Operation Dingo

Operation Dingo
Part of the Rhodesian Bush War
Date November 23-25, 1977 Location Chimoio and Tembue, Mozambique Result Decisive Rhodesian victory.
Belligerents
Rhodesian Light Infantry Rhodesian Special Air Service Rhodesian Air Force	ZANLA
Commanders and leaders
Rhodesia Lt. Gen Peter Walls (Chief of Combined Operations) Group Captain Norman Walsh (Director Air Operations) Major Brian Robinson (ground force commander)	Robert Mugabe Edgar Tekere Josiah Tongogara Rex Nhongo (ZANLA commanders)
Strength
Total c. 200 ground troops 4 x Canberra light bombers c. 10 x Hunter fighter-bombers 6 x Vampire fighter-bombers 10 x armed helicopters (20mm cannon)	Total >10,000 guerrillas/trainees + ZANLA political/civil elements
Casualties and losses
2 dead 6 lightly injured Total: 8	3,000 dead 5,000 lightly injured Total : 8,000

Operation Dingo, also known as the Chimoio massacre was a major raid conducted by the Rhodesian Security Forces against the ZANLA headquarters of Robert Mugabe at Chimoio (15°53′0″S 39°14′0″E / 15.883333°S 39.233333°E / -15.883333; 39.233333 (Chimoio)) and a smaller camp at Tembue (14°47′33″S 32°50′10″E / 14.7925°S 32.83611°E / -14.7925; 32.83611 (Tembue)) in Mozambique from November 23-25, 1977. More than 3,000 ZANLA fighters were reported as killed and 5,000 wounded while only two government troops died and six were wounded.^[1]

96 SAS and 48 RLI paratroopers and an additional 40 helicopter-borne RLI troops attacked the camps at 07h45 in the morning to exploit the concentration of forces on the parade ground for morning parade, directly after a strike by the Rhodesian Air Force's aging Canberra and Hunter strike aircraft. In order to strike as many ground targets as possible six mothballed Vampire jets dating from the 1940s were brought back into use for the operation.

A DC-7 airliner was flown over the Chimoio camps 10 minutes before the airstrike as part of a deception plan at which the insurgents dispersed only to reform on parade a few minutes later in time for the main airstrike the approach of which did not cause alarm due to the ruse of the overflight of the DC-7 minutes earlier. When the first Air Force jets arrived, the assembled ZANLA forces did not take cover again as they assumed it was the DC-7 that was returning. ^[2] In the first pass, four Canberra bombers dropped 1200 Alpha bombs (Rhodesian-designed anti-personnel fragmentation weapons) over an area 1.1 kilometers long and half a kilometer wide. ^[3]

Following the initial devastating air strikes by the Canberras, Hunters and Vampire FB9's plus ten Alouette III helicopter gunships engaged opportunity targets in allocated areas which together inflicted the majority of the casualties, while 2 Vampire T11's flew top cover. The paratroopers and heliborne troops were effectively deployed on three sides of the objective into various stop groups and sweep lines,^[4] and were effective in killing large numbers of fleeing ZANLA cadres but the lack of a complete envelopment allowed a number of fleeing ZANLA cadres to escape.

The Rhodesian force withdrew in good order having suffered one SAS member being shot and killed at Chimoio, and a Vampire pilot was killed trying to crash land his Vampire in a field after his plane was damaged by ground fire while overflying Vanduzi Crossroads on return to base and led to a partial loss of power. The pilot chose to attempt a forced landing rather than execute the dangerous act of abandoning the Vampire model FD9 which was not fitted with an ejection seat. (18°57′14.5″S 33°15′49″E / 18.954028°S 33.26361°E / -18.954028; 33.26361 (Vanduzi)).^[5]

Several tons of equipment were destroyed or returned to Rhodesia.

The attack on the Chimoio camps on November 23 was repeated two days later at Tembue.

Notes

1. ^ Winds of Destruction Pg. 446
2. ^ JRT Wood. "Helicopter Warfare in Rhodesia: 1962-1980". http://www.jrtwood.com/article_fireforce.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 
3. ^ Petter-Bowyer, Winds of Destruction pp. 382 and 439
4. ^ Cox, Chris, Fireforce
5. ^ JRT Wood. "Rhodesia: Roll of Honour". http://www.jrtwood.com/roll_of_honour.asp. Retrieved 2007-09-27. 

References

• Petter-Bowyer, P. J. H. (2003). Winds of Destruction: the Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot. Trafford Publishing. ISBN 141201204X.