H. Thero J. Hastings, Shamva, 11/03/77. During an attack on Riverbend Farm, Shamva, Mr Theo Hasting fired back and after their leader was killed they fled. Theo died from a heart attack but 11 year old Sharon McRoberts and her grandmother had been killed. Darrol McRoberts
Mrs Muriel H. Hastings, Shamva, 11/03/77. During an attack on Riverbend Farm, Shamva, 11 year old Sharon McRoberts and her grandmother, Mrs Muriel Hastings were killed. Mr Theo Hasting fired back and after their leader was killed they fled. Theo died from a heart attack. Darrol McRoberts
Master Johan Hattingh (aged 13), Watchfield Farm, Glendale, homestead attack. His older brother fired back to repel the night attack but Johan had died. One CT was found that killed himself because he had been severely wounded. 30/04/78.
Mr John Travis Henry, farming on Glenview, 5km out of Chipinga. John was returning to Chipinga where he was staying with his family after attending to the cattle on the farm when he was ambushed and killed. 31/12/77. S Lunderstedt
Mr Andries Daniel Herbst (aged 39), Karoi, died of a heart attack while on patrol with PATU, 27/10/1977.
Mr Albert Allan Hess (aged 20), Karoi, was killed in an ambush in the Umfuli TTL, Lomagundi on National Service with attachment to Special Branch, 25/5/78.
Mr Allan Michael Hill, Wedza, was killed when the vehicle he was travelling in with 2^nd Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, detonated a boosted landmine, 26/6/77.
Mr John R. Hill, Tokwe, veteran from WWII serving with Royal Navy in the Mediterranean then on to the Far East. Shot and murdered on his farm, 11/12/78. A year later, Mary, his wife, detonated a landmine and she and her passenger, Sylvia, survived with minor injuries but their passenger on the back died when the vehicle rolled.
Mrs M. Hofmeyr, Fort Victoria, 06/07/79.
Mr Kenneth F. ‘Ken’ Hogg, farm manager for Hugh Ballance. He was riding a motor cycle between Tablelands Extension and Quagga Kloof farms when he was ambushed by a ZANLA gang. He had recently completed two weeks ground coverage in Inyazura. 19/06/79 S Lunderstedt
Mrs Anne Holland (aged 47), was shot on the convoy to Beit Bridge. She was travelling with two of her three children with her friend Eileen Abrey. Anne and her husband Geoffrey were working at Grasslands Research Station and had been farming at Karoi. 22/04/78.

Mr Harald Holstenburg (aged 40), Melsetter, forester at Charter and married, was in a Police Reserve patrol following tracks of about seven ZANLA in the Chimanimani mountains. After a contact, a wounded CT sniped PR Hanson, Holstenburg and Hunt before he in turn was captured by reinforcements, Melsetter, 20/10/77.
Mr Jannie Albert Holtzhausen, was killed by an anti-personnel mine when laying mines near the Mozambique border, 01/08/79.
Mrs A. C. Horton, Nyamandhlovu, 29/08/77.
Mr W. Houston, Inyanga, 14/3/79.
Mr Peter William Hovell (aged 36), Mazoe, was killed as Section Leader of Police Reserve in an ambush in the Mazoe area, 13/1/79.
Mr A. V. Howe, Umvukwes, 24/6/75.
Mr John E. Hudson-Beck, farmer and Internal Affairs, Melsetter, was killed by a landmine detonation near Melsetter, 12/8/76.
Mr Robin Stanley Hughes “Rob”, Gwebi graduate, Course 11. Territorial officer, Selous Scouts, was killed in cross-fire during one of the first pseudo ops in a contact with ZANLA, Centenary, aged 33 years, 18/10/73.
Mr T. Hulley, Tengwe, 23/02/79.
Mr Robin Charles Hunt (aged 26), forester at Charter and married to Mary Lynn, was in a Police Reserve patrol following tracks of about seven ZANLA in the Chimanimani mountains. After a contact, a wounded CT sniped PR Hanson, Holstenburg and Hunt before he in turn was captured by reinforcements, Melsetter, 20/10/77.
Mr Henry John Hurley, Centenary, died on active service with 1^st Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, 21/12/77.
Mr Dennis Bellamy Hutchinson (aged 35), Lalapanzi, farmer murdered at home on Killarney Farm. After lunch a maid was “persuaded” to unlock the gate allowing a gang of terrorists into the property and, taken by surprise the family were brutally murdered and the homestead set on fire. 29/12/78.
Mrs Diana Isabella Hutchinson (aged 29), Lalapanzi, farmer’s wife murdered at home. Di was just a few weeks away from giving birth to their third child. 29/12/78.
Master Barry Thomas Hutchinson (5 years), Lalapanzi, murdered at home, 29/12/78.
Master Vaughan George Hutchinson (1 year 10 months), Lalapanzi, murdered at home, 29/12/78.

Mr D. C. James, Gwelo, 27/04/76.
Mr J. M. Jeffreys, Marandellas, 07/07/79
Mr Les M. Jellicoe, Chaona Farm, Centenary, 04/02/73.
Mr Leslie M. “Les” Jellicoe (aged 48), Centenary, pilot with Police Reserve Air Wing, nephew of Les Jellicoe (above), 09/07/78.
Master I. Johnson, Umvukwes, rocket attack, 26/12/77.
Mr J. D. Jordaan, Odzi, 17/09/79.
Mr A. Joubert, Wedza, 30/03/73.
Mr G. D. Joubert, Ayrshire, 22/12/78.

Mr Basil John Stuart Kearns (aged 41), Hinston Estates, Bindura.

The forty-one-year-old Mtepatepa (Bindura District) farmer's vehicle was ambushed as he travelled towards Salisbury to carry out duties as a Shona interpreter in the 1979 elections. Renowned for his fighting spirit and courage even as he lay critically wounded in his hospital bed, many of his friends believed that if any man could pull through, it would be he. But the odds were too great, and Rhodesia lost another top sportsman and farmer in the war when he died on 17^th April 1979. Gwebi ROH
Mr P. Kenchington, Mid-Sabi, 3/2/79.
Mr R. D. Kennedy, Mzingwani, 7/5/79
Mrs I. Kleynhans, Centenary, 24/1/73.
Mr Peter James Osborne Knight, Doma, was killed in a contact in the Lomagundi area on service with Police Reserve, 17/5/75.
Mr T. F. Koen, Centenary, 2/2/78.

Mr Deryck Percy Lamb DFC (aged 58), Diepfontein Farm, Tandaai, near Cashel, abducted with his tractor driver, 11/09/79. The driver was returned from Mozambique after the December ceasefire and Deryck’s body was located.
Mr Mark Harold Langeman (aged 25), forester from Melsetter, Lieutenant on call-up with 4^th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, was killed while skirmishing back from Operation “Parking Ticket” in Mozambique, 22/12/77.
Mr Simon le Vieux, Chiredzi, died from wounds received in action with the Rhodesian Light Infantry, 7/2/78.
Mr P. Lentner, Shamva, 18/02/79.
Mr Russell John ‘Russ’ Liebermann (aged 20), Marandellas, was killed in a vehicle ambush between Nyamaropa and Ruangwe on attachment with Special Branch, 04/06/78.
Mr J. H. C. Liddle, Bindura, 01/10/78.
Mrs M. E. G. Liebenberg, Shangani, 11/04/79.
Mr Warwick Powys Lilford (aged 27), Karoi. Gwebi graduate, Course 21. Field Reservist, Police Reserve, BSAP, died on active service from injuries sustained in a vehicle accident on 24/12/76 north of Karoi. 09/01/77.
Mrs Caroline Rosalie Luckraft, Odzani, was killed in the morning while she was on her own by a ZANLA gang. 01/11/1979.

Mr Ian Derrick Walter MacGiles (aged 31), worked for Forestry Commission and had his own farm ‘Hi Henge’ in Penhalonga. He was killed during a night attack by a ZANLA gang on his homestead, Ian left a wife, a son and an unborn daughter, 21/07/79.
Mr Duncan Hope McKay, Melsetter, was killed in an ambush in Mutema TTL in the Chipinga District while on Ground Coverage, 02/01/77.
Mr Derek Guy MacKenzie, a farmer from Shamva was on call-up with the 1^st Battalion, Rhodesian Light Infantry. He was the MAG gunner with 7 Troop, 2 Commando in a sweep in Makoni TTL after a sighting. He died instantly when his stop group was fired on. 01/02/77.
Mrs Lorna May McFedden (aged 66), known as “Doony” Evans, a bedridden widow was killed by ZIPRA when defenceless and alone on the smallholding at Coldridge Siding 10 km from the Botswana border, Plumtree, 07/09/76.
Miss Sharon G. McRoberts (aged 11), Shamva, 11/03/77. During an attack on Riverbend farm, Shamva, Sharon McRoberts and her grandmother, Mrs Muriel Hastings were killed. Mr Theo Hasting fired back and after their leader was killed they fled. Theo died from a heart attack. Mrs Norma Sim, Sharon’s great-aunt, died on hearing the tragic news. Darrol McRoberts
Mr Michael ‘Mike’ Males, Selous, murdered, 10/10/79.
Mr T. Margarson, Gwelo, 15/11/78.
Mr Henry May, Vumba farmer, 24/08/79. Steve Lunderstedt.
Mr Frank J. Mee, former cattle manager on Nuanetsi Ranch and was gunned down in his retirement with his wife by a ZANLA gang in his home, Inyanga North, 26/10/76.
Mrs Maureen A. Mee, shot and killed with her husband in their home by a ZANLA gang, Inyanga North, 26/10/76.
Mr H. M. Meyer, Plumtree, 29/09/78.
Mrs E. L. Meyer, Plumtree, 29/09/78.
Mr D. Moorcroft, Bindura, 15/12/78.
Mr Solly Moritz, Gatooma, gunned down in ambush, 05/12/79
Mr K. Mrowic, Que Que, 25/05/78.
Mr Gordon Ian Murdoch (aged 31), Selous, was killed by a gunshot wound when ambushed after detonating a landmine in the Shabani area with the Police Reserve, 18/06/77.
Mr Douglas Sydney ‘Dougie’ Muir, Mount Darwin, was killed in a contact while with RLI in Enterprise, 13/05/78.
Mr G. J. Muller, Centenary, 25/12/78.
Mr Helgard Muller (aged 65), Rusape farmer married to Memory was ambushed by a ZANLA gang on the gravel road near Headlands when he was driving to load tobacco at the railway station. 28/09/79

Mr James Firman Murphy (aged 35). Gwebi student, Course 15. Section Leader, Police Reserve, BSAP, killed by a vehicle landmine in the Mhondoro area, 28/02/79.
Mr G. J. Myburgh, Mayo, 26/01/77.

Mr P. S. Naude, Centenary, 21/10/76.
Mr S. P. Naude, Somabula, 17/10/76.
Mr Frans Jacobus Albert Nel, Tengwe, was killed in an external operation with the SAS in Chimoio, Mozambique, 23/11/77.

Mr Pieter Jacobus ‘Piet’ Nel (aged 21), farming and on National Service with 6 (Indep) Company, RAR, he had survived a contact but later when examining an unexploded RPG rocket it detonated and he was killed, 16/06/79.
Mr Albert Charles ‘Butch’ Newman, Melsetter, died in Andrew Fleming Hospital, Salisbury, from shrapnel wounds in a contact at Muti-Usina-Zita Sale Pens, Buhera district with 4^th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, 15/10/76.
Mrs Magdalena Even Pyott ‘Yvonne’ Nicholls, in the Chipinga region, 17/03/78.
Born in Beira, Mocambique and was educated at Queen Elizabeth II High School. Married to Colin, they were travelling from Esperance Coffee Estate (where Colin was the manager) near Mt Selinda to join the early morning convoy at the Chipinga Post Office which would then travel to Umtali. Approximately 400 metres from the tar road that goes into Chipinga the vehicle detonated a landmine. Yvonne was killed instantly while Colin was transported by helicopter to the Umtali Hospital with multiple injuries including a broken spine. 17/03/78.
Mr J. D. Nicholson, Nyamandhlovu, 25/05/78.
Mr Michael ‘Mike’ Nielsen, Karoi, died with Paul Crouch, also PATU, from gunshot wounds in a vehicle ambush on Dave Chadwick's farm ‘Manyangau’, near Karoi, 17/12/76.
Mr C. Don Northcroft, Shamva, former RRAF wings, 20/12/77.

Mr Pieter Johannes Andries ‘Andrew’ Oberholzer (aged 47), working for Silverstreams Wattle Company, Melsetter, was returning home with his wife Hannie and youngest daughter Liz after dropping Anne and Cathy at school in Umtali. At 18:00 near the Skyline Junction rocks had blocked the road which he tried to clear. He was stabbed multiple times by one of the four that were involved from the “Crocodile Gang” but escaped and managed to drive then hit the embankment and the combi rolled over. Attempts were made to set the vehicle alight with petrol but the arrival of Lawrie Marshall with his sister and her children prevented further loss of life.

James Dhlamini and Victor Mlambo were subsequently hanged after capture and prosecution. 04/07/64.  
Mr C. Ogilvy, Shamva, 13/09/77.
Mr Charles Hugh Olivey (aged 28). Gwebi graduate, Course 21. Sawerombi Farm, Melsetter. 15/05/78.

Charles was employed as the Stockfeeds representative for the Farmers' Co-op and travelled extensively throughout the Eastern Districts. He was often away on business. A ZANLA gang attacked the homestead so Charles returned to inspect the damage after the military had cleared the road to the farm for landmines. When he parked his vehicle in his parking space within the homestead he detonated a landmine and was killed instantly. Gwebi ROH
Mr F. J. Oosthuizen, Gwelo, 26/09/78.
Mr Johannes Eric ‘Hans’ Oostindien, Macheke, was killed in action with Police Reserve, 15/08/79.

Mrs W. Palmer, Mrewa/Mtoko, 19/10/76.
Mr J. F. B. Payn, Matopos South, 21/09/78.
Mr Norbet George ‘Norm’ Payne (aged 37), Bindura, was killed in an ambush with Pete Cremer while with PATU in Bindura area, 26/01/77.
Mrs F. I. Pearson, Selukwe, 28/12/78.
Mr Timothy Michael Steel ‘Tim’ Peech (aged 31), Macheke/Virginia , met with ZANLA in Op Hurricane area to encourage them to either surrender or “come on sides” but was abducted by the gang and murdered. Farmer and Group Leader, PATU. 13/07/78.
Miss L. A. Philips, Insiza, 12/07/77.
Mr Frank Pitcher, Bindura, 14/06/76.
Mr Piet Potgieter, Doma, 09/07/78.
Mr Frik Pretorius, Nuanetsi, 18/04/78.
Mr Norman Hedley Egerton Prince, Tengwe, was killed while with Police Reserve in the Urungwe area, 23/03/78.
Mr K. Prinsloo, Chiredzi, 16/04/77.
Mr Salie Prinsloo (aged 70s), Gutu, 1978.
Mr R. W. G. Puckrin, Insiza, 30/10/78.
Mr Peter Purcell-Gilpin, Headlands, 04/03/79.
Mr A. Purcell-Gilpin, Headlands, 04/03/79.

Mr William E. ‘Bill’ Read, Kanyemba Estate, Gatooma, 15/01/78.
Mr W. A. Reinsford, Nyamandhlovu, 10/08/79
Mr Andries Joubert Reyneke (aged 35), Chipinga, died in an accidental shooting while with the Police Reserve, 08/03/78.
Mr Pete J. Richards, Liebigs Ranch, Gwanda, was killed by a rocket attack, 27/11/78.
Mr E. A. Richardson, Belingwe/Shabani, 24/03/77. Murdered on his ranch.
Mr A. J. Ritson, Selukwe, 06/08/77.
Mr John Lyster Roberts (aged 52), Sheba Forest Estate, Penhalonga/Odzani. ZANLA terrorists had cut through the security fence around his farm house and he was mown down in gunfire as he was about to enter home at sunset. They fled when his wife opened fire. 22/04/78.
Mr Arthur Robertson (aged 37), Gwelo East, was killed by ‘friendly fire’ while with Police Reserve, 21/08/77.
Mr Charles Albert Rosenfels (aged 41), Kezi. 24/04/79.

Charlie attested into the Police Reserve and was an active participant in the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit (PATU) on continuous call-up despite almost losing the use of one leg at an early age. In January 1975 he was the recipient of the Police Reserve Long Service Medal (PRLSM).

When travelling to Kezi along the Mangwe/Kezi road, through the CSC's Taylor's Block Farm, he struck the landmine in a short-wheel base Land Rover in a convoy with Army vehicles. He was killed the day after his 41st Birthday and another six sustained minor injuries. Gwebi ROH
Mr Desmond ‘Chappie’ Rosenfels, Marula, Territorial officer, BCR (Post), killed in action, 14 Troop, 3 commando, 1^st Battalion, RLI while attempting to help a wounded trooper in Manica Province, Mocambique. 08/02/79.
Mr Ian ‘Ike’ Rosenfels, Marula, Natal University graduate 1974, farmer and Trooper, Selous Scouts, in a follow up after a farm attack, 29/03/78.
Mr Christopher Maynard Alan Ross (aged 37), farmer at Juliasdale, ambushed by a ZANLA gang on his farm. Mourned by his wife and three children. 13/10/79 S Lunderstedt

Mr Paul Rouse (aged 29), was killed from gunshot wounds in a follow-up with PATU on Nieuveld Farm, Centenary, 18/02/74.
Mr N. J. Royston, Karoi, 18/02/78.
Mrs Evelyn Marion Rushmore (aged 70), Daughter of 1933 Prime Minister. George Mitchell, and wife of Edward who was in hospital at the time. ZIPRA entered the homestead that evening when she was alone and killed her. Spring Grange Ranch, Nyamandhlovu, 06/09/77.

Mrs M. O. A. Scott, Gwelo, 07/02/79.
Mr Lawrence R. ‘Larry’ Shakespeare, Karoi, was uninjured after the 45 that he was driving with 2^nd Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, hit a landmine but he sustained serious burns after the Hippo hit another landmine as he was caught in the safety belt and died a few days later, 23/08/77.
Mr Robert Leslie Smallman (aged 26). Melsetter. 11/09/78.

Rob was married and employed on Charleswood Estate, 16km from Melsetter. He was with the Police Reserve and had been on convoy duties for the previous week.

Rob was ambushed by a ZANLA gang on the Tilbury Road just above Charleswood Estate on his way home after dropping off his father in law Mike Ferreira who was going to commence convoy duty. He had his assistant manager, Andy, and some guards and Doberman dogs with him in his vehicle. The passengers were not hurt and survived. Gwebi ROH
Mr Japie Smit, Beatrice, 30/01/79.
Mrs C. Smit, Beatrice, 30/01/79.
Master A. Smit, aged 2 years, Somabula, 18/07/79
Mr R. M. Smith, Insiza/Shangani, 28/07/76.
Mr Petrus Casper Stephanus “Piet” Snyders, District Estates Manager for the Rhodesian Wattle Company in the Vumba, had dropped off “Bugs 4” PATU stick and was ambushed by Frelimo when turning around at the end of the road. Armour piercing rounds had been used by the machine gunner and Piet was seriously wounded. The out of control vehicle went down the side fo the mountain and stopped against a tree stump.  Reinforcements came under fire and the casevac helicopter had to land elsewhere when it was fired at with missiles. Piet was flown to Grand Reef but died on the fixed wing aircraft before he reached Salisbury. His passenger, PATU member George Walsh had been wounded but survived. 09/10/75.
Mr J. Souter, Nuanetsi, 23/01/79.
Mr Trevor John Speight, Umvukwes, 18/07/79.

Trevor was farming in Umvukwes when he was killed through a gunshot wound on call-up as a Corporal with B Company, 1st Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment. "He was shot in a completely arbitrary contact. The stick was sitting on their packs shooting at terrs about 1 km away gapping it. The bullet hit him in the neck and was the only round that came anywhere near the stick." Gwebi ROH
Mr David Michael Stacey (aged 50), Karoi, died from wounds received in action in the Mukwichi Tribal Trust Land, Urungwe district while serving with Police Reserve, 09/03/73.
Mr Adrian Stander, Battlefields Ranch, Mateke Hills, Nuanetsi. Adrian was being followed by Ben when his Datsun veered off the road near the diptank as he had been hit in an ambush. Ben stopped and fired back but ran out of ammo so used magazines from his deceased son’s pouches. Ben was hit with a chest shot when bending over but managed to radio for assistance before he collapsed. He was uplifted by chopper to Chiredzi Hospital where he regained consciousness and recovered. 22/02/78. Vince Manning
Mr Hennie Stander, Benjani Ranch, Nuanetsi, ambush, 05/08/78.
Mr A. Stander, Beit Bridge, 15/08/78.
Mr S. J. ‘Ben’ Stander, Battlefields Ranch, Mateki Hills, Nuanetsi. After the death of his son, Ben moved off the ranch but on a return visit he was hit by an RPG rocket in an ambush near the homestead and both he and his companion in the Leopard were killed. 19/06/79. Vince Manning
Mr Johnny U. Stanley, Tengwe, 05/04/78.
Infant son Grant P. Starling, Dimitra Farm, Mtepatepa, ambush, 30/3/79.
Mr Christoffel Andreas ‘Chris’ Steyn (aged 43), Umtali Boys High and Potchefstroom College. Ambushed by a gang of 15 when he was driving a tractor to harvest cattle feed on his farm at Cashel, he passed away on way to hospital. 04/04/78. Steve Lunderstedt
Mr F. C. Steyn, Cashel, 18/12/78.
Mr Pieter Willem “Piet” Steyn, Odzi, 13/02/79.
Mr Maxwell Stockil, Liebigs Ranch, Nuanetsi, landmine, 13/12/79.
Mr Ronald Vaughan Stockil-Gill (aged 21), Marandellas, was drowned when the vehicle he was driving overturned over a low bridge across the flooding Ruya River, Mt Darwin with RLI. His ankle was trapped. 27/10/74.
Mr J. Stopforth, Gwelo East, 23/09/77.
Mr Jan Nicholaas Strydom, Headlands, 09/03/78.
Mr J. Strydom, Inyanga, 02/02/79.
Mr Grantly Swartz, Southdown Tea Estate, Chipinga, 12/04/78.
Mr Roy Allan Swemmer (aged 19), Macheke/Virginia, was killed in a contact in Buhera TTL while serving in uniform BSAP, 03/06/78.
Mr Eugene Swanepoel, sawmill operator Melsetter, 22/08/78.
Mr James K. G. “Jim” Syme (aged 74), bought Deysbrook Farm, Melsetter in the early 1950s having spent twenty years in Ghana from UK. He and Helen died after ZANLA entered the property and set fire to the thatched roof of the rambling farmhouse after tying them up, 13/09/78.
Mrs Helen A. Syme née Drought, Melsetter, 13/09/78 (as above).

 

Mr Ivan Charles Taylor (30), abducted from Chipinge 1978, died in Mozambique in 1979.

Mr James Frazer ‘Jamie’ Thomson (35), Karoi district, was killed on service with PATU by an accidental detonation near Sinoia, 19/12/79.
Master Colin Tilley (aged 15). At dusk on 11^th January, 1978, the Tilleys drove up their dirt driveway in the Hatcliffe area of Borrowdale on the outskirts of Salisbury, tired from a day of shopping. Discussing dinner as they got out of the Peugeot 404, they were unexpectedly greeted by a fusillade from Russian-made AK47 rifles. The gang had been waiting for them for hours. Fifteen-year-old Colin was shot in the head and died in the carport and his wounded parents escaped into the house. 11/01/78.
Miss Cheryl Tilley (aged 20). Cheryl, sister of the late Colin, was in Kariba, organizing the details of her wedding with her prospective in-laws. She set out for Salisbury on Air Rhodesia flight 825, excited and happy, friends said, for the first time since the death of her brother. But she never got to Salisbury. Flight 825 was shot down by ZIPRA. Thirty-eight died in the crash and another 10 were murdered on the ground in the remote bush of Urungwe Tribal Trustland. 03/09/78
Mr Cyril C. Tompson, Bubani Ranch, Nuanetsi, ambush, 14/02/78.
Mr Arthur Stockwell Topham. Killed in action when serving as a Sergeant with A Squadron, Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment. The patrol was returning to Chipinga after checking on deserted farms. The Ferret was being driven by Trooper dos Santos and Arthur was sitting in the turret when it detonated a land mine and he was killed by the blast. 07/11/78. Gwebi ROH
Mrs V. E. Trinder, Nyamandhlovu, 03/09/79.
Mrs H. Turner, Gazaland, 09/01/79.
Miss S. Turner, Gazaland, 09/01/79.

Mr Ozias Peter Valentine (aged 42), Melsetter, died with another five RDR soldiers from gunshot wounds when they were attacked in Kanyemba, Sipolilo, 12/08/76.
Mr M. A. van Aard, Macheke/Virginia, 30/01/78.
Mr Phillip van As, killed in farm attack in 1979. From Fort Victoria High School ROH.

Mr S. P. van Blerk, Headlands, 26/05/78.
Mrs G. van Blerk, Headlands, 26/05/78.
Miss L. van Blerk, Headlands, 26/05/78.
Mr Sakkie ‘Hans’ van der Merwe, Nuanetsi, ambush, 15/02/79.
Mr J. J. F. van Maarseveen, Cashel, 04/12/77.
Miss Madelaine A. van Reenen (aged 15) died so tragically on that Friday. She was the daughter of Boet and Shelagh Gertrude van Reenen née Orford, and sister of John and Phyllis. The family farmed in the Mayo region and Madeleine was a boarder at the Marandellas High School. On that fateful day the van Reenen family were returning from Marandellas having inspected a new farm when they were ambushed by a ZANLA gang on the Mayo/Macheke road. Madeleine died instantly. 15/09/78.
Mr J. J. F. van Vuuren, Matopos South, 22/05/76.
Mr M. J. van Vuuren, Matopos South, 22/05/76.
Mr Ray C. Vassard, manager of Bon Espoir, Chipinga, killed by a landmine on the bridge at Clearwater, 12/05/79.
Mr B. Vermeulen, Headlands, 11/01/78.
Mr Johannes Hendrick Viljoen (aged 39), Shot when he opened the door at 01:00 a.m. on Nevada Farm, Gadzema on the night of 16^th May 1966. He is originally from Umtali. He was killed by one of several ZANLA gangs that crossed the Zambezi near Chirundu. This gang operated in the Zvimba TTL and Zowa Purchase areas under the leader Mizha/Gumbashumba. 17/05/66  Rhodesia Herald, Global Journal and RhAF COINOPS.
Mrs Johanna ‘Babs’ Viljoen (aged 36) née van Zyl, Gadzema, 16/05/66. Shot and killed in the home but two of their children that were asleep at home were unharmed. Rhodesia Herald
Mr Ken D. Viljoen was returning to Crystal Creek farm on the Chipinga-Melsetter Road close to Silverstreams with his wife, Anne, when they were ambushed two kilometres from home. The homestead was set alight and this alerted neighbours to their plight but they had already died. Melsetter, 01/10/77.
Mrs E. Anne Viljoen was returning to Crystal Creek farm on the Chipinga-Melsetter Road close to Silverstreams with her husband, Ken, when they were ambushed two kilometres from home. Melsetter, 01/10/77.
Mr Delville Joseph ‘Del’ Vincent (aged 44), farming in Centenary, was killed while with PATU during a contact in the Centenary district on tracks near Charmwood Farm, 03/04/73.
Mr Ephraim August ‘Effie’ Volker (aged 44), Rudolfer Farm, Arcturus, was killed while with PATU when he detonated a landmine when on a motorcycle in the Enterprise district, 03/08/79.
Mr J. l. S. Vorster, Melsetter, 23/01/78.

Mr Guy Victor Walton. Retired Colonel from WWII was growing blueberries for Dairibord yoghurt on Stronacharvie Farm, Melsetter, when he was killed by a ZANLA attack. 04/10/1978. S Lunderstedt

Mr D. Ward, Mazoe, 23/06/78.
Mrs S. Watkins, Nuanetsi, 29/12/79.

Mr Noel St. J. Webb, Belingwe, 17/08/77. Noel was working as a cattle manager on Wedza Ranch in the Belingwe farming district for Des and Rita Forbes when on the Sunday he went down to the local farm store to collect his newspaper. He was informed at the store that there were some mujibas in the vicinity. Noel pursued them but was only armed with a handgun and he managed to shoot and wound the ringleader twice but they laid an ambush for him and overwhelmed and murdered him with knives and machetes. The ringleader was killed by police in Bulawayo on a follow-up a short while later. The three other mujibas were captured by Security Forces and tried for Noel’s murder but were acquitted due to a lack of corroborating evidence.
Mr Gregory John West (aged 19), Gazaland, was killed by gunshot from a contact serving with 3^rd Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment, 12/11/76.
Mr E. Ronnie T. White, Gatooma, ambushed 05/12/79 and died 6/1/1980.
Mr John Barry Whitfield, Gwebi graduate, Course 27. Killed in action. 05/02/78.

Six months after graduating, John was on Territorial call-up with the scouts. A highly decorated Scout who had been in the unit since its inception had been abducted by ZANLA during home leave in November 1976 in the highly subverted Nyajena Tribal Trust Land near Fort Victoria. Sergeant Head Wuranda SCR BCR, with his artificial leg, had reportedly been marched by his captures to Mocambique after being ‘sold’ by his father but he was never seen again or his body found.

A year later his wife was in danger so Commanding Officer Lt Col Ron Reid-Daly ordered his RSM with twelve men in a well-fortified mini-column to fetch Mrs Wuranda to bring her back for her protection into safety in married quarters at Nkomo Barracks. She was collected with her possessions but on the return leg on the same route on the same day - as there was absolutely no alternative - they were ambushed by a force of 50 ZANLA. Within seconds, Sergeant Chiutsi Ringisayi, Lance Corporal Richard Cook, Trooper John Barry Whitfield, and Trooper Martin Rungwe were killed. Trooper Basil Moss who had been wounded was casevaced but died in the helicopter before reaching Fort Victoria Hospital and his brother solemnly returned to base without him. Steve Bennett for Gwebi ROH

Mrs C. J. Willers, Gazaland, 10/06/78.
Niss L. Wilger, Nyamandhlovu, 03/09/78.
Master M. Wilger, Nyamandhlovu, 03/09/78.
Mr Benjamin Huntsman ‘Hunty’ Williams (aged 34), farmer, Portwe Estate, Inyati, died after his arm near the shoulder was injured by an RPG rocket blast in a vehicle ambush with Police Reserve north of Lupane, 03/08/78.
Ms Catharina Jantina Williams (aged 46), farming with her husband in Chipinga, was murdered on her way for duty as a Woman Police Reservist, 10/06/78.

Mr Russell S. Williams, Inyanga, a Territorial Army Selous Scout was assisting a PATU stick on a follow-up when he was killed in a contact just inside Wankie National Park at the main entrance, 17/01/78.
Mr Nigel Willis (aged 18), a farmer at Shamva. A Trooper, serving with C Squadron, Special Air Service, was killed in action in an ambush while on an external operation in Mozambique. 14/02/74.
Mr J. Freddie Wolfaard, Swanscoe Ranch, Nuanetsi, ambush, 09/02/78.
Mr J. Wright, Odzi, 10/09/77.

Mr Rodgers Wright, single, aged 62, was murdered at his home in the Umtali farming area between 22-24 October 1979. Herald

Mr Colin Andrew Shaw Young (aged 42), forester in charge of Westward Ho Estate, Charter Forestry Estates, in Melsetter. Cash had been taken by a renegade CT, Obert Dhawayo, from Michael Hood-Cree, who had drawn the payroll from the mobile bank at Skyline Junction. Michael was left for dead and the two tellers were also wounded. Police Reservists were deployed and Colin Young was with one stick in an ambush position on the Ndima road leading into Ngorima TTL. He was killed in the contact. 29/04/75.

Mr Stephen Bothma Bernard ‘Steve’ Ziegler, Marandellas, was killed in a vehicle ambush in the Rusambo area while attached to 7^th Battalion, Rhodesia Regiment. He was a Swiss national. 16/01/78.

 

A total of 84 commercial Farmers were on service with the Rhodesian Security Forces or Internal Affairs when they were either Killed in Action or were Killed on Active Service. 50 were with the para-military police so many were serving within their home districts. Those with the police comprised 28 with Police Reserve, 14 with PATU, 7 in BSAP/CID/Ground Coverage or Special Branch; whilst 1 was serving with the Police Reserve Air Wing. Those that were casualties on call-up with the Army were dispersed widely with several killed during external operations. 11 were with Rhodesia Regiment, 8 with Rhodesian Light Infantry, 4 with Special Air Services, 3 with Rhodesia African Rifles, 2 with the Selous Scouts. 1 was in each of Armoured Cars, Artillery and Engineers. 1 farmer died with another 7 RDR service men in one tragic engagement.

Many farmers that were killed on their farms served with different units of the security forces under their obligations of territorial service.

 

Commercial farmers and families killed on their farms after 1980 (by date):

Mr Gerald William “Bill” Adams (aged 68) died tragically on 4^th August 1980. He was manager of Stamford farm, approximately 9 kms from Salisbury and very close to Charles Prince airport (formerly Mount Hampden).

Gerald was born in Northamtonshire, England in December 1912, to William Adams and Jessie Adams (née Cullis). His father William was a well-known cricketer, having represented Northamptonshire and England.

In April 1949 Gerald, his wife, and two year old daughter sailed from Southampton, England, on the “Stirling Castle”, and arrived in Port Elizabeth.

Bill Dawson wrote on Adams' murder:

“I was on the neighbouring farm (Rainham) at the time and had just put myself back to bed with a blinding hangover when wild shooting started. There was a small rifle range near the house and at first I thought the shooting was from there, but soon realised something other was going on. On the night before, Edgar Tekere was a guest at a party on Stamford farm given by the new owner, Mr. Machapisa. Some Guard Force personnel stationed at the farm went to the back door to ask for beer (or some more beer, as i suspect) but weren't given any. Later they fired some shots over the house to show their displeasure. Tekere, thinking himself under attack, leopard crawled into the bush. The following day he returned with some soldiers to teach the guard force a lesson. 'Bill' Adams, who was living in a manager's house on the farm ran into the house when the shooting started, to raise the alarm on the Agric Alert radio but was shot dead at close quarters.”

Edgar Tekere, ranked third in the ZANU PF hierarchy and the Minister of Manpower, was charged with his murder. Despite the evidence, Tekere escaped by invoking the laws introduced by the former Rhodesia Government in regard to homeland security. Tekere was found not guilty by a majority of 2 to 1.

The Judge President, John Pittman, found Tekere guilty, while appointed assessors - magistrates Greenland and Nemapare - found Tekere not guilty based on the fact that Tekere had acted on the belief that he was suppressing a terrorist threat. Their two votes over-ruled that of the Judge President. S Lunderstedt

Mr Lorry James, Arcturus, 1980.

Mr Louis Volker, Arcturus, 1980.

Mr Michael ‘Mick’ Williams, Sessombi Ranch, Kwe Kwe, 30/12/80

Mr John Patrick Franklin (aged 36), Mutare, was killed on his farm Greater Sisal, March 1981. The Farmer, 30 March, 1981.

Mr Abraham Barend Roux (aged in his 60s), Victoria East.

Gunmen shot and killed a white couple early on 12^th March 1982 at their farm homestead east of Fort Victoria in southern Zimbabwe. The shooting of Abraham and Margaret Roux, both in their 60's, brought to 13 the number of whites killed by dissident guerrillas since independence in April 1980, police sources said.

A police spokesman said unidentified men in civilian clothes had approached the Roux's homestead shortly after dawn. Mrs Roux died in a blast of automatic rifle fire as she opened a farm store, and the gunmen then turned on Mr. Roux and shot and killed him in the garage, a police spokesman said. 12/03/1982

Mrs Margaret Roux, (aged in her 60s), Victoria East, shot when opening the farm store moments before her husband, Abraham Roux, was killed. See above. 12/03/1982
Mrs Helena van As (aged 70), Victoria East. Gunned down in home invasion. March 1981. The Farmer, 30 March, 1981
Mr Philip (Helena's grandson, aged 20), Victoria East, Gunned down in home invasion, 1981. The Farmer, 30 March, 1981

Mr Geoff Staunton, beaten to death, 1981.

Mr Brian Dawe (aged 40), Mvaami Farm, Chinhoyi. 26^th April, 1982.

He was married to Patricia with two young children when he took up a manager’s position with a privately owned ranch called Mvaami in the Chinoya farming area. On a Monday evening, when Brian was watching television, his domestic worker brought three assailants, all armed with AK47s, into the house. They came up behind him on the sofa and their spokesman said, “We want money!” When Brian replied that he didn’t have any, the spokesman opened fire with a burst that killed Brian instantly.

The Bull Terrier that was lying next to him launched itself at the attacker but was shot too. Brian’s wife used this momentary distraction to scoop up the two children, and dash down the passage to the bedroom block. She got there just in time to close and lock the door before her attackers crashed against it, bawling threats at her. Fortunately there was a loaded rifle in the bedroom which she fired through the door. It jammed when the wrong ammunition was reloaded but fortunately the intruders didn’t know this and fled from the farmhouse. Gwebi ROH

Mr David Charles Stirling, Makando Farm, Falls Road, gunned down in ambush, 9^th July, 1982.
Mr Phil Ellman-Brown, Nyamandhlovu, August 1982.

The death of Phillip Ellman-Brown, 50 miles north of the city of Bulawayo, coincided with other portents that have eroded the hopefulness that surrounded the nation at independence in 1980.

Mr. Ellman-Brown was killed close to an area where more than 2,000 soldiers and policemen have been hunting in vain for the last 16 days for a group of ''dissidents'' holding hostage six foreign tourists, two of them American, to enforce demands for the release of detained comrades.

The divisions deepened last February when Mr. Mugabe dismissed Joshua Nkomo, the acknowledged leader of the Ndebele people, from the Cabinet, accusing him of plotting a coup, a charge that Mr. Nkomo denies. The Prime Minister's action ended a period of frail unity during which the rival guerrilla armies, which had professed loyalty to the two leaders during the war against the white minority, were united into a single force. At least 1,000 former members of Mr. Nkomo's army, and possibly twice that many, are now reported by military sources to have defected and taken to the bush as bandits or ''dissidents.''

It is members of this group who are suspected of killing Mr. Ellman-Brown, and they are the people holding hostage the foreign tourists and demanding the freeing of pro-Nkomo people. Some 200 such figures have been detained since February, mainly under emergency regulations inherited from the former white leadership. Those detained include Soviet-trained guerrilla commanders, two of whom, Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku, are held in the Chikurubi maximum security prison. Reporting by Alan Cowell
Mr Harold Montague Hilton-Barber (aged 77), Hilton Ranch, Filabusi, Insiza, shot with a pistol, 02/04/1982.

Husband of Ellen and father to Guy and David Hilton-Barber.
Mr Benjamin Williams (aged 71), Turk Mine. abduction and murder. 31/12/82.

Benjie {also reported as ‘Benjy’} was abducted on New Year’s Eve with his grandson, David Bilang.  Dissidents were seeking concessions from Mugabe's Government but Benjie was found shot dead two days later but at that stage there was no word on his grandson.  J L Robinson and press reports
Mr David Bilang (aged 24), Turk Mine. abducted with his grandfather Benjy Williams and murdered 31/12/82.

David was abducted on New Year’s Eve with his grandfather by dissidents that were seeking concessions from Mugabe's Government but it was many months before it was established that he had also been killed. J L Robinson and press reports
Mr David Walters (aged 26), Umgusa Ranch, Nyamandhlovu. Gunned down in ambush. 31/12/82

Five whites and a black were killed in an ambush in Matabeleland. The police identified the dead as David Walters, a farmer; his sons, Michael and Sean, his brother-in-law, John Hearn, 45; a friend, Philip Boiron, and a black security guard, Tamba Ndebele.

They were all in a car traveling from Mr Walter's home in the Nyamandhlovu district west of Bulawayo when they were cut down by automatic weapons fire.

Master Sean Walters (aged 4), Umgusa Ranch, Nyamandhlovu. Gunned down in ambush. 31/12/82.

Son of David Walters, six passengers were killed in an ambush in Nyamandlovu.

Master Michael Walters (aged 2), Umgusa Ranch, Nyamandhlovu. Gunned down in ambush. 31/12/82.

Son of David Walters, six passengers were killed in an ambush in Nyamandlovu.

Mr John Hearne {also ‘Hearn’} (aged 18 {also 45}), Umgusa Ranch, Nyamandhlovu. Gunned down in ambush. 31/12/82 {conflicting posts}.

Brother-in-law of David Walters, six passengers were killed in an ambush in Nyamandlovu.

Mr Gerrit Malan, Rusape, shot and killed on his farm and his wife was wounded, March 1983.
Mr Erick Stratford (66), Umguza, 18/03/1983. Captured with his family on the farm.

Mrs Christie Stratford (62), Umguza, 18/03/1983.

Granddaughters Candy (15) and Tanya Tavernor (12), Umguza, 18/03/1983.

Senator Paul Savage, Macaulay’s Farm, Gwanda, Gunned down on the verandah, 03/04/83.

Republican Front Senator, Paul Savage died when about 20 armed dissidents attacked his house. His daughter, Colleen, and a visitor from the UK, Sandra Bennett also died. His wife was seriously wounded.
Miss Colleen Savage (daughter of Paul Savage), Macaulay’s Farm, Gwanda, Gunned down on the verandah, 03/04/83.

Paul and Colleen Savage were killed with Sandra Bennett when about 20 armed dissidents attacked the house. Mrs Savage was seriously wounded.
Ms Sandra Bennett (aged 38) visiting the Savages from UK, Macaulay’s Farm, Gwanda, Gunned down on the verandah, 03/04/83.  

Paul and Colleen Savage were killed with Sandra Bennett when about 20 armed dissidents attacked the house. Mrs Savage was seriously wounded.

Mr Barry Brooke, Glendale, Farm attack, 28/5/1983. The Farmer
Mrs Diana Brooke, Glendale, Farm attack, 28/5/1983. The Farmer
Mr Ian Brebner (aged 39), Luchabi Ranch, Figtree, was killed by a group of eight attackers and four spent cartridges were found at the scene, 13/6/1983.
Dissidents shot and killed Mr Brebner in southwest Zimbabwe, officials said today. He was shot in the chest on the Tuesday after being approached by about eight gunmen at the Lushabi Outspan Farm, 40 miles west of Bulawayo in Matabeleland Province, a Government statement said.

Matabeleland farmers were armed with automatic weapons this year in an effort to curb anti-Government violence in which more than 100 people, 23 of them white, have died. Mr. Brebner's family had moved into Bulawayo during that year because of the security problems. Press reports

Mr Joe Phillip van Vuuren, Matabeleland, 5/11/1983.
Mr Trevor Smith, Figtree, murdered on his farm by dissidents. This is the second time that his wife, Linda, was widowed. 1983.
Mr Charles ‘Charlie’ Loxton (mid-50s), Damara Farm, Kezi, Farm attack, 23/12/1983. Norman Stockton, ORAFs 30^th December 2013.
Mrs Rosemary ‘Rosie’ Loxton, Damara Farm, Kezi, Farm attack, after raising the alarm on the AgricAlert, 23/12/1983. Norman Stockton, ORAFs 30^th December 2013.
Miss Julie Loxton (aged 20), Damara Farm, Kezi, Farm attack, 23/12/1983. Norman Stockton, ORAFs 30^th December 2013.
Mr Tony Loxton, Damara Farm, Kezi, Charlie’s brother rushed to their aid from Kezi Police Station but was shot as he approached the house, 23/12/1983. Norman Stockton, ORAFs 30^th December 2013.
Dr Peter Gradwell, Plumtree, 28/12/1983.
Niece (15) and friend (9), Plumtree, 28/12/1983.

Peter was an academic. These three were checking cattle on the farm in Plumtree when shot dead by dissidents. Brian Sheriff
Mr Ian Birchall, Marula. Gunshot by dissidents at night in his home. 24/5/1984.

Mr Jack Ehlers, Nyamandhlovu. Shot while fleeing from ambush. 23/10/1985.
Mrs Joy Ehlers, Nyamandhlovu. Shot while exiting from ambushed vehicle. 23/10/1985.

Mr Ehler’s foreman, Nyamandhlovu, 23/10/1985.
Mr Dahlia Gasporini, bayoneted when visiting a neighbour, Nyamandhlovu.
Mr Mark Sommer (aged 31), Nyathi, shot by six gunmen and struck with an axe in an attack on his ranch, 23/12/85.
Mr Hector Argyle (aged 40), ambushed in his Land Rover, Shangani, 21/1/1986.
Mr Allan Dicks (aged 70), Somabula. Club invasion. 9/5/1987.

A gang of dissidents approached the Somabula Club in the darkness with their weapons, walked around the side to an open window and fired automatic bursts from AK47s at Roy Futter, Thys Lourens, Allen Dicks and Glyn Williams who were playing darts in the club close to this window. They all died. See more details under Mr Roy Futter.
Mr Roy Futter (aged 46), Somabula. Club invasion. 9/5/1987. As the sun sank below the horizon after tennis at Somabhula Club, the braais were lit and after supper was eaten most of the members gravitated towards the clubhouse after tennis. Gunfire was heard that Saturday night at about 9.30 p.m.

A gang of four Terrorists – the modern day “dissidents” - had been observing the club since midday and no one paid any attention to the stranger lounging around the blue Datsun 120Y. The gang waited patiently until night fell and then approached the club in the darkness with their weapons, walked around the side to an open window and fired automatic bursts from AK47s at Roy Futter, Thys Lourens, Allen Dicks and Glyn Williams who were playing darts in the club close to this window. Thys, Allen and Glyn were all killed instantly in this fusillade of bullets but Roy was not wounded and realised that he needed to get the five women and youngster to safety so quickly ushered them to the shower rooms where he locked them in for their safety. Roy then returned to the now darkened club to try and secure the situation but was gunned down by the gang as he attempted to close the door to the bar. His son Greg, 11 at the time, lying on the floor pretending to be dead, witnessed his father being shot. Frank Mkwebu, the club barman, took this opportunity to try and escape but was shot and wounded in his leg and was dragged back into the club but in spite of his wounds managed to hide by dragging himself under a table when the terrorists were distracted. The gang, now intent on escaping, broke into another vehicle looking for a weapon but soon drove off in their own car into the darkness. Gwebi ROH

Mr Tys Lourens (aged 43), Somabula. Club invasion. 9/5/1987.

A gang of dissidents approached the Somabula Club in the darkness with their weapons, walked around the side to an open window and fired automatic bursts from AK47s at Roy Futter, Thys Lourens, Allen Dicks and Glyn Williams who were playing darts in the club close to this window. They all died. See more details under Mr Roy Futter.
Mr Glen Williams (aged 48), farmer of Ruby Ranch, Somabula. Club invasion. 09/05/1987.

A gang of dissidents approached the Somabula Club in the darkness with their weapons, walked around the side to an open window and fired automatic bursts from AK47s at Roy Futter, Thys Lourens, Allen Dicks and Glyn Williams who were playing darts in the club close to this window. They all died. See more details under Mr Roy Futter.
Mr Roy Dabbs, Gweru, 19/05/1987.
Mr Andrew William “Andy” MacDonald, Figtree/Marula, 18/08/1987.

Andy MacDonald was born in Mufulira. Andy also played for the Springboks in the 1965 tour to Australia. Sometime in the years after the tour Andy became embroiled in an argument with a lion.

Lions were causing problems on his farm; killing livestock. Andy set out, together with his foreman, to solve this problem. Andy shot a lioness, with his 303 rifle. But he did not kill her and he and his foreman started tracking the wounded lioness through the bush. Coming around a large anthill, the lioness pounced on Andy who did manage to lift the gun to partially defend himself, but which also resulted in the rifle being bent and rendered useless as a weapon. This left Andy wrestling with the lioness. His foreman, in the meantime and despite being armed, ran off to get help

Andy was a strong, powerful man and was obviously very fit. He eventually managed to get his hand in the lion’s mouth and get hold of the lion’s tongue. The lioness finally released its grip on Andy and crawled a few metres away before dying from the gunshot wound. But by this time the damage had been done, leaving Andy with part of his thumb and first finger missing as well as some badly mangled fingers. There were also extensive lacerations on his legs and arms, leaving him needing 480 stitches when he got medical attention.

Free of the lion, Andy set off to get help for himself and walked a good number of kilometres before he was picked up by one of his family and the foreman although they at first thought that he was a farm worker or villager as he was caked with mud and congealed blood from the severely mauled arm, he was unrecognisable.

Andy eventually left Zambia in the early 70’s and moved down to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He and his wife were killed in the ambush just outside Bulawayo in the mid 1980’s when their car was set alight. The killers were never found. The blame was put on dissidents or the South Africans although there was speculation that Andy’s involvement in breeding dogs for the police may have played a part in his untimely death.
Mrs Nettie MacDonald, Figtree/Marula, 18/08/1987, killed with her husband, Andy, in an ambush just outside Bulawayo when their car was set alight.
Mr John Norvall, Nyandhlovu, 26/8/1987.

John Norvall was ambushed when he stopped at a small river crossing. Eight men with AK47 assault rifles opened fire from a distance of about six feet. The white rancher, whose Scottish grandfather came to this country before the turn of the century, was on his way to buy a cow from a black neighbour. He bled to death in the front seat of his Mazda pick-up.

His son who took over refuses to visit black neighbours to buy cattle. Instead, since his father's death, along what he calls the "western front" where seven miles of his property abut black-owned land, he has seen to the construction of a reinforced barbed-wire fence.

His son now drives the same dusty roads of their 24,800-acre ranch, but unlike his father, Mark Norvall never travels alone. "They all think I am a really mean swine. I think it pays to get across that image" says Norvall, aged 27, who does not go out of his house without a pistol in his belt and a German-made automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. He rides with four or five heavily armed guards. At river crossings and farm gates, Norvall stops, orders the guards out and waits, rifle in hand, while they search the nearby bush.

The white farmers of this dry, wind-blown southwestern Zimbabwe region of Matabeleland had a rough time of it last year. Elusive, nebulously motivated dissidents - the term loosely applied to the rebels or bandits who for six years terrorized this region - struck at the farmers with unexpected ferocity.

The killings of the whites of Matabeleland and the transformation of their vast ranches into barbed-wire encampments are perhaps the most nagging failure in Zimbabwe's otherwise successful effort to build a cohesive, multiracial society. Blaine Harden

Mr Brian Hubbard, Gwanda, September-October, 1987.
Mr Dick Bawden, Turk Mine.
Mr Dando, Shangani.

Missionaries were targetted by dissidents with 16 deaths documented at Umzingwane on two farms early on 26th November, 1987. All victims had been hacked to death.
Those killed at the Olive Tree Farm were Jerry Keightley (40), and his wife Marian Keightley (39), their daughters Gay Deborah (16) and Glynis (14), and their 18-month-old son, Barnabas. Another Zimbabwean, Penelope Sarah Lovett (28), and two Americans, David Emerson (35), of Osakis, Minn., and Karen Sharon Iversdahl (32), who was reported to be from Montana, were also killed.

Those killed at the New Adam Farm were David Marais (35), a South African; his wife, Katherine Marais (34), and their son, Ethan (4). Also killed were Robert Hill (38), and his wife, Gaynor (27), and their 6-week-old-old son, Benjamin; Hazel Russell (46), and Jean Campbell, a Briton. Laura Russell (13) escaped.

 

 

Commercial farmers who died post 2000 - or who were victims - from Farm Invasions, theft or for motives unknown:

 

Mr David Stevens (aged 49), Murehwa South, Saturday, 15^th April, 2000.

David Stevens, who shared profits with workers at his farm 60 miles east of Harare, was attacked by so-called veterans of Zimbabwe's independence war. He sought help from officers at the local police station, who did nothing to stop him being abducted and dragged into the bush, where he was tortured and shot.

Gary Luke's face was purple with bruising and caked with dry blood. Propped up in a hospital bed with a compressed fracture to his skull, he was one of six white farmers abducted by armed supporters of the Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe. He and another farmer, Steve Krynauw, were accused of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and were beaten unconscious with iron bars, car fan belts and rocks. They were among five farmers who had tried to rescue their neighbour, David Stevens, who was abducted and shot dead.

Four on trial, Richard Svisviro, Muyengwa Munyuki, Charles Matanda and Douglas Chitekuteku, are accused of being part of a gang of about 15 who abducted David Stevens, killed him and performed a bizarre ritual. Banda Katsvamudanga, who is accused of firing the shot, disappeared after being released from remand prison and passed away in Macheke in May 2016. Peta Thornycraft.
Mr Martin Geoffery Olds (aged 43), Bubi-Umguza, 18^th April, 2000.

A scorched and bullet-scarred farmhouse showed the struggle mounted by Martin during a two-hour siege before he was killed by 70 armed attackers.

Gunmen launched a dawn raid on his home at Compensation Farm in Matabeleland, 400 miles south-west of the capital, Harare. He was repeatedly wounded during a gun battle that left his right leg shattered. However, he continued to fight his assailants and wounded two before succumbing.

Local farmers said Mr Olds had been a target for murder by fanatical supporters of Mr Mugabe who were brought by bus to the area.

Mr Olds told a neighbouring farmer during a desperate radio conversation at about 6 a.m.: "I've been shot and I need an ambulance". His attackers had arrived about 30 minutes earlier with automatic weapons. They burst through his security fence to surround the house.

Mr Olds defended himself with a shotgun and a hunting rifle. His right leg was broken but he made his own splints and continued to fight back. He fled through the back door after petrol bombs were thrown through the windows, and was shot in his other leg. He was caught, beaten and then shot in the head.

As the alarm was raised, nearby farmers tried to stabilise the situation. Guy Parkin, 20, approached the farmhouse at 6.45 a.m. He said: "When I got there, there were lots of cars outside his gate. When I asked one of the war veterans what was going on, a shot was fired over me."

Mr Parkin, fearing for his life, hastily retreated. He said most of the attackers were drunk and waving empty beer bottles. About 45 minutes later, Mr Olds was dead. Craig Wood, a local farmer, saw his body and said he had been "severely beaten". Police did not appear until 9.30 a.m., when the attackers did flee.

The local people are Ndebele speakers with a deep loathing for Mr Mugabe's government. Local farmers suspect that shock troops of the ruling Zanu-PF party are being brought into the area to cause renewed unrest. Mr Olds was alone in the farmhouse when he was attacked as he had evacuated his family to Bulawayo after being warned that he was a likely target for the mob of between 100 and 300 supposed war veterans who had been bused into Matabeleland.

An ambulance treated two of his assailants for shotgun wounds to the legs and the medical crew confirmed that their patients were from the Shona tribe. Gwebi ROH
Mr Alan Stewart Dunn, Seke, 7^th May 2000.

Mr Dunn was said to have been a regional committee member of the MDC which said he had been persecuted for his political beliefs.

Mr Dunn, who emigrated from Kent in 1971, was lured out of his farmhouse, 50 miles south of Harare, by six men who beat him with chains and sticks, broke chairs over his head and smashed him with concrete blocks. He suffered severe head injuries and both his arms were fractured. He was taken to Harare hospital where he died on the Monday. According to his wife, nothing was stolen from the house, the attack lasted five to 10 minutes and the men fled from the farm immediately afterwards.
Mr John Weeks (aged 65), Seke, 14^th May 2000.

White Zimbabwean farmer John Weeks has died from shotgun injuries sustained in a clash linked to the violent campaign calling for the re-distribution of land.

Mr Weeks died on the Sunday - four days after being shot in the chest while on his farm at Beatrice south of the capital, Harare and about 30 miles from where farmer Alan Dunn was bludgeoned to death a week ago.

The head of the Commercial Farmers' Union, David Hasluck, said the attack on Mr Weeks, who supported Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was "definitely political".

He said Mr Weeks' attackers were linked to the groups who have been invading farms across Zimbabwe.
Mr Tony Oates, Zvimba North, shot and killed, 31^st May 2000.

Intruders shot dead a white farmer at his home in Zimbabwe during a gunbattle in which one of the assailants also died. Tony Oates is the fifth white farmer to have been killed since mobs of squatters and ruling party militants illegally occupied hundreds of white-owned properties.

He was shot dead late Wednesday on his farm about 40 miles north-west of Harare, the Commercial Farmers Union said. The intruders cut the burglar bars in the bedroom where Oates was sleeping. His wife, who was watching television in the house, escaped.

"He shot at the intruders and killed one of them, but he was also shot and died," a union spokeswoman said.

The union said the killing was criminally rather than politically inspired. Oates' farm in the fertile district of Trelawney tobacco and grain district was not occupied by the illegal squatters who are demanding land they say was stolen during the British colonial area. But several properties neighbouring Oates' farm have been occupied by mobs since February.
Mr Willem Botha. Seke. 23^rd July 2000.

On that Sunday night, Willem Botha, who was in his sixties, was beaten to death by suspected robbers near Beatrice. Although squatters were not accused of involvement, other farmers blamed his death on the "breakdown of law and order" caused by the land invasions, which have been encouraged by President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Henry Swan Elsworth (aged 70), Kwekwe, murdered in ambush, 12^th December, 2000.

Henry Elsworth, a former Member of Parliament and a prominent commercial farmer, was shot dead in an ambush on his farm on Tuesday evening, his family and police said yesterday.

Elsworth's 20-year-old son Ian, speaking from a stretcher bed in a Harare hospital, said independence war veterans and supporters of the ruling party who had been trying to take over his farm since February had murdered his father.
Mrs Gloria Olds (aged 68), Bubi-Umguza. Mother of Martin Olds. 4^th March, 2001.

Mrs Olds was ambushed at the gates of her homestead on Silverstreams Farm. She was the seventh white farmer killed since last April. Her son, Martin, who lived on the neighbouring Compensation Farm, was murdered in a dawn raid by 70 gunmen on April 18.

Although Silverstreams is not among the 900 white farms still occupied by squatters, neighbours believe the murder of Mrs Olds was a political killing. The entire farming community around Nyamandhlovu, which has been particularly affected by the land invasions, joined a search for the killers, fanning out across the bush in four-wheel-drive vehicles, guided by two light aircraft.

The getaway vehicle was spotted heading north towards Tsholotsho and a witness told farmers that it contained three men. But it was soon lost amid the winding tracks and dense bush. Police officers were sent to the scene, though farmers bitterly remember that the killers of Martin Olds were allowed through a police road block while making their getaway. No one has been convicted for his murder, or any of the others.
Mr Ralph Fenwick Corbett. Kwekwe. 6^th August 2001.

The death was reported in hospital of Ralph Corbett, a farmer from Kwekwe in the Midlands, who sustained fatal head injuries during an axe attack by a Zanu PF mob.

He had been trussed up with wire and beaten about the head with an axe on Friday in what his family say was a politically motivated killing. Mr Corbett is the ninth white farmer killed since President Robert Mugabe launched the land invasions nearly two years ago. The murdered farmer's land has been occupied by "war veterans" for a year.
Mr Terrence ‘Terry’ Ford (aged 55), Mhondoro, 18^th March, 2002.

Terry Ford was shot dead in his farm outside Harare and his body was found by his domestic worker early in the morning. There were blood stains on one wall, and marks in the earth showing he had struggled in the garden and then made for his pick-up at the back of the house.

Tyre marks show he rammed the closed security gate repeatedly and managed to dislodge one of the posts.

He was then dragged out of the truck, held up against a tree and shot through the front of his head, probably with his own revolver.

For several hours after neighbouring farmers arrived, shortly after 6am, the smallest of his four dogs, Squeak, an old Jack Russell, lay on the bloodied, muddy body, covered with a turquoise bedspread, growling if anyone moved close, until he was locked away to allow police to examine the body.

Mr Ford's farm, 27 miles west of Harare, had lain idle since Mr Mugabe's "war veterans" stopped him farming two years ago. He found part-time work as a school groundsman. Mr Ford spent that weekend with his girlfriend Naomi Raaff, a teacher, in Harare, but suddenly decided to return to the farm to check on his property.

"He was nervous and thought he would be cleaned out, so in the middle of Sunday afternoon he went home," Ms Raaff said. At 11.30 on Sunday night, he phoned his neighbour and cousin David Lewis and said intruders were in the house, but that he had fired a shot into the air and they had left.

"He said the dogs were there and told me not to come, but asked if I could phone the police. I wrote down the name of the constable who took the call, who said the police driver was asleep. I begged him to wake him up."

Mr Ford phoned other neighbours, who also called the police. It was then that they said they could not come.

Mr Ford was the 10th white farmer murdered in Zimbabwe since the land crisis began. Peta Thornycraft.

Mr Thomas ‘Tom’ Bayley (aged 88), Danbery Park, Mount Hamden, was killed during a siege, 1^st May 2002.

The British-born farmer had been under siege by Mugabe supporters for 35 days when he fell and broke a leg.

A friend and farmer said: "Tom passed away in his sleep after two years of threats and interference with his life's work.

"He and Bobs endured daily threats and war songs all night, every night. The physical pain he suffered when he broke his leg was nothing compared to the mental pain of being forced off his farm."

Mr Charles T. T. Anderson (aged 44), Glendale/Mazowe, shot and killed, 2^nd June, 2002.

The man who shot and killed Charles Anderson four years previously was sentenced to death by the Zimbabwe High Court in 2006. 31 year old Munetsi Kadzinga was given the death sentence by high court Judge Bharat Patel after he was convicted of the 2002 murder. The South African Mail and Guardian newspaper reports that Kadzinga claimed in court that he had been told to carry out attacks on white farmers by senior government officials, including Minister John Nkomo, who ran the Home Affairs ministry at the time. But the judge dismissed the claims and said there were no extenuating circumstances in the case.
Mr Philip ‘Phil’ Laing (aged 51), Honde Valley, was killed by poisoning, 19/12/2003.

Two men were in intensive care after they were forced to drink paint thinners and acid by armed attackers dressed as soldiers who abducted them from a tea estate in eastern Zimbabwe. Ernest Pfumbi, 44, and Maphion Njopera, 35, are accounts clerks, at a British-owned tea company, Eastern Highlands Plantation, in the scenic Honde Valley, 188 miles east of Harare.

The company's chief accountant, Philip Laing, 48, an Australian, died after being beaten and then tortured into drinking acid. He was found handcuffed to a tree the next morning.

Police were told that four men in camouflage uniforms arrived at the company's offices and told staff they wanted to "look for foreign currency and evidence of involvement with the opposition" (the Movement for Democratic Change).

When they found nothing they took Christmas wages and kidnapped seven people, including two women. But a security guard escaped and raised the alarm.

It took a whole night to find the victims handcuffed together 50 miles from the company's offices. Peta Thornycraft
Mr Pieter Silverton, January 2004.
Mr Ole Sunde (aged 66), Banket. 6^th February, 2005.

Mr Sunde was strangled by suspected war veterans and ruling party militia as the effects of the five-year land occupation crisis lingered on.

He was abducted from his occupied Musonzowa Farm near Banket, 95 kilometers northwest of Harare, and driven into the bush where he was severely assaulted before he was strangled with a wire. Mr Sunde was rushed to Banket district hospital with serious head injuries but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mr Donald ‘Don’ Stewart also reported as ‘Stuart’ (aged 68), Norton. 26^th November 2005.

Mr Stewart, a dairy farmer and horticultural vegetable  producer  in  the  Norton/Harare  West  farming  area,  was  viciously  and brutally assaulted by a gang of intruders prior to his murder by strangulation in the early  hours.  After the  viciously  brutal  assault and  subsequent murder the  gang had time to destroy evidence by covering the body with mattresses, dousing them with  petrol  siphoned  from  farm  vehicles  and  then  torching  the  homestead. 

Recent invasions and attacks on the remaining  white farmers was triggered by anti-inflammatory language from State Security and Land  Reform  Minister  Didymus  Mutasa,  who  referred  to  them  as  ‘filth  and  ‘dirt’ on 26^th October 2005.
Mr Phillip Tenant, 1^st April 2006.
Mr Mike Campbell (aged 79), Chegutu. 6th April 2011.

Mike moved to Mount Carmel farm in 1974 and added a neighbouring plot of land in 1980. As well as farming, Campbell set up an extensive nature reserve on the property and also created the Biri River Safari Lodge.

The following year, however, as Robert Mugabe's land reform programme gathered pace, between 20 and 30 black men entered the estate, and refused to leave. Anxious that they might cut down trees on the estate to build homes, Campbell gave them a shed to sleep in. Over the following decade, invaders gradually took over Campbell's farm; they burned down the safari lodge and farmstead, and killed all the cattle and wildlife on the farm. Hundreds of Campbell's workers lost their jobs and Campbell's farm manager and other workers were arrested and tortured by the police after they attempted to defend the farm.

Campbell contested the seizure in the Zimbabwe supreme court, but there was no recourse. He went to the tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which ruled that the confiscation of the farm was racially discriminatory, offended the rule of law and violated principles of democracy. Mugabe said the finding was "nonsense".

Campbell and his wife, Angela, and son-in-law Ben Freeth were abducted on 29^th June, 2008 to a militia camp. Over nine hours were violently assaulted using “falanga” torture. Freeth’s feet were beaten with sjamboks – whips made of hippopotamus hide. They put a burning stick into Angela Campbell’s mouth to force her to sign a paper promising to discontinue the court case. The three were then dumped on the roadside. But they did carry on, Freeth appearing at the final hearing in Namibia in a wheelchair. His father-in-law was too ill to attend.

Mike and Angela Campbell moved to a friend's house in Harare. His loss of numeracy skills meant that he was unable to prepare his employees' wages.

He died in Harare on 8 April 2011 from complications of the 2008 assault.
Mrs Mary Austen (aged 74), Kwekwe, 17^th November 2008.

Mrs Austen, from the UK, was beaten to death and her husband left in a critical condition after a violent attack on the couple's farm in Zimbabwe. The body of Mary Austen was discovered two days after she was murdered. Her husband Neville, a 77-year-old Zimbabwean, was found unable to move or speak. Police said that when they arrived at the scene of horror, they found furniture strewn all over the house after a struggle between the Austens and their attackers. Mary died from numerous head injuries. A neighbour, who knew her well, described the attack as 'really brutal'. 'She was absolutely bludgeoned to death,' the neighbour said.
Mr Bob Vaughan-Evans (aged in his late 70s), Gweru, assault during home invasion, 3^rd July 2009.

Vaughan-Evans and his wife Jean were attacked late at night in their home by an intruder wielding an axe. The attack left Mr Vaughan-Evans dead and his wife unconscious. She is still recovering in hospital. The attack on the elderly couple was the third such incident in the space of the last six months, and the prior attack had already left Jean wheelchair bound.
Mr Ray van Rensburg (aged 76), Gweru, 15^th July 2009.

Intruders broke into the house and repeatedly struck the sleeping Mr van Rensburg on the back of the head. They then fled with the farmer’s wallet containing $25.
Mrs Sophie Hart (aged 75), Kadoma. 29^th August 2009.

An elderly farmer's wife, who was born in the Free State, Mrs Hart was murdered on her smallholding 150km west of Harare on Saturday, while her husband was watching the rugby between the Springboks and the Wallabies at a neighbouring farm.

A family member, Eben du Toit, said on Monday that Sophie Hart was alone at home when she was attacked. When her husband, Jan Hart, 79, came home shortly before sunset, he found his wife's body tied up in the kitchen and covered in blood. She had been strangled.

Mr Johannes Jacobus “Kobus” Joubert (aged 67), Stockdale Farm, Chegutu, murdered during armed robbery, 25^th October, 2010.

Kobus had been a very active and well respected member in Zimbabwe's tobacco industry for most of his life being a past President of the ZTA. He was always a great mentor to all who are involved in the industry in which he was so passionate.

Kobus Joubert was shot dead and his wife Mariaan, aged 64, was assaulted by assailants who also robbed them of $10,000 (£6,300) in cash.

"We are not sure whether this murder was criminal or political, at this stage, and this is very sensitive matter for our members," said Mike Clark, who monitors unrest on remaining white-owned farms for the Commercial Farmers' Union.

"Kobus had about 50ha (123 acres) of tobacco in the ground when he died and so that has to be reaped somehow."

Mr Joubert was one of the few remaining large scale tobacco growers left in Zimbabwe.

Two years ago, Mr Joubert, a former president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association, was attacked by militants loyal to Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president,

The couple were forced to flee their home, Scottsdale farm, in the Chegutu district about 60 miles west of Harare, and set up camp in the grass alongside a national highway for several weeks.

When the police tried to move them away, the couple protested saying that they had no other home.

The late vice President Joseph Msika, who had tried to assist several white farmers since land invasions began in 2000, secured a permit for Mr Joubert to remain in his home and continue farming. Peta Thornycraft and CFU
Mr Lourens Abrams Korsten, assaulted 31^st December 2010, died 28th February 2011.
Mr Colin Zietsman, Mvurwi, tortured, 2^nd September, 2011.

According to the CFU, Zietsman died instantly while his wife Phillipa is recovering in hospital after being bludgeoned by a blunt object.

"We have to report the callous and savage attack on Colin Zietsman and his wife Phillipa ‘Tinks’, which resulted in the death of well-known Centenary farmer. They were attacked and ruthlessly beaten by two individuals with blunt objects whilst they slept in their upstairs bedroom on their farm at 2 am on the Friday morning.

"Phillipa is now recovering in hospital in Harare from several severe injuries but is conscious. We all pray for her full and swift recovery from this terrible incident," CFU said in a statement.

"Although the motive appears to have been robbery, there was no money in the house at the time as wages were only due for collection from the bank today," the statement said.

The CFU described it as a "sad loss of another great member of our farming community, who merely wanted to farm in this great country of ours".

The union urged all farmers and their families to be extremely vigilant at all times, saying this was the second incident of its type using similar tactics that were used on a farm only one farm away last year.

"That farmer was also savagely beaten and was hospitalised for several months before his final recovery from his severe injuries. In that case money was stolen but the assailants have never been arrested despite a substantial reward being offered.

"If it is the same people involved then they may strike again somewhere because this time they came away without finding any cash in the house which may be what they were after," CFU said. Press report
Mr Keith Nicholson, Banket, shot and killed, 14^th September, 2011.

Keith Nicolson farmed in Raffingora then in DRC and also in Zambia. He returned to retire near Banket. He was shot and killed while trying to rescue a neighbour who had been abducted by four heavily armed men.

The group gained entry through the security boom at Mazvikadei Dam under false pretences. They then proceeded to the house of local garage owner Mr Tim Morgan where they again gained access to the house on the pretence of wanting to visit one of the gardeners employed by the Morgans. They then tied up all the staff and ransacked the house but could not find any money.

When Mr and Mrs Morgan returned in the evening they were ambushed and tied up. They then took Mr Morgan back to his garage in his Toyota twincab. At this stage Mrs Morgan was able to alert neighbours in the village, Messrs Henry Allam, Keith Nicolson and other unnamed persons who followed the

stolen vehicle in which the kidnapped garage owner was being driven away in.

They followed it down the Raffingora Road for some distance but once the occupants of the vehicle noticed they were being followed they stopped and turned the vehicle around to shine the lights onto the vehicle following them. They then fired many rounds at the vehicle forcing it off the road and forced the occupants to take cover. There was an ensuing gun battle as the occupants of the other vehicle also fired back. The time was now 9.30 p.m.

Three of the group then ran into the bush away from the vehicle so Keith Nicolson, thinking that everyone had run from the vehicle, rushed forward to release the hostage, Mr Morgan. However, he was immediately shot dead by a fourth attacker who was still in the vehicle, and who subsequently ran away. Mr Morgan managed to flee the vehicle uninjured and the vehicle was abandoned and henceforth recovered.

The armed gang was believed to have subsequently been collected and driven away in another vehicle, the registration details of which are known but no one has been apprehended.
Mr Bobby Ervine, Mazooma Farm, Guruve. Bobby was savagely assaulted on the evening of 12 October 2011 at his home on his farm in Guruve and has remained in hospital until his passing on the morning of 8 April 2012.

 

"About 18 white farmers were killed in violent takeovers of their land while almost all of the country's 620,000 permanent and seasonal farm-workers were driven away from their homes" John Worsley-Worswick, the late head of Justice for Agriculture, a Harare-based lobby group, said. Together with dependents, those workers accounted for two million people, he said.

At the same time, about 78 black farm managers have reportedly been killed.

 

 

Extortion, targeted attacks and robbery:

 

A new wave of intimidation replaced the farm invasions and theft. Five murders were committed in the past four years within a 40 km radius as farmers are expected to pay large amounts of extortion money to political authorities.

The tragic and very brutal murder of Malcolm Francis and his daughter, Catherine, on a farm to the north of the country highlights the fragile nature of life without the rule of law. They were attacked in the evening of Saturday, 10^th May, 2014 in Guruve when walking the dogs. They survived from axe wounds for several days before succumbing to their horrific injuries in hospital. Catherine passed away on the Wednesday, 14^th May and Malcolm on 21^st May, 2014.

A farm manger in Triangle was found dead with a deep cut on his neck, a day after paying his workers their wages. Adolph Willem Botha (aged 69) of Mpapa Farm in Triangle was probably killed on Friday 6^th May, 2016 as blood was noticed on the veranda by a domestic worker at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday so summoned help. A blood stained machete, bare blood stained foot prints, his open wallet and cell phone were found inside. Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said police are eager to interview a general hand, Christopher Musiiwa of Chikova Village under Chief Madzivire in Chivi who was with Botha on Friday.

90 year old farmer, Bertram Gardner, was murdered in a robbery on 19^th June 2016. He had offered two men a lift but they crushed his head with a big rock before dumping his body in a bushy area along the Chinhoyi Baguta Road. The assailants made off with his Ford Ranger truck, a wallet with $200 and clothes.

 

References

 

Adrian Haggett.

Colin Lowe email newsletters.

Emails and social media.

Gwebi College of Agriculture Roll of Honour

JRT Wood, Dr, ‘Rhodesia: Roll of Honour’

Rhodesia Herald

RNFU Roll of Honour

Steve Lunderstedt.

‘The Fallen’.

‘The Farmer’.

 

©Steve Bennett

 

Check for updates:

www.stevebennett.com.au

 

Current version 21^st August, 2024

 

Rhodesia Farmer ROH was first uploaded on www.rhodesia.com.au on 28^th May, 2014.

 

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