The story of Cde Martin Nkomo aka Cde Smash Maxoxo

WE had crossed Sanyati River into Gokwe and then got into Binga, in Chief Pashu’s area.
Then all hell broke loose.
It was early in the morning.
One of the active youths we worked with approached and informed us that some Zimbabwe People’s Liberation Army (ZIPRA) comrades who had just come from Zambia wanted to meet us.
He even told us of the suggested rendezvous.
We had no problems with the suggested place as we had worked with the boy in the past.
Guerilla warfare thrived on close co-operation with the masses and after some time of working with certain individuals, we trusted them.
When we got to the agreed meeting point, it was not fellow comrades that greeted us.
It was the enemy, Rhodesian forces, armed to the teeth.
I vividly recall this nasty episode that took place around March, April in 1979.
We literally walked into an ambush.
They had had time to take ‘perfect’ positions and as soon as we got into their killing bag, they opened fire on us.
We had closely worked with the young man, we had no reason to doubt his loyalty and commitment to the struggle, thus we had taken him on his word.
And in the past we had convened at this place that had become a lion’s den, with us as the prey.
Up to today, I am not sure whether the youth had been duped into believing that the Rhodesian forces were ZIPRA cadres or he had been ‘converted’ or ‘turned’ into a sellout.
The Selous Scouts were infamous for impersonating guerillas.
Before we could fully comprehend what had befallen us at Tinde (the meeting place), spotter planes were upon us.
We shot ourselves out of the ambush.
But because we were on the back-foot, the Rhodies pursued our 10-member unit.
As they pursued us, they gave directions of our whereabouts to helicopters.
Before we could recover from the first attack, two helicopters came again and launched a serious assault on us.
Any guerilla will attest to the fact that helicopters were a nightmare but we did not take the battering lying down — we fought back.
It became a major battle as it took some time.
We fought from early morning well into the late afternoon.
In the first phase of the battle, there was not much fighting as we concentrated on getting out of the ambush alive.
But having run, the Rhodies thought they would have their way with us.
By 1979 Rhodies had become desperate, we had taken the war to their doorstep.
They badly wanted victories against the guerillas who had by now become a formidable force.
In pursuit of 10 men, they would go on to unleash two phantom jet fighters.
Can you imagine, a whole Government releasing spotter planes, helicopters and fighter planes against a small unit of guerillas.
The spotter planes continued directing the ground forces that were forming a circle around us.
We were encircled and we knew we would meet the enemy whatever direction we took.
We took the decision to minimise our movements as every time we moved we were spotted.
Bush-craft was our specialty and we knew the terrain better than the Rhodies.
And so we decided to remain in one place.
As a logistics officer for my unit, deputising Cde Reuben Khumalo, responsible for, among other things, sourcing food, I was quite familiar with the territory.
Having been born in Jambezi, near Victoria Falls Town, I put into use my knowledge of the terrain.
We soon discovered that despite the communication with the ground forces, the planes were dropping the bombs randomly hoping to draw us out into open ground.
The enemy clearly lacked experience in bush warfare.
By 1979 the Rhodies were losing the war and in their desperation were recruiting reluctant young high school boys barely into their teens.
And these were receiving rudimentary training and were no match against us, at this stage we had become battle-hardened.
I had received military training at Chipata or Chipegede Training Camp.
After we extricated ourselves from the battle which seemed to have lasted for an eternity, we were happy to discover that we had only two casualties; nobody from our side died.
This was amazing considering the firepower and hammering that had been unleashed on us.
I honestly do not know what had happened to some of our enemies but I would like to believe we inflicted some damage.
We returned fire, engaging the enemy, we did not just run.
Compiled by Tobias Manyuchi