Selous Scouts

More famous (in my opinion!) as the Rhodesian unit...

The Selous Scouts were probably one of the most short-lived elite units in history, existing for just seven years. However, in that time, they showed the terrorists what it really felt like to suffer the fear they themselves inflicted upon so many harmless civilians, mostly local inhabitants.

The original Selous Scouts was an armoured car regiment in the army of the ill-fated Central African Federation (which linked Southern Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) & Nyasaland (Malawi)) & whereas this unit disappeared when that political mistake ended in 1964, the name did not.

The Selous Scouts were reborn following an interview between Captain Ron Reid Daly, then an officer in the Rhodesian Light Infantry[/FONT] & General Peter Walls, commander of the Rhodesian Army & a former officer in the RLI himself, where had served with the then RSM Ron Reid Daly. (Daly, then 47 years old, was Rhodesian-born & had learned his craft with the British Special Air Service in Malaya in the early 1950's). The general told Daly that the ongoing guerrilla war was not going well. The terrorists, aided by misinformed parties overseas & hostile governments in certain neighbouring countries, were hurting Rhodesia & making its survival less than certain. The general then described the work being done by a few carefully selected Rhodesian soldiers & policemen, operating in what was known as 'pseudo groups', which carried out clandestine operations against the two main terrorist groups, ZANLA & ZIPRA, inside & outside Rhodesia. It was basically a case of fighting fire with fire. These pseudo groups located terrorist units, infiltrated them & then neutralized them. This meant capturing those who surrendered (many of whom later joining the group & helping it locate & infiltrate such groups) or killing them where necessary. The General then revealed that the government wanted to take this project one step further & create a regiment specialising in pseudo operations. What's more, they wanted Captain Daly to form it, train it & command it, which is exactly what he did!

Interesting stuff lads

Excellent post