19 With A Bullet - A South African paratrooper in Angola by Granger Korff $50 (s/b) 

A fast-moving, very readable action-packed account of Granger Korff's two years of service during 1980/81 with 1 Parachute Battalion at the height of the South African 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. 

Having grown up as an East Rand rebel street-fighter, Korff's military 'career' is marred with controversy.  He is always in trouble-going AWOL on the eve of battle in order to get to the front; facing a court martial for beating up, and reducing to tears, a sergeant-major in front of the troops; fist-fighting with Drug Squad agents; arrested at gunpoint after the gruelling seven-week, 700km Recce selection endurance march are but some of the colourful anecdotes that lace this account of service in the SADF.

Granger Korff was born in 1960 grew up in the mining town of Benoni. In 1985 he travelled to the USA on a four-month boxing/vacation walkabout where he haunted the mean streets of Los Angeles, scrapping and boxing to survive.  Ike Turner and Mickey Rourke were his drinking buddies and he almost became Jake LaMotta's ('The Raging Bull') son-in-law.  Twenty-four years later, Granger still lives in LA, where he runs a small plumbing business.

New Title! Blue and Old Gold – History of the British South Africa Police 1889 – 1980 by Peter Gibbs, Hugh Phillips and Nick Russell. Price $125 (h/b)

This book weight a fraction under 2kg and is absolute value for money - an excellent record of the British South Africa Police.

The BSAP held the honour of occupying the Right of the Line-one of the greatest police forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth In 1889 Cecil John Rhodes was granted a royal charter by Queen Victoria to settle Mashonaland, in what was to become Southern Rhodesia.  So was formed the British South Africa Company; its regiment of troopers raised to protect the occupying Pioneer Column dubbed the British South Africa Police, the BSAP.  From the 1893 Matabele War, the 1896 Mashona Rebellion and the Jameson Raid, the Anglo-Boer War, through both world wars and finally to the bitter Rhodesian bush war of the 1960s and '70s, troopers and officers of this fine regiment of policemen, both black and white, were proudly to the fore, in civilian and military roles … until the disbandment of the Force in
1980 when the country became the independent Zimbabwe.

• Over 1,000 previously unpublished photographs.
• First book of this magnitude to be released that focuses on this fine force.
• A unique feature of this volume is that its three parts were written by serving members whose knowledge is thorough, detailed and lacking any political or other bias.

Peter Gibbs was born in London in 1903, educated at Aldenham, and lived in Bulawayo since 1936.  A number of his books have been published in London and New York.  He served in the BSA Police Reserve for 21 years, retiring with the rank of reserve superintendent.  He was awarded the MBE in 1964.

Hugh Phillips was born in the UK and immigrated to Southern Rhodesia in 1951 to join the BSAP.  He attained the rank of assistant commissioner prior to his retirement after nearly 30 years' service.  Prior to returning to the UK in 2002, he was involved, without success, in liaison activities between the Commercial Farmers Union and Zimbabwean government in efforts to bring a more pragmatic outlook and policy towards the white farm invasions.
Hugh wrote Part 3 of this history, covering the period from 1939 to 1980.

Nick Russell joined the BSAP as a cadet in 1975 and served at Sinoia and Kariba before attending Morris Depot where he formed part of the mounted squad for the opening of parliament.  After graduation he was posted to uniform-branch duties at Mount Darwin and substations in the district.  He transferred to Special Branch and spent two years, mostly in the Mt Darwin area, until the cessation of hostilities.  He now lives in Australia.

Counter Strike from the Sky - The Rhodesian All-Arms Fireforce in the War in the Bush 1974–1980 by J.R.T.  Wood with Chris Cocks.  $75.00 (h/b)

Fireforce as a Rhodesian military concept dates to 1974 and has been adopted around the world by Special Forces and Airborne/Airmobile units.  This visionary concept of vertical envelopment of the enemy hinged around the 20mm cannon mounted in an Alouette III K-Car (‘Killer Car’), with the army commander on board directing his ground troops deployed from G-Cars (Alouette III troop-carrying gunships) and parachuted from DC-3 Dakotas.  In support would be a propeller-driven ground-attack aircraft; on call would be Canberra bombers, Hawker Hunter and Vampire jets.  Included in the book is a detailed account of Operation Dingo and the 1977 raids on the ZANLA bases of Chimoio and Tembué in Mozambique.  Dingo is regarded as a Fireforce operation “writ large”.

Accompanying the book is an excellent 90 minute DVD, including interviews with:
Dr JRT Wood (author and historian)
Lieutenant-Colonel Brian Robinson OLM, MLM (OC C Squadron, SAS)
Major Grahame Wilson GCV, SCR, BCR (C Squadron, SAS and Rhodesia's most highly decorated soldier)
Major Nigel Henson MLM (OC Support Commando, 1 RLI)
Captain Peter Stanton (Special Branch and Selous Scouts)
Lieutenant Alan Thrush BCR (A Company, 2 RAR)
Sergeant Gordon ‘Beaver’ Shaw (Rhodesian Air Force)
Sergeant George Dempster (MA2 Medic, 1 RLI)
Chris Cocks (3 Commando, 1 RLI)

Delta Scout - Ground Coverage Operator by Anthony Trethowan $50 (s/b)

The story of a British South Africa policeman (BSAP) in Rhodesia’s Bush War, a young man who signed up as a raw eighteen year old.  Told with a sensitivity and pathos that is rare in military memoirs, it is a brutally honest, compelling account of innocence lost.  After Uniform Branch, the author became a Ground Coverage operator (GC) before joining Special Branch (SB) towards the end of the war.

Echoes of an African War by Chas Lotter $100.00 (h/b)

A coffee table hard cover book of 197 pages of full size and mostly colour illustrations.  In a war where cameras were forbidden amongst the soldiers, few personal records were made.  However some of these pictures will bring back memories, stark and real.  Chas, a soldier himself, has cemented these illustrations with his own style of poetry - raw and poignant.  A "must buy" for any family that had connections with Rhodesia.  Preserve history and let your children be able to say with pride - "my dad was there".

Only 1 left! How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - and Then Abandoned it's Nuclear Weapons Program by Al J Venter $60 (s/b)

How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs is the 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.

That objective was achieved 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.

The same analogy holds for the medium range intercontinental missile program that South Africa launched with strong Israeli help.  Before it was abruptly terminated by Washington, Pretoria managed to launch at least one of its RSA-3 missiles into the South Indian Ocean: it landed within a few hundred metres of its designated target.  With Israeli involvement – this cooperation that dated back to the early 1970s - there was a plan in the works for a satellite launch (illustration page 118).

Al Venter argues that if a small country like South Africa could achieve so much – while using only the limited human resources drawn from its five or six million whites - then it is axiomatic that other countries – or radical political groups - will ultimately be able to do the same.  Al-Qaeda has already signalled its intention in a series of web-based nuclear weapons lectures, with examples of this trend (pages 12 and 13).

It is also significant that Dr Mohammed AlBaradei, head of Vienna ’ s International Atomic Energy Agency, said in
2007 that it was of grave concern that there were currently more than 30 countries involved in nuclear matters, quite a few of them clandestinely.

238 pages, 85 illustrations, sketches, diagrams, photos, cutaways etc

Very hard to get now - only copy left! Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of Rhodesia 1965-80 by Peter G Locke & Peter D F Cooke $180 (s/b)

2nd hand. Slight sign of use on outer cover, binding very good overall condition very good. This is now a rare and out of print book.

It is a unique well researched book covering armour protected vehicles, firearms, anti-ambush weapons and mines made by very inovative people under extreeme financial and resource pressure during the Rhodesian Bush War.

Size - A4, 152 pages, numerous black/white photos, diagrams, maps, appendices

Fireforce - One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry by Chris Cocks $50.00 (s/b)

This is the 4th edition and has additional photos. 

Fireforce is a soldier's story which has helped many of a generation of Rhodesians come to terms with themselves and their anger.  They who fought for what they believed in and saw their friends die, only to have their country taken given away by western world politicians keen to apease the tyranical black African states to the north.  This book has a new generation of readers - those engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Fireforce is the compelling, brutal but true account of Chris Cocks' service in 3 Commando, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, during Rhodesia's civil war of the '70s -a war that came to be known almost innocuously as 'The Bush War'.  'Fireforce', a tactic of total airborne envelopment, was developed and perfected by the RLI, together with the Rhodesian African Rifles, the Selous Scouts and the Rhodesian Air Force.  Fireforce became the principal strike weapon of the beleaguered Rhodesian forces in their struggle against the overwhelming tide of the Communist-trained and equipped ZANLA and ZIPRA terrorists.  The combat strain on a fighting soldier was almost unbelievable, for the Rhodesians, who were always desperately short of ground troops, were sometimes obliged to parachute the same men into action as many as three times a day.  While estimates of enemy casualties vary, there seems little doubt that the RLI accounted for at least 12,000 ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas, but not without cost.  Fireforce is not for the squeamish.  Although it has been written with unforgettable pathos and humour, it tells of face-to-face combat in the bush and death at point-blank range.  It is a book which does nothing to glorify or glamorize war, for as Chris Cocks found at such a young age, war is merely a catalogue of suffering, destruction and death.  Fireforce has been described by critics as being to the Rhodesian War what All Quiet On The Western Front was to World War I and Dispatches was to Vietnam. 

Read it for an experience you never forget.

From Fledgling To Eagle by Brig-Gen Dick Lord with forward by Col Jan Breytenbach $60.00 Hardcover + dust jacket: 234 x 153mm448pp

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.

From Fledgling to Eagle chronicles the evolution of the SAAF in the ‘Border War’ that raged in Angola and South West Africa (Namibia) from 1966 to 1989, covering all the major South African Defence Force (SADF) operations from Omgulumbashe to the ‘April Fool’s Day war’ in 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, C160s, C130s 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.

However, Lord studies the broader ramifications of the conflict in that it was not a simple black–white war.  Angola was really just a sideshow for the Soviets who wanted to bleed the SAAF in a war of attrition before attempting total domination of South Africa—their ultimate goal.  He is unafraid to admit SADF mistakes, of Operations Hooper and Packer he says: “Lines of communications were too long to ably support the battle, which is why we did not clear them off the east bank of the Cuito River and why they captured the three Oliphant tanks which was their only propaganda victory.” Although he gives credit to the enemy when they put up a stiff fight, he clearly outlines the overwhelming South African successes and dispels, in accurate detail, all enemy claims by giving an accurate account of each battle. He says: “I agree with General Geldenhuys that we thrashed them severely on the Lomba in ’85 and ’87 … much recent publicity has also been given to the so-called victory of the Forces of Liberation [SWAPO, MPLA, and 50,000 Cubans and Soviets] over the SADF at Cuito Cuanavale in 1988.  Nothing could be further from the truth — it is blatant propaganda.

This book also contains quite a bit on Rhodesia including some information on the "Green Leader" raid that I have never seen before.

Book review at http://www.saairforce.co.za/reviews/38/from-fledgling-to-eagle

Kenya Coyboy - A police officer's account of the MauMau Emergency by Peter Hewitt $50 (s/b)

A stylish, first-hand account of Britain’s futile struggle to retain its stake in East Africa in the face of the relentless Mau Mau uprising.  It is a book that is filled with revelations, many damning.  Due to the recent unrest in Kenya, Peter Hewitt has brought the book full circle with an updated afterword on the current violent and political crisis.

Lost in Africa by Stu Taylor $30.00 (s/b)

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. The parallels are clear as Taylors life in many ways mirrors the white Diaspora of central-southern Africa, particularly from Zimbabwe, and the subsequent fallout they have endured after the demise of colonialism and rise of brutal tyranny.

Born in South Africa and raised in Southern Rhodesia to nomadic parents, Taylors early years were unsettled as he was shuffled from school to school during the 1950s. Describing himself as marginally above "really thick", he signed on in 1967 with the RLI and served with that crack airborne unit for thirteen years, always at the forefront of hostilities during the bitter Rhodesian bush war.

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 Mugabes 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.

Masodja by Alexandre Binda and Brig. David Heppenstall (Includes the award-winning BBC documentary DVD Frontline Rhodesia) $145.00

Formed in 1916 as The Rhodesia Native Regiment, its Shona and Ndebele troops were blooded with honour in the East African campaign, pitted against the wily General von Lettow-Vorbeck and his German askaris.  Disbanded in
1919, the regiment was re-formed in 1940 during World War II as The Rhodesian African Rifles, seeing action in Egypt and Burma.  In the 1950s, the regiment distinguished itself further during the Malayan Emergency.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the regiment was at the forefront of hostilities in the bloody Rhodesian ‘bush war’.  In the specialist Fireforce role, heli- and para-borne, the soldiers of the RAR were to earn themselves a fearsome reputation as counter-insurgency fighters par excellence. Ironically, it was after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, that the RAR’s finest hour came, when, fighting for their erstwhile enemy, Robert Mugabe, the soldiers of the RAR defeated Joshua Nkomo’s invading ZIPRA armies at the battles of Entumbane in Bulawayo. The sadness and tragedy of it all was how the warriors of the RAR faded, almost unnoticed, into history … Ndichakutengera sweet banana. 

Contents include:
The formation of the Rhodesia Native Regiment RNR operations in East Africa during WWI Armistice and the disbandment of the RNR The formation of the RAR The RAR in the Burma campaign The RAR in the Malayan Emergency The Nyasaland Emergency The RAR in the Rhodesian bush war

Out of Action - Sequel top the best selling Fireforce by Chris Cocks $50 (h/b)

It is an intensely personal journey of the story of a young man, brutalized by war, who seeks escape and in the process causes immeasurable pain and suffering to himself and to those around him. (Originally published as Survival Course, this is a hard-cover, reworked version, with new photos, maps etc.)

New title! Pathfinder Company 44 Parachute Brigade-'The Philistines' by Graham Gillmore $50 (s/b)

160 pages, 200 colour, b/w photos, maps

Jan Breytenbach writes in the foreword: "On Ascension Day, 1978, a composite South African parachute battalion jumped onto the tactical HQ of SWAPO's PLAN army, based at Cassinga, 250 kilometres north of the Angolan border to destroy the facility, their logistics, and to wipe out a strong concentration of SWAPO guerrillas. The airborne assault, part of Operation Reindeer, was an unqualified success; the whole base was destroyed.  608 PLAN fighters were killed, with many more wounded which pushed the final SWAPO death toll to well over a thousand.  We lost only four paratroopers killed in action plus a dozen or so wounded.  According to airborne experts in Britain and Australia, this was the most audacious parachute assault since the Second World War; the mounting airfield was well over 1,000 nautical miles away.  I was the commander of that airborne assault, which although successful above all expectations, also highlighted many shortcomings, some of which nearly led to a disastrous outcome."

44 Parachute Brigade was formed later that year, with the need for a specialist Pathfinder Company patently clear. Into the ranks came professional veterans from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia and elsewhere, from such Special Forces units as the SAS, Selous Scouts and the RLI.  "This is their book, a collection of stories about the founding and deployment of a unit of 'Foreign Legionnaires', from different parts of the world who became welded together into a remarkable combat unit, unsurpassed by any other South African Defence Force unit in their positive and aggressive approach to battle.  For me it was an honour to have faced incoming lead together with them."

Graham Gillmore enjoys country life in the natural beauty of East Anglia and the Fens but was born a Londoner in 1952.  An innate fascination with history and all things military inevitably led him to joining the Grenadier Guards, and for six months the Guards Depot drilled into him soldiering skills of the highest standard.  Graham left the British Army in 1977 to join the Rhodesian Light Infantry in their war to prevent communist guerrillas overthrowing the country.  After two years as the signals rep to Support Commando, 1RLI, Graham was promoted to Signals Troop Sergeant, but with the fall of Rhodesia to the Marxists in 1980, he moved to South Africa to continue the anti-terrorist fight with the Pathfinder Company, 44 Parachute Brigade.  He returned to England still on crutches after being wounded in Angola and joined the Territorial Army.  After a career in VIP security Graham is now a leading member of the Victorian Military Society for whom he runs The Diehard Company, an internationally renowned re-enactment group.  He advises and writes articles on the British Army on Home Service and on campaign during Queen Victoria's reign.

New title Standby - South African Air Force Search and Rescue by Brig.-Gen. Dick Lord $50 (s/b)

Unsung heroes-the selfless heroism of South Africa's airmen

In the air force no mission receives greater priority than the mission of mercy.  When lives are at stake all resources available are dedicated to the task.  Aircrew, ground crew, paramedics, doctors, mountaineers, navy divers, policemen and trained civilian volunteers are rapidly organized into a rescue team and dispatched with all haste to the disaster scene.  This requires training, preparedness, dedication, determination and courage.  Rescue missions are often flown in weather conditions that would normally ground all aircraft.  Scenarios are as diverse as high-rise fires, mountain, flood and maritime rescues, to white-outs in the snows of Antarctica. 

Originally published in 1999 as Fire, Flood and Ice, this updated edition includes yet more spectacular South African Air Force (SAAF) search and rescue missions, both military and civilian.  Included is the remarkable rescue of all 581 people from the ill-fated liner Oceanos, for which the author was mentioned in dispatches for his role as commander of the rescue operation.  Also new are heart-warming accounts of SAAF rescues during the devastating floods of 2000 in Mozambique, which captured the world's attention.

Out of Stock Currently - The Bush War in Rhodesia - The Extraordinary Combat Memoir of a Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist by Dennis Croukamp $85.00 (s/b)

The Rhodesian Bush War.  It was a ferocious war between the regular and elite units of the Rhodesian Army doing battle against Communist-backed terrorist groups in the valleys, jungles and bush country of Rhodesia, Mozambique and Zambia.  Warrant Officer Dennis Croukamp fought in the conflict from its beginnings in the 1960s to the very end in 1980, and his combat memoir is an extraordinary chronicle of that bitter struggle from inside some of the most highly regarded elite combat units to ever take the field.

The Saints - The Rhodesian Light Infantry by Alex Binda, compiled and edited by Chris Cocks (h/b) $145.00 includes 90 minute DVD containing previously unseen combat footage compiled and produced by Msasa Enterprises

At last!  the history of the Rhodesian Light Infantry.  We’ve seen the stories of the more ‘glamorous’ Selous Scouts, the SAS and the Rhodesian Air Force, but very little about the RLI, often underrated, but 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 terrorist enemy.  Dubbed “The Killing Machine” by Charles D.  Melson, chief historian of the US Marine Corps, the RLI was a veritable ‘foreign legion’ with over 20 diverse nationalities serving in her ranks.

The RLI, a truly international airborne battalion, comprised of over 20 nationalities, fought the bitter Rhodesian 'Bush War’ for 15 years, against the overwhelming tide of communist-trained terrorists.  Kill rates don’t win wars, but during its brief 19-year history, it is estimated that the RLI accounted for between 12,000 and 15,000 enemy terrorists, for the loss of 135 men.  RLI soldiers were recipients of four Silver Crosses and 42 Bronze Crosses of Rhodesia.  An RLI trooper holds the world record for operational parachute descents - a staggering 73 op jumps - most under 500 feet!

A glossy coffee-table, pictorial format with hundreds of colour photos, maps, rolls, honours and awards.  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, one of the ‘ouens’.  We have accessed a host of unique, previously unpublished photos and illustrative material and many former RLI members have embraced the project, generously contributing photos, memorabilia and anecdotes.  Ian Smith has written his tribute in the front and the foreword is by the last CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Aust.

The 1879 Zulu War - Through the Eyes of the Illustrated London News. Compiled by Ron Lock & Peter Quantrill $75.00 (h/b)

The fascination of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 continues unabated.  It was impassioned almost 40 years ago by the film Zulu, starring Stanley Baker and a yet-to-be-discovered Michael Caine.  Zulu has been shown - and continues to be shown - on British television more than any other feature film.  In the USA and elsewhere it has become a cult movie.  Moreover, it created a near-avalanche of books, articles, lectures, documentaries and websites that has come close to being an industry.  But the basis of all this activity was, in fact, generated 120 years ago by the weekly magazines of Victorian England such as the Illustrated London News.

Every Saturday morning, at the cost of sixpence, the Illustrated London News presented to its readers descriptions of events and bloody battles, brought alive by the magnificent illustrations drawn by the top war artists of the day.

Although copies of the original magazines are much sought after and have become collectors' items, the compilers have painstakingly acquired every issue pertaining to the conflict and, having extracted every report and illustration on the subject, have produced, with an index, and in chronological order, a unique record of the Anglo-Zulu War, albeit through the eyes of a colonial Victorian age.

Vlamgat - The story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force by Brig.-Gen. Dick Lord $50 (s/b)

Vlamgat, literally meaning 'flaming hole' in Afrikaans, was the nickname the South African Air Force (SAAF) gave to the Mirage F1, its formidable frontline jet fighter during South Africa's long Border Wars in South West Africa (Namibia) and Angola from the late 1960s to the late 1980s.

Battling Soviet MiG-21s and -23s over African skies, the 'Vlammies' as the Mirage pilots were affectionately known, acquitted themselves with distinction and honour.

Vlamgat - The story of the Mirage F1 in the South African Air Force is a gripping account of these pilots and their deeds of bravery; their experiences are authentically related with accuracy, humour and pathos by the author, himself a Vlammie.

As Willem Hechter, former Chief of the SAAF, says: "Vlamgat deserves a place of pride in the long history of this, the second oldest air force in the world."

War Dog - Fighting Other People's Wars by Al J Venter $50.00 (h/b)

The modern mercenary in combat - with the horror of 9/11 behind us, a new strategic equation tends to dominate world issues.  These days, when the natives of some wayward African backwater become restless, or a South American warlord fosters insurrection, the big powers are inclined to look the other way.  Thus the possibility of the Pentagon dispatching anything to assist a government in trouble - like the amphibious assault ship USS Saipan that went to Liberia with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in August 1990, or Britain sending HMS Ocean to Sierra Leone to quell insurrection - is unlikely.  Similarly, the way things are Somalia won't get a sideways glance from any Western force.  So another solution must be sought.  Since it was the dogs of war that cleared the bramble patch in the old days, it will probably do so again.

By proposing to license private military companies in early 2002, Britain now follows the American lead of companies like the Vinnell Corporation or Washington's MPRI in giving tacit support to what is regarded, by many military specialists, as the most logical option.  While the concept of hiring freelance military professionals has some powerful detractors, the actions of these freebooters in recent years have shown that they are both efficient and cost effective.

War Dog deals with mercenary activity in a score of wars: Angola, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, the DRC, Ethiopia, Lebanon and others.  As one of a handful of correspondents who saw action with the South African 'guns for hire' group, Executive Outcomes, Al Venter reveals all about this organization as well as what has been going on in the Congo.  While the major powers grapple with more serious international issues, dogs of war might very well be the answer for some of the brush-fire wars that continue to plague the developing world.

West Of The Moon - Early Zululand and a game ranger at war in Rhodesia by Ron Selley $50 (s/b)

From colonial northern Zululand to guerrilla warfare in the Gona re Zhou of Rhodesia - this book covers a vast panorama of southern Africa. It is a sweeping canvas that evokes a bygone era of the 1940s' colonial Natal through to the cruel intensity of the 'Bush War' that ravaged Rhodesia in the 1970s.  The book is in two distinct parts. Part 1 chronicles the author's earlier years of an idyllic childhood spent roaming and hunting among the empty, rolling hills of northern Zululand; of the inaccessible St Lucia waterway; the nostalgia of yellow fever trees; of building railway bridges into the wild interior; of colonial scallywags and native witchcraft; of sugar estates and poaching; of shipwrecks and the sweaty cantinas and backstreets of Lourenço Marques - a time that slipped away.
Part 2 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.  Trying to care for an environment and the animals that depend upon it, while the people around commit barbaric acts in the name of political ideology, brutally awakens the author to the reality of the disintegration of an organized colonial subcontinent.

Ron Selley was born in 1947 and grew up in Zululand.  He became fluent in Zulu, Afrikaans and French.  In 1975, with his thirst for adventure and an overriding love of the bush, he moved to Rhodesia, where he joined the Department of National Parks & Wildlife as a game ranger, operating in the Lomagundi, the Zambezi Valley and the Gona re Zhou during the height of the Rhodesian Bush War.  He returned to South Africa in 1979, hunted professionally for a period and joined KwaZulu Nature Conservation, in charge of the Kosi Lake system and Northern Beach areas.  He now lives Lambert's Bay on the west coast of South Africa, running a variety of businesses-boat-charter, ship painting and cleaning services.  He enjoys black-powder hunting, is an avid collector of World War II trucks and tanks, owns two Rolls Royces, which are in daily use, and is the station commander of National Sea Rescue Station 24A.

Winds of Destruction - The autobiography of a Rhodesian combat pilot. by P.J.H. 'PB' Petter-Bowyer $60.00 (s/b)

Winds of Destruction is a unique account of one man's service in the Rhodesian Air Force, spanning a period of twenty-three years from 1957 to 1980-through the politically turbulent years of Federation; the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (U.D.I.) by Ian Smith's government in 1965 and thirteen years of relentless, uncompromising bush warfare against the never-ending tide of Robert Mugabe's and Joshua Nkomo's ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas.

In a gruelling conflict that permitted no quarter, the Rhodesian Air Force (Rh.A.F.) fast became one of the Rhodesian Defence Force's most lethal and effective counter-insurgency organs. In pre-emptive bombing strikes against enemy camps in Mozambique, Zambia and as far afield as Tanzania; in its integral role as a troop-carrier and airborne strike force in 'fireforce' operations; in working closely with such specialist units as the Selous Scouts, the S.A.S., the R.L.I. and the R.A.R, the Rhodesian Air Force was never far from the action and in no small way responsible for the astonishing military successes against a vastly numerically superior army.

This all in spite of the international sanctions against Rhodesia, which ordinarily would have brought a nation's armed forces to its knees. However, forced by circumstances, the Rh.A.F. was obliged to maximise usage of its aging fleet of fighter-bombers, transports and helicopters and to resort to innovative techniques in terms of tactics and weapons systems, many of which were later adopted by the South African Air Force in its own counter-insurgency operations in Angola and Namibia in the '80s.

Anglo-Boer War

Bombardment of Ladysmith Anticipated - The diary of a Siege by Alan Chalmers $25.00 (s/b)

Fire in the Sky - The destruction of the Orange Free State 1899-1902 by Owen Coetzer $25.00 (s/b)

Over 27,000 Boer women and children died during the Anglo-Boer War.  This is the account of those who died in the concentration camps of the Orange Free State in appalling conditions, of deprivation and starvation.  It is the deeply moving but shockingly brutal story of a fierce, almost forgotten struggle for freedom.

Halt!  Action Front!  - With Colonel Long at Colenso by Darrell Hall $25.00 (s/b)

Darrell Hall tells of the Battle of Colenso, of the bloody battle that left scores of British dead on the field, of how it destroyed several military careers and left the British Army savouring the bitter taste of ignominious defeat.  Yet, with defeat came heroic bravery and at Colenso 7 Victoria Crosses were awarded.  It is also the story of General Louis Botha and his tenacious Boer commandos.

How We Kept the Flag Flying by Donald MacDonald $30.00 (h/b)

This is an exciting account of the siege of Ladysmith and is written with the journalist's eye for history in the making.  The author witnessed the battles, the hand to hand combat, experienced the actual bombardment an travelled with raiding parties.  It was first published a century ago but is still eminently readable and intensely human.

Mafeking - The story of a siege by Malcolm Flower-Smith and Edmond Yorke $25.00 (s/b)

The story of the struggle for Mafeking, of the Boer's determination to regain the town, of the British, under the leadership of Colonel Baden-Powel determination to hold the town.

Humour/Sport

International Rugby Encyclopaedia by Andrew de Klerk $75

544 pages 260mm x 215mm 200 colour & b/w photos Meticulously compiled, this book has been 18 years in the making.  It is the complete international rugby encyclopaedia that presents every single recognized international ever played (since 1871 when Scotland took on England); is well illustrated and structured, featuring stories on the great players to have graced the game, the great matches to have captivated the crowds and the great stadiums to have hosted these internationals, as well as a plethora of rugby trivia.

There is currently no such book on the market and there hasn't been since Chris Rhys published Guinness Rugby - The Records in 1987.

Countries featured:
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Cote d'Ivoire, England, Fiji, France, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, Portugal, Rhodesia, Romania, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Tonga, USA, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Wales.

Only one left! Rhodesian Sports Profiles 1907-1979 with a Supplementary Feature on the Zimbabwe Women's Hockey Team Gold Medalists At the Moscow Olympics 1980 by Glen Byrom and illustrated by Henk Van Rooyen $90 (h/b)

2nd hand. Some discolouration to cover, inscription inside front cover, binding very good, overall condition is very good. Out of print. Originally published in 1980 by Books of Zimbabwe. 256pp

Forward by Sir Roy Welensky KCMG and contributed chapters by Dave McDermott and Brian Streak. Beautifully illustrated. This is a unique record of a small country's, short history of sports men and women who made an impact nationally and internationally; at times against all odds but with a determination and spirit that can only be described as 'Rhodesian'.

Rugby Stories from the Platteland by Graham Jooste $8.00 (s/b)

The heart and spirit of rugby described in Graham's book is still evident today, but the way the game was played-on a Saturday afternoon, on a dusty field, after a long day ploughing, is not.  Somehow all this became overshadowed by the glamour of large clubs and competitions, fuelled by modern technology and communication.
In this book Graham tells the stories, some dating back 100 years, of those recently arrived for work in a strange town on the platteland who, to be accepted by the community, had to play rugby.  From labourers and mechanics to clerks and farmers, these are their stories and each one is unique.  From the Northern Cape and Luderitz, down the west coast, into the Eastern Cape and through the Free State and Mpumalanga, Graham has recorded stories, as told to him, that will have you in stitches.

Graham's style of writing is reminiscent of campfire (or perhaps braais and boerewors) storytelling, the humour lying in all the deviations and asides the story makes along the way.

Wildlife

Manzovo - Place of the Elephants by Gary Albyn and Craig Bone (h/b) $80.00

This is a hardcover book of 300mm x 220mm with 191 pages containing an exquisite 107 verse poem.  The book is lavishly illustrated throughout and includes a 30 minute audio CD of the poem read by acclaimed South African actor John Whiteley.

Nestled like a rare jewel in the inhospitable but alluring Zambezi Valley, Mana Pools, provides the early setting for this episodic story.  The story portrays the epic travels of a herd of elephants through Mana Pools, Kariba, Victoria Falls and ultimately southward to the Kruger National Park at a time in our past when elephants were able to range with relative ease across the timeless plains of Africa.  Both subtle and compelling, the story weaves in the arcane rhythm that pounds like a tribal drum deep in Africas chest.

Gary Albyn was born in the old Rhodesia in 1960 and grew up in Umtali on the eastern border with Mozambique. The International Library of Poets has honoured some of Garys previous poems, one of which was recently featured in a published anthology, Forever Spoken.

Craig Bone was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia in 1955, where he grew up.  He joined the Rhodesian Light Infantry in 1977.  He was critically wounded in Frelimo mortar attack while on operations in Mozambique and it was only because of some desperate flying from the casualty-evacuation helicopter pilot that saved his life.  While recuperating he started painting, initially military-themed works, and in a short time he was to be recognized as an artist of some repute.  With his passion for wildlife, and the Zambezi Valley, he was to become an internationally acclaimed artist with his paintings being sold worldwide.  A painting of his was recently auctioned on behalf of the Vietnam Veterans Association and fetched US$106,000 It now hangs in the Pentagon. www.craigbone.com

Children's

Only 1 left - The Secret of St Augustines by Owen Coetzer $5 (s/b)

This is for the 10 - 13 year old reader and is about Nicholas, a young boy and son of a Kimberley diamond mine manager, who hears strange voices in a deserted mine.  He and his friends decide to investigate.  The book takes the reader through some wild and wonderful adventures cumulating in the tunnels beneath the Big Hole and the startling revelation of the real Secret of St Augustines.  Wonderfully illustrated with photos and drawings.

What on Earth Activity Series (in English or Afrikaans) by Jane Theron and Di Goodwin $3.95 per book (s/b)

A series of five books (only 2 illustrated above) aimed at the 10 - 13 year old covering birds; fish; reptiles and frogs; large mammals and small mammals.  These books follow principles of the South African Department of Education's Outcomes Based Education policy and are available in English or Afrikaans.  They are designed to make learning fun and play a roll in enhancing creativity, motor co-ordination, the identification of colours, shapes and textures as well as increasing general knowledge.  If you want your kids to have a wider knowledge than they would ordinarily gain and at the same time instil "a bit of Africa" in them then these quality activity books are for you.

Combat Shooting and Tactics

Currently out of stock - taking orders - The Ultimate Sniper - An Advanced Training Manual For Military And Police Snipers by Major John L Plaster, USAR (Ret.) $120 (s/b)

This is the updated and expanded Edition by Major John L Plaster, USAR (Ret.)

Please note that these reviews have been compiled by Hugh & Diana Bomford and are not necessarily the views expressed by the publishers and authors.  Many of these books are now out of print and stock will not last for ever
so be quick.

Contact us:- PO Box 13003, Tauranga 3141, New Zealand.
Ph +64 7 576 9500 Fax + 64 7 576 9501 e-mail: hbomford@clear.net.nz

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