Colonial Cop

This book was written in order to record some of my experiences whilst serving in the Rhodesian police force in the years running up to independence in 1980. I was in my early twenties when I first arrived in the southern African colony shortly after UDI. From day one I loved the place. During the ensuing years I met a huge variety of individuals, black and white, many of whom were characters of note and with whom I shared good times and bad. But it is the camaraderie and humour which are uppermost in my memory. Rhodesia truly was a land of milk and honey until the pleasant way of life was rent asunder in the 1970s by a brutal insurgency backed and financed by the major communist powers of the day. This resulted in much strife and horrific bloodshed which we strove to contain but world opinion was not in our favour and eventually the so-called “rebellion” was brought to an end at a pantomime in London. My hope is that the lighter moments of these reminisces bring a smile to the wrinkled features of old friends and colleagues.