Selous Scouts from the African State of Rhodesia

Here is a member of the Selous Scouts, a group of special military forces active in the former African state of Rhodesia from 1973-1980. During the Rhodesian Bush War of decolonisation, the Selous Scouts represented the minority white government which struggled to keep power as the black majority fought for an independent state. The Selous Scouts were tough but outnumbered, and turned to weapons of desparation as their losses accrued. As a result, one of the largest mass poisonings in history occurred.

Although chemical and biological weapons had been decried by the global international community, the Selous Scouts, working with the British South Africa Police Special Branch, used cheap and widely available toxins and smuggled them into enemy clothes, medicines, and food products. Thallium, which disrupts cell processes, was injected into canned beef, tinned jams, and the corks of wine bottles. Color- and odorless, thallium’s symptoms include joint pain, feet sensitivity, and facial paralysis until the heart and lungs of those poisoned give out.

Scholar Glenn Cross estimates that between 1,500-2,500 people died through thallium and other poisons in this conflict. The efforts of the Selous Scouts failed, however, and the Rhodesian government toppled.