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Today I have uploaded 9 more documents to the library/archive and have another 25 that I am working on compiling and preparing for upload. This is always a mammoth task and one that I find interesting as I get to see items that I have not encountered before and read pieces of history that would not normally cross my desk. I as always appeal to you to help support this venture in preserving our history in one of three ways:

1. Please scan documents you might have in your possession and send us the pdfs to rhodesiansworldwide@gmail.com

or

2. If you no longer want the documents please send them to us at Rhodesians Worldwide, P.O. Box 22034, Mesa, AZ 85277-2034, USA so we can scan them and add them to the library.

or

3. Support us financially as this work is all done for no compensation but bills have to be paid for the website hosting and as the library/archive increases in size so do the costs. We also need a new scanner as we are having issues with the one we have used for four years - approx US$250, and we need a new drive to store the original files on in case of a catastrophic loss - approx US$100.

Welcome to a new week everyone. We are continuing to build our online library/archive with interesting items of historical value. We have just uploaded a small trove of documents from Nigel Innes in Canada one of which is attached to this blog entry. It remains a historically hot end to summer here on the coast of Baja California, Mexico with day time temperatures in the high 90 degree Fahrenheit range and little relief in sight so on sweltering days I try to compile more of the multitude of documents we still have to go through. Please consider supporting this effort by registering and by donating so that we can continue to keep the library free and online. All documents in the library are downloadable to registered users, all we ask is that you reference where you obtained the documents from. Have a great week everyone and don't forget to send in your  Christmas messages for the magazine.

It is hard to believe that Christmas 2026 is only a short time away. I will shortly start working on the next Rhodesians Worldwide magazine and traditionally we reserve a page in this magazine for Christmas/holiday greetings. Our deadline is November 15, 2026 so please think about getting your message to us in good time. Our email is rhodesiansworldwide@gmail.com. Additionally the magazine is a great gift for that Rhodesian in your life who enjoys the stories of the country that we left. The yearly subscription of US$30 via PayPal gets you 4 mailed magazines per year and access to over 160 editions online as well as our growing online library/archive. We offer a simple online access subscription for just US$12 per year. We use PayPal, Zelle and Wise for our payments and we hope that you will consider supporting the magazine that has worked for the past 42 years to keep the spirit of Rhodesia alive.

We have just uploaded another 50 items of historic interest to the Rhodesians Worldwide online library/archive. The access is free, but you do have to create a "registration only" account under the "Members" tab on this website. The scans of the newspapers are not always perfect but they are 60 years old and have been folded and stored for decades. Please think about helping us in this venture in three possible ways:

1. Scan documents that you have in your possession and email them to us at rhodesiansworldwide@gmail.com 

2. If you have documents you no longer want please send them to us at Rhodesians Worldwide, P.O. Box 22034, Mesa, AZ 85277-2034, U.S.A. and we will scan them and add them to the library.

3. Your financial support to continue this important work would be greatly appreciated and you can donate towards it through either PayPal or via a bank transfer. Contact us at rhodesiansworldwide@gmail.com for bank account details or PayPal details.

I am pleased to tell you that the July - September edition (Vol 42 No 1) of the Rhodesians Worldwide magazine is on its way to our wonderful and loyal subscribers. Those of you with online access will be able to read the magazine starting on September 25, 2026. Guess where our cover picture is this time, we have included a teaser portion of the image?

Just uploaded two new copies of Africa Calls from late 1979. Take a look at them and see what Zimbabwe-Rhodesia was all about. We are continuing to build the online archive piece by piece and over the next week we will be adding about twenty more documents. Most of these documents are courtesy of Antoinette Dick (nee Fourie) who kindly provided the originals to us. We have also just compiled four late 1960s copies of Ndege, the magazine of the Rhodesian Air Force and these will be added soon. Please consider supporting this effort either through a donation or by providing us with documents that you have in your possession. All we need are decent scans of the documents and we will do the rest. Please help us to keep the spirit alive.

Today, September 3 is the sad anniversary of the downing of the Air Rhodesia Viscount RH825 "Hunyani" by the terrorists/guerrillas of Joshua Nkomo's ZIPRA with a Russian supplied SAM7 missile on September 3, 1978. Today we remember those who lost their lives in this horrendous event that the world remained silent about and which eventually cost The Rt Rev John Da Costa his job after his "Deafening Silence" speech which can be found on our audio page. We also remember with incredible pride the crew of that doomed civilian airliner who so bravely landed the aircraft under terrible conditions only to hit an unseen irrigation ditch which resulted in the loss of many of the passengers. We remember those survivors who crawled out of the destroyed aircraft many of them only to be gunned down in brutal circumstances by terrorists/guerrillas who came upon them and who had the choice to render aid instead of brutality. Even though this event is 48 years in the past, the pain of this event still runs deeply through the Rhodesian expat community around the world as there was not a family in Rhodesia at the time who did not have a personal connection to the passengers and crew of this civilian aircraft. Time allows us in God's eyes to forgive because judgement on these brutal murderers is in his hands, but we will not forget their inhumanity to men women and children in need of help.There is a memorial to the victims of both civilian aircraft shot down in Rhodesia in the grounds of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria. Scope magazine published an insert to their magazine about this but it may be found to be disturbing: Kariba Slaughter

It has been a busy week for me and the weather here in northern Arizona has not been cooperative for trying to work. It has been over 35oC during the day and we do not have central airconditioning. So progress on scanning and compiling documents has been quite a sweaty task and done in small bites. However I have uploaded all of the remaining documents that we received from Professor Davis's son and they are a fascinating look into Rhodesian agriculture, agriculture in the tribal areas and into the Mazoe area in general (Professor Davis Documents). Take a walk through his research and documents in our online library/archive and marvel at what progress a small country made in less than 80 years. 

Additionally I have scanned 180 more pages of Rhodesian Tourist brochures and documents along with two more Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Calls magazines which I will be compiling and uploading in the next few weeks. Thanks for taking this journey of protecting and sharing Rhodesia's and ultimately Zimbabwe's history. As always your support financially to allow us to continue what we do is appreciated as I am working to get a batch of Assegai magazines brought from Australia to the US for scanning.

Just ended a marathon scanning of N.A.D.A. journals over the past three days. The N.A.D.A. journals were issued yearly by the Native Affairs Department until UDI and then were issued yearly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are an incredible insight into the people of Rhodesia, their tribal customs, stories, languages and are unrivalled in anything I have ever come across from any other colonial country. We only have 13 years posted so far, but each of these annuals contains a plethora of information about Rhodesia and they are indeed a testament to those who worked in the Native Affairs Dept and in Internal Affairs and their commitment to record the lives of the tribal natives of Rhodesia whom they came into daily contact with. I encourage you to dig into them and marvel at what was recorded by these people and consider that nothing since has been recorded by the present Zimbabwe administration.

I have also just uploaded a large amount of material provided to us by Alan Bruce-Brand who was a Rhodesian Basketball player, attorney and the person who opened up opportunities for Zimbabwe to go to the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.

As always we appreciate any financial help to keep this library growing 

Volume 42 No. 1 of the Rhodesians Worldwide magazine is at the printers and is being prepared for upload to our online archive. This is the start of the 42nd year of publication for this iconic magazine that helps to keep the stories and history of a small Central African country alive. Will you help to keep the spirit alive? Contact us for more details.

It’s arrived!

We are so excited to welcome you to our brand-new website. We've upgraded our look, functionality and added fresh new features to provide you with a better, more intuitive experience. Our new site features an updated layout and easier navigation so you can quickly find the resources you need.