Air Rhodesia. Viscount. VP-WAT at Kariba, August 1971

This is ‘Winter’, hence the coats which were needed for the early morning start from Salisbury but soon needed to be shed when the sun warmed the day, Kariba is much lower than Salisbury, about 2000 feet above sea level as compared to 5000 feet, Kariba Dam was built on the Zambezi to provide hydro electric power, fortunately the power station was on the Rhodesian side, not Zambia’s so that Rhodesia benefited form the electricity, the dam formed is 200 miles long, London to Plymouth (UK).

Two Air Rhodesia Viscounts (VP-WAS and VP-YND were shot down by terrorists after take off from Kariba in 1978 and 1979, CIVILIANS, men, women and children, the survivors from the first were massacred by the terrorists after the aircraft crashed landed in the bush, there were no survivors from the second.

There can be NO excuse in any circumstances by any country or group for targeting civilians in circumstances like these, the people who do are always Terrorists and not ‘Freedom Fighters’. Zimbabwe in the 21st Century is getting its reward for allowing itself to be ‘Liberated’ by the terrorists who carried out atrocities like these, this group was based in Zambia, the ruling party in the country now were based in Mozambique.

See 'Viscount Story' for the full story.