[2] The statue was sculpted by Captain Michael Blackman of the Rhodesian Light Infantry and based on a photo of Trooper Wayne Hannekom.

At the dinner the day before the unveiling, the RLI's General John Hickman accused the Selous Scouts's Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Reid-Daly of poaching ivory in the Zambezi Valley.

[8][9] Following the changes in political status which resulted in the establishment of Zimbabwe and the end of the Rhodesian Bush War, the statue was smuggled onto a South African Air Force plane, along with the regiment's records under orders of Lt-Colonel Charlie Aust, and flown to South Africa prior to the RLI's disbandment.

[12] Later, the statue was installed in the grounds of Hatfield House in England on the river Lea and was rededicated by Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury on 28 September 2008.

[1] The rededication included a new plaque stating, "In reconciliation and hope for future peace in Zimbabwe" alongside the RLI roll of honour.