Available now
South African Parachute Battalions
Rhodesian Special Forces Selous Scouts
Buffalo Battalion / 32 Battalion, South Africa
South African Special Forces Recces

We Conquer from Above: 1 Parachute Battalion - Paul Els
The story of the South African 1 Parachute Battalion (popularly known as "Parabats") from inception in 1960 up to 1991. In 1966, units of 1 Parachute Battalion first participated in operations as part of the South African Border War in South-West Africa (now Namibia). This involvement was eventually to last for more than twenty years. This battalion also participated in South Africa's first major airborne operation in 1978 - 'Operation Reindeer' - the Battle of Cassinga, where they, together with other battalions attacked a large SWAPO base in Angola, successfully capturing it. The book includes training procedures / methods, operational stories, and many other information, such as parades, barracks, and some private stories.
Soft cover , A4 size, 336 pages. Approx. 1000 black/white photos of which most have not been published before.
We Conquer from Above: 1 Parachute Battalion - Paul Els

Special Air Service Rhodesia: The Men Speak - Jonathan Pittaway
The Rhodesian SAS. This title has been lavishly illustrated with many previously unseen photos of operations & personnel and includes personal stories by well known Rhodesian SAS operators, and details gallantry citations. It includes full nominal rolls, Rolls of Honour, chronologies, orbats, tables, medals, badges, uniforms, documents, maps and miliaria. There are numerous black & white & colour illustrations throughout.
Special Air Service Rhodesia: The Men Speak - Jonathan Pittaway

Sunday Bloody Sunday: A Soldier’s War in Northern Ireland, Rhodesia, Mozambique and Iraq - by Jake Harper-Ronald as told to Greg Budd
Jake Harper-Ronald wanted to be a soldier from childhood. In 1966 his ambition was fulfilled when he was conscripted as a National Serviceman into the Royal Rhodesia Regiment. He afterwards moved to the UK and passed selection for the ultra tough Parachute Regiment - the famed Red Berets. Jake was the official photographer for Britain’s elite 1-Parachute Battalion when they deployed in Londonderry to combat an IRA-inspired ‘peace’ march. Shots were fired at the Paras who returned fire and killed 13 marchers - the infamous ‘Bloody Sunday’. He later joined the Rhodesian SAS and then moved to the Selous Scouts, taking part in daring cross-border raids into hostile territory with both units. After the Bush War he joined the Counter-Intelligence Division of Zimbabwe’s CIO and covertly spied for South African, US and British intelligence. He left the ZCIO to took up a British MI6 offer to run anti-Renamo Militias in Mozambique for them. He afterwards served two tours with a private military company in Iraq.
Sunday Bloody Sunday: A Soldier’s War in Northern Ireland, Rhodesia, Mozambique and Iraq - by Jake Harper-Ronald as told to Greg Budd

Shadows in an African Twilight - Kevin Thomas
Game Ranger, Special Force Soldier, Professional Hunter and Personal Security Officer -This is a collection of fascinating stories about a life of adventure spread across nearly four decades in Africa and culminating in Iraq. Many of the stories are not for the squeamish and tell of the aberrant behaviour of man-eating lions and killer crocodiles, stories of courageous Rhodesian game rangers who while fighting to preserve the wildlife of a beautiful country were also fighting against brutal terrorist forces. The author relates some of his experiences as a pseudo counter-terrorist operator in the elite Selous Scouts during the Rhodesian War and covers many of his experiences as a professional hunter in the exciting world of African safari. Having also served in the previous South African era "black homeland" of Ciskei he offers an often humorous insight into life during the wayward period. This exciting book of high adventure ends with a discerning look into what it is like to work in war-torn Iraq in the specialized field of Security Escort Teams.
Shadows in an African Twilight - Kevin Thomas

Gallic Thunderbolt: The story of René Leclézio and Lonrho Sugar - compliled by Jerry Gosnell
Lonrho Sugar Corporation, one of Africa's most successful sugar companies, was the creation of one man, René Leclézio, Lonrho's "Gallic Thunderbolt". From its beginning in Malawi in 1965 he made it an international force in the sugar world by the time he retired in 1994. Lonrho Sugar was that rarest of animals, a multinational operating exclusively in Africa which always made profits; survived floods, droughts and coups and established a reputation for long term commitment to the communities in which it worked. This book is not a biography of an individual, nor is it a history of a company. It is a collection of reminiscences written by the people who were close to René and the story of the group he created, told by the men and women who were there.
Gallic Thunderbolt: The story of René Leclézio and Lonrho Sugar - compliled by Jerry Gosnell

From Rhodesia To Mugabe's Zimbabwe: Chronicles of a Game Ranger - Nick Tredger
This exciting book relates how after serving two years national service in the Rhodesian Army the author, Nick Tredger, joined the Department of National Parks and Wildlife as a cadet ranger in 1978 - starting with a posting to the remote Chizarira National Park on the shores of Lake Kariba. He takes the reader through the last days of Rhodesia with Wankie National Park and thence the first four years of Robert Mugabe's disastrous rule of an independent Zimbabwe with postings in Zambezi Valley and Mana Pools.
From Rhodesia To Mugabe's Zimbabwe: Chronicles of a Game Ranger - Nick Tredger

Border-Line Insanity: A National Serviceman’s Story - Tim Ramsden
Tim Ramsden served his time as a National Serviceman in the South African Defence Force’s elite Mechanised Battalions and tells his story from his tough training days to the SADF’s final confrontation with Cuban armoured forces during the last days of the border war before a peace deal with Angola and Cuba was finalised in New York in December 1988. The book includes the journey's of three of the author’s National Service comrades who were captured and imprisoned in Mozambique. The author also details his trip to the Namibian/Angolan border several years later to visit people who are no longer his enemies.
Border-Line Insanity: A National Serviceman’s Story - Tim Ramsden

We Fear Naught but God: The story of the SA Special Forces "The Recces" - Paul Els
The story of the elite South African Special Forces ("the Recces") from inception in the 1960s to disbandment in 1993. A unique account of one of South Africa's premier units, masters in the art of reconnaissance and clandestine warfare. Pro-rata, the most highly decorated unit during the wars in Angola and Namibia / SWA. This is no gung-ho account, but rather a loving compiled series of accounts put together by the author who was there from the inception of this fine regiment. This is about the "operators", the men of the Recces, their exploits in Angola, SWA/Namibia and other southern africa territories. The original and hard-to-get, much sought after publication has been reworked with additional information, updates, corrections plus many new photographs.
We Fear Naught but God: The story of the SA Special Forces "The Recces" - Paul Els

Counter-Strike from the Sky: The Rhodesian All-Arms Fire Force in the War in the Bush 1974–1980 - JRT Wood
'Fireforce' as a military concept dates from 1974 when the Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) acquired the French MG151 20mm cannons. Coupled with this, the traditional counter-insurgency tactics of follow-ups, tracking and ambushing in the Rhodesian Bush War simply weren't producing satisfactory results. Visionary RhAF and Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) officers thus expanded on the idea of a 'vertical envelopment' of the enemy, with the 20mm cannon being the principle weapon of attack, mounted in an Alouette III K-Car ('Killer car') helicopter, flown by the air force commander, with the army commander on board directing his ground troops deployed from troop-carrying gunship G-Cars as well as being parachuted from DC-3 Dakotas. In support would be small ground-attack aircraft and on call would be Canberra bombers, Hawker Hunter and Vampire jets. A definitive work on this unique concept of total airborne envelopment of a guerrilla enemy.
Counter-Strike from the Sky: The Rhodesian All-Arms Fire Force in the War in the Bush 1974–1980 - JRT Wood

West of the Moon: A Game Ranger at War - Ron Selley
An autobiography - a sweeping canvas that evokes a bygone era of the 1940s’ colonial Natal through to the cruel intensity of the guerrilla ‘Bush War’ that ravaged Rhodesia in the 1970s. In two distinct parts - the author's earlier years - an idyllic childhood spent roaming and hunting among the empty, rolling hills of northern Zululand; of the inaccessible St Lucia waterway; of building railway bridges into the wild interior, ..... to the sweaty cantinas and backstreets of Lourenço Marques - of a time that slipped away …The 2nd part recounts the author's move north across the Limpopo where his love of adventure, hunting and the bushveld lead him to Rhodesia. He becomes a game ranger, dealing with 'problem animals' in the farming areas and the escalating terrorist war in the Gona re Zhou National Park in the beleaguered south-eastern Lowveld of the country.
West of the Moon: A Game Ranger at War - Ron Selley

19 with a Bullet: A South African Paratrooper in Angola - Granger Korff
A fast-moving, action-packed account of Granger Korff’s two years’ service during 1980/81 with 1 Parachute Battalion at the height of the South African ‘bush war’ in South West Africa (Namibia) and Angola. Apart from the ‘standard’ counter-insurgency activities of Fireforce operations, ambushing and patrols, to contact and destroy SWAPO guerrillas, he was involved in several massive South African Defence Force (SADF) conventional cross-border operations, such as Protea, Daisy and Carnation, into Angola to take on FAPLA (Angolan MPLA troops) and their Cuban and Soviet allies.
19 with a Bullet: A South African Paratrooper in Angola - Granger Korff

Innocent Victims: Rescuing the Stranded Animals of Zimbabwe's Farm Invasions - Catherine Buckle
Innocent Victims is the story of how Meryl Harrison rescued thousands of animals caught up in five years of the Zimbabwean land invasions, as farmers and families were forced from their homes to make way for Mugabe's 'war veterans'. Many had to leave their animals behind, and it was Meryl's mission on behalf of the under-funded ZNSPCA, to go into these destroyed farmsteads to rescue countless domestic animals and wounded livestock. All of the stories in the book are first hand accounts taken from Meryl's personal diaries. Some of the rescues are gruesome and heartbreaking but others tell of great courage, ingenuity and joyous reunions. Meryl's mission was not about people or human rights but about animals and their welfare and there was no room for race, politics or prejudice.
Innocent Victims: Rescuing the Stranded Animals of Zimbabwe's Farm Invasions - Catherine Buckle

Carry On Regardless: An Officer's Story - Lt Col Kevin Mulligan
The Personal Memoirs of a Citizen Force Officer in the Rand Light Infantry.
This book gives a remarkable glimpse into the career of a dedicated senior officer of South Africa's Citizen Force. Kevin Mulligan became, at age of 31, the youngest colonel ever to have been appointed in the Rand Light Infantry Regiment. He commanded the RLI Regiment throughout the difficult years of the bush war in South West Africa / Angola.This is his story….
Carry On Regardless: An Officer's Story - Lt Col Kevin Mulligan

My Mothers Kitchen was a Baobab: The Story of a Rhodesian Family - Ben Bezuidenhout
Not exactly a new book - already in its 3rd printing, 8000 copies sold. An autobiographical romance. Ben Bezuidenhout expresses with affection and deep love, the natural and human environment in which he grew up .... a narrative of courage and struggle, its ambience one of man's interaction with people and nature. Living in Southern Rhodesia, Ben's family found themselves functioning as pioneers ... farms needed development, roads had to be built, water systems established, medical facilities made available, education offered to as many as possible and the essential infrastructure of a modern state provided for all. This adventure works itself through the anecdotal reminiscence of memory. It is laced with humour, acute observation and entertaining appreciation of characters whose work-ethic became second nature.
My Mothers Kitchen was a Baobab: The Story of a Rhodesian Family - Ben Bezuidenhout

A Brick and a Tickey High - Ben Bezuidenhout
The overwhelming success of My Mother's Kitchen was a Baobab, prompted A Brick and a Tickey High. The stories centre around the author's grandfather in the land across the Limpopo River. This is another autobiographical romance and the stories are all factual, with the book going back in time to a wilder and freer age. The campfire was the traditional meeting place in the evenings after a day's work. Many were the occasions the author, then a lad “a brick and a tickey high,” would sit with the old man round the fire and listen to these stories. Through the ensuing years there was this desire by the author to record these events of a time and an age that now no longer exists..…
A Brick and a Tickey High - Ben Bezuidenhout

Really Inside BOSS: A Tale of South Africa's late Intelligence Service - PC Swanepoel
Petrus Cornelius "Piet" Swanepoel, a full time member with 32 years service, describes the origins of South Africa's National Intelligence services, the mystery surrounding the financing of the first attempts to launch an armed struggle against the National Party government, the controversial accounts of the Smit murders and the assassination of Dr Verwoerd, the role played by the CIA in the battle against apartheid and numerous other subjects. This book was initially written to counter and clarify some the things that James Sanders wrote in his 2006 book - Apartheid's Friends - The Rise and Fall of South Africa's Secret Service, Sanders appeared to have copiously made use of another book that had been written some 25 years earlier - Inside Boss.
Really Inside BOSS: A Tale of South Africa's late Intelligence Service - PC Swanepoel

Soldier Blue - Paul Williams
Sometimes you can't choose your own battles. Paul Williams' superbly written memoir of coming of age in Rhodesia explores his experiences as a young conscript caught up in the bush war of the late 1970s. This is a compelling, touching and often humorous account of growing up in Rhodesia and the absurdity of fighting in a loosing war. The ugliness of the conflict, the trauma of transformation, the agonies of conscience of the writer, the beauty of the landscape: all are captured here in brilliant detail. Threading through the narrative is the story of Williams' obsessive infatuation with the enigmatic, sharp-tongued Bianca Pennefather, who leads him on a painful emotional and spiritual journey. Looming over this fragile world is the grotesque experience of the battlefield, where young soldiers like Paul Williams inexorably shed their illusions and lost their youth.
Soldier Blue - Paul Williams

Long Range Desert Group: Rhodesia - Jonathan Pittaway
"Not by strength, by guile". This long awaited updated and revised 2nd Edition of the original 'LRDG Rhodesia: Rhodesians in the Long Range Desert Group - J Pittaway & C Fourie' traces the history of Rhodesians in the special forces LRDG patrols during the 2nd World War from their unit's formation in 1940 to disbandment in 1945. It follows their exploits in the Western Desert, the Agean (including Leros), Middle East & Balkan theatres. Lavishly illustrated with many previously unseen photos of operations & personnel, including such well known leaders as Ralph Bagnold, David Stirling & Le Clerc. It includes organisation, training and operations, and contains the most comprehensive account of the Rhodesian Patrols of the LRDG - as written by men who were actually there.
Long Range Desert Group: Rhodesia - Jonathan Pittaway

Once Upon a White Man: A Memoir of War and Peace in Africa - Graham Atkins
A riveting memoir by Graham Atkins, this is a true account of an ordinary "white man" born into Africa and living through extraordinary times. The author's carefree lifestyle is replaced by the perils of face-to-face combat when he becomes entangled in the frontline of Rhodesia's vicious 1970's bush war. Wounded, he is airlifted to safety just as a deal is struck that will end white rule in Rhodesia and give birth to Zimbabwe. However, the new nation struggles to embrace democracy and before long Robert Mugabe is dragging the place back into chaos. With his homeland again in flames, Graham now races desperately to save his family from ruin. This book provides a clear summary of Zimbabwe's history and intriguing insights into the dilemma faced by white Africans trapped between political extremes. An easy yet gripping read, it confirms that politics and violence are never far beneath the surface in Africa.
Once Upon a White Man: A Memoir of War and Peace in Africa - Graham Atkins

Bound for Africa: Cold War Fight along the Zambezi - Douglass H. Hubbard, Jr
This is the story of the author's introduction to Africa at a time when much of the continent was in the grips of Cold War skirmishes between the free world and the communist forces of China and the Soviet Union. Frayed from three years of service during the Vietnam War, american Hubbard traveled to Africa intending to become a rural policeman in a quiet area of what was then Rhodesia. The counterinsurgency war flared soon after, a conflict that bore many of the same characteristics of the country he had just left. Hubbard describes his assimilation into the police force and into Rhodesian society, and he recounts the challenges and satisfaction of leading and training young Africans. This is a very personal story of the frustrations he faced and of the attitudes and spirit of the nation's racially mixed security force.
Bound for Africa: Cold War Fight along the Zambezi - Douglass H. Hubbard, Jr

To the Bush and Back: A Story about the last phase of the South African Border War as experienced by a junior officer of 32 Battalion - Nico van der Walt
Originally published in Afrikaans as 'Bos Toe!'. There was a time when the world was still embroiled in the Cold War and when the communist threat was a reality for many South Africans. That was a time when the phrase "going-to-the-bush" had a meaning of its own and when many a South African conscript was obliged to do his "tour" on the Namibian border. This book tells the story about the bush; the war as well as the people. It gives a personal account about a young man who reported for military service with the South African Defence Force in the late 1980's and takes the reader on a tour de force from Basic and Officers Training, all the way to the bush of Namibia and Angola during the last battles of the Border War - including the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. It also details the rigorous training; life in the Caprivi, as well as the constant operational deployments. Lastly, the book describes the events directly after the war and relates the history of a legendary unit and its people at the time.
To the Bush and Back: A Story about the last phase of the South African Border War as experienced by a junior officer of 32 Battalion - Nico van der Walt

Buffalo Battalion: South Africa's 32 Battalion - Louis Bothma
"...In this book we are not the heroes and the enemy the villains; but also not vice versa. After all was said and done, 32 Battalion was not a beaten force that capitulated to the enemy at the conclusion of a war. It was a unit that was disbanded by the supreme high commander of the country's armed forces - the political head of state, F.W. de Klerk . .....". It is the true story of white and black soldiers - South Africans, South-Westers (Namibians), Angolans, Australians, Britons, Rhodesians and others - who, through a combination of circumstances, landed up in the same battalion where they had to fight secretly for South Africa in a "terrorist war" beyond the country's borders. Written by a former 32 Battalion Platoon Commander, the book deals with more than just shooting. It is about who the men were, how they came to be together, what they learned from each other, and what happened in the bush; their fears and expectations, their tears and happiness, their camaraderie and loyalty towards one other.Originally published in Afrikaans in 2006, reprinted 6 times (10,000 copies sold), this book has now been up-dated, corrected, and reproduced as a English edition
Buffalo Battalion: South Africa's 32 Battalion - Louis Bothma

Tatenda: Reminiscences of the Zimbabwe Bush - Anne Moore
The author served a life time career as a National Parks Warden in various National Parks spanning the time when the country was known as Rhodesia through to Zimbabwe. She has presented a series of interesting short stories reminiscencing her experiences in the wild bush. The book also includes colour photographs of places, people and wildlife. Contributions from the sale of this book will go towards 'Tatenda', the orphaned Black Rhino, in Imire.
Tatenda: Reminiscences of the Zimbabwe Bush - Anne Moore

How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs: And then Abandoned its Nuclear Weapons Program - Al J Venter
This is a definitive account of how a maverick government was able to secretly develop and test atom bombs. South Africa - then still dominated by Pretoria's apartheid-orientated regime achieved that objective within six years - or roughly half the time it took Pakistan to test its first nuclear weapon. More salient, it did so with only a fraction of the number of scientists, technicians and specialists involved in other nuclear programs, such as those of India, Pakistan and North Korea: there were never more than a half-dozen nuclear physicists involved in the actual weaponization of the South African bombs.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs: And then Abandoned its Nuclear Weapons Program - Al J Venter

Corporal K-9 - Peet Coetzee
Peet Coetzee, author of Special Forces 'Jam Stealer' served in the South African Defence Force Dog School between 1968 - 74. He was an instructor of this Infantry Unit and this book is a recollection of his time during that period, as well as some of the experiences of his colleagues/students operating on border patrols / reconnaissance in other countries against the SWAP0.
Corporal K-9 - Peet Coetzee

Operation Miracle - Prop Geldenhuys
Operation Miracle, one of the last major operations during the final stages of the Rhodesian bush war took place in Mozambique has a fascinating story. From an Air Force perspective, the book is a sincere tribute to three bold airmen, who were killed in action on 3 October 1979. They lie in unmarked graves, only God knows where. Two soldiers were killed on Day 1 of Operation Miracle - their bodies were repatriated and given decent burials. The aircrew - Hunter pilot Brian Gordon, and Canberra crew Kevin Peinke and JJ Strydom (SAAF navigator on secondment) were killed on Day 5, after most of the ground troops had withdrawn from the battle field. Two months later, the ceasefire was declared, followed four months later with a change of Government. This new government was not interested in recovering the aircrew (bodies) who had paid the supreme sacrifice in the defense of their country. Also, nobody knew exactly where the two planes had crashed ...…
Operation Miracle - Prop Geldenhuys

From Fledgling to Eagle: The South African Air Force in the Border War - Brigadier-General Dick Lord
The crucible of combat over 23 years forged the fledgling South African Air Force into a formidable strike weapon, capable of defeating the best Soviet air defences of the time. The book chronicles the evolution of the SAAF in the `Border War' that raged in Angola and South West Africa (Namibia), covering all the major South African Defence Force operations between 1966 to 1989 . Dick Lord, who writes in a `from the cockpit' style, has drawn on his own first-hand operational reports and diaries, incorporating anecdotes from dozens of aviators from a wide variety of squadrons - Buccaneers, Canberras, Mirages, Bosboks, C-160s and130s and helicopters. He also expands on the close relationship the SAAF had with the ground troops in a variety of operations- such units as the Parabats, Recces and Koevoet.
From Fledgling to Eagle: The South African Air Force in the Border War - Brigadier-General Dick Lord

Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force - Brig-Gen Dick Lord
This book is an outstanding compilation of stories and experiences of South African Airforce Mirage pilots who operated in the Angolan and the SWA/Namibian bush wars. The author, an British Fleet Air Arm pilot who had served on most of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers and an USAAF ex-Top Gun instructor for several years, was at one time the CO of 1 Squadron (Mirages), the SAAF. A thrilling account told "from the cockpit".
Vlamgat: The Story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force - Brig-Gen Dick Lord

Parabat - Matthew Paul
The highly sought after scarce book has now been reprinted! This book offers the reader a personalised history of the adventures of those men in the South African Defence Force who used to be known as the Parabats. Their experiences are recorded in three historical ‘war epochs’ - the border wars in Southern Africa, the township wars, and finally, the military intervention in Lesotho. In the course of countless interviews with the author, these men relate their experiences in their own words. Though every effort has been made to verify the details provided in various accounts, this does not pretend to be an official history.
Parabat - Matthew Paul

Manzovo: Place of the Elephants - Gary Albyn with Craig Bone
An exquisite coffe-table fomat 107-verse poem depicting the life of a herd of elephants as they journey from Mana Pools on the banks of the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe to the Kruger National Park in South Africa. The essence of the verses has been expertly captured in 200 new original paintings and illustrations by internationally renowned artist Craig Bone. Included with the book is a 30-minute audio CD read by South African actor John Whiteley.
Manzovo: Place of the Elephants - Gary Albyn with Craig Bone

A Greater Share of Honour: The Memoirs of a Recce Officer - Jack Greef
A highly sought after scarce book now updated and reprinted !
As a young Staff Sergeant in South Africa's special forces 'The Recces', Jack Greeff became one of the most decorated soldiers in the SADF. Leading two-man reconnaissance patrols deep into enemy held territories and operating under the noses of the enemy, they collected vital strategic information on enemy movements and installations. Using the information gathered, he led raiding parties to the targets to execute what were probably the biggest and most daring acts of sabotage in recent military history.
A Greater Share of Honour: The Memoirs of a Recce Officer - Jack Greef

Eagle Strike - Colonel Jan Breytenbach
This is not only an autobiography but also a comprehensive journal (640 pages) of one of the greatest airborne assaults ever mounted in Africa - on a SWAPO fortified base containing its Military Headquarters, logistical support, reserves and training facilities. Colonel Jan Breytenbach planned, jumped in and led South African paratroopers into the Battle of Cassinga in Angola with total commitment, superb strategy and leadership ability that has made him legendary in military circles worldwide. The assault was supported by a very strong airstrike by bombers and fighters as well as by air transport to drop the paratroopers into battle 250 kms deep behind enemy lines, and thus, of a necessity, the deployment of a veritable swarm of helicopters to extract the paratroopers back to safety. This work is destined to become a reference work by which future airborne operations will be measured by.
Eagle Strike - Colonel Jan Breytenbach

Ongulumbashe: Where the Bushwar began - Paul Els
This eyewitness account is a must for the serious collector and researcher of the revolutionary wars in Southern Africa. This book describes the first clash that took place between elements of the South African police, army and air force on the one side and Swapo's PLAN soldiers on the other side. The book also describes how members of the Security Branch of the SA Police infiltrated the area as employees of PASCO, ostensibly a private company. All this action leads to the arrest and conviction of several terrorists. This humble operation "Blouwildebeest" leads to a bitter and sophisticated war in South Western Africa including Angola.
Ongulumbashe: Where the Bushwar began - Paul Els

Special Forces "Jam Stealer" - Peet Coetzee
Peet served in the South African Defence Force (SADF) for 33 years, commencing with border duties in 1968 till SADF ended its role in Namibia in 1994. Read about this first ever to be told intelligence support role that he filled, earning him a place to serve with South Africa's elite special forces - The Recces. Discover the role that Photo Interpreters played in SADF Operations such as Savannah, Sceptic, Askari, Kropduif (Eheke) and Reindeer (Cassinga). In one way or other, he had insight in the majority of the cross border operations that SADF conducted in those days. The highlight of his military career was his serving 12 years in the Intelligence Support group for the Recces. His specialised Photo Interpretation service was specifically directed in aiding the Small Team Operators. (STO's is covered in two South African Special Forces books - "A Greater Share of Honour" & "A Journey without Boundaries" - both available on this website)
Special Forces "Jam Stealer" - Peet Coetzee

Tango Romeo: The life and times of Jack Malloch - Alan Brough
This biography is a true life action adventure story of incredible human achievement set against the backdrop of Africa's bloody and turbulent past - a past which has been largely forgotten by the rest of the world. Jack Malloch was a pioneering aviator who ran numerous clandestine airlines in Africa in the early post-independent years where he was involved in gun-running against the encroachment of Communism. He actively fought against the UN, yet was in the pay of both the CIA and the French secret Service. He is most well known as the arch Rhodesian sanctions buster who almost single-handedly kept Rhodesia alive through a steady supply of consumer goods, arms and ammunition throughout the years of Rhodesia's UDI.
Tango Romeo: The life and times of Jack Malloch - Alan Brough

Ops Medic: A National Serviceman’s Border War - Steven Webb
This book takes you from South African army's National Service basics in the SAMS Depot Potchefstroom to training as an ops medic in Pretoria and from there to the Angolan-South West African border where a counter-insurgency war had been raging for many years. Published for the first time is the SADF’s Roll of Honour which lists almost 2,500 of its honoured dead, killed on active service, and the complete Roll of the SADF’s Honoris Crux awards for bravery.
Ops Medic: A National Serviceman’s Border War - Steven Webb

Chopper Pilot - Monster Wilkins
The personal experiences and exploits of Monster Wilkins, who was regarded as the South African Air Force’s top helicopter pilot, with over 6,000 hours, of which he has spent in excess of 4,000 hours on his favourite chopper the Alouette III. He details his service in the various operational areas, such as Angola, SWA/Namibia, Rhodesia and Mozambique. He was still serving as a brigadier-general at time of the original publication in 2000.
The original and hard-to-get much sought after publication has been reprinted - available now!
Chopper Pilot - Monster Wilkins

We Fear Naught but God - Paul Els
The story of the elite South African Special Forces ("the Recces") from inception in the 1960s to disbandment in 1993. A unique account of one of South Africa's premier units, masters in the art of reconnaissance and clandestine warfare. Pro-rata, the most highly decorated unit during the wars in Angola and Namibia / SWA. This is no gung-ho account, but rather a loving compiled series of accounts put together by the author who was there at the inception of this fine regiment. This is about the "operators", the men of the Recces, their exploits in Angola, SWA/Namibia and other southern africa territories.
The original and hard-to-get much sought after publication is being completely reworked with more information, updates, corrections and new photographs.
We Fear Naught but God - Paul Els

Blood Sweat and Lions - David Lemon
By the author of Never Quite a Soldier: A Rhodesian Policeman's War. Adventure, pain, fear - and moments of pure magic: these are the ingredients of David Lemon's latest story about Africa. Overweight, unfit and by his own admission far too old, he set out to walk 1200 kilometres (end 2006) through the wild Zambezi Valley, from Kariba Heights to Binga, ignoring dire warnings about the dangers of such a venture. Exciting, poignant and fast paced, his story will bring hope and encouragement to anyone with adventure in their soul. Lemon has few equals when it comes to writing about life in the African bush, already having several books to his credit.
Blood Sweat and Lions - David Lemon

Wildside, Wildside 2: The Best Medicine, Wildside 3: The Best of Rose Rigden, Wildside 4: Golf on the Wildside - Rose Ridgen
Rose Rigden's The Natural Selection Wildside cartoon books is an extraordinary collection of the humorous wildlife art that has had people from around the world doubled over in laughter. Rose's extraordinary knowledge of the bush is coupled with a gentle perception of real human behaviour. She puts the two together to create situations which are amusing to readers of all nationalities and all ages - she shows her wry sense of humour in the transposed relations between 'animals and us'! Much of our time is spent in pursuit of happiness and being the peculiar human form of life that we are, our natures take us along some strange paths and tracks in the jungles of this world. Just like a 'tug of war', our emotions pull us in different directions . We want to look and be 'smart'. Holding our own and yet rising above the 'herd' from time to time. Having a cause or opinion sharpens our appetites, although this can sometime lead to other consequences. As hunters for the truth or design for our lives we nearly always become victims of fad, fashion or trends. Watch out, there is a bit of you in here somewhere ......... Absolutely brilliant ...
Wildside books - Rose Ridgen

Half a Century in Uniform: The Life story of Group Captain OD Penton OLM AFC - Rob 'Ralpapajan' Thurman
The life story of a journeyman pilot who spent his entire working life connected to aviation and the Air Force. Group Captain Ossie Penton helped establish the Rhodesian Air Force and epitomised its spirit and excellence.<BR> "I commend this story to the reader, not only as the fascinating one of the career of a Service Pilot, but also because it gives a very clear picture of the chronicle of events and politics pertaining to the period of time that it covered." Air Commodore Dickie Bradshaw OLM
Half a Century in Uniform: The Life story of Group Captain OD Penton OLM AFC - Rob 'Ralpapajan' Thurman

I Flew for Savimbi - Simon Van Garderen
In this entertaining autobiographical account, veteran South African pilot Simon Van Garderen recalls his days as a bush pilot during the 1980s and 90s, flying the length and breadth of sub-Saharan Africa on secret missions for a clandestine air transport company dubbed 'Savimbi Air' by its employees. A former South African Air Force SAAF jet fighter pilot, Simon had retired from military flying when he secured a job with Pasload Flights - a supposedly civilian air transport company operating from Wonderboom airport in Pretoria, South Africa. It was, in reality, a covert operation of the South African government of the day, set up to secretly assist the UNITA terrorists in Angola, led by Dr Jonas Savimbi, who were waging a protracted civil war against the Communist-backed MPLA.
I Flew for Savimbi - Simon Van Garderen

The Kevin Woods Story: In the Shadow of Mugabe’s Gallows - Kevin Woods
Kevin worked as a double agent for the South African apartheid government and Robert Mugabe’s Central Intelligence Organization in the 80s. He was incarcerated in the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison (Harare) for 20 years, five of which were spent naked on death row. His release was pleaded to Mugabe by none other than Nelson Mandela in the 90s but this fell on deaf ears. Finally, a year ago he received a presidential pardon. Kevin now lives in South Africa and has launched a well-received career in motivational speaking. This is his story.
The Kevin Woods Story: In the Shadow of Mugabe’s Gallows - Kevin Woods


Masodja - Alexandre Binda
The History of the Rhodesian African Rifles and its forerunner the Rhodesia Native Regiment. Commissioned and compiled by Brigadier David Heppenstall and the Rhodesian African Rifles Regimental Association (UK).
Originally formed as The Rhodesia Native Regiment during World War I, this fine regiment first saw action in East Africa, pitted against the wily von Lettow-Vorbeck and his army of German askaris. Disbanded and later re-formed, the regiment was to distinguish itself during World War II in the North Africa and Burma campaigns. Using the counter-insurgency experience gleaned from the Malayan Campaign of the 1950s, the RAR provided the front-line troops in the battle for Rhodesia in the country's bitter bush war of the 1960s and 1970s.
NB - Same author / publisher / format as the earlier magnificent book 'The Saints: The Rhodesian Light Infantry'
Masodja: The History of the Rhodesian African Rifles and its forerunner the Rhodesia Native Regiment - Alexandre Binda

The Saints: The Rhodesian Light Infantry - Alexandre Binda
Compiled and edited by Chris Cocks, bestselling author of Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry.
This is the history of the Rhodesian Light Infantry - arguably one of the most effective counter-insurgency units of all time. This was the unit that brought the 'Fireforce' concept to the world's attention - the devastatingly ruthless airborne envelopment and annihilation of a guerrilla enemy. The RLI was a veritable 'foreign legion' with over 20 diverse nationalities serving in her ranks. This magnificent 544 page, full-colour, coffee-table format book captures this fine regiment with the inclusion of comprehensive listings, written contributions, and over 1,500 previously unpublished photos, illustrations and maps. It is not intended as a definitive history but, with more of a classic 'scrapbook' feel, the presentation attempts to capture the essence of this fine unit - what it was like to be a troopie. *** HIGHLY RECOMMENED ***
The Saints: The Rhodesian Light Infantry - Alexandre Binda

Executive Outcomes: Against all Odds - Eeben Barlow
Eeben Barlow, a former lieutenant-colonel in the Permanent Force of the South African Defence Force, served in the Engineer Corp, the Reconnaissance Wing of the elite 32-Battalion, Military Intelligence and in the shadowy Civil Co-operation Bureau division of Special Forces. When the government arbitrarily disbanded the CCB, Barlow found himself on the street. Taking advantage of his exceptional military skills he formed Executive Outcomes, a private security company - a model on which all Private Military Companies (PMCs) operating in Iraq and Afghanistan are based on.
Executive Outcomes: Against all Odds - Eeben Barlow

The Bush War in Rhodesia: The Extraordinary Combat Memoir of a Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist - Dennis Croukamp
(Originally titled as 'Only My Friends Call Me "Crouks": Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist')
This is a soldier's story told simply, with feeling, humour and without heroics. It also gives a fascinating insight into the personality of the author, who relates his personal experiences in a down-to-earth, no bull style of storytelling. In his career as a soldier for 16 years, Dennis at first served in the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), but later served as member of the elite Selous Scouts under the command of Lieutanant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly. He became an reconnaissance specialist and saw action on all border areas of Rhodesia and also in Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana. The author tells it as it was, unvarnished, seen from the ground-level, no effort to safeguard careers. . .
The Bush War in Rhodesia / Only My Friends Call Me "Crouks" - Dennis Croukamp

Fireforce - Chris Cocks
Widely acclaimed as the classic account of counter-insurgency warfare in Africa, as told by the combat soldier "on the ground". The gut-wrenching account of brutal face-to-face combat in the Rhodesian bush (now Zimbabwe) is not for the squeamish. This is the compelling, brutally honest account of Chris Cocks' service in 3 Commando, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, during the Rhodesian bush war. Fireforce, a method of combat developed by the Rhodesians and perfected by the RLI, involved troops being helicoptered or parachuted into an area immediately after a guerrilla presence had been reported or a sighting made. Due to the enormous shortage of ground troops, the same men were sometimes parachuted into contacts as many as three times per day.
Book Reviews
http://www.bushveld.net/store3/x316.html

Of Land And Spirit - Alan Thrush
This novel is set during the five years of Rhodesian bush war leading up to the birth of Zimbabwe. Although fictional, it was written by an officer in the Rhodesian African Rifles who saw service in all operational areas and was decorated for gallantry.
The result is that there is much authenticity in it. Both sides involved in the bush war are catered for.
Book reviews
Extracts from book
http://www.bushveld.net/store3/x283.html

They served Africa with Wings - WGM Stirling & JA House
About 17 years ago the authors, Mitch Stirling and John House started collecting photographs and stories about aviation in the old days in Central Africa - Northern Rhodesia / Zambia; Southern Rhodesia / Zimbabwe and Nyasaland / Malawi. The result is ‘They Served Africa with Wings’, an excellent well produced book - a must for ex-pat aviation enthusiasts. The title is a play on the words ‘We serve Africa with Wings’ which was the motto of Central African Airways. The end result is a excellent evocative and well researched & illustrated 277 page +/- 'A4' sized publication, dedicated to all those fine men and women who served, so well, the cause of aviation between 1920 and 1980. An excellent must-have hardback history of aviation in Central Africa.
They Served Africa with Wings

Lost in Africa - Stu Taylor
‘Lost in Africa’ is a colloquialism from the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), meaning ‘a state of bewilderment or cluelessness’, which Stu Taylor uses to describe his disjointed life.
Raised in Southern Rhodesia to nomadic parents, Taylor’s early years were unsettled as he was shuffled from school to school during the 1950s. He signed on in 1967 with the RLI and served with that crack airborne unit for thirteen years. In 1980 he demobbed and slid into Civvy Street, at times an easy, and at times, a difficult transition, as he tried to find his place in the newly independent Zimbabwe. Again, in the late 1990s, he found himself on the ‘front line’—this time in the security business, desperately facing off against Mugabe’s ‘war veterans’ in their notorious land-grab campaign of farm invasions. Ultimately homeless, stateless and jobless, Taylor never gives up. This is his remarkable story.
http://www.bushveld.net/store3/x297.html


The Last Safari: A Season of Discovery in Zimbabwe - Bruce VanBuskirk
This is the true story of an American hunter, Bruce VanBuskirk, who spent the 2001 season living a dream, working on safari in Zimbabwe. Full of fascinating characters, adventure and excitement, it also deals truthfully with the hard lessons learned about the future of hunting in Africa. This is a day by day description of the events, places and people who make the safari industry work in Zimbabwe. You'll travel the bush with the author, getting to know the professional hunters and clients, company employees, local villagers, and learn just how much work it takes to run a safari operation in a third world country. Fuel shortages, poaching, war vets seizing property, broken rifles, snakes, charging elephants, and wounded buffalo were all in a day's work. This is a rare look at the behind the scenes efforts to make a client's dreams come true. This deluxe paperback features non stop action, observations on the current political situation in Zimbabwe, as well as the stories of citizens forced to deal with the realities of life in Africa.
http://www.bushveld.net/store3/x297.html


The Covert War: Koevoet Operations in Namibia: 1979-1989 - Peter Stiff
The 3rd book in Peter Stiff's Trilogy on South African Warfare. The mostly untold story of Koevoet, the South African Police's highly successful counterinsurgency unit, initially based on the Selous Scouts of Rhodesia, formed in 1979 and deployed in Namibia until independence in 1989 when it was disbanded as a sop to the UN. During its almost ten year existence it fought in 1 615 contacts and killed or captured 3 225 of SWAPO's PLAN soldiers - the equivalent of almost six battalions of troops. But it paid a high price in blood and lost almost 160 policemen killed in action with another 949 wounded - more grievous casualties than any other South African fighting unit since World War II. More