British army old photographs

SHIPPING: I will only charge for shipping once, all additional military badges, pins, flashes etc you purchase will be combined into one shipment at no extra cost to you. Please see my shipping charges for details.   Pictures are of the actual item up for auction. Please take a close look at all the photographs, they say more than a thousand words. Please note that in some cases there might be slight colour variations between the actual item and my photographs.   Please feel free to contact me with any queries you might have before bidding, I will be glad to answer all of your questions.   >>>Click here to view all the other rare and interesting items from my collection! Please take 30 seconds to read this: I always describe items to the best of my knowledge and the pictures I post form an important part of the description. Please look at the photos carefully and only bid on the item if you really want it. Non-payers will be reported and given a negative feedback, no exceptions. If you have a feedback rating of 0 please contact me prior to bidding, otherwise I will remove your bid. I will offer a full refund of the purchase price plus original shipping costs if the item is not as described or if there is an obvious hidden fault. Should there be any problem after you have received your item please contact me immediately, there is always a way to work things out!

Buy The British Army from Old Photographs - By Boris Mollo for R65.00

The officers and men of the British Army and Navy mentioned in Dispatches 1914-1915. Hard cover republished in 1971, of the 1915 original. Good condition. Tracked postage is R40.00.  

SHIPPING: I will only charge for shipping once, all additional badges, coins, medals etc you purchase will be combined into one shipment at no extra cost to you. Please see my shipping charges for details.   Pictures are of the actual item up for auction. Please take a close look at all the photographs, they say more than a thousand words. Please note that in some cases there might be slight colour variations between the actual item and my photographs.   Please feel free to contact me with any queries you might have before bidding, I will be glad to answer all of your questions.   >>>Click here to view all the other rare and interesting items from my collection! Please take 30 seconds to read this: I always describe items to the best of my knowledge and the pictures I post form an important part of the description. Please look at the photos carefully and only bid on the item if you really want it. Non-payers will be reported and given a negative feedback, no exceptions. If you have a feedback rating of 0 please contact me prior to bidding, otherwise I will remove your bid. I will offer a full refund of the purchase price plus original shipping costs if the item is not as described or if there is an obvious hidden fault. Should there be any problem after you have received your item please contact me immediately, there is always a way to work things out!

  Bronze British War Medal issued to predominately labour corps for service during World War I. Medals were mostly issued to corps from South Africa, China and India, although there are many from other British Colonies.   This medal: Impressed -  126  BEARER   HARDIAL   MURLI   A. B. C.  Interpreted as -  126  Stretcher Bearer HARDIAL MURLI  (Indian) Army Bearer Corps   Please view the photographs carefully as they form an integral part of the description. Paypal is accepted - buyer to pay the fees involved and "immediate payment" option to be used please. Overseas buyers welcome - please enquire for postage rates / options. Seller is not responsible for any customs charges that may be incurred. Combined postage is always an option.

 Koevoet! - Jim HooperSouthern - 1989, first edition, second impression - Har cover with dust cover show slight wear.  Internall stiil clean and tight. This stunning work is a tribute to Koevoet and the legend they created. This new edition features a substantially rewritten and expanded text accompanied by nearly 100 colour photographs. “A thrilling exposé of modern military history, and of one of Africa’s bloodiest conflicts”. Dan Mills, author of the bestseller Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege “Koevoet is full of detail, flavour and character – Hooper’s informal style of writing brings the reader immediately into the story. Engrossing and educational – it is hard to stop.” British Army Review "...a valuable first-hand account of South African counter-insurgency operations in what was then South-West Africa and should be read by anyone interested in the southern African conflicts of the late twentieth century."   Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research

 GOODBYE DOLLY GRAY The Story of the Boer War;  RAYNE KRUGER; Softcover;  Pan Books 1983;              ISBN 0 330 23861 2 ; No. of Pages; 540 ; Illustrated. Good condition , no tears and very good binding;   note some light shelfwear  and minor creases to the cover and light browning of the paper. For postage; within S A  ; Preferably Postnet to Postnet  for a parcel of books of up to 5kg then add R100.00           (addit. books may be included - up to 5kg)  OR Via PAXI  which is delivery via the PEP Stores branches add R55.00  delivery 7 to 9 days; Please add under Option 1  and use " Notes " to note your closest Pep branch. OR   via SA PO  (option 1) with tracking no. and within SA   please add R55.00 ;   Collection / drop off can be arranged for Pietermaritzburg / Hilton or Howick.  From Goodreads; "  4.04  ·  Taking his title from that bade farewell to an era, Rayner Kruger brilliantly describes the background, the arms and armies, the campaigns and personalities of the war in which soldiers from across the British Empire marched to a succession of brave defeats at hands of sharpshooting farmers. These were calamitous blows, struck not only at an immense British Army but - as t  Review; " Taking his title from that bade farewell to an era, Rayner Kruger brilliantly describes the background, the arms and armies, the campaigns and personalities of the war in which soldiers from across the British Empire marched to a succession of brave defeats at hands of sharpshooting farmers. These were calamitous blows, struck not only at an immense British Army but - as the old century passed into the new - at Victorian prestige, assumptions and complacency."

Colenso 1899: The Boer War in Natal by Ian Knight 1995 - 96  pages Soft Cover with in Good Condition.Stain on top left back cover as per photographs In 1899 Great Britain was at the height of its Imperial power. The Queen Empress had been on the throne for more than 50 glittering years, and her domain touched upon every continent. Yet, even at this pinnacle of Imperial pomp and majesty, the British army, guardian of the Empire in countless wars across the globe, was destined to be humiliated by poorly-organised citizen militia consisting of men whom the British professionals despised as back-wood farmers. In one week in December 1899 the farmers of the South African Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal inflicted three serious reverses on British troops.

  BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS x 2 =  BOER WAR = NATAL WAR ZULU WAR = NATAL NATIVE CONTINGENT = 2nd PHOTO. Copyright local History Museum   he Anglo-Zulu war was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of Federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer Republics in South Africa. In 1874, Sir Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army. Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British government and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on 11 December 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshawyo with which the Zulu king could not comply, including disbanding his army and abandoning key cultural traditions.   Bartle Frere then sent Lord Chelmsford  to invade Zululand after this ultimatum was not met.  The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defeat of a large Zulu army at Rorke's Drift  by a small force of British troops. The war eventually resulted in a British victory and the end of the Zulu nation's dominance of the region.   Sold as seen in the images. Images form part of the description.   POSTAGE in is R10.00 for the FIRST item. Registered mail with tracking number, please add R20.00. SAFER OPTION!! Combined Postage = Please add R1.50 for each additional item purchased.

  BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS x 2 =  BOER WAR = NATAL WAR ZULU WAR = NATAL NATIVE CONTINGENT = 2nd PHOTO. Copyright local History Museum   he Anglo-Zulu war was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of Federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer Republics in South Africa. In 1874, Sir Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army. Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British government and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on 11 December 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshawyo with which the Zulu king could not comply, including disbanding his army and abandoning key cultural traditions.   Bartle Frere then sent Lord Chelmsford  to invade Zululand after this ultimatum was not met.  The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defeat of a large Zulu army at Rorke's Drift  by a small force of British troops. The war eventually resulted in a British victory and the end of the Zulu nation's dominance of the region.   Sold as seen in the images. Images form part on the description. ++ PLEASE READ THE SHIPPING AND PAYMENT TAB TERMS BEFORE PURCHASE ++

Formed in 1916 as The Rhodesia Native Regiment, its troops were blooded with honour in the East African campaign. Disbanded in 1919, the regiment was re-formed in 1940 during World War II as The Rhodesian African Rifles, seeing action in Burma. In the 1950s, the regiment distinguished itself further during the Malayan Emergency. During the 1960s and 1970s, the regiment was at the forefront of hostilities in the bloody Rhodesian bush war. Ironically, it was after Zimbabwean independence in 1980, that the RARs finest hour came, when, fighting for their erstwhile enemy, Mugabe, the soldiers of the RAR defeated Nkomos invading ZIPRA armies at the battles of Entumbane in Bulawayo. Masodja  London launch address - Brigadier D. Heppenstall: 09/11/07 Lord Salisbury, our President, General Lord Michael Walker, the son of our battalion 2ic in Burma in World War 2, honoured guests, members of the Association, ladies and gentlemen. Like the Battle of Waterloo, this has been a close run thing. Yesterday morning I received four copies of Masodja from the printers in Durban, South Africa, by special delivery, and the main consignment only arrived at Heathrow yesterday evening. The main reason for the four by special delivery was so that we could present one of them to Prince Philip when he signed our Regimental Drumskin at lunchtime yesterday. He was most intrigued when Tobias Mutangadura pointed out to him his photograph taken at the Malayan Independence Merdeka celebrations fifty years ago in 1957. Anyway to get back to the main topic, the reasons why we almost didnt succeed in getting the books here for the launch were several. Firstly it was published and printed in South Africa on the one hand and the author and Regimental Association in the UK on the other. This of course prevented close liaison between the two sides although the use of email made things far easier than they used to be. Most of the text was completed by Alex Binda several years ago, although there were gaps in the records available, and more information was received right up to the last minute. Originally we had planned to have the Launch last April to coincide with our Regimental Day, Tanlwe Chaung Day. This was deemed too early, and it was put back to July, the month in which the Regiment was formed. In the meantime, however, in conjunction with Chris Cocks, Alex had written the History of the RLI, The Saints, which had a very impressive Launch last June. Chris Cocks, our publisher at 30 Degrees South, advised us that a July Launch would be too close to the Saints Launch and recommended that it be postponed to Remembrance Weekend  which we agreed and set the wheels in motion to hire this hall and invite our VIP guests. Apart from the distance between publishers and originators, other mitigating factors included the sheer volume of photographs of which about 75% have been included. These were still being annotated about ten days before the book went to print! Another major factor which nearly caused a postponement was the bad reaction to a new course of medicine prescribed to Kerrin Cocks. This resulted in her being rushed into intensive care followed by a two week break to recuperate. Kerrin is a vital cog in the 30 Degrees South machine, but was soon back on line to rush things through. Pinetown Printers in Durban did a great job in completing those books which we have here today, and in fact they were working 24 hours over the whole of last weekend. We owe a debt of gratitude to all involved in the publication, to Chris and Kerrin Cocks for their expertise, to Pinetown Printers and to Bill Welsh for acting as our Marshal Blucher and arriving with the books in the nick of time. Apart, of course, from Alex Binda, I owe a special thank you to John Hopkins, Iain Harper, Bridget Wells-West and all those who supplied photographs and reminiscences of their time in the Regiment. I would now like to deal with our four members whom we invited over from Zimbabwe. This has been possible due to the magnificent support given by the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League who paid all their expenses. Our four who came over are: Captain Machakada Patrick Nelomwe: He attested in time to go to the Canal Zone, Egypt, with 1RAR in 1952, and has subsequently seen service in Malaya, the Nyasaland Emergency, the Congo border and the Rhodesian bush war. He rose from company clerk in A Company to ORQMS in the 1st Battalion in 1980. He was commissioned, subsequently in the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). Major Tobias Chenharu Mutangadura DMM: A member of the Rhodesian Army Education Corps who served almost all his time with 1RAR. By 1980 he was a WO1 and had been awarded the Defence Forces Medal for Meritorious Service (DMM). He was commissioned in the ZNA, and retired as major. He was curator of the Gweru Military Museum for several years. RSM Gibson Zanago Mugadza BCR: A very talented half back in my battalion football team in his younger days. In the Rhodesian bush war he was awarded the Bronze Cross of Rhodesia (BCR) for outstanding leadership and bravery in action. He retired from the Army after 1980 as RSM at the School of Infantry, Gwelo. RSM Obert Veremu DMM: Obert was in my platoon in Malaya where he was a junior NCO, leading scout and tracker. That was exactly 50 years ago. He rose steadily through the ranks, was a champion 110 mile marcher and was awarded his DMM in 1972. He was RSM 1RAR from 1977 to 1978 and 3RAR from its formation in 1978 until after independence when he retired and went farming. The four are ideally situated throughout the country. Patrick is in Bulawayo, Tobias in Gweru, Gibson in Harare and Obert in the Vumba. They will be able to tell all our old comrades that the Regiment is still very much alive! I must now emphasise that the main reason that they arrived here at all is thanks to Lt-Col Malcolm Clewer, the Chairman of our Association in Zimbabwe and also the Chairman of the Harare Branch of the Legion

SPRINGBOK RECORD Compiled and Edited by HARRY KLEIN; Hardcover; Published by the South African Legion of the British Empire Sevice League 1946 ; No. of Pages; 302   plus addit. 2 pages of " Sponsors ".  Commemorates the service in World War II; Includes an insert a fold out 2 page  showing the   RIBBONS OF BRITISH ORDERS, DECORATIONS AND SERVICE MEDALS. " The story of the men who bore the " Orange Flash" of liberty on the battlefronts of the war against Nazi-Fascist tyranny . It soared in the skies with the gallant airmen of the S A A F ;  it rolled with the seamen of the little ships  of the S A N F  in the troughs of ocean battlegrounds. " Condition; Very good; The cover is pulling away from the book however the binding is still " good "  (Please see the second last photograph). No tears ; no browning; Pages crisp and sharp and clean. One name written neatly inside the front cover. Please see all the photographs. POSTAGE  - within SA) Preferably via POSTNET  to Postnet  for a parcel of up to 5kg (addit. books may be included - up to 5kg) Or via PAXI /Pep Stores  to your closest Pep Store ;  delivery around 9 days; add R55.00 under Option 1;  Please add Pep Stores to the Notes. Or via SA PO (  delays may occur)   with tracking no. then please add R60.00 Buyers from outside of SA  may contact me for a postal quote. Below ; 2 pages of SPONSORS Second World WAR World War 2 World War 11  South African involvement; participation in; South African Forces Air Force Airforce Navy  Orange Flash  General Smuts North Africa  Dessert war military army South african Anti aircraft Regiment  Desert campaigns  El Alamein Brigadier  B F Armstrong Afrika Korps  6th S A Division South Africa'c V C s  Royal Natal Carineers  Jelib Abyssinia    

  (Johannesburg: Ashanti Publishing, 1991) 1874800243, 1991. 8vo; Very good, as new original pale boards; As new dustwrapper; pictorial endpapers; pp. xiv + 301, incl. index; profusely illustrated with battle plans and photographs. As new condition. "James Ambrose Brown's journal of the life of a South African infantryman in the British North African 8th Army, almost exactly half a century ago, gives a day-to-day account of the campaign in the Western Desert against the redoubtable Rommel's Afrika Korps.. Brown's hour-to-hour depiction of the great battle [of El Alamein] that at last sent the enemy reeling back across North Africa remains a classic. A leading American journal, The Saturday Evening Post, called it 'The greatest worm's eye view of battle to come out of the war so far'. To bring today's reader into the picture, James Ambrose Brown has provided a preamble that sets out the political and military events which led up to World War II and the two years of lost North African battles that almost gave total victory to Germany and Italy. Splendid maps by Dr Richard Wood vividly illustrate the tactical situations described in the diary; they also fill in the gaps in large-scale operations. Lavish use of photographs taken by official war photographers illustrate the text. Also reproduced are sketches done by official war artists who were there. Retreat to Victory is a moving and timeless record of despair and hope; and the ultimate devastation that is left in the path of war."

This all new work by accomplished military historian Alexandre Binda, former paymaster to the Greys Scouts, tables the remarkable story of Rhodesias mounted infantry, the Greys Scouts. Working closely with the last commanding officer, squadron commanders and a whole host of regimental personalities, all of whom have given The Equus Men their unequivocal support Binda has enjoyed unparalled access to thousands of pages of archival documents and many hundreds of previously unpublished photographs. Here, he has traced the Greys from their early origins in the Matabele Rebellion of 1896, where an unassuming Englishman, the Honourable George Grey, found himself originating a body of horseman named the Bulawayo Field Force, through to the formation of the Animal Transport Unit (ATU) which went on to become the Mounted Infantry Unit (MIU). With the skill of a practiced narrator, Binda takes the reader through these early days to the establishment of the Greys Scouts in the Rhodesian Army order of battle in 1976. Deployed to great effect during the bitter Rhodesian Bush War of the late 1960s 1970s, the mounted operations conducted by the Greys are succinctly and clearly detailed. Some of the contacts related make for astonishing reads and with the lively, vibrant, text one can almost feel the steaming sweat of rider and mount; sense the pounding adrenaline; hear the thundering hooves as a fearful enemy is pursued to battles inevitable conclusion. Suffice to say, The Equus Men makes for an engaging read. Trained and utilised as mounted infantry as opposed to cavalry, the Greys Scouts saw exceptional success in the field. Lightly equipped, they were able to cover great distances at speed, live off the veldt with minimal support and through shock action, quickly engage and destroy insurgent forces. Originally a regular formation, the Greys Scouts were augmented by Territorial and National Service soldiers as the conflict progressed and by 1980, when hostilities ceased, the Regiment numbered some 600 soldiers, both men and women, black and white. With its informative text and rich profusion of photographs, The Equus Men is a stunning tribute to the equestrian and fighting prowess of the Greys Scouts. It is a remarkable story and one that is ever more relevant, given recent mounted and pack horse operations conducted by British and US special forces in Afghanistan. Hardcover, 288 pages with  approx 300 colour & b/w photos, 4 maps. First published  1 February 2016.

This is a soldier's story about South African soldiers in southern Angola and Namibia and the enemies they fought. It tells of insurgency and counter-insurgency, guerrilla warfare and counter-guerrilla warfare, almost conventional warfare and conventional warfare. It tells of a conflict which the world saw as unpopular and unjust, in which South Africa was perceived as the aggressor. The South African soldiers who fought in it, however, saw it as a conflict fought to stop what is now Namibia falling into the hands of the Soviet and Cuban-backed SWAPO black nationalist political organisation. After Namibia South Africa would be next. They saw the whole conflict as an extension of the Cold War, but while it was on the frontiers in Europe, in Angola they were fighting a very hot war in Angola. Eventually, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the war was resolved by the democratic solution of UN supervised free and fair elections in Namibia. Since then, regrettably, there has been interference by the ruling party with the democratic constitution put in place in Namibia which has eroded much of that hard won democracy. 32 Battalion, of which Colonel Jan Breytenbach was the founding commander, became the most controversial unit in the South African Army because of the secrecy surrounding it. Its story is virtually the story of the Angolan/Namibian war, because its involvement in it was greater than any other South African unit. The regiment primarily consisted of black troops and NCOs originating from virtually every tribe in Angola. They were led by white South African officers and NCOs. Neither apartheid nor any form of racial discrimination was ever practiced in the unit. There was always a sprinkling of whites originating from countries like Great Britain, the old Rhodesia, Portugal and the USA amongst its leadership cadre, although in the latter stages of its existence this shrank to only a few. Such a presence undoubtedly led to stories circulating that the unit was a led by foreign white mercenaries. While it was true that the black Angolan element could have fallen with the mercenary definition, the whites involved were attested soldiers in the South African Army. In any case, they formed a minority and the vast majority of white officers and NCOs were born South Africans. The unit's aggressiveness and the successes it achieved in the field of battle, often against incredible odds, lay in its spirit and its  espirit de corps. In this respect and in many other ways it compared favourably with the French Foreign Legion. Its story parallels with and reminds one of the British and British Commonwealth Chindits of World War-2, operating behind the Japanese lines in Burma in large formations, out-guerrillaing those who only three years earlier had been regarded in awe as the unbeatable jungle warfare experts. Likewise, 32-Battalion consistently outfought both FAPLA, SWAPO and the Cubans in the Angola bush throughout the war years. It created a problem to which neither they nor their Soviet and East German mentors ever found a solution to. After the 1989 Namibian settlement the unit was with withdrawn to South Africa where they were deployed to effectively deal with MK infiltrations into the north of South Africa. From there, after the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, they were redeployed to deal with political troubles, principally between armed ANC self defense units and armed units of the IFP. The intrusion of black foreigners into the townships who were prepared to deal with troubles robustly and without fear or favour, did not suit either the ANC or the IFP, as they could not be subverted to support local causes because they held no local tribal allegiances. In the end it seems they became something of a bargaining chip at the CODESA negotiations, designed to find a new political dispensation for South Africa. Despite it having borne the brunt of South Africa' war in Angola with the blood of its troops, the National Party Government disgracefully ordered its arbitrary disbandment in March 1993 and the unit ceased to exist. Paperback, 360 pages with photos & maps