The Sunday Mail
CDE NOBERT MAVHUNGIRE (NM), whose Chimurenga name was MUCHADURA MABHUNU, joined the liberation war by chance following a chain of unexpected events that saw him being conscripted by guerrilla fighters. This week, he continues his narration to our Deputy News Editor LINCOLN TOWINDO (LT), touching on several battles he was involved in on his return to Rhodesia from Mozambique, where he had accompanied a group of freedom fighters to replenish their war supplies.
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LT: Last week, you told us how you returned to Rhodesia after collecting war supplies from Mozambique. What then took place when you returned?
NM: We continued with our missions of fighting the enemy, and, as time went by, I was becoming a fearless soldier as well.
Sometime later following our return, my section commander, Cde Edmore, told us that we had orders to ambush a group of white Rhodesians that was travelling along the local highway.
The commanders came up with the ambush plan. We were going to attack the enemy by surprise as they were crossing a local bridge.
Six of us were sent for the mission.
The vehicle, a Land Rover, was expected to pass through the bridge around 9am.
So, we went out for the mission at the break of dawn. I don’t know what happened, but the vehicle was delayed. However, we kept our positions in the hope that the vehicle would eventually come.
From a distance, we saw the Land Rover vehicle with six white passengers approaching the bridge.
We all knew that this was it.
As the vehicle approached the bridge, we opened fire and I think we managed to kill all of them.
We retreated back to our gathering point (GP) at Nyakete Base.
We were all very happy about how the mission had played out.
No one was injured.
As I continued to gain experience, my commanders started trusting me with more dangerous missions.
Later on, my detachment commander, Joseph Charger, assigned me to lead a section that was going to ambush the enemy that was based at a place called kwaRhodes.
We left Hukuimwe Base at around 7pm for the mission. I was commanding that battle.
As soon as the enemy was in sight, we stealthily crawled towards their position so that we would not be spotted.
As we approached their position and were now in firing range, we opened fire.
A fierce battle ensued.
But we were all well-armed.
Cde Nhamoinesu had a bazooka, Tsitsi Dzinotsitsirira was armed with a Mortar 60 and Masweets had an LNG, while I was armed with an AK 47.
The ambush was so brutal to the extent that this was the best ambush I had ever been part of.
After we had concluded the mission, we retreated to our GP.
At the base, we debriefed our commanders, who were impressed by our efficiency and effectiveness.
We jokingly told them that they should have given us a tape recorder to record the events that had just taken place, and (they) would have heard the wails of the enemy as we obliterated them.
Because of my section’s exploits, my commanders ordered we remain in advance.
Cde Muvhungire
LT: Do you recall being involved in any other battle that may be of interest?
NM: I think it was around 1978, when we came under a surprise attack by Rhodesians.
Back then, the war was at its most intense. Freedom fighters had become ubiquitous in most communities as the war effort intensified.
Someone sold out our position to the enemy.
The Rhodesians had received information that we were at Makuvaza Base.
By then, we were moving in large groups because the sizes of our sections had been enlarged because the war had become intense.
In my section, there was a comrade called Philip Senza, who was very brave.
He was unflappable, even when faced with deadly situations.
He always carried two weapons — a Mortar 60 and an AK 47.
As we rested at the base, we suddenly heard a loud exchange of gunfire a short distance from where we were stationed.
We were surprised because we did not know that the enemy was in the area.
Unbeknown to us, Cde Philip Senza had spotted the Rhodesians before they got to our position and had engaged them all in battle on his own. The moment we heard the gunfire, we knew that a battle was about to begin.
Before going into our positions, someone asked where Philip Senza was, as he was nowhere to be seen.
We then knew that he was already fighting the battle on his own.
He was firing at the enemy using both his weapons — the Mortar 60 and the AK 47.
When we realised that the enemy was on horseback and motorcycles, we knew they stood no chance against us.
I suspect the Rhodesians were becoming overconfident; they were now deploying soldiers on motorcycles and on horseback.
A brutal battle ensued, but in the end, the enemy was subdued.
LT: You also mentioned earlier that you were badly injured during the war. How did that happen?
NM: Sometime in April 1979, we were operating in Mutoko, around Mutotora.
Because we had been involved in so many contacts with the enemy, we were running out of ammunition.
Also, the war was fast-spreading, so we needed to replenish our supplies.
We took some local youths to accompany us to Mozambique for supplies.
On our way to Mozambique, Rhodesian spies spotted us and sold us out to their army.
The Rhodesian Air Force then launched an audacious assault on our position.
We were caught by surprise.
Rhodesian planes came out from nowhere and started dropping bombs around our position. I had never witnessed such brutal bombing during all my time in the war.
It was raining bombs all over.
Because we were running out of ammunition, we were sitting ducks.
We only had AK 47s to repel an aerial attack.
We had run out of anti-aircraft munitions.
I remember there were seven comrades and dozens of youths.
All the youths perished in that ambush at Mutotora. I was injured during that attack after being hit by shrapnel all over the body.
A metal fragment from one of the bombs is still lodged in my head to this day.
Only Cde Charles Chinemudzimu and myself survived that attack.
Cdes Darlington Zanu, Edmore Patiripakashata and Cde Bvuma, along with the others, died in that battle.
In total, 45 people were killed at Mutotora.
We never made it to Mozambique because of that contact with the enemy.
After escaping from the killing bag, I made my way to another base, where I rejoined my fellow comrades. My wounds were then treated until they healed.
Next week, Cde Mavhungire concludes his narration by telling us how Rhodesians induced locals to betray each other as a potent tactic during the war.
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