On Operations With C Squadron Sas

The author of the bestselling Secret SAS Missions in Africa and its sequel, SAS Action in Africa,continues the fight againstcommunist terrorist groups. Drawing on first-hand experiences, Michael Graham describes operations against communist-backed terrorists in Angola and Mozambique, aiding the Portuguese and Renamo against the MPLA and Frelimo respectively. Back in Southern Rhodesia SAS General Peter Walls, realizing the danger that Mugabe and ZANU represented, appealed directly to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This correspondence, published here for the first time, changed nothing and years of corruption and genocide followed. Although C Squadron was disbanded in 1980 many members joined the South African special forces. Operations undertaken included unsuccessful and costly destabilization attempts against Mugabe and missions into Mozambique including the assassination of Samora Machel. By 1986 deteriorating relationships with the South African authorities resulted in the break-up of the SAS teams who dispersed worldwide. Had Mike Graham not written his three action-packed books, C Squadron SAS’s superb fighting record might never have been revealed. For those who are fascinated by special forces soldiering his accounts are “must reads.” “Takes us into the African bush to fight communist terrorists during the late 1960s and 1970s. His stories are sometimes hair-raising, sometimes amusing, but always interesting and worth reading.” —Beating Tsundoku “This account of SAS actions in Africa as part of the Cold War is lively interesting, nicely written and feels authentic. The photographs are particularly interesting in support of the text. A fascinating read.” —Firetrench

This is the third and final ‘stand-alone’ account of C Squadron SAS’s thrilling operations against the relentless spread of communist backed terrorism in East Africa. Drawing on first-hand experiences the author describe operations against communist-backed terrorists in Angola and Mozambique, aiding the Portuguese and Renamo against the MPLA and Frelimo respectively. Back in Southern Rhodesia SAS General Peter Walls, realising the danger that Mugabe and ZANU represented, appealed directly to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This correspondence, published here for the first time, changed nothing and years of corruption and genocide followed. Although C Squadron was disbanded in 1980 many members joined the South African special forces. Operations undertaken included unsuccessful and costly destabilisation attempts against Mugabe and missions into Mozambique including the assassination of Samora Machel. By 1986 deteriorating relationships with the South African authorities resulted in the break-up of the SAS teams who dispersed worldwide. Had Mike Graham not written his three action-packed books, C Squadron SAS’s superb fighting record might never have been revealed. For those who are fascinated by special forces soldiering his accounts are ‘must reads’.

The untold story of Rhodesian special forces and their defense of British Colonies in Africa during the Cold War, told by a soldier who was there. In Secret SAS Missions in Africa, a former senior member of the little-known C (Rhodesia) Squadron of Britain’s Special Air Service recounts their military operations in Africa during the Cold War. The Squadron was involved in almost continuous anti-communist operations over the period 1968 to 1980. In the unstable final stages of British colonial rule, the Squadron was constantly on the move. African nationalist movements, backed by Russia and China, posed a constant and deadly threat to colonial regimes. Small detachments of the SAS, with highly developed bush warfare skills, proved devastatingly effective at countering rebel factions in Kenya, Mozambique, Rhodesia, and elsewhere on the continent.

A historical overview of the operations undertaken by the Rhodesian Special Air Service in the second half of the twentieth century. This gripping action-packed book is the eagerly awaited sequel to the best-selling Secret SAS Missions in Africa. C Squadron SAS, comprising dedicated battle-hardened veterans, operated against ruthless terrorist groups, trained and equipped by the Chinese and Russians between 1968 and 1980. The author, who rose to be the Squadron Second-in-Command, is superbly qualified to tell the inside story of their daring and deadly operations undertaken regardless of international borders in former Southern Rhodesia, Zambia, Angola and Mozambique. These include actively supporting Renamo, who were bitterly opposed to the Marxist/Leninist Frelimo regime in Mozambique. Operation DINGO, the Squadron’s largest mission, destroyed a large ZANU training base and almost tipped the balance of power against Mugabe. We learn the story behind the shooting down of two civilian aircraft in what is now Zimbabwe and the special force follow-up to exact revenge. Also described are anti-poaching operations against breakaway groups intent on trading ivory and rhino horns. With its fast pace, colorful characters and behind-the-lines operations, SAS Action in Africa is a superb and thrilling read.

OPERATION STORM is the inside story - told by those who took part - of the greatest secret war in SAS history. The tipping point, Mirbat, South Oman, 19 July 1972 is one of the least-known yet most crucial battles of modern times. If the SAS had been defeated at Mirbat, the Russian and Chinese plan for a communist foothold in the Middle East would have succeeded, with catastrophic consequences for the oil-hungry West. OPERATION STORM is a page-turning account of courage and resilience. Mirbat was a battle fought and won by nine SAS soldiers and a similar number of brave local people - some as young as ten years old - outnumbered by at least twenty-five to one. Roger Cole, one of the SAS soldiers who took part, and writer Richard Belfield have interviewed every SAS survivor who fought in the battle from the beginning to the end - the first time every single one of them has revealed their experience. OPERATION STORM is a classic story of bravery against impossible odds, minute by minute, bullet by bullet.

The killing part is the easy bit; the tricky part is finding the right people to kill. Rob was a Special Forces operator with some of the world finest regiments and served in four national armies over a career that has spanned forty years and continues today. In 1965 he earned the converted Green Beret as a member of 2 Commando Australia. He left in 1968 to Southeast Asia. Finding work of a military nature in Laos, (in the war that never was). The end of the contract found him in England where he joined the British Parachute Regiment and completed three tours in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles, taking part in Operation Demetrius. On his last tour, he was detached from his battalion and worked covert operations with a little-known group called the MRF (Military Reaction Force). 1974 saw Rob in Rhodesia as a member of the internationally acclaimed C Squadron SAS, where he was wounded on operations twice. This was a turning point in Rob’s life as he surrendered to Christ becoming a Christian. He was to carry on as an operator, but now with a biblical world view. Rob was recruited in 1980 by the South African Defense Force and was a member of 6 Reconnaissance Commando Special Forces and later became an operative with what was commonly called ‘the funnies’ or CSI Chief of Staff Intelligence. From 1996 to 2007 Rob was in South Sudan and Iraq, receiving a letter of commendation from the United States Army. Still active today, Rob specializes in close protection and tactical security training for civilian personnel.

The Rhodesian Special Air Service, one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world, operated almost exclusively across borders during the long bitter bush war, undertaking deep-penetration missions against insurgents being harbored inside neighboring Mozambique and Zambia. There were missions into Botswana too, and at one stage, the SAS was operating without benefit of passport in all three neighboring territories at the same time. Long before the war escalated and the whole region became their battlefield, clandestine missions across the border were undertaken by SAS operators. Later, when the situation intensified, they were responsible for some of the most audacious and highly sensitive missions of the war. The writer takes the reader from the early days on the Western Desert to the formation of the Rhodesian SAS for service in Malaya, then back to Africa where the action spans the days of the Federation, the UDI era and finally the decolonization of Rhodesia by the British in 1980. This is the first book to detail the secret exploits of this elite regiment and it has been based on rare firsthand interviews with operators themselves. Some of their exploits may seem far-fetched, even impossible, but then, truth is often stranger than fiction. It is a history of high adventure and daring, courage and humanism, be it driving through the streets of a neighboring capital, knocking out trains, bridges and installations or swooping out of the morning skies then, with the ability to hit hard and fast, attacking and taking their leave, the devastation complete, the mission accomplished. This edition, which combines the original and the subsequent pictorial editions-originally published in the mid-1980s and long since out of print-is presented in a modern, attractive, upgraded format.