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For the short time I was in that unit, until April 1980, Darryl Watt was a mentor. And the two other officers who were the most down to earth and helpful were the two well noted in the book...Andre Scheepers and Rich Stannard. At long last we have a real hard man book.......nothing about how difficult selection was( some British SAS books have about half the writing devoted to this) or basic training, or any stuff that is written for a movie. The real deal. The pure, special forces soldiering of Darryl, and his men, is to this very day, jaw dropping. I got scared all over again reading about it. Nothing around the world beats it. These guys would be legends around the world if they had done this in the name of England or America. Thank goodness they did not. They were too good, and too decent, for the treachery and cowardice and vengefulness shown by those two countries in particular. The author does a brilliant job of weaving the political threads in time to the years of soldiering. Simple and revealing and awful to read about. More revealing than other accounts I have read.
And he does so well in getting contributions from the worthy soldiers who were with Darryl.....and how well and humbly did they speak ? A superb book.
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When writing a biography the writer establishes a time and back ground. This book does this well with insights into the machinations of Whitehall, the Whitehouse, Kremlin, Voortrekker Hoodgte and Beijing. All these seats of government played a part in the demise of Rhodesia becoming a one party communist orientated country. You will need to read the book to see how this plays out.
Darrell Watts is a respected special forces operator and gives a deep insight into the methods and operations of C Squadron Special Air Services, later 1 SAS Rhodesia. To me the early days of the war from 1966 and the development of tracking by Alan Savory is very interesting. Watts pioneered this anti terror tool with the likes of Stretch Franklin and Andre Rabie. The SAS is known for the regiment's tough selection course. When one reads the operation reports of the individuals involved one sees why it was so tough. Men resorted to drinking their own urine and eating used teabags of external operations when the resupplies failed. They did this whilst being chased by superior numbers and behind enemy lines.
I have a collection of over ten books about the Special Forces in Rhodesia and this is one I shan't be swopping or giving to the charity shop. It is a riveting read about proud brave men who overcame against all odds on the battle field with limited resources. Rhodesia was not lost on the battle field but due to political ineptitude. For those who served in C Squadron you dared and you won. In my opinion yours is a story of professional soldiering and this book goes a long way to dispel the myth that SAS men were not supermen. Rather they were selected and trained to a high level to become hard men who could endure, think on their feet and believe in themselves enough to win any firefight. I would recommend this book to any serious collector of Rhodesian Military History.
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What a good book, excellent read , what gutsy blokes. It gives out lots of information that we did not know. Read it, you will not be disappointed. Well written too.
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I had personal experience of the Rhodesian bush war scenario and know Darryl Watts from the sixties when we were originally in the same intake before going our separate ways; Darryl into the Rhodesian SAS. The book gives a 'as it was'account of the hardships and terror of the fight for survival in the Rhodesian bush as well as in Mozambique and Zambia. There can be no other special forces unit anyway on the planet who would be able to achieve what Darryl and his comrades did against overwhelming odds with merge resources. This well written book emerges the reader into a world of hardship and battle; real life heroes and action men who were ultimately betrayed .by back stabbing British politicians and a weak Rhodesian Forces hierarchical command. It is a shame the world viewed this as a 'white v black' war when it was nothing of the sort, indeed an understanding of the various complex African tribal systems is required.
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As an elderly American woman I am not usually into military stories. At the time the SAS was trying to save Rhodesia, I knew nothing about what was going on in Africa. However, this book was recommended to me and I could not put it down. How an accomplished and dedicated group of men could accomplish so much with so little still amazes me. Not only did they have to be watching their backs for military enemies, but often fighting in the African bush they also had to watch their backs, fronts and sides watching for dangerous African wildlife that could kill them. The author did bring up the fact that prior to joining the military Darell Watt had grown up in the bush and was accustomed to wildlife. He is still helping to save wildlife today at Mushingashi Conservancy in Zambia.
The thing that bothered me while reading the book, and still bothers me today, is that the UK and US didn't support the SAS as they should have, and as a result a corrupt dictator Robert Mugabe has been in charge of the country ever since. Had the UK and US been more supportive of the SAS, the entire continent of Africa might have been much better off today without all their corrupt leaders. Those in the SAS who fought so hard for their country are true heroes.
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This item: A Handful of Hard Men: The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia
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![The Rhodesian War: Fifty Years On [From UDI]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519d%2B37qqxL._AC_UL160_SR111,160_.jpg)
