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Thread: Rhodesian COIN (consolidated thread, inc original RLI)

  1. #61
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    Default Coin

    If you get the time and have to pick from the two, do read “Crouks” first. I enjoyed reading “Assignment” but It got unfavorable remarks from the S. Scouts Association. I really enjoyed the perspective gave on pseudo ops, but I personally did not agree on some of his political points made in the book, but again I was not their and only know what I have read else were. Overall I give the book 4 out of five stars. Just my .02 cents! And I do recall the COIN Manual that was a little while ago. I hope it helped out. I have four different Rhodesian COIN manuals and I am currently editing all four together with various added comments and references, and to as well show how some of the doctrine changed as new versions became available.

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    Council Member jcustis's Avatar
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    Hmm..PM sent sir.

  3. #63
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    Default Rli

    Howzit

    FYI there were some photographs taken at the RLI book launch held recently in London. We kept up the fine tradition of getting absolutely planked after the event, understandable I guess when you meet with friends again some 27 years plus after the fact. Nevertheless it proved to be a superb evening all in all, with the Scots Guards band in attendance and in fine order.

    Jon I believe you may recognise a friend of yours.

    http://www.therli.com/A_Events_Booklaunch.asp

    I`m not wishing (or needing) to promote sales etc, but the book "The Saints" and the DVD that comes with it are frankly superb (I can say that with a smug grin as I`m in the latter somewhere). If you happen to be interested in our particular bun-fight then these might fill in a few blanks.

    Cheers
    I.R.

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    What is the going price in $US for a copy, if any, and are there going to be any US distributors as far as anyone can tell?

    It would truly round out my collection to get this new book, and I hope to not have to pay Egay prices after only a month from the release date!

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    And in the photos...is that tall gentleman on the platform whom I think he is?

  6. #66
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    Default The Saints

    Jon

    I`m not sure which fellow you are referring to, but the ex-officer on the platform giving the salute is the last C.O. of the RLI, Lt Col. Charlie Aust.

    I believe the book, which includes the DVD, would cost about US$95-00 excluding post and packaging. I`m not aware at the moment of any agents selling it in the US.

    The advertising spiel is as follows:

    Book Description

    The Saints is a glossy, coffee-table, pictorial format book of the history
    of the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Often underrated, but arguably one of the
    most effective counter-insurgency units of all time, the RLI brought the
    `Fireforce' concept to the world's attention--a devastatingly ruthless
    airborne tactic. The RLI was a veritable `foreign legion' with over 20
    nationalities represented. They fought the bitter Zimbabwean `bush war' for 15 years and RLI soldiers were recipients of four Silver Crosses and 42
    Bronze Crosses of Rhodesia. An RLI trooper holds the world record for
    operational parachute descents - a staggering 73 op jumps - most under 500 feet. The Saints contains hundreds of colour photos, maps, rolls of honour, honours and awards. It includes a host of previously unpublished material and many former RLI members contributed photos, memorabilia and anecdotes to the project. Also included is a DVD containing previously unseen combat footage.

    Synopsis
    At last! This is the history of the Rhodesian Light Infantry. We've seen the stories of the more 'glamourous' Selous Scouts, the SAS and the Rhodesian Air Force, but very little about the RLI, often underrated, but arguably one of the most effective counter-insurgency units of all time. This was the unit that brought the 'Fireforce' concept to the world's attention - the devastatingly ruthless airborne envelopment and annihilation of a guerrilla enemy. The RLI was a veritable 'foreign legion' with over 20 diverse nationalities serving in her ranks. It is a glossy coffee-table, pictorial format with hundreds of colour photos, maps, rolls, honours and awards. It is not intended as a definitive history but, with more of a classic 'scrapbook' feel, the presentation attempts to capture the essence of this fine unit - what it was like to be a troopie. We have accessed a host of unique, previously unpublished photos and illustrative material and many former RLI members have embraced the project, generously contributing photos, memorabilia and anecdotes. Ian Smith has written his tribute in the front and the foreword is by the last CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Aust.



    You can order online via website www.30degreessouth.co.za
    Full colour, hard cover, coffee-table format544 pages, with over 1,500 photos and maps Price: ZAR 695.00 (approx US$95.00 or £50.00) + shipping


    I.R.

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    Cool Journey Without Boundaries

    Quote Originally Posted by taldozer View Post
    I have seen a lot of chat here on different book here are two I recommend also on the Rhodesian and South African Bush Wars. Both books focus on singleton and small team (2-man) recce operations by the Selous Scouts and the SA 5 RECCE. They are “Only My Friends Call Me Crouks” by Dennis Croukamp (S. Scout) and “Journey Without Boundaries” by Col André Diedericks (SA RECCE). The later just came out on the coat tails of Crouks book. Crouks book gives some outstanding insight to the Selous Scouts and by far one of the best books on the Rhodesian Bush War to date, while Andre book is also a valuble insght to SA 5 Recce. Both books are currently avalible. I have links to them on my Selous Scouts website.

    Cheers,
    T. A. L. "Dozer"
    Hi "T.A.L.",
    I dunno about "on the coat-tails".. but I did just release Andre Diederick's book "Journey without Boundaries". (http://www.justdone.co.za/catalog/pr...roducts_id/141)

    Also of possible interest to readers of this topic is Charlie Warren's story "Stick Leader; RLI". Chris Cocks used one or two of the stories from Charlie's book in his book "The Saints". (http://www.justdone.co.za/catalog/pr...products_id/33)

    Also BTW.. you really need to update some of the links on your site which point to my old sites at the Univ of Stellenbosch which haven't been active for about 3 years now. The Roll of Honour is now at http://www.justdone.co.za/ROH/.
    All the best
    John

  8. #68
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    Default Errata

    It appears that a few points of clarification are in order regarding published works mentioned in this thread.

    Alexandre Binda is the author of The Saints, and Chris Cocks is the compiler/editor. There may have been confusion with so much mention of Cocks, who most certainly penned an excellent work with his Fireforce.

    As for Assignment Selous Scouts by Jim Parker, it appears that it is not endorsed by the Selous Scouts Association. Although I am just realizing that there is indeed a S. Scouts Assoc. in existence, and I am enjoying my read of Parker's book, I offer this information up for folks to digest as they see fit.

    Copies of The Saints are for sale from Amazon.co.uk, and I just picked up mine for a modest $111.00
    Last edited by jcustis; 07-17-2007 at 12:55 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
    Alexandre Binda is the author of The Saints, and Chris Cocks is the compiler/editor.
    Chris is also one of the owners/partners in the publishers of the book, 30 degrees South Publishing http://www.30degreessouth.co.za/

    All the best
    John

  10. #70
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    Default Rhodesians at War

    FYI - It would appear we Rhodesians are a fine bunch of war-mongerers

    A genuine shame that the British Government conveniently forgot our contribution to THEIR cause when it was no longer convenient - I heard of a number of these Ex-service people living on dog-food (when it was available ) before finally I left - in complete disgust.

    I.R.


    http://www.abc.net.au/wa/anzac/allied.htm#ra


    The military history of Rhodesia until the early sixties is a history of Rhodesia's participation in wars fought on behalf of Britain, the mother country. Rhodesians partook of these varied conflicts with competence, bravery and a marked degree of enthusiasm which, on consideration of their military inclination and origins, is perhaps not surprising. The first of these wars was the South African War 1899-1902. Rhodesia's main contribution was in sending the new BSA Police and the Southern Rhodesians Volunteers to the relief of the siege of Mafeking. This force included a new unit, the Rhodesia Regiment, raised specifically for the occasion. Rhodesians were also prominently involved in the defence of Mafeking. The first shots of the war were fired against Rhodesians.


    Although this conflict saw the emergence of trench warfare, concentration camps and a variety of other refinements, a real appreciation of the nature of modem war did not penetrate the consciousness of western man until the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. It was in the mud of the Somme and Flanders and on the barbed wire and machine guns of the German lines that Rhodesia's sunshine settlers, in company with the whole European race, finally lost their innocence.


    Over 6000 white Rhodesians 'played the game' and went to war in Europe, East Africa and South West Africa. This represented two-thirds of all European men between the ages of 15 and 44, and a quarter of the total white population of the country.


    Rhodesia served in eighty Imperial regiments ranging from the Black Watch (all twelve who joined this unit were killed) to the Tank Corps, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. This, in addition to those who joined the 1st and 2nd Rhodesia Regiments (2000) men, the BSAP, the Union of South Africa forces and the 400-man Rhodesian Platoons of the King's Royal Rifle Corps. Some 2800 men of African and mixed race, most of them in the Rhodesia Native Regiment, also went to war. 900 were killed, of whom 732 were European.
    A total of 527 decorations, ranging from Britain's Victoria Cross to Russia's Order of St Viadimir and France's Croix de Guerre, were awarded to Rhodesians. Pitiful compensation, perhaps, for the unbelievable obscenity and horror of war.


    An indication of how small the Rhodesian armed forces were between 1920 and 1939 is that in the latter year, the Permanent Staff Corps totalled only 47 officers and men. The BSA Police, however, have always been trained as both policemen and soldiers, a dual role which was abandoned with the outbreak of WWII but not completely relinquished until 1954. With the upsurge of armed incursions into Rhodesia in the 1960's however, the BSAP once again became a para-military force.


    Distance, for Rhodesians, has always made the heart grow patriotic. They flocked to volunteer when, on Monday 4 September 1939, the local press carried full page advertisements for recruits. According to one historian, quite a few seriously wondered whether Germany would be defeated before they could get into action. They were not to be disappointed. Conscription, that Catch 22 technique of modern industrialised man, was introduced and initially six full time units were formed. Some 6650 white and 1730 black Rhodesians served outside Rhodesia in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and Burma. A total of nearly 11000 Europeans and mixed race personnel of whom 1500 were women, actually went into uniform, as did 15000 African troops.


    Rhodesia supplied more troops per head of population to the allied war effort than any other country in the empire. One in ten of the 8500 Rhodesians of all races who served overseas were killed or died on active service.


    Rhodesia's most important contribution to the ultimate success of the allies, it could be argued, was the fact she provided the nucleus, and the enemy free skies, for the huge Rhodesia Air Training Group of the Royal Air Force. During the six years of war the Southern Rhodesia Air Force itself was absorbed into the RAF initially as No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron (in which Prime Minister Ian Smith served) and later in the form of at least two other squadrons. Of the 2409 Rhodesians who joined the Air Force, 498 were killed. The squadrons performed splendidly.


    In the variety of conflicts that preceded Britain's post-war shedding of her colonial possessions, Rhodesia's armed forces have occasionally played a limited role.


    These have included sending men of the Southern Rhodesia Far East Volunteer Unit to Malaya in 1951 as the Rhodesian Squadron of the Special Air Services, Malayan Scouts. The last chief of Rhodesia's Security Forces, General Peter Walls, was the commanding officer of this unit. In 1952 a detachment of 400 men of the Rhodesian Africa Rifles went to Egypt for deployment in the Canal Zone. The Regiment also later fought in the foetid jungles of Malaya against the "CT's". By 1959 the Royal Rhodesian Air Force, acquired a wider responsibility as apart of the RAF's potential in the Middle East, helping to cover such hot spots as Aden, Kuwait and Cyprus with their Vampires and Canberra bombers.


    From the first clashed with the Matabele in 1893 to the early counter- insurgency moves in the 1972-80 guerilla war, Rhodesians have acquired a fighting tradition which is often their rationale and inspiration.


    *Contact: Graharn Blick 53 Davallai Road Duncraig 9448 6941
    There is a consolidated Rhodesian COIN thread at:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=2090
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-11-2010 at 11:38 AM. Reason: Mods note added and thread closed

  11. #71
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    I checked up on my Amazon.co.uk order for The Saints, and was disappointed to see that the ship date had changed from a end of July suspense, to the first freaking week of January 2008.

    Question for Alex Binda, did the initial printing sell completely out already?

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    Default The Saints

    Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
    I checked up on my Amazon.co.uk order for The Saints, and was disappointed to see that the ship date had changed from a end of July suspense, to the first freaking week of January 2008.

    Question for Alex Binda, did the initial printing sell completely out already?
    Dear Major Custis. This is news to me! I know the New Zealand consignment of 500 sold out immediately & Hugh Bomford had to order more. I assume from your news that the UK supply has also sold out! Will check with Chris Cocks. I think the initial print run was a small 2500 ...so somewhat of a collectors item (I predicted this...!) Cheers. Alex. PS It has received a good review in SOLDIER (Brit Army Mag)

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    Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
    I checked up on my Amazon.co.uk order for The Saints, and was disappointed to see that the ship date had changed from a end of July suspense, to the first freaking week of January 2008.

    Question for Alex Binda, did the initial printing sell completely out already?
    Hi. Its me again. Just checked Amazon. They are offering one copy at £55.
    Please also note (& warn members?) there is an unscrupulous individual who has a web advertising Rhodesiana Nostalgia. It begins with the word M...anyway what this person is doing is buying copies of "The Saints" from the publisher, removing the DVD and substituting a crappy one of his own (he is backed by good technology apparently) then selling both separately.The book for £79 and the DVD for god knows what. Alex

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    Oh, I know that bugger all too well Alex. I ordered a book through that set-up and received a damn Rugby Shirt. When I contacted him to get things sorted out, he asked me to work it out with the fellow who had received the book (The Rain Goddess - Stiff), but that other fellow wanted to keep the book. I got my money back, but only after considerable shuffling on their part. And then when I gave him a negative feedback on Egay for advertising Baddcock's Images of War as being Rhodesian in nature, I was made persona non grata for future auctions. Caveat emptor and all that I suppose.

    I can understand delays, but if amazon tells me that I cannot receive a brand new book for another 6 months...I begin to worry.

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    Default Soldier

    Howzit Alex and Chris

    A lekker job on the book ouens, made me very proud, thank you to all for your hard graft, and the chiboolies etc at the book signing! (Ag man what a babbelaas!) Jon, apparently not all the Crocs live in the Zambezi!

    Alex is probably a little modest, but the review is worth inclusion (I know, I`m biased, but I dont care ):

    http://www.soldiermagazine.co.uk/rev...ks.htm#feature


    Alexandre Binda, compiled and edited by Chris Cocks (30º South Publishers, 544pp, £50).
    Review: John Elliott

    HISTORY, declares former Rhodesian premier Ian Douglas Smith, will show that the battle for his country was not a war against a “liberation army” but against terrorists who threatened a bastion of Christian civilisation in a lonely African outpost.

    “From the beginning of hostilities to the end, the panache and fighting spirit of the Rhodesians was epitomised by the officers and men of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI), who fought throughout with courage, fortitude and reckless disregard for their own welfare,” writes Mr Smith in a tribute published on the first page of this picture-rich, glossy, coffee-table publication.

    Here your reviewer must declare an interest. As a 20-year-old in the late 1960s he completed a year of National Service in the Rhodesian Army, beginning with several weeks of old-fashioned basic training straight out of the British Army manual, delivered in the main by RLI regulars whose accents revealed their formative years were as likely to have been spent in London or Liverpool as Southern Africa.

    To us part-timers, the troopers of the RLI were the real deal: tough, resourceful, confident, up for it, within our borders or without, a self-contained, scary band of hell-raisers who fought hard, played harder and spoke an incomprehensible, slang-filled patois. To the white citizens of Bulawayo and Salisbury they were heroes, although many would have taken their nickname – The Saints – with a large dose of salts.

    Arguably one of the most effective counter-insurgency units of all time, the RLI developed the “Fireforce” concept of ruthless airborne envelopment and annihilation of the guerrilla enemy. A superb fighting unit, they won every battle but lost the war.

    Their last commanding officer, Lt Col Charlie Aust, now living in the UK, is unequivocal about the RLI’s legacy. “Tutored under the auspices of the British Commonwealth, the unit grew and matured in peace and war to become one of the finest regiments of a small and determined army, which itself became the most efficient and successful irregular warfare machine ever known in Africa or indeed, perhaps the world” is how he puts it in a foreword to the book.

    Built on a foundation of Rhodesians, the ranks of the RLI were augmented by soldiers from the armies of many nations, not least that of the United Kingdom. Ironically, that tradition operates today in reverse, with hundreds of Zimbabweans currently in the uniform of the British Army.

    Binda, who served for 15 of the 19 years (1961-1980) that the regiment existed, has woven together a mass of personal and operational detail, maps, sketches and photographs compiled by Chris Cocks, who saw action with 3 Commando, 1 RLI.

    Insertions by helicopter and parachute (from ever-reliable Second World War-vintage Dakotas) were followed by hard, aggressive action on the ground. At the height of the war troopers were jumping two or three times a day into contact zones. One racked up 79 operational drops.

    An American NCO in 3 Cdo reckoned soldiers on Fireforce missions – operations deep into the bush – required two qualities: a healthy instinct for survival and a lot of luck. Another believed what was needed was aggression, a high standard of sharp-shooting and initiative. “Slow or hesitant reactions and poor shooting,” he said, “wasted the effort of everyone involved in putting sticks on the ground.”

    This, writes Ian Smith, was a regiment that “filled Rhodesians with pride”. Binda’s book tells us why.
    I.R.

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    Default Hmm...

    Alex, Chris,

    Would like to post an excerpt of a chapter from the book in the SWJ mag and Blog with a link to Amazon on purchase. We've done this with two books so far - Tom Odom's Journey Into Darkness (Rwanda) and Bing West's No True Glory (Iraq).

    Or if you prefer - an unique Blog entry or mag article on your experiences - I.R. too... Let me know - we would be proud to spread the word...

    You can PM me here or e-mail...

    Dave

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    Default The Saints

    Quote Originally Posted by jcustis View Post
    Oh, I know that bugger all too well Alex. I ordered a book through that set-up and received a damn Rugby Shirt. When I contacted him to get things sorted out, he asked me to work it out with the fellow who had received the book (The Rain Goddess - Stiff), but that other fellow wanted to keep the book. I got my money back, but only after considerable shuffling on their part. And then when I gave him a negative feedback on Egay for advertising Baddcock's Images of War as being Rhodesian in nature, I was made persona non grata for future auctions. Caveat emptor and all that I suppose.

    I can understand delays, but if amazon tells me that I cannot receive a brand new book for another 6 months...I begin to worry.
    Hi Jon. Chris Cocks says to email him.He is baffled as stocks are plentiful...Alex his email = info@30degreessouth.co.za

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    Default The Saints

    Quote Originally Posted by SWJED View Post
    Alex, Chris,

    Would like to post an excerpt of a chapter from the book in the SWJ mag and Blog with a link to Amazon on purchase. We've done this with two books so far - Tom Odom's Journey Into Darkness (Rwanda) and Bing West's No True Glory (Iraq).

    Or if you prefer - an unique Blog entry or mag article on your experiences - I.R. too... Let me know - we would be proud to spread the word...

    You can PM me here or e-mail...

    Dave
    No problem on my part Dave & kind of you to offer. But check with Chris also at ; info@30degreessouth.co.za Keep well. Alex

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    Out with Amazon.uk, and in with Paladin Press. I expect to get a copy in my hands before my next TAD trip.

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    All is right with the world. I am on leave, it is dark and dreary, and the man in the little brown truck paid me a visit yesterday. Without a doubt, go with paladin Press on this one if you have the coin to drop. A review is pending.


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