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Dingo Firestorm
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Download or read book Dingo Firestorm written by Ian Pringle and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2012-06-05 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 23 November 1977, an armada of helicopters and aeroplanes took off from Rhodesian airbases and crossed the border into Mozambique. Their objective: to attack the headquarters of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, where thousands of enemy forces were concentrated. Codenamed Operation Dingo, the raid was planned to coincide with a meeting of Robert Mugabe and his war council at the targeted HQ. It would be the biggest conflict of the Rhodesian Bush War. In this fascinating account, Ian Pringle describes the political and military backdrop leading up to the operation, and he tells the story of the battle through the eyes of key personalities who planned, led and participated in it. Using his own experience as a jet and helicopter pilot and skydiver, he recreates the battle in detail, explaining the performance of men and machines in the unfolding drama of events. Dingo Firestorm is a fresh, gripping recreation of a major battle in southern African military history.
Book Synopsis Memories at Low Altitude by : Jacinto Veloso
Download or read book Memories at Low Altitude written by Jacinto Veloso and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A story of war and peace in Mozambique and beyond, Memories at Low Altitude spans four decades of southern African history, from the point of view of one of its main protagonists. Jacinto Veloso fought in the Mozambican liberation struggle and served as a Minister in Samora Machel’s cabinet after independence, when the region was dominated by civil war and the conflict between East and West. Veloso’s story covers many fascinating issues of this period, among them: * the conflict between FRELIMO and the South African–backed RENAMO; * the negotiations that resulted in the Nkomati Accord, in which he was a key participant; * the processes that contributed to the withdrawal of Cuban and South African troops from Angola and the independence of Namibia; * the impact of post-independence Mozambique’s strictly socialist economy and its subsequent shift to a more market-orientated approach; and * the aeroplane crash in which Samora Machel was killed. Velosa’s insights are particularly interesting given his role in the commission of inquiry into the crash.
Book Synopsis Ice Steel and Fire by : Linda Parker
Download or read book Ice Steel and Fire written by Linda Parker and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The generation that reached maturity in the inter war years had grown up in the shadow of the heroic age of Polar exploration and the sacrifices of a generation in the Great War. Their own adventures were to prove as astonishing and heroic as those of a previous generation. The members of the British Arctic air route expedition to Greenland, including Martin Lindsay, Quintin Riley and Freddie Spencer Chapman, were to pioneer the weather research methods necessary for Trans-Atlantic Flight. The university expeditions to Spitsbergen led by George Binney in the 1920s and Sandy Glen in the 1930s traversed and surveyed unexplored ground and contributed to developments in polar flight and radar. Glen's expeditions added to the knowledge of Arctic conditions by over-wintering. Other pre-war exploits of these adventurers included a voyage around the world the wrong way, and participation in the British Graham Land Antarctic expedition. Peter Fleming, brother to the creator of James Bond - Ian Fleming - spent the 1930s exploring Brazil, China and Tartary. Fleming's exploits are recounted in detail in this book. The character, skills and endurance obtained in these years set these adventurers and explorers apart as men who were to play a distinguished and heroic role in the Second World War. Their expertise in Arctic conditions, small boat handling, and exploring in all climatic conditions resulted in their participation in all aspects of warfare and arenas of battle, particularly as exponents of 'special operations', and as key members of Britain's first special forces. Their war service took them from the fjords of Norway and Spitsbergen to the jungles of Burma and Malaya and the beaches of Normandy and Italy. They were involved in blockade running, covert operations in Yugoslavia, Corsica and France and took part in major initiatives such as Ian Fleming's Intelligence gathering force, No 30 Assault unit, and the raid on St Nazaire. Most of these men had known each other before war came in 1939. In some cases they ended up serving alongside one another in wartime. The intertwined stories of these characters in peace and war are examples of how the spirit of adventure shown by men in the inter war years contributed to Britain's outstanding role in the Second World War. Linda Parker has written an important study that is equally relevant to both the history of British exploration and the genesis and early days of Britain's special forces 1939-45 - a quite unique and hitherto unexamined relationship. Linda Parker combines teaching History on a part time basis with her writing, and is currently completing a PhD at Birmingham University. Her main areas of interest are 20th Century Military History, Church History and the History of Polar exploration. She is a member of the Western Front Association. She was born and educated in Wales, but now lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and their dog. She enjoys walking and travelling, ideally together, and her ambition is to visit Antarctica. Her first book published by Helion was The Whole Armour of God: Anglican Army Chaplains in the Great War (2009).
Book Synopsis Bush Pig - District Cop by : Ivan Smith
Download or read book Bush Pig - District Cop written by Ivan Smith and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2014-06-19 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of one man's service in the British South Africa Police of Rhodesia during his service of nearly fifteen years, between the years 1965 and 1979, and in many ways forms a sequel to the author's book Mad Dog Killers. The struggle to keep Rhodesia out of black nationalist hands started in late 1964 and ended with the Mugabe regime in 1982. It is also a story of a policeman engaged in that war as a member of the paramilitary BSAP Support unit, the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit and as an ordinary member of the force that had always been designated the country's first line of defense. Most of the service was on remote rural district stations, often in the middle of the "front line". The account tells of one man's learning to be a policeman and a police public prosecutor and about the eccentricities of some of the circuit magistrates. A policeman has a lot to learn about life, and in the BSA Police he was expected to jump in at the deep end from the start. It is also the story of the strange struggle by Rhodesian-born policemen in a force where the majority were English-born, at a time when Rhodesia was in rebellion against Britain. The author's senior officers, though fiercely loyal to the force, were British and required to join the rebellion. It tells of his resentment at the lack of drive by senior officers in the fight against terrorist atrocities. There is additional insight into the Utopian life in Rhodesia, especially in rural areas, when it was still possible to hunt buck for the police mess rations, where there was no electricity or other modern amenities and where the single quarters were in ancient buildings enclosed by a wraparound gauzed-in veranda - a life gone now forever. It is also a story of a young man who grew up in Salisbury, his sexual excesses and sadness. The British Queen Mother was patron of the force all her life and was very proud of her association with it.
Book Synopsis Brown Waters of Africa by : John P. Cann
Download or read book Brown Waters of Africa written by John P. Cann and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, Portugal played its cards uncommonly well as a neutral and subsequently became a member of NATO. This membership resulted in a modernizing of its navy and its integration into the Atlantic Alliance. By 1960, when other colonial powers were abandoning their empires, Portugal made the decision to cling to its possessions, as they had been Portuguese for over 400 years. Without them Portugal saw itself as only a small European country, whereas with them, it would be a great nation. Portugal ultimately would fight a 13-year debilitating war against various nationalist movements in Africa to retain its possessions. By the mid-1950s, it became apparent to the Portuguese Navy that it would fight in Africa, and it began to make preparations. Ultimately, it would perform a near wholesale conversion from the blue water or oceanic navy that supported NATO to a brown water or riverine one to fight in Africa. This is the story of that conversion and the great "battle of the rivers" in Africa. This naval reorientation was a remarkable achievement, in that Portugal not only learned to fight a new kind of war, it built a navy to accomplish this and did so while shouldering its NATO commitments. The Portuguese Navy in developing a specialized naval force clearly foresaw the paramount economic, military, and psychological importance of controlling the interior waterways of Africa, for the infrastructure there was universally primitive. While there was generally a road network radiating from the colonial capital, the primary routes used clandestinely by insurgents were chiefly the waterways. The job of the navy was to foreclose enemy use of these lines of communication, and this it did with great success. The lessons from this experience tend to be forgotten, as this war was overshadowed by the U.S. conflict in Vietnam. Today, however, riverine operations are experiencing a renaissance in reaction to the "war of the weak." While modern boats are more technologically advanced, and their crews use newer and better equipment and weapons, the problems and their solutions remain largely the same. The operating environment remains the rivers, bayous, salt pans, canals, lakes, and deltas extending inland from the coast. The population remains a vulnerable target, and the need to establish a permissive environment continues as the primary goal. Clearly, the legacy of the Portuguese brown water navy remains relevant today.
Book Synopsis With the Red Devils at Arnhem by : Marek Swiecicki
Download or read book With the Red Devils at Arnhem written by Marek Swiecicki and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-07-19 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of Arnhem remains a much-studied and discussed battle, with an uninterrupted flow of books being published about it. Helion are bringing back into print a fascinating eyewitness account that has remained overlooked since it was last published shortly after the battle itself. The 1st Polish Parachute Brigade played both an important and controversial role at Arnhem. The author, a Pole himself, was attached to the Brigade, saw action at Arnhem and managed to escape capture and return to Allied lines. He penned his account within weeks of returning, and as a result With the Red Devils at Arnhem has a tremendous freshness and appeal sometimes lacking in material written years afterwards. He offers a vivid insight into the experiences of the Poles at Arnhem, written in an exciting and lively manner. The Helion reprint has been expanded by airborne forces' expert and author Niall Cherry's additional notes providing further information and context. This book is a forgotten gem within the canon of Arnhem literature.
Book Synopsis Young Citizen Old Soldier". From boyhood in Antrim to Hell on the Somme by : David Truesdale
Download or read book Young Citizen Old Soldier". From boyhood in Antrim to Hell on the Somme written by David Truesdale and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2012-08-19 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For almost 43 years three school notebooks lay in obscurity in the County Armagh home of sixty two-year old James McRoberts. The closely filled pages recorded just over two years in his life in uniform as he played his part in what was then known as the Great War. During the Home Rule crisis of 1914, one of several in Ireland's history, James McRoberts, like many other men, joined the Young Citizen Volunteers, an organization that eventually became the 14th Royal Irish Rifles, a battalion of the 36th (Ulster) Division. These notebooks, written at the time and with footnotes added some forty years later, record his Army service between 8 January 1915 and 3 April 1917. They tell, with remarkable immediacy, of his time at Randalstown, County Antrim and the move to Seaford in East Sussex. From here, after further training, James moved with his Battalion to the trenches of the Western Front. Written with a degree of humor and some detail his story covers the mundane routine of camp life, recreation behind the lines, the horrors of enemy shelling, the deaths of good friends and the momentous events of 1 July 1916 on the Somme, when his unit was in the thick of the action. On 1 November 1917, while acting as a scout for a night patrol at Messines Ridge, James was seriously wounded and evacuated to hospital - for him the War was over. Nevertheless, he continued to record what was happening around him both with humour and in detail. Classed as 80% disabled, he was eventually discharged and returned home to enjoy a postwar career as a surveyor in County Armagh. This is a remarkable memoir that is, by turns, lively, candid, humorous, poignant, and above all a window into the world of an Ulsterman who found himself both witness and participant to a series of remarkable events. His descriptions of army life, both daily routine and the inferno on the Somme in July 1916, add greatly to our knowledge of this most climactic period of history. David Truesdale opted for early retirement in 1998 and since then has written for films and television and produced two battlefield guides on behalf of the Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum - "The First Eagle: the 87th Foot at the Battle of Barrosa" and "Regulars by God! The 89th Foot at the Battle of Lundy's Lane". He is the author of "Brotherhood of the Cauldron: Irishmen in the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem", "Angels and Heroes, the story of a machine gunner with the Royal Irish Fusiliers August 1914 to April 1915" (with Amanda Moreno), "Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross" (with Richard Doherty), "Leading The Way To Arnhem, a history of the 21st Independent Parachute Company" (with Peter Gijbels), "Arnhem Their Final Battle, the 11th Parachute Battalion 1943/44" (with Gerrit Pijpers). With David Orr he has written "The Rifles are There: 1st & 2nd Battalions The Royal Ulster Rifles in the Second World War" and "A New Battlefield; The Royal Ulster Rifles in Korea". They are currently in collaboration on a history of the Ulster Volunteer Force and 36th Ulster Division, 1913-1919. For relaxation he paints in watercolours following the Kelly school of innovation, photographs wildlife, listens to good music, drinks red wine and finds that Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) and his Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Op.9, No2, has been an inspiration during difficult times in any manuscript.
Book Synopsis Understanding War by : Christian P. Potholm
Download or read book Understanding War written by Christian P. Potholm and published by UPA. This book was released on 2016-08-03 with total page 720 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third book in Professor Christian Potholm’s war trilogy (which includes Winning at War and War Wisdom), Understanding War provides a most workable bibliography dealing with the vast literature on war and warfare. As such, it provides insights into over 3000 works on this overwhelmingly extensive material. Understanding War is thus the most comprehensive annotated bibliography available today. Moreover, by dividing war material into eighteen overarching themes of analysis and fifty seminal topics, and focusing on these, Understanding War enables the reader to access and understand the broadest possible array of materials across both time and space, beginning with the earliest forms of warfare and concluding with the contemporary situation. Stimulating and thought-provoking, this volume is essential for an understanding of the breadth and depth of the vast scholarship dealing with war and warfare through human history and across cultures.
Book Synopsis What's Behind the Moon by : Leighton J. Reynolds
Download or read book What's Behind the Moon written by Leighton J. Reynolds and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2013-07 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the quiet, suburban community of Seaville, California and the hunt for a serial arsonist continues in this the 3rd novel (Volume I) of the Seaville Wildfire Trilogy. Join all the characters from the first two novels, and new characters moving into the story, as the plot takes another huge turn in the evolution of a 21st century community, and its ties to characters in Tennessee and New York. As Dr. Roger Sterling works to find his kidnapped children, he learns that there is much more to his community than he ever imagined. Just as a wildfire can break open vegetation that has been lying dormant for years, giving it new life; so too, a wildfire can also break open the secrets of a community that are lying dormant, giving these secrets new life, for better or for worse. Exactly what's behind the Moon becomes increasing apparent as the entire Seaville Valley becomes engulfed in a huge firestorm, and the community struggles to survive its own destructive impulses. Come and enjoy another thrilling ride into Human Nature and its increasing complexities.
Book Synopsis Rhodesian Light Infantryman 1961–80 by : Neil Grant
Download or read book Rhodesian Light Infantryman 1961–80 written by Neil Grant and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-20 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1st Battalion, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, was one of the most innovative and successful counter-insurgency units in modern history. Formed as a commando battalion in 1964 after the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the RLI was an all-white unit made up of South Africans and men from the UK, Europe and US. It was a key weapon in independent Rhodesia's struggle against the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army during the bloody Rhodesian Bush War. This comprehensive study explores the unit's dramatic history, revealing the RLI's fearsome airborne and combat capacity, which gave the unit, at times, near total tactical superiority against its opponents.
Download or read book Somalia written by Peter Baxter and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2013-10-19 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The end of the Cold War introduced an altered global dynamic. The old bond of East/West patronage in Africa was broken, weakening the first crop of independent revolutionary leadership on the continent who no longer had the support of one or other of the superpowers. With collapse of the Soviet Union, all this changed. The question of global/strategic security devolved into regional peacekeeping and peace enforcement, characterized primarily by the Balkans War, but also many other minor regional squabbles across the developing world that erupted as old regimes fell and nations sought to build unity out of the ashes. In Africa, the situation was exacerbated by an inherent tribalism and factionalism that had tended to be artificially suppressed by powerful, often military, dictatorships, generally unconcerned with the needs and requirements of an oppressed population. No more striking example of this can be found than Somalia. One of the only effective armed resistance movements mounted against European colonization in Africa took place in Somalia, which was suppressed only after enormous military expenditure. The crisis in Somalia that began to take shape with the ouster of military leader Mohammed Siad Barre during the early years of the 1990s forced both the United States and the United Nations to adapt their collective military policy toward the challenges of peacekeeping, and peace enforcement, in a human environment only dimly understood, extremely austere in terms of local infrastructure and with a warring clan leadership. This book tells the story of the international intervention that took place in Somalia, the successes, failures and lessons learned. Many broad assumptions were made based on an unclear understanding of the dynamics of a regional conflict, coupled with the necessity for the first time in modern military history to balance political necessities with military. The crisis in Somalia set the tone for military intervention in a post-Cold War world, and although the same mistakes have been depressingly often repeated, the complexion of global military organization changed dramatically as a consequence of this episode.
Book Synopsis The First Schleswig-Holstein War 1848-50 by : Nick Svendsen
Download or read book The First Schleswig-Holstein War 1848-50 written by Nick Svendsen and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2010-07-19 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1848 was a turbulent but momentous time in Europe. Within this context, the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were caught between the rising nationalism and desire for unification of the Prussian/German nation states and the traditional alliances with the Danish Kingdom. The Schleswig Holsteiners decided that allegiance with the German Federation, including possessing their own constitution, was the best way forward. They rebelled against the Danish and looked to the Prussians with their greater military prowess for help. In Denmark, as in other European countries, the call for a democratic constitution caused social disturbance, triggered initially by the February riots in Paris. The Danish monarchy, in crisis, both constitutionally and in terms of monarchical succession continued to lay claim on their southernmost duchies and sent their armed forces to destroy the Schleswig-Holstein insurgents. The author describes the battles and battlefields upon which this crisis was played out: from the first major action at Bov (9 April, 1848) to the last major battles of the war, at Isted (25 July 1850) and Missunde (12 September 1850), from the geomorphic landscape influencing battlefield strategy down to the description of a farmhouse where Prussian officers jumped out of windows to save themselves from the Danish.
Book Synopsis A History of Counterinsurgency by : Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Download or read book A History of Counterinsurgency written by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 717 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume history of counterinsurgency covers all the major and many of the lesser known examples of this widespread and enduring form of conflict, addressing the various measures employed in the attempt to overcome the insurgency and examining the individuals and organizations responsible for everything from counterterrorism to infrastructure building. How and when should counterinsurgency be pursued as insurgency is growing in frequency and, conversely, while conventional warfare continues to decline as a means by which political rivals seek to impose their will upon each other? What lessons from the past should today's policymakers, strategists, military leaders, and soldiers in the field keep in mind while facing off against 21st-century insurgents? This two-volume set offers a comprehensive history of modern counterinsurgency, covering the key examples of this widespread and enduring form of conflict. It identifies the political, military, social, and economic measures employed in attempting to overcome insurgency, examining the work of the individuals and organizations involved, demonstrating how success and failure dictated change from established policy, and carefully analyzing the results. Readers will gain valuable insight from the detailed assessments of the history of counterinsurgency that demonstrate which strategies have succeeded and which have failed—and why. After an introductory essay on the subject, each chapter provides historical background to the insurgency being addressed before focusing on the specific policies pursued and actions taken by the counterinsurgency force. Each section also provides an assessment of those operations, including in most cases an analysis of lessons learned and, where appropriate, their relevance to counterinsurgency operations today. The set's coverage spans modern counterinsurgencies from Europe to Asia to Africa since 1900 and includes the ongoing counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan today. Its wide, international approach to the subject makes the set a prime resource for readers seeking specific information on a particular conflict or a better understanding of the general theories and practices of counterinsurgency.
Download or read book Total Onslaught written by Paul Moorcraft and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-08-30 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The end of the Second World War may have heralded peace in Europe but conflicts in Southern Africa were about to begin. The imperial powers were weakened by the cost of war and a string of wars challenged colonial rule in countries such as Namibia, Angola and Rhodesia. Once independence was achieved, civil wars between rival factions unfamiliar with democratic principles resulted. Liberation movements such as those in South Africa demanded self-rule and end to Apartheid. Tribal feuds, corruption and the ambitions of dictators led to more conflicts such as the protracted fighting in the Congo. These were wars that ran on until both sides were exhausted often only to be re-kindled after short periods of uneasy peace. The cost in human and material terms has been devastating and in too many cases remain so. Economic development has been frustrated and the result is often poverty, abuse and genocide. The Author who knows Southern Africa as a native is superbly equipped to tell this fascinating if tragic record.
Book Synopsis Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa by : Nicki von der Heyde
Download or read book Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa written by Nicki von der Heyde and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2013-12-09 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expert battlefields guide Nicki von der Heyde presents 71 battles covering three wars and a series of conflicts that shaped the course of South Africa’s history – from the colonial clashes that characterised the 18th and 19th centuries through to the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and the 2nd Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. Informative and lively accounts of the engagements are provided, with special attention given to the context, action, outcomes and principal combatants involved. Arranged in provincial and regional order, the Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa includes an array of special features that allow for an enthralling and multi-layered account of the battles: • 580 images • 80 illustrated timelines • 60 fact and feature boxes • 16 annotated battle maps • 10 regional locator maps • Detailed directions to each site • GPS co-ordinates for inaccessible locations. Comprehensive, compelling and vividly illustrated, the Field Guide to the Battlefields of South Africa is an indispensable tool for professional and amateur military historians as well as anyone interested in exploring South Africa’s fascinating history.
Book Synopsis Black Soldiers in the Rhodesian Army by : M. T. Howard
Download or read book Black Soldiers in the Rhodesian Army written by M. T. Howard and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-12-31 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Zimbabwe's war of liberation (1965–80), fought between Zimbabwean nationalists and the minority-white Rhodesian settler-colonial regime, thousands of black soldiers volunteered for and served in the Rhodesian Army. This seeming paradox has often been noted by scholars and military researchers, yet little has been heard from black Rhodesian veterans themselves. Drawing from original interviews with black Rhodesian veterans and extensive archival research, M. T. Howard tackles the question of why so many black soldiers fought steadfastly and effectively for the Rhodesian Army, demonstrating that they felt loyalty to their comrades and regiments and not the Smith regime. Howard also shows that units in which black soldiers served – particularly the Rhodesian African Rifles – were fundamental to the Rhodesian counter-insurgency campaign. Highlighting the pivotal role black Rhodesian veterans played during both the war and the tumultuous early years of independence, this is a crucial contribution to the study of Zimbabwean decolonisation.
Book Synopsis A Handful of Hard Men by : Hannes Wessels
Download or read book A Handful of Hard Men written by Hannes Wessels and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-10-19 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the WestÕs great transition into the post-Colonial age, the country of Rhodesia refused to succumb quietly, and throughout the 1970s fought back almost alone against Communist-supported elements that it did not believe would deliver proper governance. During this long war many heroes emerged, but none more skillful and courageous than Captain Darrell Watt of the Rhodesian SAS, who placed himself at the tip of the spear in the deadly battle to resist the forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. It is difficult to find another soldierÕs story to equal WattÕs in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anyone who can match his record of resilience and valor in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry. In the fight he showed himself to be a military maestro. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination to close with the enemy, he had no peers as a combat-tracker (and there was plenty of competition). But the Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one in which he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role; as an airborne shock-trooper leading camp attacks, long range reconnaissance operator, covert urban operator, sniper, saboteur, seek-and-strike expert, and in the final stages as a key figure in mobilizing an allied army in neighboring Mozambique. After 12 years in the cauldron of war his cause slipped from beneath him, however, and Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe. When the guns went quiet Watt had won all his battles but lost the war. In this fascinating biography we learn that in his twilight years he is now concerned with saving wildlife on a continent where they are in continued danger, devoting himself to both the fauna and African people he has cared so deeply about.
