Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Silver Cross of Zimbabwe group of three awarded to Warrant Officer T.F. Manema, Zimbabwean Special Forces, for his quick reactions, flexibility and outstanding bravery during an entirely unsupported infiltration and attack by a small eight-man patrol on a large RENAMO guerrilla base camp inside Mozambique

Zimbabwe Silver Cross, reverse inscribed 'W/O Manema T.F.'; Zimbabwe Independence Medal 1980, officially numbered '23671'; Rhodesia General Service Medal (644683 Cpl.T.F.Manema); together with original illuminated citation bearing ink signature of Robert Mugabe, good very fine and better (3) £1,400-£1,800

Silver Cross of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean Government Gazette 21 June 1991.
The Citation, signed by President R. G. Mugabe (an original handwritten signature and sold as part of the lot) states: ‘On 26 August 1987 at 1400 hours WO2 Manema T F was tasked to capture a Renamo General Antonio in the Maringa Area of Mozambique. He and his 7 men approached the enemy Camp at 0400 hours the following morning. He penetrated the enemy Camp and were compromised and attacked when they were 100m from the enemy HQ. They attacked and forced the enemy of 76 bandits to flee leaving 12 dead and 5 captured including a lot of equipment. Whilst WO2 Manema was reorganising his men the enemy counter attacked and was repulsed. Two further counter attacks were again launched but WO2 Manema could not be dislodged from his position until first light. On the count following the final sweep WO2 Manema had 24 bandits killed, 30 different types of small arms, 52 ammunition boxes, various explosive and mines and various documents of a national Security nature were recovered. With Air Support which was asked for and failed to arrive after 7 hours, WO2 Manema showed courage, leadership and professionalism of the highest order. Having been compromised on his initial task he quickly adjusted to the alternative and accomplished it with such an impressive kill rate and he conducted himself in the finest traditions of the Regiment. WO2 Manema showed courage and bravery in circumstances of great peril, and for such action the President is pleased to award WO2 Manema the Silver Cross of Zimbabwe.’

Tinawaro Ferrilon Manema began his military career by enlisting in the ranks of the Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF). When the country became independent in 1980, the Rhodesian Army Special Forces units that had been particularly successful in fighting Mugabe’s ZANLA and Nkomo’s ZIPRA guerrilla forces, such as the Selous Scouts, were disbanded, by the simple expedient of rebadging everyone back to their original non-special forces unit. Many officers and men of all ethnicities resigned, although in general there were few reprisals against those who accepted to continue serving beyond independence. A new Zimbabwe National Army was created by merging the remaining personnel of the Rhodesian Army with the two guerrilla groups, ZANLA and ZIPRA. President Mugabe persuaded most of the high command of the RSF to stay on, for a while. The British government provided a Military Assistance and Training Team that played a pivotal role in assisting the creation of the new army and especially its Special Forces; the British MATT was still in place in 2000. The various Rhodesian army technical support regiments such as the artillery and the service corps were left in place, and most of the ‘comrades’ were placed in infantry brigades.

The new Zimbabwe Special Forces followed the structure of its Rhodesian predecessor. Parachute Group replaced the mostly para-trained Selous Scouts. Commando Group was created to replace the Rhodesia Light Infantry and some of the Rhodesian African Rifles. British advisors entirely rebuilt the Special Air Service. Special Forces selection and training were modelled on those developed by the Rhodesian Army Special Forces.

The Zimbabwe National Army soon found itself in action in Mozambique, supporting the Marxist FRELIMO regime. Ironically, the Rhodesian Central intelligence Organisation had created and supported a domestic anti-FRELIMO organisation, named the Movement of National Resistance (RENAMO in Portuguese) to hinder Mugabe’s strategy of using Mozambique as a safe haven from which his ZANLA guerrillas could launch attacks into Rhodesia. After the change of government in Rhodesia, the South Africans became the principal supporter of, and munitions supplier to, RENAMO. RENAMO fighters attacked the three road/rail trade corridors leading from the landlocked countries of Zimbabwe and Malawi to major seaports in Mozambique. In 1985, the internationally recognised FRELIMO government of Mozambique formally invited Zimbabwe to station units of its army inside Mozambique, to help wage war on RENAMO.

The first major external cross-border operation of the new Zimbabwe Special Forces/National Army lasted from 5 to 9 December 1984. Operation Lemon comprised elements of 3 Brigade, the Parachute Group and the Special Air Service. Special Forces were deployed to Mozambique to protect the Beira Corridor railway link between Zimbabwe and the port of Beira. Operations Grapefruit (1985) and Octopus (1986) followed. By the end of the decade, the Mozambique civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO was winding down.

The tactical context in which Manama was operating in August 1987 is unclear. A mission to eliminate a known High Value Target (General Antonio was a RENAMO Provincial Commander) who controlled many of the enemy forces fighting along the Beira Corridor is obvious and understandable, as is the switch to kinetic manoeuvre after compromise. What is surprising is that, although the target was known to be located inside a well-manned base camp, his commanders gave Manema no back-up group or ground support such as mortars or machine-guns to assist him if there was a compromise. He had to take on a force that was ten times the size of his own with only distant air support, and that on call. In this context, what he achieved inside that RENAMO camp after his team was compromised was close to miraculous.