Even t heRhodesi

anbi
ochemi
calagent
sfai
l
ed t
ost
opt
he
l
iber
ati
onstr
uggl
e

ByTut
uWay
ne

On11Nov ember1965t hemonoey edmonst erIDSmi th then

pri
memi nist
erofRhodesi a declar
edUni l
at eraldecl
arati
onof
i
ndependenceagainstthecr
ownof Uni t
edKi ngdom.Hesawt he
pi
nkforei
gnmi nor
ityruli
ngRhodesiaper
pet ually.Buthisdream
onl
ystret
chedfor19y ear
snotfora1000y earsashewi shed.

Aft
erthedemi seoft hegreatsevenf r
eedom f i
ghter
sofChi nhoyi
1966,t heAltenaf arm attackof1972cameasasur priset o
col
onialmaster s .Theywer e notexpecting,the enemywas
caughtunawareandi twasabl owtohispor ousdefencesy stem.
Peri
odf r
om 1972t o1975t heinfamousSel ousScout scamei nto
exi
stenceandt hei
rprimer olewastoundot hearmedst ruggleby
acti
ng li
ke fr
eedom f i
ghters and creat
ing mi str
ustamongst
l
oyali
stofthear medst r
uggle.Freedom fi
ghterswer eswar ming
basesinMozambi queandZambi awi t
hthegoaloff i
ghtingt he
enemyandenjoyt hef r
uit
soff r
eeZimbabwe.

Rhodesi an governmentt hrough the specialbr anch and ot her

secur i
tyor ganssear chedf ormeansandway sthatcoul dcombat
freedom f i
ght
er’spresencei nRhodesi an.Pr otectedv i
ll
ageswer e
established count r
y wi de wi ththe aim ofcut ting potenti
al
suppl i
est ofreedom f ighters theoper ationwascodenamed
Oper ationTur key.Asi ft hatwasnotenoughanot herplanwas
hatched, si
ncethemasswasf or
ciblyseparatedf rom thefreedom
fi
ghtersi tmeantt hatf ood and ot herlogi st
icalmat ter
swer e
reduced t o zero and t he demand was hi gh.The ( RCBW)
Rhodesi an Chemi cal and Bi ol
ogi cal war f
are pr ogr am was
l
aunched.I tsfundament algoalwast oext irpatef reedom f ighters
andt hei rsy mpat hizerandr educebur denonmi nor i
typi nkt ax
payer sbuycut t
ingt hewarshor tbymeanssoev ilt hanguns,
bull
et sand bombs. Thebest man f ort heev i
lt askwasa
Univer sit y ofRhodesi aanat omypr ofessorbyt hename Rober t
Symi ngt on. Bob ashewasaf f ectional lyknown i n1975 he
appr oached t henMi nisterofDef enceMrPKv anderBy l and
parcel edouthi spl an .I nlesst imet hemat terwast aken t o
PrimeMi ni
sterI DSmi t hwhot heni nst ructedKenf lowert henhead
ofRCI O .Ar ound1976t heprogr am beganandi twascont r
ol l
ed
by Speci al Br anch whi ch was commanded by Chief
Super int endent MacMcGui ness.Thesecur it
yor ganscameup
with poi soning st rat egies. McGui ness kept most of CBW
oper ationsecr et.Theapar theidgov ernmentgav eSpeci alBr anch
US$1000000amont hf orthedi rtyoper ationagai nstsonsand
daught er soft hesoi l.TheCBW t eam wasv erysmal land i t
consi stedofPr ofessorRober tSy mi ngt on, Vi ctorNobl e, StCl ai
re
Hay est heaf orement ionedwer ev et erinaryandmedi calst udent s,
but Bob and Hay es wer et he mai n pr oducer s ofpoi soned
mat erial .Thesemenofev i
ldeedswer eassi stedbyt heirwi vest o
produce weapons of mass and per petualanni hil
at ion.The
Professor ’
sBor r
owdal ehomehadal abor atoryt hatwasf unded
bySpeci alBr anch. Howev ertheyusedwar f
ar inbiochem agenti n
food, thecl i
nicalf eateur eswer eacut ebl eedi ngt odeat h.Atl east
200 f r eedom f ighter s di ed at Chi bawawa base east of
Mozambi queasar esul tofwar farinpoi son.TheRhodesi ansal so
usedt hal l
ium onf oodandbev er ages.I twasv er
yi ntricatet o
detectsi ncei tisodour l
es,mosthospi talsr ecor
dedcasesof
accidentalf oodpoi soninonv i
cti
msoft hall
ium.Oncl ot
hingt hey
used bi ochem agent cal l
ed par at
hion,i t caused br eathing
problems, confusion,diarr
hoeaonv i
cti
ms.Theyusedchol er
abi o
agentoni sol
atedwat erpointsinGazapr ovinceduet oi t
sdr y
nature,thi sforcedf r
eedom f i
ghterstocar rymor ewat ert han
weaponsofwar ,therebyreduci
ngef fectivenessoff ight
ers.The
SelousScout scont aminatedRuy ariv
eri nMtDar wi
namov ethat
ki
lled local s and f i
ghters . Parathion poi soned beef was
distr
ibutedi nAct urusdistr
ictfrom 1975t o1979 suchcases
wer erecor dedatBi ndurahospit
al .

Alldoct oredpr oduct swer ekeptatSel ousScoutFor t

si nBi ndur a
andMountDar wi n.Test ingofdoct or edi t
emsonhumanswas
i
nev itabl
ebuti t’snotknownhowi twasdone,howev erChi bondo
discov eri
esofmi neshaf tswi thover5000humanbodi esi nMount
Dar wincoul dbeananswersomebodi eswer edi scoveredatt he
butcheri nRusape.Butwhatdi dtheydot odeser v ethislucifer ical
treatmenti nt hei rl and. I n Nov ember1977 t he CBW t eam
producedmor et han365pi ecesofpoi sonedcl othesand85t insof
cannedmeati nj ust2weeks.Ci garet tes,cooki es,t oothpast e,
sweet sandchewi nggumst hesear esomeoft hecont ami nat ed
i
temsapar tfrom cl othes.Theot herst r ategywast ocont ami nat e
wat ersour ces wi th chol erai n Mozambi que and Rhodesi an.
Howev erbot ulism andant hraxwer erar elyusedf ormasski llings
l
ikechol erabutr at hertarget edassassi nations.Speci alsel ect ed
peopl eespeci al l
yt hosewhoappear edt obesy mpat het i
ct ot he
freedom f ighterswer etaskedt odistribut econt ami nateditemst o
targets.Theagentt hatwoul dfacili
tat epoi soning off reedom
fi
ght erswer et or eceive1000Rhodesi andol l
arsperCBW ki l
l.
Mostshopsi nHondeVal ley,Ny amar opa,Muzar abani, Mount
Dar win ,Chi pinge and ot her area wer ef reedom f ight er s
frequent edsol dcont aminat edgoods,al soabandonedst ressand
vill
ageswer ef i
ll
edwi thdoct oredi t
em t hatwer e l ikel
yt ol ure
hungr yand r agged f r
eedom f i
ght ers.To make sur efreedom
fi
ght ersat econt ami natedf oodt heRhodesi anSecur it
yFor ces
reduced t he amount of f ood t he l ocals had and f orced
combat ants t or elyon st ores . when Chi moi o was at tacked
cont aminat edmedi ci
nesandot heri temswer el eftscatteredi n
thebaset obai tthesur vivors.Theycommonl yusedchemi cals
whi chwer eusedt ocont rolbaboonsandr odent s.Cdeswhof el
l
preywi t
hcont ami natedcl otheshadaboutsi xtot welvehour st o
l
iv e.Somechemi cal susedcausednosebl eedi ng.
Theenemywasst rongwi thst ateoft hear tinstrument softerror,
howev erdeadl ytheRhodesi anbi ochemi calagent sfail
edt ost op
thewar .Thef r
eedom f ighterswer edet erminedandhadnobl e
andsubst antialcauset of i
ghtt heRhodesi ans.