Lt Colonel Ron Reid Daly
22 September 1928 – August 9 2010
CLM DMM MBE
As mentioned in a previous Blog not many men get to set up a army
unit, much less an irregular one that had such a huge impact in such a short
time. The Selous scouts were either loved or loathed, I guess it all depended
on what side of the rifle you where on.
There are probably 2 units perhaps 3 that became the continents and
perhaps even the world’s best
pseudo operators and the very name of the unit/s struck fear
into the hearts of the men that they fought against. The Selous Scouts or
“Skuzapo” as they were known to their enemies that they killed so effectively,
was one of those units.
The word Skuzapo translates into “excuse me here” or “excuse me for
what I have just done”. Skuz is a corruption from the English “excuse me” and
Apo is a Shona word for “here”
Formed in 1973 by Ron Reid – Daly, this unit would in a short time write its name
in the records of military history and
were responsible for 68% of guerrilla causalities within Rhodesian borders
during the civil war that was in no means “civil”. The Scouts began as a small
unit of trackers but turned into a pseudo unit
and consisted of intelligence experts of the BSAP, men from the
Rhodesian military as well as turned terrorists from humble beginnings the
Scouts when disbanded was a 1400 strong.
The Selous Scouts who ceased to exist after Robert Mugabe won the election on March 4 1980 were to
earn 1 Grand Cross of Valour, 9 Silver Crosses, and 22 Bronze Crosses as well
as numerous other innumerable awards for valour and gallantry.
Lieutenant Colonel Ronald
"Ron" Francis Reid-Daly as
already mentioned founded and commanded the elite Selous Scouts special forces
unit that fought during the Rhodesian war was Born September 22, 1928 in Salisbury , Southern Rhodesia.
While Reid – Daly was a Born Warrior he had no
intention of becoming a soldier and was only through peer pressure from his
team mates with whom he played rugby that he signed up to join the newly formed
all Rhodesian C Squadron Special Air Services
(Malayan Scouts) it was here that he was exposed to the British Armies
developing counter-insurgency as well as Pseudo operations.
In 1955 after his tour of duty in Malaya, he was
posted to the School of Infantry in Gwelo as an instructor. It was only in 1961
that he left and became the first RSM of 1st Battalion the Rhodesia’s crack Commando unit the Rhodesian
Light Infantry (RLI). This unit became the vanguard of Rhodesia’s counter-insurgency
operations in the Zambezi valley from the mid 60’s till the end of the war.
Having worked his way through the ranks, in 1973
Captain Reid-Daly, RSM of the RLI retired and looked to start a life in Civvy
street, this however was not to be his destiny and late in 1973 he was summoned
to the offices of Rhodesian Army Commander, General Peter Walls commissioned, given the rank of Captain and was asked
to form the Selous Scouts to counter the increased threat of nationalist
guerrillas.
Drawing
on his Malayan experience, Reid-Daly built a skilled and highly professional
regiment from scratch. Although the Selous Scouts achieved many of their
military objectives, their unorthodox methods created tensions within the
military hierarchy. Reid-Daly had several brushes with the Rhodesian
authorities.
During the early days of setting up the Scouts Reid
– Daly paid a visit to Vila Pery in Mozambique to study the methods and tactics
of the Flecha’s (the Portuguese pseudo unit) that was under the command of
Captain Alvaro Alves Cardoso. in the book Pamwe Chete it incorrectly names
Oscar Cardoso as the man he met in Mozambique. Reid - Daly was impressed with their methods and
took some of what he saw back to Bindura. (more info about the Portuguese
Flecha’s can be read in the Blog on this site called Major Alvaro Manuel Alves
Cardoso.)
In 1979 Lt Colonel Reid-Daly resigned his commission,
due to a ridiculous and unsavory court martial, In 1979 rumours surfaced in
Salisbury that the Scouts were poaching ivory along the Zambezi valley. These allegations were
never proved, and the colonel, as a well-known conservationist, dismissed the
allegations as ridiculous. In the
process of defending himself against them, Reid-Daly verbally attacked Major
General John Hickman. For this he
was charged with insubordination and sentenced to a reprimand. Disgusted, he
resigned as the commander of the Scouts in August but continued to fight a
legal battle against the judgement, proclaiming his innocence even after
Rhodesia became Zimbabwe and
stopped doing so only after he moved to South
Africa.
The Scouts next OC was Lt Colonel Pat Armstrong and after the
surprise election victory of “mad Mugabe” he had a meeting with Mugabe who
seemed surprised but happy that a good number (especially the black troops)
wanted to stay and serve under the new government.
Many officers and NCO’s of the unit had however decided to move to
SA and join the South African Special Forces. It became obvious that the Selous
Scouts would not be able to exist in its present form and name so the unit
changed from its Selous Scout colours to those of previous parent regiments,
mainly RLI, SAS, RAR, etc. a farewell parade was never held so the Selous
Scouts were never officially disbanded it just ceased to exist in the name and
the reason it had been formed in 1973.
The units name was changed to 4 Bn (Holding unit) RAR and was
commanded by Colonel Brian Robinson and under his command performed so well to
become the cornerstone of the Zimbabwe National Army parachute Battalion.
After moving to South Africa Reid - Daly became
involved with a security company and wrote the book Selous Scouts Top Secret
war as told to peter Stiff. It was the very first book that I read on African
military conflicts and I read it from cover to cover, this started my
fascination with military/political history and the reason that today I collect
books on the subject.
In
the early 1980's he did accept what he thought was solely a military appointment
in the Transkei the job was to reorganize the Transkei Defence Force, Transkei
was the first of the South African "homelands" to be granted
"full independence" by the then South African government. He was put
in charge of the Transkei army and was joined by other former Selous Scouts to
give basic military training.
In
fact, the state's rulers, Kaiser Matanzima and his brother George, saw the
presence of the Selous Scouts as a deterrent to the numerous others plotting to
dethrone them. In 1987 the Matanzima brothers were overthrown in a bloodless
coup by Major-General Bantu Holomisa, ironically one of the officers trained by
the Selous Scouts. Reid-Daly and a
number of ex Scouts were forced to quit the Transkei. He returned to Gauteng
and continued in the security industry. It was here that he was attacked in his
driveway by hijackers he fought of the attack but was wounded in the attack. He
wrote written a book called “Staying Alive – a Southern Africa survival
handbook” and it’s something of a collector’s item today
He
decided it was finally time to hang up his boots and he retired to Simon's
Town, near Cape Town, to indulge in his hobbies of reading military history and
watching rugby. He also published a book called Pamwe Chete and updated version
of the Selous Scouts He died of
cancer after being in a coma for 3 days
on August 9. His wife, Jean, predeceased
him, and he is survived by a son and a daughter. A
memorial service was held in Cape Town on 20 August to honour and say farewell
to ‘Uncle Ron’. There was an incredible turnout of Selous Scout members to say
cheers to their old commander.
While the
occasion was a sad one a selection of Selous Scouts regimental songs were sung
and included funeral songs that were sung at funerals of Selous Scouts
soldiers. And in accordance with military tradition, the ceremony was followed
by a well attended wake.
Sources
The Rhodesian light
infantry regimental association
Wikipedia
selousscouts.tripod.com
Selous Scouts - The Men Speak - Jonathan Pittaway
Pamwe Chete - Lt Colonel Ron Reid - Daly
Selous Scouts - Top Secret War - Lt Colonel Ron Reid - Daly
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments will be submitted to me for approval before it appears on this blog as we do not want incorrect information or slander to appear here.