Rhodesian COIN (consolidated thread, inc original RLI)

[davidbfpo]

Looking for something else I found this complimentary book review; the author Professor Timothy Stapleton is a Canadian and has written other books on warfare in Africa. Amazon states:

During the decolonization wars in East and Southern Africa, tracking became increasingly valuable as a military tactic. Drawing on archival research and interviews, Stapleton presents a comparative study of the role of tracking in insurgency and counter-insurgency across Kenya, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

One reviewer used to frequent here and in this post cited in part:

This book does an excellent job at weaving all the historical facts and figures around the players. It details the complete evolution of tracking as an effective counter-insurgency tool. .....As well, the sections on Rhodesia were also very enlightening with tons of information I was unaware of, as it relates to the development of tracking in the Rhodesian Security Forces from pre-Tracker Combat Unit to the Selous Scouts.

Link:https://www.amazon.com/Warfare-Track...s%2C229&sr=1-4

The reviewer suggests readers track down the author's earlier article, which has a section on Rhodesia; free via this link:https://mantracking.files.wordpress....uth-africa.pdf

[BayonetBrant]

Updating the link to my review of the RLI book that Mark Adams helped put together

https://www.armchairdragoons.com/art...ommandos-book/

(I'm working over at a new site, and have re-pub'ed some of my older content there)v

[davidbfpo]

I don't think this report has appeared here; caveat this is a large thread.

Discovered via the BSAP History Group and it is a scanned copy (174 pgs), the main author being Bruce Hoffman and available for free via:https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/groupsioattachments/61171/74548006/746/1?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJECNKOVMCCU3ATNQ&Expires=1591 276652&Signature=RWrxLxwZXOm3zpwyyqPlmmZlRz4%3D&re sponse-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3D%22rhodesian+less ons.pdf%22

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to Jon Custis for spotting that Charles Melson has written 'Fighting for Time: Rhodesia's Military and Zimbabwe’s Independence', which has been published in the UK and USA by Casemate Publishers. It has to date on rating and one very short review.

Links to Amazon sites (there are other publishers): https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Time...4999730&sr=1-1 and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighting-Ti...s=books&sr=1-1

The author's bio:

Charles D. “Chuck” Melson served as the Chief Historian for the U.S. Marine Corps, at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps in Washington, DC, and the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. His military service included 25 years as a U.S. Marine. For some 23 years he wrote, co-authored, or edited official publications and series. Chuck was also a joint historian with the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. He received the General Edwin Simmons-Henry Shaw Award for public historians, the General Leonard Chapman Medal for professional military educators, and the commemorative Rhodesian Independence Medal.

Parts of the book can be found on Google Books: https://books.google.bs/books?id=iv0...6AEwCHoECAsQAg

[davidbfpo]

I know a review of Melson's book is due in the journal Small Wars & Insurgencies.

Awaiting my attention and time is a book published in Zimbabwe, in 2020 and available via Bush War Books in South Africa: 'A Brutal State of Affairs: The rise and fall of Rhodesia' by Henrik Ellert and Dennis Anderson, both were police officers, in the Special Branch at the time. Two reviews and five ratings on: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brutal-Stat...pe=all_reviews