Chronicle Editor
Continued from last week
Female instructors trained us so well exactly like our male instructors. I for one never saw the difference between them and the male instructors. They emphasised on discipline. They trained us in physical training and how to withstand or overcome the fear to be brave and have endurance.
We were taken to Mkushi Camp which was the only exclusive female training camp. I was in the first group of recruits to be taken there at Mkushi. We trained at Mkushi from 1977 to 1978. When we had completed the training, we moved to another camp called New Mkushi paving the way for the second group to be trained. In this new camp, which was called New Mkushi, this is where we were bombed.
At Mkushi there was no joy, it was a military training camp. It was designed in such a way that it should be difficult and match standards of training of other camps. We would go for days without food, not that it was part of the training but because the terrain made it impossible for lorries delivering food to reach the camp as it was sandy, worse off when it rained cats and dogs. The Mkushi area received more rains and you can imagine an area that received a lot of rain with a sandy terrain. At times we would hear that the lorries got stuck in the mud and we would intercept them, thus walking 50km plus or minus to collect foodstuffs that would be brought by the vehicles.
Girls would carry a 50kg and walk a long distance and later someone who would have been paired with would take over the load. That was not very easy.
I found physical training more of a challenge to me as it was demanding and draining. Military drills, long and short marches were a challenge. The instructors did not care that we were women, they were very demanding. This was standard as ZPRA soldiers were to undergo the same training. We would walk 50kms depending on the instructors and run the distance while carrying a bag with 50kgs or anything while having a small bottle of water. That was part of physical training, which we went through it.
I won’t forget one of the male instructors who was called Castro. He was rough and he beat me at one point and left me for dead. I was beaten. He was trained in Somalia. Other instructors were Amos, Kumbirai, Theodophilus, Makanyanga etc. There are two whose names I cannot remember, one was responsible for logistics and the other was Kalanga speaking and used to insult us a lot. There was also our camp commander Billy Mzamo.
Each instructor had his or her area which they specialized in. For example, there were lessons for topography which was for map reading, physical fitness, bayonet charge, logistics which are today known as stores.
Commissariat was purely history and political lessons where we were taught the party ideology which was hinged on Marxism and Leninism. We had instructors that were very sharp in delivering such lessons. Therefore, each one had something to do, there was no time where an instructor would be found seated without anything to do. Companies exchanged instructors depending on the lesson of the day. Those who were on duty in the kitchen would meet their quartermaster at the kitchen while cooking. A lot of military tactics would be drilled for example, time management, discipline, and
We finished our training at Mkushi in June 1978, and I was then transferred to New Mkushi where I was awaiting further deployment. Before we even did anything at New Mkushi we were bombed. When we got bombed at Mkushi we lost a lot of people.
On that fateful day we woke up early in the morning and later on we were told that the Freedom Camp (FC) had been bombed. All commanders were called for an urgent briefing after the FC incident to be alert. We had gone for days without food as the camp had run out of supplies. So many female soldiers had to go out in the bush to look for wild fruits like umkhuna and amazhanje.
As news of the bombing of FC filtered through some of us were called for a briefing but I wasn’t around as I had gone to look for wild fruits. When I came back, I was told that I was also wanted for the briefing with other commanders. I ran to where I was called, but when I was almost at the HQ, I found out that others had been dismissed. I was told me to collect my Seminov rifle (SKS) like any other soldier who was called at the briefing. My colleagues narrated to me why they had been called, which was to prepare others that anything was now possible since FC had been attacked.
We were asked to tell our companies to be alert. I collected my gun and returned to the camp from the HQ. I wasted no time and I called my company and briefed them of the need to be alert as instructed by senior commanders. Shortly after briefing them, I started removed my shirt.
When I was about to remove the other side of my shirt, I saw jets that were coming from the western side of Mkushi and I knew trouble had started. I blew the whistle to alert others to take cover. But while alerting everyone, they dropped bombs and started firing. I ran while carrying my gun, part of the lessons taught us never to leave our guns behind.
I ran and took cover as I stood firm near one of the trees straight up and in contact with it. In the military, if an enemy is attacking you in a jet or helicopter you are supposed to take cover near a tree by standing firm close to it. You are not supposed to lie down as the enemy will break all your legs. As I was running away and taking cover, I was exactly doing what we were taught during our training.
When they had passed, I would move from one tree to the other running and taking cover. From around 9 am I was able to walk a distance of 200 metres in six hours as it was tough.
Others ran and took cover in thickets of bamboo and grass, so the enemy targeted all those places. They would fire and drop bombs until the thicket was cleared. They would not stop shooting till the thicket got clear. That’s why those that hid inside the thickets never survived. Luckily, Mkushi was sandy and when some missiles fell on the sand, they lost traction and failed to discharge. Some ran to take cover near the crocodile-infested river. They dived into the river and crocodiles feasted on them while the enemy was shooting.
A lot of our people were trying to cross the river and many died. The river turned red and black as dead bodies were floating on top. Around 3pm, the enemy air operation subsided but the ground forces were sweeping through.
While we were still running we were intercepted by two Rhodesian ground forces wearing brown uniforms. We thought maybe they wanted to capture us and they stopped us and surprisingly they were speaking in SiNdebele. They showed us which direction to take as an escape route. There was no time to hesitate or to doubt. We ran in the direction that they had shown us. We ran not thinking that we would be misled or be trapped. Fortunately, despite hearing gunshots behind us we managed to escape.
Extracted from a book titled Yithi Laba written by Methembe Hillary Hadebe.
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