Selous Scouts

[The Saint]

Beret, Other Ranks, issued :

[The Saint]

Stable belt, 1st issue (no markings on the back) :

Edited April 13, 2007 by The Saint

[The Saint]

Lieutenant rank slip-ons that came with the shirt :

[The Saint]

Cover of Jump Log Book, first issue (here first records are dated 1976). The second issue has a brown cover.

That's all for now.

Eric

[JamesM]

Eric,

Nice items, thanks for sharing them!!

I'm sure you know, but, Mike Kerr had wing #153 and was decorated for bravery!!

Cheers,

James

[The Saint]

Yes, James, I know.

Unfortunately, the Wings did not come with the lot (the price would have rocketted). But there's the ribbon of the BCR on the shirt. His citation for the medal while he was in Support Cdo, 1 RLI, is quoted in 'Contact'.

I also own one of his paybook, as a Cpl of the RLI.

Eric

[JamesM]

Eric,

It's always nice to keep groups together, but, it's not always possible either! I always like getting pieces that you can put a name to!

I've set you a PM!

Cheers,

James

[The Saint]

Sure it is always nicer to get something named. It becomes much more than a simple piece of metal or cloth, whatever their historical value.

Eric

[The Saint]

The following pictures show some items that were used by the Scouts, but also by the RhSAS, during the cross-border operations.

Olive-Green flap cap, with a day-glo panel for aerial recognition sewn in the inside :

[The Saint]

Olive-green shirt and trousers. Thay can be seen in photographs of Scouts taken in Mozambique during the externals. The set was also worn by the Reconnaissance Teams.

Edited April 14, 2007 by The Saint

[Marco Gollino]

Thanks for the pics Eric, some lovely items you have there.

Cheers,

Marco

[The Saint]

Double-buckle combat boots, with anti-tracking soles. This pair come from Inkomo Barracks QM stores. Again, their use was not restricted to the Selous Scouts.

Eric

[JamesM]

Nice items, Eric.

I've thought about putting together a complete uniform set for a Scout as I have with my German stuff, but, I'm not sure which route to go on it. Ideally, I'd like a set that is completed and named. There were so many combinations of what the Scouts wore when in the bush, that something could be put together that way. I'd still like to get a complete named camo set, but that aren't just filling the stores with them at the moment.

The only attributable items I have at the moment are the wings and a beret that I have. I'd love to get more, but as I said they aren't exactly lining up to be bought.

There was another fellow who posted some nice looking items on this thread, but he's never been back, "Brendon", does anyone know him?

Cheers,

James

[The Saint]

Very few items in my collection (covering the whole Rhodesian Army 1964-80, insignia, uniforms & equipment) are indeed id'd. Other than Mike Kerr's shirt, I have some berets, one RhSignals Greens plus some equipment which have the owner's name written on it, but the great majority is either unissued or anonymous.

The thing is - as with any collection - is to be patient ... stay in the OP.

Still, you could kit him like this (1:6th scale figure) :

Cheers

Eric

Edited April 14, 2007 by The Saint

[Marco Gollino]

One from my collection:

Medals to Sgt Head Wuranda, SCR, BCR

The Rhodesian General Service Medal is named to R44758 Pte. Head. The Silver Cross and Bronze Cross are unnamed examples, added by myself for display of what his full medal entitlement looks like. The RGSM appears to have been in a fire, at first I assumed that the other 2 medals had not survived. However, I have since located them in another Scout collection, but an agreement has not yet been reached.

----

One of the true legends of the Selous Scouts, Head Wuranda was the holder of both the Bronze Cross of Rhodesia and the Silver Cross of Rhodesia - one of only a handful in the Rhodesian Army to ever achieve this and, together with fellow Selous Scout Trooper Rangarirayi, were the two most highly decorated non-commissioned officers.

In 1975 as part of a team tasked with crossing into Mozambique via the mine belt to capture a FRELIMO commander, disaster struck:

"A sickeningly loud explosion erupted in a fountain of earth amongst them, temporarily blinding those nearest to it and showering all of them with debris.

For Bruce the next few minutes were an eternity, while he peered through a night lit only by a feeble moon, appearing fitfully through the clouds, to determine if a grenade had been tossed at them, or if someone had stepped on and detonated a mine.

When nothing further happened, he braced himself and moved slowly back through the breach until he found Lance-Corporal Wuranda crumpled semi-conscious on the ground. The lower portion of his right foot was missing, blown off by an anti-personnel mine.

It did not need spelling out, The passage through the minefield had not been properly cleared by the Engineers and at any moment another mine could go off? Then, after first aid had been administered to Lance-Corporal Wuranda, the whole patrol gradually moved back one step at a time into Rhodesia, literally stepping in Bruce's footprints.

Lance-Corporal Wuranda was casevaced to hospital where the lower part of his right leg was amputated" (Pamwe Chete by Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly, pg 159-160).

However, this did not stop him and after having an artificial leg attached, he was soon back on operations with the Scouts.

"In November 1976, we received bad news. Sergeant Head Wuranda, Silver Cross of Rhodesia and Bronze Cross of Rhodesia, who had been with the regiment since its inception, had been kidnapped by insurgents while on leave at his home village in the Nyajena Tribal Trust Lands near Fort Victoria.

Every effort was made to find our man. We sent in pseudo callsigns and the Rhodesian African Rifles sent in men too, but nothing was found. Unconfirmed stories indicated that the insurgents had captured and walked him, artificial leg and all, to Mozambique as a prisoner."(Pamwe Chete by Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly, pg 339-340).

His body was never found and he was never heard from again.

[JamesM]

Nice items guys! It?s always great to see new things that belonged to this prestigious yet short lived unit. Even though the unit was disbanded, a part of it is kept alive by collectors and their willingness to share their pieces.

Keep it coming guys!

Cheers,

James

[JamesM]

Here is a new addition to the collection. It is a Rhodesian Army camouflage short sleeved shirt, worn by Major F.J. "Butch" Duncan of the Selous Scouts. Major Duncan is mentioned in all the books on the Selous Scouts.

[JamesM]

Here is a bit of a close up of the shoulder boards, which did not come with the shirt, and ARMY tag.

[octave]

Looks great James, I know where you can get a AK for him if your so inclined.

[JamesM]

Looks great James, I know where you can get a AK for him if your so inclined.

And would this be the Manitoba connection, C.O.S??? I'd hate to deplete your supply!!

Cheers mate!

James

[octave]

I believe that the Selous Scouts like members of the South African Special Forces also carried sanitized firearms.And yes this is your Manitoba connection.

Cheers C.O.S.

[JamesM]

I believe that the Selous Scouts like members of the South African Special Forces also carried sanitized firearms.And yes this is your Manitoba connection.

Cheers C.O.S.

Chris,

I posed this question to a Scout that operated in the pseudo groups, and this was his reply;

I'm not sure what this fellow means by weapons being sanitized. Does he mean that they had no serial numbers or that they had ballistics checks run on them before they were released back to the pseudo units? All of our weapons were captured - AKs, RPDs, PKMs, Togarovs, Mokarovs - and I can't imagine that with all of the units using them on pseuso ops, including the Scouts and SB teams (as well as the SAS on some of their externals), that there would be the capacity to do what this fellow suggests. I never heard of such a thing while I was with the unit. Maybe you could find out what he's talking about.

Was there something else you were think of???

Cheers,

James

[octave]

Hi James,

I ?read that the South African Special Forces removed all traces?of?orgin?and?serial?numbers?on?some?of?there?FN?rifles?thats?what?I?was?t

alking?about.

Cheers?Chris.?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi James,

I read that the South African Special Forces removed all traces of orgin and serial numbers on some of there FN rifles thats what I was t

alking about.

Cheers Chris.

Hi,

I think that is probably a myth.

1) I dont think any neighboring foreign countries would have needed to wonder who the Whiteies were that were operating in their areas in the first place.

2) SA had enough captured weaponry to use that without taking numbers off them

3) Its not by taking a umber off a South African made FN that you will fool anyone when a neighboring country find the body of a soldier in the bush.

Best

Chris

[octave]

Thanks to James and Chris for putting anouther urban myth to rest, as to the South African FN if anyone can point me in the direction of one I would appreciate it.

I am in the putting the final touchs on a South African Bush trooper and all I need now is the South African FN to make it complete.

Cheers

Chris.