Salisbury Woolworths bombing

On 6 August 1977, during the Rhodesian Bush War, a Woolworths store in Salisbury, Rhodesia (today Harare, Zimbabwe) was bombed by nationalist guerillas.[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]

Salisbury Woolworths bombing
Part of the Rhodesian Bush War
Location
Coordinates17°50′9.3″S 31°2′26.8″E
Date6 August 1977
Shortly before 12:00 (Central Africa Time)
Attack type
Bombing
Deaths11
Injured76
PerpetratorsZimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA)[1][2][3]
DefendersBritish South Africa Police (BSAP)

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
  1. Abbott & Botham 1986, p. 12.
  2. Chung 2006, p. 238.
  3. Cilliers 1984, p. 43.
  4. The Bryan Times newspaper report on the attack, 8 August 1977 accessed 7 September 2014
  5. Lakeland Ledger newspaper report on the attack, 7 August 1977 accessed 7 September 2014
  6. 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.
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