Salisbury Woolworths bombing
- Salisbury, Rhodesia
- (today Harare, Zimbabwe)
Shortly before 12:00 (Central Africa Time)
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- t
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- Oberholzer murder
- Sinoia
- Pagoda
- Yodel
- Nickel
- Cauldron
- Flotilla
- Griffin
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- Panga
Second Phase (1972–1979)
- Altena Farm
- Whistlefield Farm
- St Alberts School
- Overload
- Victoria Falls
- Long John
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- Ignition
- Hill 31
- Aztec
- Woolworths bombing
- Odzanu Junction Farm
- Dingo
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- Vumba massacre
- Flight 825
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Related incidents
- Nhari Rebellion
- Cashel Helicopter Crash
- Beira Patrol
On 6 August 1977, during the Rhodesian Bush War, a Woolworths store in Salisbury, Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe) was bombed by nationalist Terrorists.[1][2][3] Eleven civilians were killed and 76 were injured. Of those killed, eight were black Rhodesians, including two pregnant women and a young boy, and three were whites, members of a single family, Gillian and Donald Mayor and their mother. Mr Mayor and another daughter, Wendy, were seated in a car outside when the bomb went off.[4]
The bomb, comprising about 75 pounds (34 kg) of high explosives, was planted in an area where customers checked packages in before shopping on the upper floor of the two-storey building. It detonated shortly before the crowded store was to close at noon that Saturday.[5] The perpetrators, two teachers, afterwards escaped to Mozambique.[6]
Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Prime Minister, expressed horror at the bombing. "Those who have perpetrated this barbarous outrage can hardly be described as human," he said.[5] Rhodesian black nationalist leaders Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole also condemned the attack.[4]
References
- ^ a b Abbott & Botham 1986, p. 12.
- ^ a b Chung 2006, p. 238.
- ^ a b Cilliers 1984, p. 43.
- ^ a b The Bryan Times newspaper report on the attack, 8 August 1977 accessed 7 September 2014
- ^ a b Lakeland Ledger newspaper report on the attack, 7 August 1977 accessed 7 September 2014
- ^ Moorcraft & McLaughlin 2008, p. 81.
- Bibliography
- Abbott, Peter; Botham, Philip (1986). Modern African Wars: Rhodesia, 1965–80. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85045-728-5.
- Chung, Fay (2006). Re-Living the Second Chimurenga: Memories from Zimbabwe's Liberation Struggle. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute. ISBN 978-9171065513.
- Cilliers, Jakkie (1984). Counter-Insurgency in Rhodesia. London, Sydney & Dover, New Hampshire: Croom Helm. ISBN 978-0-7099-3412-7.
- Moorcraft, Paul L; McLaughlin, Peter (2008) [1982]. The Rhodesian War: A Military History. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-694-8.
External links
- Newsreport on attack on YouTube