Major-General G. A. D. "Andrew" Rawlins was a Rhodesian Army officer. He served in the

Rhodesian African Rifles The Rhodesian African Rifles (RAR) was a regiment of the Rhodesian Army. The ranks of the RAR were recruited from the black African population, although officers were generally from the white population. The regiment was formed in May 1940 in the ...

during the pre-independence years when Rhodesia was part of the British

Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation or CAF, was a colonial federation that consisted of three southern African territories: the Self-governing colony, self-governing British colony of Southe ...

. He remained in the unit following

Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Southern Rhodesia or simply Rhodesia, a British territory in southern Africa that had governed it ...

in 1965. He was a proponent of psychological warfare in the early years of the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

but his proposals were not acted upon. In 1967 he recommended other changes in tactics to the Rhodesian chief of staff, Brigadier Keith Coster. Rawlins retired from the army as a brigadier in 1976 but was brought back to command, as a major general, the newly formed

Guard Force The Guard Force was an arm of the Rhodesian Security Forces. Coming under the Ministry of Defence it was organised on similar lines to, but separate from, the Rhodesian Army. The Guard Force was set up from 1975 (and formally established on 1 Fe ...

. This unit was established to defend the protected villages, where the Rhodesian government had moved black civilians to isolate them from the guerrillas. He left this role in February 1977 to become the Rhodesian Army's director of psychological warfare. Rawlins left the army in 1979 as the Rhodesian Bush War was drawing to a close and ahead of the territory's transition into

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

Early career

Rawlins was major and second-in-command of the

(RAR) in 1960. His commander had wanted the unit to wear ostrich feathers in their bush hats (which had previously been plain) but this had been vetoed by the British Army as they were worn by the 1st (Nyasaland) battalion of the King's African Rifles. Rawlins instead proposed that a hackle of black ox-hair be worn, as the same material had been worn by members of the Matabele chief

Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo (c. 1845 – presumed January 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields", a refere ...

's Mbizo regiment in the 19th century. The site of the Mbizo kraal (headquarters) was close to the RAR's Methuen barracks. Rawlins' suggestion was adopted.

Rhodesian Bush War

Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965, as a white-minority governed state. It was opposed by the

Zimbabwe African National Union The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Muga ...

(ZANU) and

Zimbabwe African People's Union The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) is a Zimbabwean political party. It is a militant organization and political party that campaigned for majority rule in Rhodesia, from its founding in 1961 until 1980. In 1987, it merged with the Zimba ...

(ZAPU) who wanted black majority rule. By 1966 Rawlins was a lieutenant colonel and a staff officer at Rhodesian army headquarters. He recognised the value of

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

in the fight against ZAPU and ZANU and wrote a memorandum on the matter, but no serious psychological campaigns were mounted by the Rhodesian Army until 1978 by which time it proved too late to affect the course of the

. Rawlins had proposed the army use counter-intimidation tactics and traditional witchcraft to influence the opinion of the black population. Because of a lack of expertise on local practices in the army and

British South African Police The British South Africa Police (BSAP) was, for most of its existence, the police force of Rhodesia (renamed Zimbabwe in 1980). It was formed as a paramilitary force of mounted infantrymen in 1889 by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, f ...

he proposed that psychological warfare units be established to be assigned to individual operations. These would have consisted of retired Ministry of Internal Affairs district commissioners and witch doctors who had a knowledge of the rural peoples. Failure to act on Rawlins' proposal led to the loss of advantage to the guerrillas who employed their own witch doctors. By March 1967 Rawlins was a military liaison officer to the diplomatic mission in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, South Africa. In a memorandum addressed to the Rhodesian Army's chief of staff, Brigadier Keith Coster, he recommended swift and offensive action against the guerrillas to prevent them building up strength and proposed the improvement of intelligence, communications and logistics arrangements. He also advocated that the army be equipped with the best possible equipment and receive realistic training. Rawlins wanted to avoid the army being hemmed into defensive positions as the French had been during their defeat in the First Indochina War and the Portuguese were then experiencing during the Angolan War of Independence. Following experience in August-September 1967's

Operation Nickel Operation Nickel or the Wankie Campaign or the Wankie Battles was a military operation launched by the Rhodesian Security Forces on 1 August 1967 in response to the group of ZIPRA and '' Umkhonto we Sizwe'' (MK) fighters crossing the Zambezi Riv ...

Rawlins ordered the School of Infantry to research how tracking skills could be taught to the army. This eventually led to the establishment of a combat tracking school by the

Rhodesian SAS The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a Rhodesian special forces unit. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency (1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–1978) *1 (Rhodes ...

. By June 1976 Rawlins was a brigadier. He retired later that year but was brought back, as a major general, to become the first commander of the newly established

. This was a mixed-race unit formed to defend the protected villages established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to separate the rural population from the ZAPU and ZANU guerrillas. Rawlins was replaced as commander of the Guard Force in February 1977 by Brigadier W. A. Goodwin. Rawlins became the Rhodesian Army's director of psychological warfare, remaining in post until 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlins, Andrew Rhodesian African Rifles personnel Possibly living people Year of birth missing Rhodesian military personnel of the Bush War Rhodesian military leaders