On 29 September 1977, Temporary Corporal Phillips and his RLI “Fireforce” stick were called-out to support “A” Company, 1st Battalion, Rhodesian African Rifles. Upon their arrival, they discovered that the company was pinned down by intense enemy fire coming from a cave in granite koppie. One of the platoon commanders, Lieutenant Jeremy Fisher (aged 22) had attempted to charge the cave but was severely wounded as he entered.

Phillips and fellow troopie Clive Dredge quickly recovered Fisher under withering machine-gun fire and managed to get him behind a small ledge 10 meters away from the cave. Without hesitation, team medic Corporal Sandro Mazella arrived and began to treat the wounded officer with bullets smashing around him. Mazella’s actions would earn the Bronze Cross of Rhodesia.

Intense machine gunfire continued to splash around the RLI men as the RAR troopies could not accurately engage their invisible enemy. The cave itself was also too small to effectively attempt clearing with a standard-issue FAL rifle. Phillips grabbed a more compact 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistol, and declared “STUFF THIS!”

He charged into the cave and began to engage the terrorist machine gunners at point-blank range in the pitch-black. Eyewitnesses to the event remarked that Phillips made his semi-automatic handgun sound like an Uzi, as his rounds ricocheted around the cave. After several minutes of close-quarters fighting, Phillips emerged out from the cave. His comrades feared that he had also been severely wounded, and were baffled when he simply requested more ammunition. He went right back in several more times, with RLI and RAR troopies tossing him 9mm magazines.

By the day’s end, he had killed 3 terrorists and forced the rout of the entire enemy force. Fisher was evacuated but eventually succumbed to his wounds. For his extreme gallantry, Phillips was awarded the Silver Cross of Rhodesia. He would also have the distinct honour of being the soldier to unveil the legendary “Troopie” statue as a representative of all RLI men.

He had spent his postwar years quietly raising his family and running a business in South Africa. Russell Phillips SCR passed away in Johannesburg on 16 July 2020 after a sudden heart attack. His memory will live on forever, as one of the most decorated men of Support Commando, Rhodesian Light Infantry.