On 6 August 1977, during 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 forc ...

, a

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shop ...

store in Salisbury,

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

(today Harare, Zimbabwe) was bombed by nationalist guerillas. 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.''The Bryan Times'' newspaper report on the attack, 8 August 1977
accessed 7 September 2014 The bomb, comprising about 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.''Lakeland Ledger'' newspaper report on the attack, 7 August 1977
accessed 7 September 2014 The perpetrators, two teachers, afterwards escaped to Mozambique. 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. Rhodesian black nationalist leaders Bishop

Abel Muzorewa Abel Tendekayi Muzorewa (14 April 1925 – 8 April 2010), also commonly referred to as Bishop Muzorewa, was a Zimbabwean bishop and politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from the Internal Settlement to ...

and the Reverend

Ndabaningi Sithole Ndabaningi Sithole (21 July 1920 – 12 December 2000) founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963.Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan, Ewing, and Winifred Crum. ''Cas ...

also condemned the attack.

References

;Bibliography * * * * {{refend

External links

Newsreport on attack
on YouTube Explosions in 1977 1977 in Rhodesia History of Rhodesia Mass murder in 1977 Rhodesian Bush War Terrorism in Rhodesia Massacres in Rhodesia Communist terrorism August 1977 events in Africa 20th century in Harare Improvised explosive device bombings in Africa Terrorist incidents in Zimbabwe Terrorist incidents in Africa in 1977