Title:
Green Leader Operation Gatling
Author:
Ian Pringle
ISBN:
978-1-909982-93-2
Publisher:
Helion
Year:
2015
Hardcover
Pages:
242
Photographs/maps:
37 b/w//31 colour/7
Operation
Gatling was the operation name for the Rhodesian government’s response to the
shooting down in September, 1978 of an unarmed civilian Rhodesian Air Viscount
by a Strela heat-seeking missile fired by a team of Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe
African People’s Union (ZAPU) fighters within Rhodesian airspace. They had
infiltrated from bases within Zambia and, following the crash in which 18
passengers and crew survived from the 52 on board, an insurgent ZAPU group came
across the crash site and proceeded to machine gun 10 of the survivors (the
remaining 8 survived by hiding in the bush). This one act had profound
repercussions for not only the Rhodesian people but also the fortunes of ZAPU
and Nkomo.
Pringle's
book is divided into two distinct parts, the first outlines the circumstances
of the Viscount shoot down, the international environment within which Rhodesia
found itself and a synopsis of the historical relations between Rhodesia and
the world community. The second focusses on the conception, planning and
audacious execution of the Rhodesian military’s combined arms operation against
Nkomo and ZAPU within the sovereign territory of Zambia (including the
internationally famous Green Leader transmission to Lusaka tower).
Notwithstanding
the tragic rendition of the plight of the survivors, the main takeaway in the
first section of the book was the lukewarm reaction of the international
community to the attack on Rhodesian civilians. The fact the Nkomo was welcomed
into England and overtly admitted his organizations complicity during an
interview with the BBC with no ramifications is clear evidence of the attitude
of the period and the environment within which Rhodesian operational decisions
were reached.
There
are a number of lessons that arise from the second portion narrative and the
(overall) success of this mission. First among these is the critical necessity
of joint operations. Rhodesia had developed an extremely effective doctrine
called Fireforce which facilitated seamless inter-arm cooperation between air,
ground and logistics forces. This jointness, arrived at well before many of its
international contemporaries, resulted from both its unique operating
environment as well as economic and political isolation.
Secondly,
the complexity of the operation from a planning and execution perspective and
the extremely narrow margins for error was testament to the degree of expertise
that Rhodesian forces had achieved. This speaks to the high level of training
and inter service confidence that the various arms developed and maintained.
Further evidence of this professionalism was the lack of micro-management from
senior staff and government officials. This was critical to mission success as
it pushed decision making authorization to the onsite commander thereby
ensuring both timeliness and efficiency of command and control (C2). The uncontrovertible
requirement for training and maintenance of skill sets prior to need is evident
in these pages; like insurance, it is too late to garner it after the need
arises.
Excellent narrative of history, a lot of people's knew alittel of it , I fond ur blog so helpful, because you explains everything in that story in clear and exiting way.
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