page_title: History of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (1961–1972)
section_title: Operation Cauldron
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (1961–1972) / Early counter-insurgency operations / Operation Cauldron
context_page_description: The 1st Battalion, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, commonly the Rhodesian Light Infantry, was originally formed in 1961 as a regiment of the army of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Raised as a light infantry unit at Brady Barracks, Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia, the Regiment served in the Rhodesian Bush War as part of the Rhodesian Security Forces between 1964 and 1979, from 1965 under the unrecognised governments of Rhodesia and latterly, during the second half of 1979, Zimbabwe Rhodesia. The RLI remained active during an interim period under British control and then, from April 1980, within the armed forces of Zimbabwe, before disbanding on 31 October 1980.
  The RLI was formed in February 1961 as a light infantry battalion made up exclusively of white recruits. After first seeing action in September 1961 on the Northern Rhodesian border with Katanga, it relocated to Cranborne Barracks, Salisbury the following year and remained there as part of the Southern Rhodesian Army after the Federation dissolved on 31 December 1963.
context_section_description: Despite the death or capture of 77 out of 79 men, ZAPU, from its base in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, did not regard the incursion as a failure; on the contrary, its leaders were pleased that they had inflicted some casualties on the Rhodesian African Rifles. Buoyed by what they perceived as a success, they planned another operation to take place in northern Mashonaland: about 100 men—75 ZIPRA and 25 MK—were to infiltrate the Zambezi valley and establish a series of camps, including underground caches containing food, clothing, weapons and other equipment. They were instructed to avoid the Rhodesian Security Forces "at all cost" while they recruited local tribesmen to the nationalist cause and trained them. Once a sufficient indigenous force existed, they were to inform Lusaka, which would then coordinate a mass uprising. The aim was not to defeat the government forces, but rather to force the British military to intervene. If the operation were a success, the MK men were to be escorted to South Africa to begin similar activities. The group, which in the actual event numbered 126, crossed the Zambezi around the turn of the year, with 34 entering Rhodesia on 28 December 1967 and the remainder joining them on the nights of 3, 4 and 5 January 1968. The guerrillas busied themselves working their way into the country, setting up camps as they went, naming each "Camp One", "Camp Two" and so on. After two and a half months in Rhodesia the ZIPRA cadres had created five bases, each further south than the next in an almost straight line pointing due south; the fifth was about halfway between Karoi and the border and nearly due east from Makuti. They remained undetected until unfamiliar bootprints were discovered by David Scammel, a game ranger, on a well-worn path, about the width of a "four-lane highway", on 14 March 1968 around the midpoint between Camps Four and Five. On closer inspection Scammel found scraps of a sugar packet marked with Russian lettering. So began Operation Cauldron.
  "The appropriately named Cauldron," says Binda, "was to be the crucible in which the fighting character of the RLI was to be forged. ... It revealed to the world what outstanding and peerless anti-terrorist fighters the RLI were." A Joint Operations Centre (JOC) was formed on 16 March 1968 at Karoi, made up of two RAR platoons, a BSAP patrol and 1 and 3 Commandos, RLI. Two Vampire fighter-bombers and two Canberra bombers were detailed to circle the area and provide air strikes as needed; the mere presence of these aircraft demoralised many cadres into deserting before they even met the Rhodesian forces. A patrol of 13 troopers from 14 Troop, 3 Commando, led by Lieutenant Bert Sachse, made first contact with the enemy on the morning of 18 March, encountering 14 nationalists near the Angwa River in the Mana Pools area. Attacking an enemy on higher ground, Sachse's men killed 10 guerrillas but lost Trooper E. N. F. Ridge to sniper fire. He was first RLI soldier to be killed by enemy action. Nevertheless, the official operational report describes the contact as "a first-rate action in which Lieutenant Sachse's leadership and the determination of his men achieved an extremely successful result."
  On the same day Lieutenant Chris Pearce's 13 Troop, 3 Commando, on patrol with a platoon of Rhodesian African Rifles under Lieutenant Ron Marillier, was fired upon on the bank of the Maura River in northern Mashonaland by about 70 ZIPRA, encamped in a strong defensive position on the side of a hill feature. "We were going on up the bank and all hell broke loose," recalled Pearce. "How we didn't take casualties I didn't quite know." Pearce's 12 men were pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire and outnumbered by around six to one. Lance-Corporal Dennis Croukamp "on his own initiative and with complete disregard for his own safety" in the words of the official report, twice crawled forward to throw grenades at the enemy position to allow the troop to redeploy into better cover. Pearce unsuccessfully attempted to assault the enemy position, then gave covering fire t
caption: 13 Troop, 3 Commando, under Lieutenant Sachse, made the first contact of Operation Cauldron on 18 March 1968 when they encountered the enemy in the Mana Pools.
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX Optio 550", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "1.00", "Image DateTime": "2005:05:02 16:23:05", "Image ExifOffset": "199", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/270", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:05:02 16:23:05", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:05:02 16:23:05", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "39/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "37", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}