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This book follows the development of the 32 Battalion from its confused origins from former enemies and terrorists into the best counter-insurgency force in the world. Jan Breytenbach gets it spot on with this one, his skill at story telling is great! 32 Battalion was a very well respected unit in the SADF and one can easily see why when reading this book. Jan's account of the 1975 incursion into Angola is accurate and detailed without becoming boring. His addition of some very funny incidents adds real enjoyment to a great book.
This is the story of an audacious, airborne assault, on 4 May 1978, on a SWAPO fortified base containing its military headquarters, logistical support, reserves and training facilities. The assault was supported by a very strong air strike by bombers and fighters as well as by air transport to drop the paratroopers into battle in one of the major, post World War para drops, 250kms deep behind enemy lines, and thus, of a necessity, the deployment of a veritable swarm of helicopters to extract the paratroopers back to safety, this execution of the whole intricate operation through a joint HQ deployed in the field. Unfortunately the subsequent uproar in the international media, based on allegat...
Battle for Cassinga is the first-hand account by a South African paratrooper who was involved in the 1978 assault on the Angolan headquarters of PLAN, SWAPO's armed wing. The battle, although a resounding success, suffered setbacks which could have proved disastrous to the South Africans had they not maintained the initiative. The improvisations made by Colonel Jan Breytenbach ensured that a flawed jump and inadequate intelligence did not adversely affect the outcome. The unforeseen Soviet-supplied SWAPO anti-aircraft guns used devastatingly in a ground role also threatened to derail the attack. A late appearance by a large Cuban/FAPLA (Angolan regulars) armored column, from the nearby town ...
The book gives an account of South African parachute battalion which attacked SWAPs plan army in Angola.
1 Recce. One of the sharpest, most versatile and deadliest specialist units in the South African Defence Force. These men - superfit and unbelievably tough - were dauntless. Time and again they put their lives on the line in covert operations that were mostly conducted under the cover of night, far behind enemy lines. Now, for the first time, the Recces' legendary commanders reveal details about their operations.
Author Jan Breytenbach, a legend in military circles, and the founder of South African Special Forces ‒ the Recces ‒ describes how he discovered that Military Intelligence was involved in illegal wildlife trade with Jonas Savimbi. To his horror and astonishment, senior officers were also using the MI created ivory-smuggling routes for their own corrupt ends. A must-read on a little known topic of the South African Border War, Angolan Civil War, and the de facto genocide of southern Africa's Big Five, particularly the elephant.
The Plunderers is an exciting tale of ivory and rhino horn smuggling between Angola and South Africa during the reign of Jonas Savimbi and how corruption in the upper echelons of the government of both countries nearly drove the elephant and rhino to extinction along the border of Namibia and Botswana. After trying to stop the plundering, a local game ranger is forced to become a fugitive and goes into hiding among the Bushmen who work with him to save the dwindling herds.
The SAS veteran, mercenary and author of No Mean Soldier looks back on a life of combat in this revised and expanded edition of his classic memoir. Peter McAleese’s No Mean Soldier set the bar for the modern military memoir. This completely revised and expanded edition sees a philosophical McAleese revisiting his time with Britain's Parachute Regiment, the SAS, Rhodesia's SAS and the South African Defense Force's 44 Para Brigade. Peter also recounts a range of other adventures, from his experiences with private military companies to near fatal skydiving accidents. With previously unpublished photos from McAleese’s private collection, Beyond No Mean Soldier delves deeper and further into the author’s wide-ranging experiences, the men he's served with, and the operations he'd conducted. Here in startling detail are the Aden insurgency; covert operations with the Rhodesian SAS; one of the first ever operational HALO inserts in British military history; assaults on SWAPO positions with 44 Para's Pathfinder Company; a botched assassination attempt in Colombia; and much more.