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Military History~Southern Africa - Angola, SWA Namibia, South Africa~~~364~4599~%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EMilitary History - Southern Africa%3Cbr%3EWars and conflicts, politics.%3CBR%3EBooks covering terrorism guerrila tactics conflicts in Southern Africa, the elite South African special forces, Recce Paratroopers, elite parachute battalions, psuedo-terrorist units, helicopter pilots, insurgency counterinsurgency techniques, guerrilla warfare counter-guerrilla warfare, swapo unita koevoet nis anc sadf saaf south west africa, buffalo soldiers. Colonization & independence, terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle . Includes popular titles%3A A Greater Share of Honour - Jack Greeff, Buffalo Soldiers - Story of South Africa’s 32-Battalion%3A 1975-1993 by Col. Jan Breytenbach, Mercenary Commander - Col Jerry Puren as told to Brian Pottinger, On South Africa%27s Secret Service - Riaan Lauschange, South African Air Force - Peter Dancey, The Silent War%3A South African Recce operations 1969 - 1994 - Peter Stiff, Warfare by Other Means%3A South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s by Peter Stiff~
32 Battalion - The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit - Piet Nortjie~32 Battalion is the gripping inside story of South Africa's most controversial fighting unit of the 1970s and 1980s. Originally formed in order to lend support to the FNLA and UNITA in the Angolan war, 32 Battalion quickly gained the reputation of being an unconventional, secretive, yet highly effective group. Written by a man who was intimately involved with the unit and served as its Regimental Sergeant Major for two years, the book aims to explode the myths surrounding the legendary 32 and set the record straight. It records how and why 32 Battalion was formed, explores its unique identity forged by the men who fought in it, details the many operations in which they participated, and concludes with its eventual disbandment at the dawn of a new South Africa.What they did, and how they did it, would earn this controversial group official recognition as the best fighting unit in the South African Army since World War II. This book's unembellished, factual reporting will fill a big gap in the highly popular military genre.~~32 Battalion - The Inside Story of South Africa%27s Elite Fighting Unit|ISBN 9781868729142|~364~11484~32 Battalion~
A Cook's Tour of Duty - Peter Chapman~Memoirs of a conscripted National Serviceman, who served in the South African Army Service Corps between 1978 and 1980, including a year in South West Africa (now Namibia).
ISBN-13 978-1-920169-15-2, August 2006. Paperback A5, 131 pages.~JDP Publishing
Paperback
ISBN-10 1-920169-15-6
ISBN-13 978-1-920169-15-2
131 pages
Size A5
Publication Date 1 August 2006
~A Cook%27s Tour of Duty|ISBN-13 9781920169152|~364~11335~South African Army Service Corps~
A Greater Share of Honour - Jack Greeff~The first major first person account of South African special operations written by a former Recce operator, Major Jack Greeff. It is an essential companion to Peter Stiff’s The Silent War: South African Recce operations 1969-1994, the publication of which finally inspired him to put pen to paper. ‘One of the early problems I faced was how to tell the whole truth,’ Jack Greef says in his foreword. ‘Some operations, until recently, were still classified as Top Secret and have never been acknowledged by the SADF. The problem was solved when Peter Stiff’s book, The Silent War came on the shelf where most of the operations were described, some in detail while others were mentioned briefly.’~Ellisras: Ntomeni Publications, 2001.
ISBN 0620279990. Stiff Soft Cover. 150x220mm. 172pp

This is the first personal account of Recce operations during the South African bush war, by one of the top and most experienced Special Forces officers." His adventures reveal some of the most brilliantly planned and executed special operations in the history of the SADF.The stories and numerous photographs, take the reader into the world of clandestine war, African guerilla warfare and undercover operations. The author not only gives an extraordinary knowledge into the secret world of South African Defence Force special operations, but also a great knowledge of modern warfare stategies and of the great battles of the past. Futhurmore the Author reveals from his own experiences the advantages of operating in small groups.As detailed in the book, the success of his small group was such that his group was sent to help in other countries and in other desperate situations where his group of six, by means of stealth and suprise, took on hundreds of enemy. His small band was sent to Rhodesia to help the Selous Scouts in some of the tricky operations there. Quitely in the dark and stealth of night, and quickly out by means of a helicopter the next morning was thier trademark. The authors reference to his naming of the title of the book is most interesting. The author quotes from an adress by King Henry V to his band of demoralized soldiers on the eve of the battle of Agincourt against a Superior French force. " If we are marked to die we are enough.and if to live, the fewer men the greater share of honour" A most highly recommended book.~A Greater Share of Honour|ISBN 0620279990|~364~1493~A Greater Share of Honour, Jack Greeff, South African special operations force Recce~
Altered States - Frank Nunes~The memoirs of Frank Nunes recording his time in the South African Army during the 1980s. We follow his adventures through his two years National Service as he tries to get into the Parabats, then gets sent to 8 SAI and to the Border.
ISBN: 978-1-9201-6942-8, April 2008. Paperback 338 pages.~The memoirs of Frank Nunes record his time in the South African Army during the 1980s. We follow his adventures through his two years National Service as he tries to get into the Parabats, then gets sent to 8 SAI and to the Border.

From the Author:

"Life is full of change, either small personal changes or at times large unpredicted changes that seem to occur outside of our control. The important element in this, is the way in which we react and then deal with each of these when we meet them. This will not only determine the final outcome, but also have a lasting effect on your life moving forward. The mind interprets these forces and reactions to form an 'Altered State', something that human's are capable of recalling at will as a memory or a feeling of Deja Vu. From these events we learn hopefully that we need to leave that experience in the past but at the same time learn from it. Use it in the present and build a new way forward.
In my own life, conscription was not a choice, and I only got through it by using humour as a coping tool. At the same time for me it was a life changing event that taught to me how to accept responsibility, to value team work, camaraderie , trust, and that antaganism, violence and war are not good fixes to lifes problems. True forgiveness and the ability to work together on a common goal is paramount to success. By the same token, humour and having fun throughout life is just as important, and presents itself everywhere, but one has to look for it to find it.. The military is full of humourous anecdotes and situations. I hope this book allows you to cope with your own Altered States and enable to stand back and if possible get through it with a more positive outcome."~Altered States|ISBN-13 9781920169428|~364~11387~south african army, parabats 8 SAI~
An Unpopular War: From Afkak to Bosbefok - Voices of South African National Servicemen - JH Thompson~In the seventies, eighties and nineties, conscription had a profound effect on hundreds of thousands of young men, particularly those who had to serve in the Angolan war. This book is a collection of reflections and memories of that time, collected by JH Thompson, who interviewed men who did the South African National Service. Contributors include ordinary soldiers, Special Forces members, helicopter pilots, chefs and religious objectors. The book is a fast, fascinating read that captures the spirit and atmosphere, the daily duties, the boredom, fear and other intense experiences of an SADF soldier. For everyone who did military service, as well as their loved ones, this book is a must.~~An Unpopular War|ISBN 9781770073012|~364~11485~South African National Service Special Forces members helicopter pilots religious objectors.~
At Thy Call We Did Not Falter - Clive Holt~A frontline account of the 1988 Angolan War, as seen through the eyes of a conscripted soldier.
This book is a brutally frank and refreshingly honest account, seventeen years after the fact, of a teenage national serviceman's exposure to and experiences in the war in Angola. It does not glorify or demonise war, but tells the real story of so many young white South Africans like Holt who were sent into battle against overwhelming forces less than a year after finishing school. This book will resonate with the vast majority of those men, now entering or in middle age.The timing of the book is extraordinarily fortunate, coming just as interest in Cuito Cuanavale is being revived, with moves afoot to arrange battlefield tours, and debates raging anew in military and veteran circles about who the victors and vanquished were. At Thy Call has the hallmark of a classic battlefield biography, as well as providing a window into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a riveting account of how a government took schoolboys and turned them into killing machines.
ISBN 9781770071179. Zebra 2005, softback, 195 pages~Zebra
ISBN 9781770071179.
2005, softback, 195 pages


At Thy Call We Did Not Falter is a gripping frontline account of the Angolan war, as seen through the eyes of a 19-year-old conscripted soldier. It tells the story of so many young white South Africans who, like him, were sent into battle against ' overwhelming forces straight after completing school.

Clive Holt was at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, where the South African Defence Force supported the rebel movement Unita after a massive build-up of Cuban and Angolan troops. It was the bloodiest and most significant battle fought by South African troops since World War II.

With diary extracts, previously unpublished photographs and a riveting narrative, this book transports the reader into the firing line and the dark realms of war. At Thy Call We Did Not Falter is a classic account of war, as well as a window into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a chilling account of how a government took schoolboys and turned them into killing machines.


Clive Holt was born in East London, South Africa, and started his national service in January 1987. During his time in the army, he was involved in several operations inside Angola, as a result of which he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. He now lives in Australia with his wife and children, and works as a marketing consultant.

~At Thy Call|ISBN 9781770071179|~364~11486~angola~
Bloodsong ! First hand accounts of a modern private army in action, Angola 1993-1995 - Jim Hooper~Executive Outcomes was the title of the most successful mercenary army of modern times, having been involved in Angola, Sierra Leone and Papua New Guinea. This is the story of Executive Outcomes' operations whilst in Angola. The eyebrow raising fact here is that Executive Outcomes' top staff were former South African Defence Force soldiers who had fought against that very same Angolan government in the Bush campaigns of the late 1970s and 1980s. Many of the EO members had served in the finest Special Forces units in South Africa.
ISBN 0007119151 Hardback; 240pp; 24pp colour, bw pics, maps
ISBN 000711916X Paperback, 240pp; 24pp colour, bw pics, maps

NOTE - See latest book by the founder of EO - Executive Outcomes: Against all Odds below.~~Bloodsong! Hardback|ISBN 0007119151|Bloodsong! Paperback|ISBN 000711916X|~364~1496~Executive Outcomes, mercenary guerrilla army angola unita private war,~
Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola. 1975-1980 - Major Willem Steenkamp~When first published in 1983, it sold out almost immediately. A reconstruction of the early "external operations" of the South West African/Namibian border war between 1978 and 1980, it remains a standard reference work to this day. This was a significant publishing event because it showed how the nature of the border war had changed irrevocably, from the occasional ad-hoc "hot pursuit" of SWAPO insurgents into a full-blown semi-conventional conflict. It heralded the shape of things to come, which was to culminate in the fierce later battles of 1988/89, when South Africans and UNITA slugged it out toe-to-toe with the Soviet-supported and led forces of the Angolan government (Cuban & Russian). Out of print for many years, Borderstrike! has long been a sought-after item among those interested in African wars. Now reprinted with new information, new chapters and many new postscripts and annotations.
ISBN-13 978-1-920169-00-8, Mar 2006, 3rd Edition. Softback A4 350 pages~JDP Publishing
Cover Type Softback
ISBN-10 1-920169-00-8
ISBN-13 978-1-920169-00-8
No of Pages 350
Size A4
Publication Date 1 March 2006 - 3rd Edition


The first shots of a long war.

A generation ago soldiers of the South African Army slipped discretely over the northern border of what was then South West Africa on the country's first real external combat operation since World War II. Opera­tion Savannah marked the start of a protracted campaign, part counter­insurgency and part conventional, that did not end until 1989, a decade and a half later. The book also covers the other external operations that the South Africans military were involved in - Operation Reindeer (May 1978), Operation Revenge (August 1978), and Operation Sceptic (June 1980).

In 1983 Willem Steenkamp wrote the first detailed account about the early days. Entitled "Borderstrike!", it went into two editions and is still a standard reference work on the place and period. In this new third edi­tion, he has updated and greatly expanded his original work to provide what is virtually a new book; which retains most of the old material but has a great deal that is new.

Among the provocative comments, observations and revelations which emerge from the revised version of Borderstrike! are the following:

* Why the "border war" came within an inch of ending in 1978 instead of 1989 ... but didn't.

* How the Cold War drastically affected every single mili­tary war and insurrection in Southern and Central Africa for almost three decades.

* Why none of the three home-grown movements in­volved in the Angolan civil war had any proven legiti­macy in terms of popular support.

* What was the real planning failure - not the flawed drop about which the Army and Air Force have been arguing for 3o years, but the actual defect - which nearly turned the 1978 Cassinga parachute attack into a disaster.

* Why did Operation Savannah end up becoming virtually a private war between the South Africans and Cubans?

* What happened to the three 5.5-inch guns the South Af­rican artillerymen had reluctantly abandoned after the di­sastrous Battle of Death Road on 10th November 1975?

* Why did the SWA/Namibia peace talks break clown on several occasions when they were close to a resolution?

* Was there a third alternative in 1975 which might have prevented both a protracted counter-insurgency cam­paign in SWA/Namibia and a South African incursion into Angola?

* How the frigate SAS President Steyn sneaked along the Angolan coast and snatched a top-secret South African mission which was in danger of being captured by the MPLA: the first time the full story has been told.

* How Savannah's tactical legacy, both good and bad, affected the South African military, then and much later.

* What happened to some of the "cast of characters" in later years.~Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola|ISBN-13 9781920169008|~364~11337~Air Navy SADF Army Angola Russian CUBAN cuba, South Africa army,~
Buffalo Soldiers - Story of South Africa's 32-Battalion: 1975-1993 by Col. Jan Breytenbach~32-Battalion was forged from guerrilla irregulars during the South African military intervention in Angola in 1975 under the code name Operation Savannah. The author, Colonel Jan Breytenbach, was its founding commander. Because of the secrecy surrounding it, 32-Battalion not only became one of the finest fighting units in the South African Army, it also became the most controversial.
Softback, 350 pages, 142 X 168mm; lavishly illustrated with colour, b/w pics and maps.
ISBN 1-919854-07-X~ISBN 1-919854-07-X
Softback, 350 pages, 142 X 168mm;
Lavishly illustrated with colour, b/w pics and maps.

The Buffalo Soldiers is the story of South Africa's 32-Battalion, forged in battle from black guerrilla irregulars and white South African officers and NCOs during the South African military intervention in Angola in 1975. It was destined to become the most elite infantry unit in the South African Army's order of battle - it also became its most controversial.

The author, Col Jan Breytenbach, was its founding commander.

It is a soldier's story about warring in southern Angola and Namibia and about the enemies that 32-Battalion fought. It tells of insurgency and counterinsurgency, guerrilla warfare and counter-guerrilla warfare, almost conventional warfare and conventional warfare. It tells of a conflict that the world regarded as unpopular and unjust and in which South Africa was perceived as the aggressor.

The South African soldiers who fought in it, however, saw it as a conflict aimed at stopping what is now, Namibia, from falling into the hands of the Soviet and Cuban-backed SWAPO black nationalist political organisation. They believed that after Namibia, South Africa would be the next target. They saw the conflict as an extension of the Cold War, a war that was `Cold' on the frontiers in Europe, but very `Hot' war in Angola, in other parts of Africa and in South-East Asia.

The Buffalo Soldiers is effectively the story of how the South Africans fought the Angolan War, for there was scarcely a combat fighting action during its course that did not involve 32-Battalion.

'Battalion' was a misnomer for towards the end of the Angolan War 32-Battalion was more a mini brigade with two infantry battalions, an anti-tank squadron of Ratel armoured cars with 90mm guns and anti-tank missiles, two artillery batteries and an anti-aircraft battery.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union imminent, the war was finally resolved in 1989 by the democratic solution of UN supervised free and fair elections in Namibia. Since then, regrettably, there has been interference by the ruling party with the democratic constitution put in place in there which has eroded much of that hard won democracy.

With peace in place in Namibia, the unit was withdrawn to South Africa and deployed to combat MK infiltrations into South Africa. After the ANC's unbanning in 1990, its troops were redeployed to deal with political troubles, principally between armed ANC self-defence units and armed units of the IFP. The intrusion into the townships of black foreigners who were prepared to deal with the troubles robustly and without fear or favour, did not suit either the ANC or the IFP as they could not be subverted to support local causes because they held no local tribal allegiances.

This resulted in 32-Battalion becoming something of a bargaining chip at the CODESA talks where a new political dispensation was being sought for South Africa. Despite having borne the brunt of South Africa's war in Angola with the blood of its troops, the National Party Government, to its lasting shame, ordered its arbitrary disbandment in March 1993 as an act of political appeasement.


The Author:
Col Jan Breytenbach, a living legend in South Africa, is a tough but thinking fighting soldier with an independent turn of mind. He commenced his military career in tanks in the SA Army in 1950. He left in 1955 and joined the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm as a navigator, taking part in the Suez landings of 1956. In 1961 he rejoined the SA Army and became a paratrooper. Few soldiers anywhere have had the privilege of forming a fighting unit, but he formed the three most elite units in the SA Army's order of battle. He was the founding commander of 1-Reconnaissance Commando - the forerunner of the present Special Forces Regiments (the equivalent of the British SAS), 32-Battalion itself which he forged in battle from FNLA guerrillas during the South African intervention in Angola in 1975, using a command element of Recce officers and NCOs, and 44-Parachute Brigade. While commanding 44-Para Brigade he led the successful 1978 paratrooper assault on SWAPO's main base at Cassinga - one of the largest airborne assaults anywhere since World War-II. Another first was his formation of the SA Army's Guerrilla School, which he commanded until his retirement in 1987. Since hanging up his uniform he has pursued a career as a full-time author.

The Buffalo Soldiers is his fifth book.~Buffalo Soldiers|ISBN 191985407X|~364~1497~southern africa elite special forces recces sas selous scouts parabats, koevoet south african police sap airforce army battalion, secret services nis, sadf swapo unita~
Charlie's Omega - Danie Van Den Berg~During the Bush War in South West Africa / Namibia not much was known about 31 Battalion. Due to the secrecy surrounding all activities during the Bush war, and especially at this Unit, it was virtually unknown till the late 1980's. When 31 Battalion was relocated to South Africa, it started to gain notice, but with many misconceptions. This book has few words, but lots of colour photos of the activities at Omega. Its focus is Charlie Company, in which the Author served as a 2nd Lt. It takes the reader through the history, starting years, Omega Base, Charlie Company, Operations, the Reunion and the way the base looks today. It is the result of contributions from both visitors and soldiers. They shared the feeling that this was the correct time to give the general public, historians and ex-soldiers an insight into what made 31Battalion tick. Their opinion was that the photos must speak for themselves and that the words only fill the gaps, to allow people to experience Omega as it was to its people, the best soldiers there have ever been.
ISBN: 978-1-9201-6935-0, A4 Softback. Jan 2007. 120 pages, full color pictures.~JDP Publishing
Cover Type Paperback
ISBN-10 1-920169-35-0
ISBN-13 978-1-920169-35-0
No of Pages 120
Size A4
Publication Date 15 January 2007



During the Bush War, and in fact even to this day, not much has been known about 31 Battalion or its people. The idea behind the book started when the author realised that very few books had been written about 31 BN, and not much had been shown about the people at the base or what they had done. Due to the secrecy surrounding all activities during the Bushwar, and especially at this Unit, it was virtually unknown till the late 1980's. When 31 Bn was relocated to South Africa, people started taking notice of Omega's people, often getting the wrong ideas due to incorrect, and often amusing, reporting.

This book is a coffee table book with few words, but has lots of candid photos showing the activities at Omega. The Book focuses on Charlie Company, the company seen as the most successful at this unit, which was the company with which the Author served as a young 2nd Lt. The Book takes the reader through the history of 31 Bn, including the starting years, the base at Omega, Charlie Company and its people , the operations, the Reunion and a brief look at how the base looks today (2006).

The book was the result of contributions from people who had been at the base, both as visitors and as soldiers. Most of them shared the feeling that this was the correct time to give the general public, historians and ex-soldiers an insight into what made Charlie Company tick. They also felt that it was of no use having photos, but denying the world outside the opportunity to experience the real Omega. The general opinion was that the photos must say everything and that the words must just fill the gaps, a book that will be on the coffee table, close to the fireplace, close to hand, so that one can page through it at any time and experience Omega as it was to its people, some of the best soldiers there have ever been, dedicated and trustworthy till the end.~Charlie%27s Omega|ISBN-13 9781920169350|~364~11338~Namibia War South Africa Bushmen 31 Battalion~
Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, Pretoria - Piero Gleijeses~ This is a compelling and dramatic account of Cuban policy in Africa and of its escalating clash with US policy and later its direct military clashes with the South African Defence Force in Angola. It is the other side of a conflict that South Africans have not been told about until now.
ISBN 1-919-85410-X Hardback, 504pp; size 242 X 160mm, b/w pics and in-text illustrations. ~ISBN 1-919-85410-X Hardback,
504pp; size 242 X 160mm, b/w pics and in-text illustrations.

Conflicting Missions is a compelling and dramatic account of Cuban policy in Africa and of its escalating clash with US policy and later its direct military clashes with the South African Defence Force in Angola.

It is the other side of a conflict that South Africans have not been told about until now.

Gleijeses' narrative gallops from Cuba's first hesitant steps in rendering assistance to Algerian rebels fighting France in 1961, to the war in the Congo (later Zaire and now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1964-65, when 100 Cubans led by Che Guevara, acting in support of the Simba rebels, were confronted by white mercenaries from South Africa, Rhodesia, Britain and elsewhere - supported and controlled by America's Central Intelligence Agency.Gleijeses writes about the dramatic despatch to Angola of Cuban troops to aid the communist-inclined rebel MPLA movement in 1975. And how, being the rainy season, their destruction of the major river bridges in Angola's north contributed to halting the rapid and victorious advance of the seemingly unstoppable Battle Group Zulu of South Africa's SADF.

The blocking of Battle Group Zulu from reaching Luanda led to political decisions by the US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, to call off the CIA's IAFEATURE operations in support of UNITA and the FNLA and to South African Prime Minister John Vorster withdrawing all South African forces from Angola. This left the MPLA and its Cuban and other communist allies in control.

This was undoubtedly the most significant domino that would soon lead to the fall of white Rhodesia and ultimately to the handover of Namibia to SWAPO and finally to black rule in the Republic South Africa.

Piero Gleijeses analysis is clear, rigorous and balanced; the archival research supporting it is unprecedented. Not only is he the first historian to have gained access to closed Cuban archives, he also worked extensively in the archives of the United States, Belgium, Great Britain and East and West Germany.

In addition he interviewed many of the protagonists in the United States, Cuba and Africa - from the head of the CIA station in Luanda to Che Guevara's second-in-command in the Congo - and analysed the American, European, South African and other African press. The result is a remarkably comprehensive document that sheds new light on the history of those times. It revolutionises our view of Cuba's international role, challenges conventional beliefs about the Soviet Union in directing Cuba's action in Africa and provides. for the first time, a look from the inside of Cuba's foreign policy during the Cold War.


Piero Gleijeses, since 1972 has been the Professor of American Foreign Policy and Latin American Studies at the John Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. He is fluent in four languages and can get by in another four including Afrikaans - although he has not yet set foot in South Africa. This has clearly assisted him greatly in his penetrating researches.

His book Conflicting Missions was awarded the 2003 Ferrell prize of the Society of Historians of American Foreign relations and it has been the subject of high praise by numerous reviewers.

He is the author of five books and monographs and has written numerous articles for journals, newspapers and journals as well as contributing chapters to a number of books.

He is presently researching a further book on the Cuban/Angolan situation which will record events leading up to the Cuban withdrawal from the country in 1989. This will incorporate Cuban, FAPLA, UNITA and South African standpoints of the bloody battles and political events that took place around Cuito Cuanavale during 1987-1989.~Conflicting Missions|ISBN 191985410X|~364~1498~~
Chopper Pilot - Monster Wilkins~The personal experiences and exploits of Monster Wilkins, who was regarded as the SAAF’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.
ISBN 0958388075. JDP 2008 (Redone / re-printed from original first published in 2000). Size - 297x210mm (A4), 152 pages. 181 Black and White, 37 colour photographs.

Estimated dispatch date - early April 2008~JD Publishing, 2008
Re-worked edition of original title first published in 2000



"Monster Wilkins joined the SA Air Force after leaving school and qualified for his Wings before he had a driving licence. He had his first flight in a helicopter (an Alouette II) in April 1965 and that was the start of a love affair which has grown stronger over the passing years.

In CHOPPER PILOT he tells us of some of his experiences, the places he has visited and the fun he has had while serving in the SA Air Force. He writes easily and with feeling and has the gift of describing events in graphic form...Monster is the most experienced helicopter pilot in the Air Force and is well qualified to introduce us to the great variety of roles of which this versatile aircraft is capable - and what a kaleidoscope of experiences this encompasses: Operations on our northern borders during the Border War, in an environment which was often decidedly unfriendly and where navigation at low level in difficult terrain with virtually no navigation aids was the norm; working with the SA Navy on the oceans round our coastline, where he chalked up nearly 900 deck landings; co-operating with the police during dagga (marijuana) raids; fighting runaway fires and rescuing people from the sea, from floods, from snow and from fires; and evacuating casualties from accidents, often in mountainous terrain, to safety"
. Lt General R.H.D. (Bob) Rogers SSA, SM, MMM, DSO, DFC (Ex-Chief of the Air Force.~Chopper Pilot|ISBN 0958388075|~364~11689~~
Days of the Generals - The untold story of South Africa’s apartheid era military Generals by Hilton Hamann~What really happened during South Africa’s military involvement in Angola? Did the military leaders always see eye to eye with the politicians or for that matter, with each other?
Was South Africa responsible for the death of Mozambican President Samora Machel? What was the extent of South Africa’s nuclear programme? How did South Africa’s military machine deal with the end of apartheid?
Based on interviews with the former generals of the South African Defence Force, Days of the Generals addresses these and many other fascinating questions. The book looks in detail at South Africa’s intervention in Angola, Namibia and Mozambique. It examines the armed struggle of the ANC and the state’s war against the liberation movements. It investigates chemical and biological warfare, the ‘Third Force’ and other top secret issues.
ISBN 1-86872-340-2 Softback. 242pp; 244 X 172mm; 16pp b/w illustrations~~Days of the Generals|ISBN 1868723402|~364~1499~~
Eagle Strike - Colonel Jan Breytenbach~Written by the highest decorated soldier in the South African Defence Force.
This is not only an autobiography but also a comprehensive journal of one of the greatest airborne assaults ever mounted in Africa. Colonel Jan Breytenbach planned, jumped in and led the 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 book is lavishly illustrated with some 60 colour photographs, detailed map overlays and to crown it all, both the full Fit Chute lists as well as Colonel Breytenbach's original 20 page handwritten battle orders that he wrote at De Brug on 28 April 1978! There are numerous appendices that should further assist historians and students of military history .
Manie Grove Publishing, 2008.

Accepting pre-orders, expected dispatch date - end June/early July.~~Eagle Strike|9024|~364~11898~~
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 company under whose aegis he was invited to train the SADF's Special Forces in intelligence skills and to stem the flow of stolen diamonds from the De Beers Corporation's properties.He was then invited to recruit a force of ex-servicemen retrenched from the SADF to assist an oil company in the recovery of equipment that they had been forced to abandon at Soyo in north-western Angola after it was overrun by UNITA rebels. EO's successes resulted in a contract to re-train the Angolan army and lead it in a fight to defeat the UNITA rebels.A contract to restore order in Sierra Leone and other like contracts followed, including one to rescue Western hostages taken by separatist rebels in Indonesia .
Aug 2007, ISBN-13 9781919854199, Softback 552 pages.~August 2007
552pp, 32 pages colour photographs
Six in-text maps and other in-text illustrations
Softback
ISBN-13 978-1-919854-19-9



Executive Outcomes is the model on which all Private Military Companies (PMCs) operating in Iraq and Afghanistan are based. Founded by author Eeben Barlow in the early 1990s he originally offered courses in intelligence to South Africa's Special Forces and security work to De Beers' diamond mining industry. This was greatly expanded in 1993 when an oil company offered EO a contract to provide security for its staff while they recovered valuable drilling equipment stranded at the Angolan oil port of Soyo - after its capture by UNITA rebels.

Barlow recruited ex-members of South Africa's elite military units for the job. EO was contracted for a month, but this ended up being extended and EO spearheading an Angolan Army assault on Soyo and its capture from UNITA. This highly successful operation led to a contract to retrain the Angolan Army. Both UNITA and MPLA had taken part in UN supervised elections in 1992, but UNITA had rejected the results after losing and it had returned to civil war.

During a hard-fought campaign, retrained Angolan Army units led by EO captured Cafunfu - the diamond producing area that funded UNITA's war effort. Eventually, international pressure spearheaded by the UN and the 'blood diamond' lobby, forced EO's withdrawal from Angola which quickly sank back into chaos. The UN's efforts to restore the situation achieved by EO for US$35 million, cost the world body many billions of dollars.

EO's next contract was in May 1995 when 200 men were despatched to Sierra Leone where RUF rebels, chopping off people's limbs and engaging in cannibalism, were marching on Freetown. EO smashed the rebels and this led to free and fair elections with a new government being elected. Pressures were again exerted which resulted in EO's withdrawal. In the place of its 200 troops the UN deployed 18 000 soldiers at a cost of US$1 billion per year. The rebels regrouped, frequently taking UN troops as hostages, and the country again sank back into an orgy of cannibalism and limb chopping.

There is much, much more to the Executive Outcomes' story and Eeben Barlow tells it the way it was in this no-punches-pulled account.



Media Reviews:

Interviewing Eeben Barlow is not an experience you would describe as comfortable.

it's not because he is a former CCB operative nor the fact that he is proficient in multiple ways of killing and maiming. It's because what he says not only makes a lot of sense, it also makes you somewhat ashamed of both yourself and your profession, journalism.

He doesn't like most journalists, whom he accuses of helping his enemies wage a vicious disinformation war against him and his company, Executive Outcomes, for many years.

"All that shit you wrote, all the garbage you passed on from the so-called 'sources' - where was even the slightest bit of evidence to back it up?"

In his newly-published book - Executive Outcomes, Against All Odds - Barlow savages many local and international journalists who, he says, willingly did "hatchet jobs" on EO.

I'm one of them. Back in 1993, my byline was one of three which appeared on a piece quoting former SA Defence Force Colonel Jan Breytenbach as saying EO was "training ANC hit squads" in Angola . (At the time, EO had been given a contract by the Angolan government to re-train the army - a project which effectively spelled the beginning of the end of Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA movement, as the Angolan forces were better trained and prepared for battle.) The alleged ANC squads had a hit list of prominent people, including himself, claimed Breytenbach. I don't even remember the story, save to know that Breytenbach was never one of my sources or contacts. But my byline was on the story and I must have contributed to it.

Did we ever try to get corroboration or confirmation of Breytenbach's claims? No. Why would we? Barlow and his bunch of ex-SADF "mercenaries" could only have been up to no good in Angola . After all, we told ourselves, why would they help the people who were once their enemies, unless they were being paid huge amounts and were involved in oil or diamond deals?

Barlow sits across from me in a Pretoria coffee shop, his blue eyes accusing. I have no answers. He has a point.

In conversation, Barlow echoes the litany of accusations and claims which were levelled against EO in the eight or so years it operated as a private military company in Africa and elsewhere: they committed atrocities, they were given huge diamond and oil concessions, that they were a front for Britain's MI6 secret service, that they fronted for the American CIA; that they were incompetent buffoons.

"Take the case of Sierra Leone (where EO helped the Freetown government crush RUF rebels): we were accused of committing atrocities against the local people. No proof. Nobody ever charged. No witnesses. The opposite was the case. As we went into action against the rebels in a new country and environment, we realised that we needed intelligence and information. And we got that from the local people, who realised that we were bringing stability and security after years of rape and murder by the rebels. We gave them some medical help and we made it safe for their (them) to go back to their normal lives. They helped us with the information we needed to mount our operations. Think about it - if we had been slaughtering them, would they have helped us?"

Barlow is correct. Neither the United Nations, whose peacekeeping troops replaced EO and who then virtually lost the country back to the rebels; nor the Sierra Leone government, has made any atrocity charges against the company.

"A professional journalist," Barlow says with just a hint of a sneer, "visited the country and wrote that the people were happy with our presence and what we achieved."

Angola , likewise, was an area where EO was repeatedly under fire, mainly from journalists in South Africa .

"You people," he says, "ignored everything we provided you in terms of intelligence about who was really benefiting from the continuation of the war between UNITA."

Those people were senior officials in the former SA government, companies and businessmen.

Barlow believes that UNITA's supporters in South Africa were making a fortune out of the diamonds-for-arms trade which saw the rebel movement exchanging gems for weapons which were flown into Angola from South African airfields.

"When General Ita (the then head of the Angolan military intelligence) told journalists this was happening and even provided registration numbers of the aircraft, nobody followed up on it." They actually verbally attacked Ita, claiming he was lying and then attacked the government for attacking UNITA.

He adds: "There are people who have a lot of blood on their hands - by prolonging the Angolan civil war, tens of thousands of people died.

"But I'm proud of what we in EO did and the sacrifices we made."

Undoubtedly, Barlow and the company made a lot of money contracting out their military expertise - he has long since ceased to care about being labelled a "mercenary" he says - but the costs of the EO intervention were miniscule when compared to that bucket loads of money spent by the UN and African Union whose troops replaced the South African company in Sierra Leone.

"What the Executive Outcomes experience proved was that there is a place in Africa - and the rest of the world - for private military companies. In our case, we did jobs that others either couldn't do or didn't want to do. And we did those jobs well, without any bias, because we were employed by legitimate governments."

In Angola , the company started off training the Angolan Army's 16 Brigade, but was also involved in some of the heavy fighting against UNITA. Barlow says that it was more the comprehensive training given to the Angolans which enabled them to turn the tide against UNITA, rather than EO's own combat team: "we had only 500 people, spread out around Angola and you can't win a war like that with that number of soldiers..."

In Sierra Leone , EO's combat-hardened veterans - white and black, former SADF and from the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe - didn't pussy-foot around when hitting the RUF rebels. Using highly mobile teams on foot and in vehicles, and backed up by air support which included a Russian-made Mi-24 helicopter gunship, EO decimated the rebels' jungle hide-outs after initially saving the capital, Freetown, from what looked like a certain surrender to the rebels.

"It is a great pity that EO did not continue, because it would have been a very effective instrument for change in Africa - and it would have enabled South Africa to project its influence to far corners of the continent. It wasn't long before the US and European governments stepped into to the vacuum we left. So, again, it's outsiders sorting out African problems..."

Ironically, many people are not aware that EO played a major role in drafting South African legislation which controls the private military industry, the Foreign Military Assistance Act - and that, so far, EO is the only company to have been licensed by the government to offer military assistance and know-how outside the borders of this country.

Although EO has been shut down, Barlow gets a number of calls from abroad, "asking me if I'd start it up again."

One such was for assistance ahead of the Iraq invasion in 2003 which, Barlow says, "I turned down because that is not legitimate, it is just about oil and resources."

It pains him to think that the expertise of thousands of former South African policemen and soldiers has been lost to this country, as they apply their skills and experience all around the world.

"Those in the military field know just how good the former SADF was and how capable some of our people were. It is a great pity that this government, in the name of transformation, has turned its back on those skills."

Barlow, in common with many ex-SADF officers, doesn't have a high opinion of the current SA National Defence Force (SANDF) and especially in its peacekeeping missions around Africa .

"Our guys seem more interested in theft, robbery, rape and murder than they do in carrying out their jobs."

These days, sitting in retirement in Pretoria , Barlow watches cynically from the sidelines at developments. Like the fiasco of the abortive Equatorial Guinea (EG) coup, where scores of South African ex-soldiers were detained in Zimbabwe en route to EG and later served jail sentences in Harare .

"Simon Mann (the coup plot leader who now sits in jail in Harare awaiting extradition to EG) is an arsehole and from my dealings with him, I regarded him as incompetent. So I'm not surprised at what happened."

But, that disaster also brought down the curtain on the 60s-style cowboy mercenaries, thinking that with a few people and a few guns they could take over a country.

"We were accused of that sort of plotting all the time. We could have overthrown governments, sure, but we were professional suppliers of military services, not hired guns."

Barlow still keeps a jaundiced eye on the media: "I can see the disinformation and bullshit all over the place."

The reports on the Pikoli/Selebi/Zuma sagas should all be looked at with extreme caution and cynicism, he says.

"There are some many different agendas at play and there are so many people involved who are past masters at spinning a lie: some of the people who put together smears against us are still at it and the ANC is also highly experienced at the art of disinformation."

He says he can see the media being used and manipulated.

"Some things never change..."

Brendan Seery - The Star, Johannesburg



"I first met Eeben Barlow in 1982 … (as) a young and eager reconnaissance officer with 32 Battalion …" writes the old South African Defence Force's former Intelligence chief, General R (Witkop) Badenhorst, in his foreword to this book.

A quarter-century later Barlow still looks surprisingly young, but definitely not so eager. Wary, perhaps.

Surely the founder of the first private military company to place this type of business in an ethical framework that saw him contracting only to legitimate governments - the man credited with paving the way for the expansion of similar operations around the world - could afford to look a little more satisfied with those achievements?

Why not is suggested by the second part of the title, "Against All Odds", as well as at the back, in a tailpiece.

There he confesses: "Today, I have little interest in the misery and chaos that is spreading across Africa . I have come to realise that any attempt to stem the tide is viewed as sinister - especially by those who are pursuing alternative agendas for personal gain. ...I still receive calls from governments asking if I would be prepared to assist them to resolve their problems. They have totally lost faith in the UN and even in South Africa , whose 'peacekeeping' missions have become tainted with gross misconduct, poorly disciplined troops and political partiality. To them, my answer is always 'No'."

(Prior to publication, Barlow reiterated the above comment, confirming continuing approaches from African, European and Far Eastern governments, hoping he would revive Executive Outcomes.)

To read the pages in between is to travel a journey that started with Barlow as a sapper - an engineer - in then South West Africa clearing mines (and getting wounded in the process), before moving to 32 Battalion, patrolling deep, and dangerously, into Angola. Then came a transfer to the Directorate of Covert Collections (DCC), where he built an agent network in Botswana and "controlled people within the SACP, the ANC, the PAC and the BDF". Later counter-intelligence work included spotting, developing and recruiting an agent with the US Embassy in Pretoria , before resignation from the military to join the Civil Co-operation Bureau, the CCB.

In the not-yet-notorious CCB his responsibility was for the United Kingdom , Europe and Middle East . However the actions of its Region 6 (within South Africa ) as a sort of "Murder Incorporated", in Barlow's words, led to the organisation's collapse. So sudden was this that Barlow ended up using his own money to bring home four of his overseas agents … leaving him both "broke and heavily indebted".

Thus was laid the road to Executive Outcomes. But first came (among others) a request from a South American country to enter the field of drug enforcement (stymied by the US); training for the SA Army's Special Forces, mainly in covert operations but also counter-espionage; and assisting De Beers to curb the illegal diamond trade.

Then in early 1993 Barlow was presented with "a very delicate problem". It led to the Executive Outcomes operations which made that company's name and brought invitations to operate far and wide.

With South Africa out of Namibia , there was no reason for Pretoria to be hostile to Angola . It was thus entirely legitimate for South African citizens to accept a contract to protect recovery teams extracting heavy equipment from a Unita-controlled area in Angola's far north, in "a little town called Soyo".

Barlow's description of the fighting that ensued is a classic of its kind: descriptive, detailed and vivid, at times passionate, without moving at any time into Soldier of Fortune bravado. It displays also the compassion and understanding which mark a true soldier.

But while this was going on, the South Africans doing their job for the government of Angola - a country with which this country was officially now at peace - were being shafted.

"In Pretoria , I received a frantic telephone call from London at about 05:00 South African time. It was one of my old CCB agents.

" 'Eeben, you guys are in big shit', Richard declared. 'A friend of mine works at GCHQ, Cheltenham . They intercepted a telephone call last night from the South African Parliament building in Cape Town to the Unita representative in London …"

Both Barlow and his company had been mentioned, together with the advice "by someone in your government" that Unita hang on to Soyo regardless of cost.

Meanwhile, fed by leaks from both Military Intelligence and the Department of Foreign Affairs, a media war was unleashed back at home, with very little consideration being given to what EO might have to say, or indeed as to whether the material being "fed" was in the least reliable.

Much more - both triumph and tragedy - followed in Angola . Then came the challenge of Sierra Leone .

Suffice it to say that a small group of South Africans restored peace, at minimal cost and loss of life, only to see these achievements negated following international pressure.

For around US$31-million a year, Barlow tells us that EO defeated the rebels on the battlefield, saw the child soldiers who had been a tragic feature of that conflict demobilised, the government regain control of the country's mineral wealth, a cease-fire in place and fair elections.

Enforced replacement of EO with the UN force Unamsil cost some US$600-million a year, lost Sierra Leone to a coup, led to thousands of civilians being killed, the capital overrun, floods of refugees and massive infrastructural damage. With presumably no sense of irony, the UN rated Unamsil as a "most successful" mission.

In 1996 Barlow mounted a low-profile and extremely successful mission at the request of the Indonesian government to rescue hostages from an irredentist group. Invitations were extended by other governments with whom SA has friendly relations to assist in various projects, but these did not come to fruition.

EO closed its doors at the end of 1998, when "the South African Government lost a perfect vehicle for projecting force and bringing about stability in Africa ".

Far too often we tolerate behaviour that should be unacceptable; put up with that which should be insupportable. If the written word has a sound, in Executive Outcomes this would reflect the quiet rustle of a coat being trailed.

Barlow freely names his villains. They come chiefly from the old Military Intelligence, the old Department of Foreign Affairs, and ambitious businessmen with multiple agendas. They also include journalists.

There is no way this reviewer can comment on the accuracy or otherwise of such charges. But they cannot be ignored.

Shortly before this book appeared there were rumours that one journalist was asking for help in seeking an interdict to prevent publication. More to the point would be an action for libel, mounted perhaps by one or more of the "eminent" businessmen and former top public servants whose characters and activities are also ripped to shreds here.

Yet Barlow appears to have been a compulsive acquirer, and keeper, of sometime incriminating records. What would happen if those suing him, lost? And what would the media do about some of those who have been employed and trusted for so long as opinion-formers, if - in court - the records and documents which Barlow says he has safely cached "off-site", substantiate his allegations?

Overall, this is an extremely important contribution to our understanding of recent political and military history, both here and throughout Africa . It would be a great pity if, because of the many cans of worms it exposes, it was ignored.

James Mitchell: The Star, Johannesburg



This is the story of the birth and demise of Executive Outcomes. It is also the side of the story of Eeben Barlow, founder of EO, and he does not mince his words…

Barlow was a Lt Col in the Army and served in the Engineer Corps, 32 Battalion, Military Intelligence and he later entered the shadowy world of the CCB.

He was a spy with a network of agents overseas and in southern Africa . He knew a lot about sensitive issues and especially who was involved. This was probably the reason why he and EO were castigated when they sold their talents to the "enemy" in Angola .

Barlow presented courses to the SADF's "Recces" until shortly before EO accepted a contact with an oil company in Angola .

Due to their success, EO was asked to aid the Angolan Armed Forces to train its troops in order to break the stranglehold of UNITA on parts of that country in order to establish a government of national unity.

Due to the fact that South Africa had supported UNITA, EO and Barlow were branded as traitors. It was however the continued support from South African diplomats, businessmen and other highly-placed members in UNITA - even after the UN implemented sanctions against UNITA - that clearly had a sobering effect on Barlow.

Disinformation campaigns, threats and even an attempt on his life made him realize that big money was fuelling the war behind the scenes.

The police regularly investigated EO but never found any reason to prosecute the company. This did not stop the South African government and MI's determined efforts to destroy EO. Indeed, Barlow used his contacts in MI to brace himself for the continued attacks on his person and that of the company.

The book stretches from EO's Angolan operations to those in Sierra Leone , as well as smaller contracts tackled by the company.

He writes frankly about the alleged ineptitude of MI, the Defence Force, Foreign Affairs, Armscor, the UN. He does not shy away from using documentation to name those officials involved - nor those he identified as double agents.

Ironically enough, some of the senior military officers who apparently helped to hound the company, are themselves now in security jobs abroad, where they do exactly the same work…

Beeld - Erika Gibson, Military Correspondent~Executive Outcomes|ISBN-13 9781919854199|~364~11576~~
Fields of Air - James Byrom~Man is both awed and terrified by the concept of flying. In this book James Byrom chronicles the disasters and mysteries surrounding many aviation calamities. As well as the numerous triumphs and heady days of early South African flight. The most sensational account is his investigation of the SAA Helderberg crash, just off the Mauritian coast, which has become a topic of great news value from time to time.
"A book all aviation buffs should acquire" - Pretoria News.
“A thoroughly researched chronicle of flight and more particularly, the men and women involved in civil aviation, it is also, with its novelistic style, a page-turner.” - Namib Times
“…he (the author) has compiled an eminently readable book – a remarkable accomplishment when dealing with something so specialised…an enthralling book.” Robert Kirby, Financial Mail.
ISBN:1 919874 12 7 Paperback. 2nd edition, Aug 2001. 316 pages, 73 b&w photos + 7 maps. ~~Fields of Air|ISBN 1919874127|~364~1500~~
From Tailhooker to Mudmover - Dick Lord~From Tailhooker to Mudmover recounts the author's (a former SAAF Brigadier-General) experiences during his 4 decades of service as a military aviator. Dick Lord served in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. He was a carrier pilot based on the HMS Ark Royal and was later seconded to duty with the United States Navy. In the latter part of his military career, he commanded a SAAF F1 Mirage squadron during the SWA / Angola campaigns. Dick Lord's previous two aviation books, Fire Flood and Ice and Vlamgat!, were both best sellers.~~From Tailhooker to Mudmover|ISBN 0620307625|~364~10863~SAAF F1 Mirage squadron SWA Angola south african pilot aviator aviation~
Grensvegter?: South African Army Psychologist - Barry Fowler~This book details the experiences of a South African military psychologist during the counter insurgency war against SWAPO in Owamboland, South West Africa / Namibia in 1987. The book covers the author's mobilisation and de-mobilisation, the characters involved and lifestyle of the medical section at the HQ, experiences as a clinical psychologist debriefing soldiers who had been involved in firefights, and various insights into working and living in a military environment. There is also a detailed description of the psychological model used within the South African Medical service to debrief soldiers and others who were exposed to traumatic events which it could be expected could then lead to post Traumatic Stress Disorders. An interesting addition to the book are essays written by children living in garrisons that were under rocket attacks. This book could interest people involved in military medicine, especially with a conscripted army in a counter insurgency war situation.

ISBN: 0 9524423 2 9. Paperback 1996, 146 pages, index.~Sentinel Publications, 1996.
ISBN 0 9524423 2 9. Stiff Soft Cover. 146pp

This book details the experiences of a military psychologist in Sector 10, Owamboland, South West Africa / Namibia in 1987. Appendices include children's descriptions of their experiences of living in Oshakati and Ondangwa, as well as the Critical Incident Debriefing Model used with personnel vulnerable to developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

An autobiography, the first chapter deals with the author learning of his duty, preparations and his journey, and the tenth chapter does the reverse, winding down and returning to ordinary duty in `the states' (South Africa). Chapters 2 & 4 are mainly descriptions of the various characters involved, as well as the lifestyle of the medical section at the HQ of the most active sector of the South African occupation of Namibia in their counter insurgency operations against SWAPO. After that the author focuses more on his experience as a clinical psychologist working in a military medical environment, the debriefing of soldiers involved in firefights, one of which is described almost as a case study, and then the duties of visiting various out lying bases, and various insights into working and living in a military environment, some of them humorous anecdotes. There is a detailed description of the psychological model used within the South African Medical service to debrief soldiers and other exposed to traumatic events which it could be expected could lead to post traumatic stress disorder - possibly of some interest to those involved in the Vietnam war, the Falklands war and even the 1991 Gulf War and the British Army in Northern Ireland. There is a chapter devoted to extracts of essays written by children of the garrison (`army brats?) on their experiences of living in a town that was going to get rocketed several times a year. Although there unlikely to be many people interested in the South African army of occupation in what is now Namibia, this book might be of interest to people involved in military medicine, especially with a conscripted army in a counter insurgency war situation.~Grensvegter|ISBN 0952442329|~364~11086~South African military psychologist~
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 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.~Woodfield Publishing
Softback, 192 pages, colour photos
ISBN 1-84683-034-6


A South African bush pilot recalls his 25-year association with Angola UNITA terrorist leader Dr Jonas Savimbi

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 SAAF jet fighter pilot, Simon had retired from military flying when he secured a job with Pasload Flights %7E a supposedly civilian air transport company operating from Wonderboom airport in Pretoria. 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.

Simon flew Jonas Savimbi on many occasions %7E to secret meetings in various African countries and even as far afield as Munich in Bavaria. In the process they developed a mutual respect and affection that continued until Savimbi’s untimely death in 2002, when he was assassinated by his former allies for reasons of political expediency.

Simon’s abiding affection for his old friend Savimbi, his love of Africa and his passion for flying are the three main themes that run through this book.

Readers are offered a co-pilot’s seat in Simon’s aircraft, from where they will marvel at the spectacular African scenery and wildlife, learn first-hand about the continent’s bizarre and troubled recent history and meet some of its wacky kleptocrat leaders whose excesses have inflicted such misery on their own peoples.

They will also experience the thrill of flying in some incredible aircraft, such as the C47 Turbo-Dakota, the Lear 35 and 23 and a turboprop Cessna 310 … and to laugh at the crazy antics of those who fly them.

Simon’s enthusiastic and descriptive writing brings all these to life in vivid Technicolor and does the same for his old, dear friend Jonas Savimbi, a giant of a man who Simon believes to be much maligned and misunderstood and whose memory has, he claims, been besmirched by his political enemies.

[For legal reasons Simon has written his story in the third person and appears as the character 'Harry' in the book]



An extract from the book - Part of Chapter 'Always 'Check Your Six''

In no time flat, they are airborne. Fred, the chief pilot and Ralph are in the cockpit for the first leg. Harry sits in the cabin with Matie, who briefs him on the mission, saying:

"I'm flying as an extra pilot today, since we have to fly more than 22-hours without sleeping over. That's why you're so welcome to share the flying. We are flying to Jamba now to pick up Dr Savimbi, codename Spyker, with four of his top generals, and taking them to Kinshasa, Zaïre, whence the Americans will fly them to Washington in preparation for the talks with the so-called Front Line States later.

The Americans are sick-and-tired of the civil war in Angola and are naive enough to think that an enduring political solution can be found in Africa... I have news for them!

By the way, we address Dr Savimbi these days as ‘Mr President’, in the hope that he will be president of Angola in the very near future. I believe that it is attainable. How well do you know him, Harry? Do you know that he is reputed to speak seven languages? "

"Yes, Matie, I know him well enough. We often picked him up at Omega airstrip when I was flying at 21 Squadron, VIP-Transport. A Puma helicopter would bring him in from Jamba, just across the border and we would jet him to Air Force Base Waterkloof, in Pretoria for talks with our Government. I found him very charismatic and a gentleman.

I think it was during these operations, that I started seeing politicians for what they really are – disgusting, power drunk buffoons, who order war at a whim, then sit back, watching how fit young men kill each other while their own sons are kept very far from killing zones, by father’s influence… Bastards!

They would come and meet Dr Savimbi at my aircraft, smiling and greeting me by my first name, because I often flew them all over the country. Tomorrow on National TV, they sit there with their false smiles, denying all knowledge of where that bloody terrorist Savimbi finds himself…"

Harry's eyes are flashing. Politicians are not all that high on his love list…

Some 3¾ hours later Fred lands a pisser on the Jamba airfield. (Forgive us pilots our scatological fascination, but there is an American saying that goes we landed as smoothly as a cat pissing on plate glass… Sorry, but it is part of your education in things aeronautical!) They taxi in to the apron on the southern side of the airfield and shut down.

Dr Jonas Savimbi’s stocky figure is easily identifiable amongst his generals and soldiers assembled on Jamba airfield, where not a single cigarette butt or cold drink can ringlet can be found. It looks like any crack unit’s parade ground, such is UNITA’s neatness and discipline.

Savimbi welcomes the four pilots as his guests for lunch. As they walk to the Mess Hall next to the Apron, his resonant bass voice drones at Harry in English:

"So, my Colonel," he says, in the French form of address, "we meet again!"

"Indeed, Mr President, we do. I am happy to see you looking so well."

"My Colonel, I see you are now a civilian captain, if you will pardon my Irish."

"Yes, Mr President. I have exchanged my military epaulettes for the four-bar insignia of an airline captain; as you have exchanged your general’s insignia for the suit and tie of a politician."

"Oh, but my Colonel, it is only for such opportunities as these that I must play the role of a politician. I will always prefer the honest life of a soldier, which I really am at heart, but tell me… I hear that you almost came a cropper at Mavinga the other night," he teases, with the soldier’s gallows humour.

Dr Savimbi’s memory and attention to detail is legendary…

"Yes, Mr President, we were expecting your usual warm welcome, but almost met with the white hot kiss of one of our own missiles!"

"You know that I would have wept for you, my Colonel, had it happened…" resumes Savimbi seriously, but continues teasing a moment later, "even though you were hunting me down near Mavinga, some 20-years ago."

"Yes, Mr President! But you were a terrorist leader then."

"Would you have killed me, my Colonel, had you found me then?"

"Yes, Mr President," answers Harry simply, as one soldier to an opposing one.

"Perhaps you and I should stay away from Mavinga in future, my Colonel!"

"Mr President, even when we were adversaries, I respected you. Now that we are allies and friends, the respect is greater. But will you please remember one lesson from the Bush War, when you deal with the devious politicians in future?"

"And that is, my Colonel?" asks the future Angolan President.

"Check your six, Mr President! Among fighter pilots we always say ‘check your six!’, referring to the vulnerable six o’clock position behind your aircraft."

"You give sound advice, my Colonel…," Dr Savimbi ends off, inviting his guests and four select generals to take their places around the beautiful, highly-polished, solid Rhodesian teak tables in the Mess Hall at Jamba airfield.

Unhurriedly the four pilots dine with Dr Savimbi and his selected generals, while they patiently wait for the bush fighters’ greatest ally; the night. For at night, the seasoned bush fighter can operate unseen and it is very difficult to prevent him from doing what he wants to do…

Later that evening, in pitch-blackness, Harry sits in the cockpit with Fred, who wants to "show-him-something."

They do the start-up procedures, with Harry wondering how they are going to take-off in the dark, as Jamba certainly does not have the normal lighting system that airports posess for such operations.

When they are ready to taxi, Fred flicks the aircraft's powerful landing lights on-and-off for a split second.

Like magic, little flares begin to sprout up along both sides of the runway.

"Each flare is an empty Coke can, with its top cut off," Fred laughingly explains. "It is placed on the ground, next to the runway then filled with sand and a cupful of diesoline is poured into this sand. To make it easier to light it, a teaspoonful of petrol is added. left unattended a mini-flare like that would burn steadily for 15-minutes on end, but every one is attended by a UNITA soldier. On the agreed signal he strikes a match or lighter to ignite the flare. As the aircraft on take-off passes, he puts his boot on the open end of the Coke can, smothering the flame, so the flare-path disappears like magic as the aircraft runs past it, with no landing lights giving away its position to possible prowling fighters. It is very operational and very efficient!"

Harry is enormously impressed with this smuggler’s trick and performs the take-off between the mini flares into the pitch-black Angolan night. He turns north after take-off and flies up the 22° Eastern longitudinal line, the boundary between Angola and Zambia.

There is no radar coverage in that part of Angola or Zambia and even if someone hears an aircraft overhead, it is on an international border. Anyone who knows Africa will know that they will still be arguing over who is to do the interception a week after the aircraft has flown past! In any case, a night fighter interception at 1,000 feet above ground level could not be carried out anywhere in Africa at that time ... or even now.

Ralph comes to the cockpit to relieve Fred. He shows Harry how the route is to be flown: up along the 22° longitude line, then in between the fighter bases of Mongu in Zambia and Cazombo in Angola, outside the maximum range of the fighters.

When they meet the civilian airway between Lubumbashi and Kinshasa, they climb on that airway to 10,500 feet, switch on their internationally accepted navigation lights: red on the left wing tip, blue on the right wing tip and white on the tail extremity.

Nice and legal again, they contact the ATCO at N’Djili-airport in Kinshasa. It is all very simple, provided that each and every one of the liaisons has been done and every key person is in the picture. Otherwise fuel starvation will force you down in hostile territory, where you could very well be shot as a spy…

Life is not held in very high esteem everywhere in Africa, especially during revolutions and civil wars, which are rife in this neck of the woods.

Tonight it all goes like clockwork. Harry does the BONBI-1A-standard-arrival into Kinshasa; he intercepts the 12-mile-DME-arc, turns onto the ILS runway 2-4 at the lead-in Radial and executes a smooth landing at N’Djili International on the stroke of midnight, where the ATCO’s are fully conversant with the high-level delegation on board.

They taxi in to the red carpet, where the Zaïre Government Officials await Dr Savimbi, who walks down the air stair when the propellers swish to a stop, his trademark swagger stick with the ivory-topped handle hanging by a leather throng from his left wrist.

Just before entering the main airport building the Doctor turns around, facing the turbo-Dak and, like a naughty schoolboy, seemingly waves at the pilots, holding up his hands above his head, the fingers of the right hand spread, the left fist clenched, with only the left thumb raised, his white teeth sparkling in a wide grin under the lamplight.

In disbelief Harry whispers to Ralph.

"He is indicating check-your-six – just like I showed him! What a naughty old sport he is!"

© copyright 2007 - Simon Van Garderen - all rights reserved~I Flew for Savimbi|ISBN 1846830346|~364~11710~UNITA, Angola, Dr Jonas Savimbi,~
Journey Without Boundaries - Andre Diedericks~This is the extraordinary tale of an extraordinary man. An honestly told story of his military career, of a man who was twice decorated for valour, who pioneered and developed the concept of "small team reconnaissance" within the South African Special Forces. The author gained early experience in "small team reconnaissance" whislt with the SA's special forces '5 Recce' attached to the Rhodesian SAS as Delta Squadron, in Rhodesia 1978-79, and then went on to develop the concept further with ex-Rhodesian SAS and Selous Scouts members in SA. He was a consummate warrior and gentleman and has told his story with humility and a disarming sense that what he did was simply the job he was given, when even the most cursory reading will show that it was anything but simple or easy. From start to finish, his life was truly a ‘Journey without Boundaries’. These memoirs were written by Col Diedericks, better known as "Diedies", before his untimely death from cancer in 2005.
ISBN 13 9781920169589, June 2007. Softback/Hardback, 212 A5 pages - main text section 129 pages, balance is Glossary, Index, B/W photos and maps. (NB - is a POD publication, font is larger than normal)~~Journey Without Boundaries (Softback)|ISBN13 9781920169589 SB|Journey Without Boundaries (Hardback)|ISBN13 9781920169589 HB|~364~11487~small team reconnaissance, South African Special Forces recces~
Mercenary Commander - Col Jerry Puren as told to Brian Pottinger~On the 30 June 1960 the Congo became independent. Within five days the country had split into four squabbling parts. Tied with blood and history to the troubled country were the mercenaries, drawn from Britain, Rhodesia, France, Belgium and South Africa. They were le affreux - the frightful ones. This is their story and the story of those troubled and bloody times.
It also tells of one of the most audacious and yet badly planned mercenary exploits in history; the abortive coup attempt in the Seychelles in 1981 that nearly claimed the last of Colonel Puren's nine lives. This is a true story of adventure, of politics, of love, of betrayal . . . and of death. It is Colonel Puren's amazing story . . . and it all happened.
ISBN 0-9470-2021-7. Hardback, 384pp; 242 X 168-mm; 32pp b/w photographs
~~Mercenary Commander|ISBN 0947020217|~364~1501~~
My Life with the SA Defence Force - Magnus Malan~After graduating from the University of Stellenbosch in 1949 Magnus Malan joinedthe South African Defence Force as a candidate officer. He would have anillustrious military career. Commissioned as a lieutenant in the South African MarineCorps in 1953 he rose rapidly through the ranks. He was appointed Deputy Chiefof the Army in 1972, Chief of the Army shortly afterwards and as Chief of the SADFin 1976. In 1980 he retired from the SADF and became the Minister of Defencein the National Party government. There is little that occurred during South Africa’s‘total onslaught’ years that General Malan didn’t have knowledge of.
Protea Publishing, ISBN 978186919146. Hardcover 511 pages, Numerous B/W photos and maps in text.~Protea Publishing
ISBN 1869191145
ISBN-13 9781869191146
Hardcover, 509 pages.
Numerous black and white pics and maps in text.



As a schoolboy at the age of thirteen, Magnus Malan had already run away to join what was then the Union Defence Force. This was to no avail, of course, but ever since he was permitted to join the Physical Training Battalion in 1946, for a period of some 45 years, his career and life has been closely entwined with the South African Defence Force.

Malan's military career took him to many places in Southern Africa: Robben Island, the former South West Africa, where the Territorial Force was charged with protecting the South African Mandate territory, to the Military Academy in Saldanha and the Castle in Cape Town. As Chief of the Army and later Chief of the Defence Force he was closely involved in South Africa's incursion into Angola in 1975 and 1976, and also in many cross-border operations in the years thereafter.

Malan then entered politics, and will be particularly remembered as Minister of Defence during the troubled 1980s. Malan offers a brief account of the influence that political developments in Southern Africa since 1960 had on the structures and functions of the South African Defence Force; on the successes of Armscor, and on South Africa's nuclear arms capability. He also provides valuable context for a period of many political and military events; a period of immense importance to the present generation and their descendants, but which has become almost forgotten. The title pays tribute to all those who contributed to the successes of the South African Defence Force and Armscor in a critical era of South Africa's history.

This book is essential reading for those interest