As a rural patrol officer in the Ndola district of Northern Rhodesia, Inspector Tom Savage was responsible for a vast area encompassing tribal trust lands, small holdings, farms near the Copperbelt towns, and the railway line extending as far south as Lusaka. With the railway’s main north-south route being crucial, maintaining tight security for the trains was imperative.At the close of the school holidays, a train scheduled to transport hundreds of children back to their schools in Rhodesia and South Africa became a prime target for sabotage. To enhance track security, Rhodesian Railways introduced a small motorized rail trolley. Tom’s team was assigned to inaugurate this unit and conduct thorough checks along the railway line. Their mission was to travel about fifteen minutes ahead of the main locomotive, ready to address any issues they might encounter.Meanwhile, the militant group Mpepo kwa Nkondo (Winds of War) had identified the train’s vulnerability at a remote bridge over the deep Kafulafuta River. With a high embankment at this location, they plotted a derailment. The activists were well-prepared, equipped with tools for track sabotage: a socket and crossbar assembly to loosen the coach screws, spanners for the fishplate bolts, a hammer, and rail tongs. Their plan was chilling – derail the train at the embankment’s peak, sending it plummeting into the crocodile and hippo-infested depths of the river below.
