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Following the shooting down on September 3, 1978 of Air Rhodesia Viscount 'Hunyani' shortly after take off from Kariba by ZIPRA troops, and the subsequent killing of most of the survivors (although some initial news reports - later condemned by the government as false and malicious - were to claim that some of the survivors had also been raped) the Rhodesian government felt compelled to act, in part to garner support for Smith and his party among whites in Rhodesia, but also to widen international awareness of the war. Later that year Rhodesian Security Forces conducted deep penetrations raids into Zambia, attacking several ZPIRA bases and killing a vast number of the enemy.

The novel is based on those strikes.