New book by alumnus M T Howard chronicles history of black soldiers in the Rhodesian Army
A new book by alumnus M T Howard, based on his DPhil research, draws on oral histories and extensive archival research to chronicle the history of black soldiers in the Rhodesian Army.
During Zimbabwe's war of liberation (1965–80), fought between Zimbabwean nationalists and the minority-white Rhodesian settler-colonial regime, thousands of black soldiers volunteered for and served in the Rhodesian Army. This seeming paradox has often been noted by scholars and military researchers, yet little has been heard from black Rhodesian veterans themselves.
Drawing from original interviews with black Rhodesian veterans and extensive archival research, M.T. Howard tackles the question of why so many black soldiers fought steadfastly and effectively for the Rhodesian Army, demonstrating that they felt loyalty to their comrades and regiments and not the Smith regime. Howard also shows that units in which black soldiers served – particularly the Rhodesian African Rifles – were fundamental to the Rhodesian counter-insurgency campaign.
The book highlights the pivotal role black Rhodesian veterans played during the tumultuous early years of independence, when they decisively intervened during episodes of serious inter-factional fighting widely perceived as posing the danger of a Zimbabwean civil war. That black Rhodesian veterans fought for a government led by Robert Mugabe, their former wartime foe, was another seeming paradox – one these veterans explained by invoking a strong sense of soldierly professionalism, which mandated acting in an ‘apolitical’ manner and made them duty-bound to fight loyally for the ‘government of the day’.
'Black Soldiers is an important contribution to the burgeoning literature on violence in late-colonial Africa. It rightly insists that we give proper consideration to agency, nuance, and complexity when attempting to understand the actions and ideas of actors embroiled in the wars of decolonisation. This book must be read by anyone interested in Zimbabwe's path to independence and the wider issues of violence and the role of the military during decolonisation in Africa.' Daniel Branch, University of Warwick
M.T. Howard completed his DPhil at ODID in 2020.
M.T. Howard’s Orcid page: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1073-3932