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Masodja
Military History / African Studies
Masodja Nhowo, pfumo, ne tsvimbo Shield, spear and knobkerrie Ndiyo RAR, muhondo ne runyararo That’s RAR, in war and peace Ndichakutengera sweet banana I will buy you a sweet banana … are some of the lyrics of the Rhodesian African Rifles’ regimental march, Sweet Banana … words that magically capture the spirit and ethos of a once-proud regiment, that, barring its colonial past, could, and should have, been the pride of the African continent. Formed in 1916 as The Rhodesia Native Regiment, its Shona and Ndebele troops were blooded with honour in the East African campaign of the Great War, pitted against General von Lettow-Vorbeck and his askaris. Disbanded in 1919, the regiment was re-formed in 1940 during World War II as the Rhodesian African Rifles, seeing action in Burma. In the 1950s, the regiment distinguished itself further during the Malayan Emergency and in Egypt. During the 1960s and 1970s, the regiment was at the forefront of hostilities in the Rhodesian ‘bush war’. In the specialist Fire Force role, heli- and para-borne, the soldiers of the RAR were to earn themselves a fearsome reputation as counterinsurgency fighters par excellence. Ironically, it was after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, that the RAR’s finest hour came, when, fighting for their erstwhile enemy, Robert Mugabe, the soldiers of the RAR defeated Joshua Nkomo’s invading ZIPRA armies at the battles of Entumbane in Bulawayo. Then the warriors of the RAR faded, almost unnoticed, into history … Ndichakutengera sweet banana. .
Masodja Alexandre Binda was born in Beira, Mozambique in 1945. He joined the Rhodesian army in 1965, attesting into the Pay Corps. He was to gain considerable operational and combat experience, as a Portuguese interpreter, between 1968 and 1972 with Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) and Special Air Service (SAS) combat-tracker teams in support of the Portuguese army in the Tete Province of Mozambique. He was awarded a Military Forces Commendation (the Rhodesian equivalent to a mention in dispatches) for his work on these deployments. During his fifteen years in the Rhodesian Army, he was Paymaster RLI for several years as well as Paymaster Selous Scouts for four years. He was commissioned on 23 June 1979 but resigned in August 1980. He is a keen student of African military history and has written several articles for Lion & Tusk, the magazine of the Rhodesian Army Association.
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This page contains information about the book Masodja written by Alexandre Binda
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