PAUL ASKEW reports on how one family, caught in the middle of political upheaval and violence, survived.

There cant be many Merton residents who have lived through the political upheaval in Zimbabwe, the recklessness of the so-called war veterans, and an escape from their adopted country, following threats of rape and violence.

But this happened to 72-year-old Tom Burns (not his real name) and his family, who fled their 20-acre farm in Shamva 100km from Harare earlier this year, after a gang accosted them in their car as they returned home.

One of my workers came up to me with blood streaming down his head, saying theyre here, explained Tom.

A group of war veterans had approached the ex-serviceman and his family, telling them to pack their belongings and leave.

They said we know you served in the Rhodesian Light Infantry and if you dont get off this land we are going to rape your wife and daughters and do you bodily harm, he said.

We immediately, overnight, packed up and went to stay with friends in Harare, until we could get sufficient money to return to the UK.

Leaving their two children with friends in the capital, Tom and his Zimbabwean wife Gwanda flew back to England a country he had left 40 years earlier and by chance heard about a local branch of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airman and Families Association Forces Help (SSAFA) charity, which together with the Wimbledon Guild, helped the Burns to find a flat.

Tom grew up in Woodford, Essex, where his father, a sergeant major in the Royal Horse Artillery, used to take him to see the changing of the guard, sparking his interest in an army career.

Joining the army when he was 17, he quickly saw action in the Middle East, fighting the terrorist Stern gang in Palestine in 1947.

The experience was invaluable when he stayed on after national service and was posted to Africa to serve in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, on anti-terrorist operations for two years, and later in the Q or Quartermaster Stream.

After retiring from the forces in 1986, six years after Zimbabwes independence, Tom eventually turned to farming, buying a piece of land and building up a smallholding.

Ive always had green fingers, he explains. I started ordering fruit trees and got a good orchard going. I grew maize, beans, peanuts and made all my own wine. We were totally self-sufficient.

Four years of hard work, however, were crushed overnight when the war veterans under a mandate from President Robert Mugabe ransacked the farm.

It was soul destroying because it took all my savings. To see it all go down to lose it all was horrific.

The war veterans are a disaster for Zimbabwe. Mugabe has ruined the countrys economy. The farms have suffered but the Africans have suffered very badly. Horrific acts of violence have been committed against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Nobody can say they support the MDC because, if you do, youre persecuted.

The cost of living, including income tax and food costs, has now increased, with essential commodities, such as soap and cooking oil, shooting up in price.

Tom, however, agrees that some form of non-violent land reform is necessary.

The Africans were given the poorest land and were put into areas known as tribal trust lands.

The soil in those areas is very low grade and they dont grow very good crops and live hand to mouth.

The land reform must be done in such a way that the country is still going to have the same crops with people given advice on how to grow them.

Tom and Gwanda have now settled into their new life in cold, damp England and are hoping their children will soon be able to come over to join them here.

Tom added: If things calm down I will go back for a holiday, but I wont go back to live, only to see my African and European friends again.