Wankie Campaign – The Main Group Confrontation with the Rhodesian Forces
On 23 August 1967, approximately 19 kilometres south-east of the previous day’s battle area, the Main Group of the Tsholotsho and Luthuli Detachments, slept in foxholes concealed by trees and branches, as helicopters and jets were circling above. These were the epic battles of the Wankie Campaign, as the Main Group, consisting of the Tsholotsho and Luthuli Detachments, gallantly fought and proved their guerrilla warfare proficiency by overwhelming the well-armed and fully-equipped Rhodesian security forces (It is quite long but worth reading).
It all began on 12 August 1967, two days after the main group entered the Wankie Game Reserve, as they had reached the middle of the park, the Lupane Group, under the leadership of Jonathan Moyo (aka “David Madziwa Matho”) of the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), began to branch off towards the east, as per the plan outlined by Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Commander, Joe Modise, at Dube’s Farm during the final week of July. The Lupane Group, which was composed of twenty-three combatants, had in their presence Basil February (aka “Paul Peterson”), who on 16 August 1967 got killed in a farm in Figtree before achieving the intention of infiltrating into South Africa.
The same day, 12 August 1967, The Tsholotsho Group and the Luthuli Detachment continued with their march southwards, as the Reconnaissance Team, under the leadership of Zoli
