MUCH has been written about the group of 45 comrades who re-launched the decisive phase of the Second Chimurenga in 1972.
A unit from this group later fired the first shots at Altena Farm in Centenary in December 1972.
After Altena there were a series of military operations in the north-eastern area that showed the renewed resolve of ZANLA.
The daring exploits of these brave men are well documented in different narratives, but much more still needs to be written while some of these heroes are still alive.
Roll the clock forward to August 1977.
By now operations cover the whole eastern part of Zimbabwe from Zambezi to the Limpopo.
Another group of 45 comrades enter through the Tangwena sector of Manica Province.
They are sent off to war by senior commanders who include Cde Tonderai Nyika (now Major General Zimondi).
Their mission: To blast the Harare-Mutare railway line.
There could never be enough explosives to paralyse the line, but it was the statement that was important: the railway line was within striking distance.
It also meant Harare was now within striking distance.
I was one of those 45 who were handpicked to carry out the daring operations which were carried out commando style.
All things being equal I should have been among the last cadres in ZANLA forces to be sent to the front.
In fact, it still beats me how I, as I recovered from a serious bout of malaria, ended up training ahead of thousands of cadres with massive frames who were fit and strong, but then that’s a story for another day.
I wish to thank the ancestors for steering me through training and above all, getting me into the latter group of 45.
The 45 cadres of the 1977 unit were all graduates of Takawira One Camp, originally Mapinduzi.
Takawira One was the training base at the Chimoio constellation of camps before the tragedy of November 23 1977.
The camp lay some two kilometres to the north of HQ at the edge of a field.
Like most camps dotted around HQ, it was tucked into a grove of Musasa trees.
It was always a beehive of activity, trainees always on the double from dawn to dusk.
I do not recall the command structure beyond the camp commander who was Cde Dominic Chinenge (General Dr Constantine Chiwenga).
There were a few battalions split into companies and platoons.
Each company had a trained command structure, but all I can recall was that a Cde Sam was our company commander.
Other company commanders were Cdes Brown, Maspara, Jeppe and Dragon.
Brown died in action behind an anti-aircraft battery in the Chimoio tragedy later that year.
Jeppe Chibende, the engineering specialist, was lost in 1978 in a booby trap explosion that is well narrated by Retired Brigadier-General Dr Felix Muchemwa.
We finished training sometime in May 1977.
There was no calendar to refer to in a world where a piece of paper was hard to come by.
When available, the paper had the all-important function of being cigarette paper.
How we got the tobacco is a story for another day.
Along with other emaciated comrades I was drafted into the engineering corps, a miserly collection of about 50 malnourished comrades, half of whom looked like they could not raise a hand, let alone march off to war.
Our instructor was Cde Jeppe Chibende and he was an expert in demolition.
Some of us enjoyed the lessons which required more brains than brawn.
All the hefty, muscular graduates were divided to several platoons and went on to receive training in heavier weaponry such as the 75 mm Recoiless rifle (the Kanyau) the Anti-Aircraft Machinegun, the HMG, the 60mm and 82mm Mortars, the RPG2 , the RPG 7 and the M90 grenade launchers.
A new addition to the guerilla arsenal that year was the rifle launched grenade which propelled anti-tank and anti-personnel grenades.
The rifle used was a heavier version, the SKS and the AK47 sub-machinegun.
These grenades turned out to be useful as the war unfolded.
I know it saved Cde Diabhorosi Satan on one occasion.
Out of the different groups, a unit of 40 fit cadres was selected and they disappeared into Gorongosa forest.
The group of 40 became the pioneers of Takawira II, a second training camp that was set up some 15km north-east of Chimoio Camp.
When they returned to Chimoio in August 1977, they had gained weight and were ready to go into action at the battlefront.
From the Engineering Platoon that was completing their training, five engineers were selected and were marched off to join the group of 40.
I was one of the five.
The 45 were kitted out at HQ.
We were all given a new pair of jeans, grey shirts and a pair of shoes.
Somehow my jeans were oversize – at least the shoes fitted, but they were different from the rest of the troop.
There were 44 spanking new SKS rifles and AK47 sub-machine guns – Chinese models with glistening bayonets.
Being the smallest in the unit, I was elbowed out of contention and ended up without a rifle.
A senior commander who carried a slight stammer came to the rescue and gave me his own AK47 which made me stand apart from the other 44. It was a smart little weapon, very light with a folding butt and it laid easy on the shoulder.
Smallest cadre, finest weapon.
It was one of those rare occasions where a photograph would have created a permanent record.
But then photographs were unheard of – they were a security risk.
We were then issued with bandoliers, grenades and ammunition.
Our mission was spelt out as we prepared to depart. We were to blast the Harare – Mutare railway line.
In command was Augustine Mhere, Provincial Commander, Logistics and Supplies, Owen Giri, Sectoral Commander and Temai Makwiro aka George Onyango.
George Onyango later became Detachment Commander Gandanzara Detachment which covered Mt Jenya.
He carved himself quite a reputation.
Legend has it that he even used a 75 mm recoiless rifle in broad daylight.
We all boarded a lorry along with our ammunition and explosives and it took us to somewhere near Mavhonde rear base
There were several caixhas, several landmines, packs of TNT and two rolls of blasting cord.
The engineers were in charge of the blasting cord, explosives and the landmines.
Unbeknown to us this turned to be a blessing because we escaped the burden of the caixha nightmare that we experienced on that first journey into the battlefront several hours later.
We then had to wait at the border overlooking Honde Valley for the sun to set, before the real test began.
The maiden journey from Mozambique into Zimbabwe was always a test of character.
Some had to cross Gonarezhou Game Park and endure the thirst.
Others had to pass through Dande Valley which was equally dry or cross the swift flowing Gaeresi River and precipitous slopes of Nyanga mountain range.
In some of these crossing places were vast minefields and many comrades died.
Honde Valley had its fair share of these physical obstacles.
Honde Escarpment and its slopes were a vast physical barrier, worse still most of the time the comrades would be carrying that detestable land – the caixha.
Bazooka shells, mines, blocks of dynamite were lighter loads.
The happy group of 40 were ignorant of these trials and tribulations that awaited them and happily started the march in single file at dusk.