Operation Vanity

January 5, 20241 min read

ABSTRACT: The Rhodesian Security Force (RSF) was in its thirteenth year of a civil war and on the back foot with the real prospect that it may lose the war to the two guerrilla armies. The RSF had launched several devastating cross-border raids against ZIPRA camps inside Zambia and Mozambique killing and wounding many thousands. The RhAF Canberra fleet was the most formidable weapon in the RSF since the development of the Alpha Bomb and was heavily deployed against guerilla camps in Zambia. The Canberra crews managed an outstanding job to get the planes exactly on target given the bad weather, the weather ultimately proved to play a major role in reducing the overall kill rate of the operation. The main impact was an immediate morale booster for the White Rhodesian population that was rapidly losing faith in the prospect of the war and uncertainty with the planning to bring in a black majority government.

Author: John Frame