The story of Eddah Rusere of Nzungu village, Domboshava IT was on a bitterly cold May morning in Nzungu Village, Domboshava, in 1977 when I saw a spotter jet which was popularly known as Arumanya. The presence of this small plane always spelt doom for many in the country and I knew trouble had visited our community. I was on my way from fetching water from the nearby Munwahuku River, about a kilometre from my homestead. From the way the Arumanya was scanning our area, it was clear that the Rhodesians were agitating for an onslaught. That is how it turned out on this fateful day as Rhodies attacked us. I hurriedly took my three-year-old daughter to my maize field to hide and after about 20 minutes, I saw three Dakotas dropping paratroopers. They were being dropped close to my homestead. Who could have given them information that I was working with the Comrades, I wondered as I scavenged for a safe haven in my maize field. It would later turn out that someone in our community who operated with Roy Bennett had sold out. Bennett was popularly known as ‘Muzezuru’ because of his fluency in Shona. The sell-out had told them about the presence of the ZANLA cadres in our area. I could not believe what happened next. ZANLA guerrillas had prepared for this nail-biting encounter with the Rhodesians. The paratroopers were being gunned down before they landed. Ana mukoma vainyatsovananga varimudenga zvekuti Mabhunu aizodonha pasi zvava zvitunha. In no time the sky was covered by ugly helicopters and it was obvious that the Rhodesians had called for reinforcement. The helicopters dropped bombs, but to my surprise, the helicopters were also gunned down. I saw three helicopters burst into pieces. It was my first time seeing Rhodesians being killed like flies and it was also my first time to see helicopters being gunned down. I kept still with my daughter for more than an hour as the fierce battle came to an end. As was their strategy, guerrillas would attack and disappear. For me going back home was risky because the Rhodesians would be patrolling in the area, but I went home because I had no choice. I was seven months pregnant and had a three-year-old baby. As I walked home the baby in my womb ceased to kick. This was trouble, something had gone wrong, but I got home and got a rude awakening. Rhodesian soldiers were there and Rhodesian soldiers’ corpses were all over my homestead. I am sure there were more than 20 dead. I saw ‘Muzezuru’, his face was painted with something I suspected to be black polish. He clapped me asking about the whereabouts of the guerrillas and accused me of feeding magandanga. I fell to the ground and lost consciousness. By the time I woke up, I was feeling weak and tired. I was bleeding excessively, I had had a miscarriage. Unexpectedly, my husband arrived from the mountains where he was hiding during the battle. Bennett kicked him on the mouth as he began to interrogate him. He was not given the chance to answer or say anything. It was unbearable to see my husband being beaten in front of his family. He was being accused of feeding the guerrillas and supplying them with information. In no time my homestead was filled with Rhodesian soldiers and trucks. One of the Rhodesian soldiers relentlessly fired his gun at our house. They demanded answers which we could not give. We could not sell out our freedom fighters. We knew the liberation struggle was our war so it was better to die than to sell-out. My husband was thoroughly beaten till he could not walk. As if it was not enough they threw him into Muzezuru’s jeep and took him to Makumbi Mission. Bennett had a military base he operated at Makumbi Mission. My husband returned after one week with a horrific story of torture. Compiled by Emergencey Mwale-Kamtande