Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Rhodesia, General Service Medal (5298 Snr. Tech. G. S. Carmichael) nearly extremely fine £160-200

George Carmichael served as a Senior Technician in the Rhodesian Air Force, and flew in the Alouette helicopter piloted by Lieutenant Murray Hofmeyr for the first operation of the Rhodesian War, an account of which offers the following:

‘On 28 April 1966, the "Battle of Sinoia" (the first operation of the Rhodesian War) took place on Noel Matthews' 10,500 acre maize and cattle Hunyani Farm. Seven terrorists, who had infiltrated the country from Zambia, were heading for Salisbury when they encountered a group of forty regulars and reservists of the BSAP, intent on foiling their plans. In running skirmishes, the Police, led by Chief Superintendent John Cannon, accounted for all seven terrorists, using a miscellany of firearms including SLR rifles, WWII vintage Sten guns and .303 rifles. Assistance had been given by four Air Force helicopters in the search for the gang, and it was the impatience of one insurgent who took a shot at one of the Alouettes, flown by Flight Lieutenant Peter Petter-Bowyer, that compromised the terrorists' position. Sgt. George Carmichael, firing a crudely mounted MAG from pilot Murray Hofmeyr's chopper, claimed the Air Force's first kill of the war. Criticism would however be levelled for using 176 rounds to achieve this!.” After this Carmichael acquired the nickname “Killer Carmichael”.’

Another Combat pilot present was Lieutenant Peter Petter-Bowyer (who received the Military Forces Commendation for the action), and he recounts the following of the final stages of the operation in his book Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of Rhodesian Combat Pilot:

‘At the western end of the area I spotted another man crouching in long grass right in the centre of the vlei. Suddenly this guy, also wearing dark slacks and a white shirt, stood up and started shooting at my aircraft... I called Hoffy to come across to me with his machine-gun. The fellow stopped firing and crouched again to reload. Having done this he continued firing at my aircraft then, for reasons I did not appreciate immediately, he ceased firing and started running at high speed towards a ridge on the south side of the vlei. As he reached the edge of the vlei he disappeared in a cloud of dust created by gunfire from Hoffy’s aircraft. It was only then that I realised an earlier dust less burst into the grass area had got him running....

The terrorist had emerged from the dust cloud running even faster than before then disappeared from view in the dust of the third burst of fire. Again he emerged running up the ridge at super Olympian speed. The fourth burst struck his weapon, sending it flying sideways out of his grip before he disappeared from view. He emerged beyond the dust staggering at walking speed before going down under the fifth and final burst. The Air Force had scored the first kill in a bush war that would continue for almost fourteen years and Hoffy’s good-looking technician, George Carmichael, acquired the nickname “Killer Carmichael”.’

Sold with copied research which includes a small photographic of recipient.