Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A scarce Rhodesian Military Division Order of the Legion of Merit pair awarded to Sergeant-Major A. J. Balaam, Selous Scouts, late Rhodesian Light Infantry, a master ‘pseudo-operator’ during the Bush War, who thought nothing of operating behind enemy lines for stints of a month at a time, often on his own in horrendous conditions, whilst co-ordinating multiple pseudo groups.

A Mortar expert, Balaam also suffered shrapnel wounds whilst serving on a covert operation against a Frelimo target in Mozambique. Over the course of five years service with the Selous Scouts he took part in the attack on Mapai in June 1976, and the notorious raid on Nyazonya, 9 August 1976, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 ZANLA insurgents.

After the formation of Zimbabwe in 1980, Balaam was employed in 5 Reconnaissance, South African Defence Force, Special Forces. He subsequently became a civilian advisor responsible for training the Transkei Defence Force, and from there became involved with the training of both the Lesotho Liberation Army and the Ciskei Liberation Army. The latter led to a failed coup, 19 February 1987, which ultimately led to Balaam’s arrest

Rhodesia, Order of the Legion of Merit (M.L.M.), Military Division Member’s (Combatant’s) breast badge, bronze, silver-plate and enamel, unnamed as issued; General Service Medal, with Silver Pick Commendation on riband (4001 T/L. Cpl. A. J. Balaam) mounted as originally worn, with riband bar, edge bruise, very fine (2) £5,000-£6,000

M.L.M. awarded 8 June 1979, the citation stating:

‘Sergeant-Major Balaam, a member of the Selous Scouts, has been engaged on Selous Scouts operations since 1st July 1975. He was awarded a Military Forces Commendation on 10th October 1976. Since this award Sergeant-Major Balaam has continued to operate with great success.

Sergeant-Major Balaam’s troop, operating in very difficult conditions, has located well in excess of 300 terrorists, of whom 85 have been killed and 15 captured. These successes are directly attributable to the fine leadership, outstanding initiative and the unswerving devotion to duty displayed by Sergeant-Major Balaam in trying conditions.’

Military Forces Commendation (Operational) awarded 10 October 1976, the citation stating:

‘Sergeant Balaam, a serving member of the Selous Scouts, has now been employed on five external operations. Two of these have been deep-penetration operations, which have caused the enemy to suffer considerable losses in material and men.

On the last such operation, Sergeant Balaam was the Mortar Group Officer. His task was to provide cut-off fire during the attack. This he did most successfully causing heavy casualties to the enemy. Whilst engaged on this task, he came under fire on several occasions.

During the ex-filtration phase of this exercise, the enemy attempted to cut the force off and used mortars in an attempt to achieve this. Sergeant Balaam twice engaged the enemy mortars to good effect, causing them to withdraw.

There is little doubt that his efficient and rapid deployment of his mortar group, although under fire, saved casualties being inflicted upon the strike force.’

Andrew J. Balaam grew up in Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia, one of ten children. He was called up for National Service in 1966, and decided to join the Rhodesian Army. After initial training, Balaam was posted for service with Support Group, Rhodesian Light Infantry. He carried out frequent patrols in the Zambezi Valley area checking for terrorist crossings from Zambia, and survived a Mortar fire training accident at Shamva in 1972 - which cost the life of one of his crew and the arm of another.

Having advanced to Corporal, Balaam led a three man patrol to find a Rhodesian aircraft which had been shot down by Frelimo (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) whilst on a reconnaissance mission over Tete Province, Mozambique. Travelling over horrendous terrain, he located the aircraft several days later. His patrol also located the crew of the aircraft buried a short distance from the plane. They had been buried for several days and were in a state of decay:

‘Several hours later, after much swearing and cursing, both bodies were ready to be transported back to Rhodesia. It had taken much longer to get the corpses into the bags than I thought. The slippery, rotten skin, the rubbery flesh that seemed to have a will of its own, the smell, the dead weight, had all contributed to making what should have been a simple job into a nightmare.

The helicopter used to lift the bodies also dropped a quantity of plastic explosive. This was then used to blow up the aircraft so that it could not be used for propaganda purposes or to prove that the Rhodesian army was operating in Mozambique... During the entire rescue mission we had not seen or heard any Frelimo. The same applied to their Rhodesian comrades, ZANLA. That they were there is no doubt but why they did not attack us? Who knows.

I was to return to the same area many months later and be hunted by Frelimo using dogs.’ (Bush War Operator, Memoirs of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, Selous Scouts and Beyond, by the recipient refers)

Balaam continued to be engaged along the Mozambique border throughout 1973, coming into contact with Captain Ron Reid-Daly, a man he was to continue to know through the Selous Scouts and beyond. Balaam was deployed in Operation Hurricane in the Mount Darwin area, and survived being blown up by a mine during a sweep in front of some transport vehicles:

‘The closer I got to the store the more confident I became that the road had not been mined. Suddenly, my head felt like it was going to burst. I screamed in pain as I tried to cover my ears with my hands, my chest felt as if a great weight had been placed on it, as the force of the blast sucked all the oxygen from my lungs and threatened to rupture my eardrums.

As I lay there in the mud with pieces of metal, rubber and rocks falling around me, all I could think of was my weapon.’ (Ibid)

During one Fire Force deployment, aged 19, Balaam led his patrol into contact with a Terrorist group entrenched in their camp:

‘Walking over to where the terrorist bodies were lying, I could not help but notice the smell. It was a smell I would never forget. The combination of unwashed bodies, drying blood, wood smoke and body fluids, all baking in the hot sun, put out a smell that was sweet and nauseating, very similar to the smell around abattoirs.

Taking a closer look at the bodies, I noticed that the faces were of youngsters similar in age to mine: nineteen. I wondered what promises had been made to them when they were convinced to join the ranks of ZANLA. In the distance, I could hear the beat of the approaching helicopter coming to remove the bodies and take the trooper wounded by the mortar bomb back to base for further treatment.’ (Ibid)

Selous Scouts’ selection - a rendezvous with a rotten baboon

After a number of successful contacts Balaam volunteered for the Selous Scouts’ selection in 1975:

‘The Selous Scouts’ selection was run in an extremely isolated area on the shores of Lake Kariba... The Kariba climate is extreme, with temperatures reaching the high forties in summer and barely less in winter. The array of biting, stinging insects is mind-boggling, never mind the lions, hippos, leopards, crocodiles and elephants that occupy the area. Throw in several instructors with unlimited power and you have a selection course designed in hell....

The first phase of our selection finally came to an end after what seemed to be a lifetime, and we were presented with the first food we had seen for over a week: a rotten baboon. The smell was beyond belief. It had been shot the previous week and hung from a tree in the hot sun. Now as it lay on the hot, dry ground in front of us, with liquid running out of its eyes and mouth, it appeared to move as the millions of maggots went about their business. The skin was expanding and contracting as the maggots moved from one place to the next, which gave the impression the baboon was alive.’ (Ibid)

Pseudo-operator

Having successfully completed selection (Parachute Number 041) and trained in pseudo-warfare, Balaam was deployed with the Selous Scouts along the Mozambique border. On one occasion:

‘There were four of us in the group, each dressed in Frelimo uniform, blackened up and carrying our normal AK-47s... Our task was to attack the Frelimo base situated on the Ruya River, about ten to twelve kilometres into Mozambique’s Tete Province... the base was up and running and the crossing of ZANLA terrorist groups into Rhodesia had started up again. The aim of our little attack was to remind Frelimo of what happened last time when they had continued to assist Rhodesian terrorists, even though they had been warned not to do so.’ (Ibid)

Balaam spent several days reconnoitring the base, and planning the course of his attack. Having decided upon the plan:

‘I was walking up front and to say I was nervous would be the understatement of the decade. It was broad daylight, I was in Mozambique and heading for a large Frelimo base that I intended to attack with a 60mm mortar, ably assisted by my three comrades. I was shit scared, to say the least. My body was so tense that my legs would not bend at the knees. I walked as if I had a carrot up my arse... My hands gripped my AK-47 so tightly they throbbed. My eyes darted from one clump of bush to the next... We had already passed groups of locals working in the fields; they waved and we waved back. Dressed as we were in Frelimo uniform, we were accepted as the real deal... (Ibid)

Balaam managed to manoeuvre his men into position and carry out the mortar attack. Results were successful at first, before his mortar fired into a nearby tree covering him and his men with light shrapnel wounds. The Frelimo then turned their own, larger calibre, mortar on the Selous Scouts forcing Balaam into a hasty retreat. He suffered further shrapnel wounds to the legs during the withdrawal.

Early in 1976 Balaam was deployed in Operation Thrasher in the Eastern Highlands area. Amongst other employment, he and his ‘gang’ were engaged on a ‘snatch’ mission deep behind enemy lines. Disguised as freedom fighters wanting to cross into Rhodesia, the group successfully located the target, however he died whilst they were trying to subdue him. In June of the same year Balaam was once again engaged on another ‘snatch’ mission in Mozambique. This one was to act as a precursor for the planned attacks on Mapai and Chicualacuala.

Attack on Mapai

Prior to the actual raid on Mapai (a ZANLA ammunition depot) in June 1976, a reconnaissance team was sent into Malvernia, Mozambique with the aim of capturing a member of either Frelimo or ZANLA. The team, which included Balaam, was led by the Selous Scout legend Sergeant-Major Jannie Nel. A ZANLA liaison officer was captured, however, he managed to escape enroute back to the border. The plan had been to garner intelligence regarding the transit camp at Chicualacuala. Thwarted:

‘Several nights later we were back on the same road where the failed snatch had taken place, only this time we were heading deeper into Mozambique, not trying to get out. Our target was the small town of Mapai that was being used by Rhodesian freedom fighters, ZANLA, as a transit, resupply and storage depot. Situated about a hundred kilometres, as the crow flies, from the border with Rhodesia...

Our armed column consisted of six Unimogs, the first one being a Pig, a Unimog converted to an armoured personnel carrier. I was travelling in the last Unimog with a section of two 60mm mortars and all the petrol bombs that Pete Mac and I had made. A lot of care, attention and time had been put in to make the vehicles look exactly the same as those used by Frelimo, right down to the number plates. The same amount of care taken to make the vehicles look authentic was also put in to make ourselves, the raiding party, appear as Frelimo-like as possible.

We had crossed into Mozambique earlier that evening and, using a series of cut lines, had joined up with the main road-rail link between Malvernia and Maputo, just before Mapai. The idea was that we would hole up just short of Mapai and attack at first light the next morning.... With me on this venture were some of the finest fighting men in the world: Jannie Nel, Dale Collett, Pete Mac, Tim Bax, to name but a few....

At first light we arrived at Mapai... Our vehicle came to a stop. With a croaking voice, I ordered the mortars into action. Within a matter of seconds, the crews had the mortars set up, ready to fire. The task given to me and the mortar crews was to inflict as much damage as possible on the retreating enemy once the attack started.’ (Ibid)

Expecting to be opened fire on immediately, the Rhodesians were surprised to find the trenches and defences seemingly deserted. Balaam started, with the rest of the force, to destroy the depot with petrol bombs. It was a trap, however, leading to the death of Balaam’s friend - Jannie Nel, and ‘two wounded - one paralysed and the other’s legs attached to his body by a few bits of skin and the odd muscle.’ (Ibid)

An air-strike was eventually authorised and the terrorist force was neutralised. The Selous Scouts were rushed back to the border, and Chicualacuala was left untouched. After the disaster at Mapai, the Selous Scouts were thrust straight back in to the action with the Nyadzonya raid.

Nyadzonya raid

On 9 August 1976, Balaam was part of Selous Scouts force aided by former ZANLA commander Morrison Nyathi in the attack on the ZANLA camp at Nyadzonya in Mozambique. Working along the same lines as the strategy for Mapai the Selous Scouts successfully crossed the border into Mozambique just after midnight, and remaining in disguise as a Frelimo column, infiltrated the camp at Nyadzonya. The latter was reputed to contain over 5,000 ZANLA and Frelimo terrorists, as well as several hundred refugees.

Arriving at the camp at 0825 hours, Balaam and approximately 70 other Scouts, drove past the sentries and took up prearranged positions around the edge of the parade ground. When all was ready a Rhodesian soldier took his vehicle loudspeaker and announced, in Shona, "Zimbabwe tatora", meaning "we have taken Zimbabwe", and Nyathi blew a whistle signalling the cadres to muster. The cadres began cheering and ran towards the vehicles, packing around them as more ran onto the parade ground from other areas of the camp.

Balaam was in charge of the two 81mm mortars included in the Rhodesian force:

‘The reds, oranges and pinks in the sky heralded the start of a new day. We had spent the last few hours laagered up on the side of the road just short of the Pungwe River Bridge. So far, so good... From here on it it was all about timing. We had to arrive at 08h30, the time of the muster parade, for our plan to succeed.... My body went cold, the hair on the back of my neck stood up as, standing on the back of the Unimog with my mortars deployed below me, I watched in amazement and fear as the column, in extended line a mere twenty metres to my front and facing the parade ground, was swamped by a tide of black bodies, with four or five thousand cheering ZANLA recruits running forward to greet them.

Long yellow flames shot from the barrels, vehicles shuddering under the recoil as the entire column opened fire. Faces disintegrated, bones shattered, meat shredded, blood boiled, skin burned. I watched, fascinated by the horror unfolding before my eyes. Bullets smashed into the vehicle I was standing on, bringing me back to earth, and giving me a frightening reminder of where I was.

Then silence. Awesome, eerie in its completeness. Still lying between the two mortars, I cautiously lifted my head and looked about. Where thirty seconds ago had stood a large, cheering crowd of terrorists, there was only emptiness and silence. The column vehicles were still in extended line facing the parade ground, the occupants frozen, staring in disbelief at the death and destruction they had wreaked.

The escape routes, do not forget the escape routes, a tiny voice reminded me. One of the main reasons the mortars had been brought along was to put down fire on likely escape routes and cause as many casualties as possible to the fleeing terrorists. Fifteen, twenty seconds later, standing unsteadily and covered in a thick layer of dust, grass and leaves, I managed to croak, “FIRE!” (Ibid)

Casualties were reported as more than 1,000 ZANLA insurgents killed, whilst the Selous Scouts suffered four men wounded.

Balaam had advanced to Sergeant-Major by 1976, and during the latter part of the year he returned to more ‘conventional’ pseudo-ops. These included a 4 week stint behind enemy lines during Operation Repulse, and in an effort to stay under cover and as an example of the lengths that the Selous Scouts went to:

‘I now stank of stale sweat, rotten inch-thick black camouflage cream, urine and rotting flesh. Suffering badly from foot rot, I had taken to removing my shoes at night and urinating on my feet in an effort to get rid of it. Unable to find decent cover, I spent most daylight hours lying on my stomach in the baking hot sun, surrounded by thousands of moplane flies. When I needed to urinate I merely rolled onto my side. Accidents did happen which added to the vile odour surrounding my person.’ (Ibid)

Balaam carried out parachute training courses at Dukuduku, South Africa and at New Sarum, Rhodesia in 1977. The former was carried out in secret under the instruction of the South African Special Forces. Later that year Balaam deployed in Operation Thrasher in the Chiredzi area. He was in charge of multiple pseudo groups, and co-ordinated them in the field from a ‘solo’ position. Operating on his own for over 30 days, his position became comprised whilst he was suffering from a bout of tick-bite fever. Balaam survived the ensuing mortar attack, and his operatives went on to capture their terrorist target before being successfully airlifted with him to safety.

Balaam continued to serve with the Selous Scouts for the next two years, during which time he successfully orchestrated pseudo-ops in the Chiredzi area, and returned to Tete Province, Mozambique. The operation into Mozambique accounted for the Frelimo commander of Ruya Camp and several other men under his command. He was nearly killed on his last operation for the Selous Scouts in 1980, but a mere 18 hours later the conflict was over.

South Africa - Homeland Security, 1982-1988

Balaam was subsequently employed in 5 Reconnaissance, South African Defence Force, Special Forces. He then moved to Transkei, and was initially employed as an adviser in the training of the Transkei Army. At the end of 1983 he was appointed to assist Major Bob MacKenzie (ex Rhodesian SAS) with the training of the Lesotho Liberation Army in the Drakensberg Mountains. Over the next two years Balaam and MacKenzie’s force operated on the Lesotho/Transkei border. The two Rhodesians being secretly employed to help destabilise the Lesotho Government by the South African government.

The force carried out covert operations in the Sani Pass and around Zastron, until disbanded in 1985. Balaam returned to his post in Transkei, before finding himself involved with the Ciskei Liberation Army. This was formed as another South African funded attempt to topple an unsympathetic government - in the shape of the Transkei government of Lennox Sebe. In 1986, Balaam was once again employed to train the force, this time at the Special Forces training ground at Port St. Johns.

Having trained one group of recruits, Balaam was then briefly employed to protect Charles Sebe - the man the South African security forces wanted to replace Lennox Sebe with. All the time Balaam was working under the orders of Ron Reid-Daly, and with Major Pete Curtis. Throughout January-February 1987 he also reconnoitred the Ciskei presidential palace in preparation for the raid, and took part in the ‘snatch’ operation of the head of Ciskei intelligence.

Balaam took part in the failed attack on the presidential palace, 19 February 1987. Plans of the attack had been leaked, and an ambush set up. Balaam managed to evade capture and returned to Port St. John. The Transkei government arrested all of the military advisors based there, including Balaam. He was initially imprisoned in a solitary confinement cell before being transferred to Umtata for questioning. Balaam was released and made his way over the border to South Africa.

Sold with the following original documentation: Bestowal document for the M.L.M., dated 8 June 1979; Bestowal document for Military Forces Commendation, dated 29 October 1976, signatures faded on both documents; a copy of Bush War Operator, Memoirs of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, Selous Scouts and Beyond, by the recipient, and some copied photographic images of the recipient.