Rhodesian parachutist airborne unit

Original  Rhodesian field uniform PARACHUTIST NON AIRBORNE UNIT BADGE local buyer pays R50 PO or R100 POSTNET OVERSEAS BIDDER SEE POSTAGE RATES TABLE FOR OPTIONS ON SHIPPING

The 1st Battalion, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, was one of the most innovative and successful counter-insurgency units in modern history. Formed as a commando battalion in 1964 after the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the RLI was an all-white unit made up of South Africans and men from the UK, Europe and US. It was a key weapon in independent Rhodesia's struggle against the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army during the bloody Rhodesian Bush War. This comprehensive study explores the unit's dramatic history, revealing the RLI's fearsome airborne and combat capacity, which gave the unit, at times, near total tactical superiority against its opponents. Publication Date: 20 Nov 2015, 64 pages  

2015 paperback with 64 pages in very good condition. R60 postage in SA. The 1st Battalion, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, was one of the most innovative and successful counter-insurgency units in modern history. Formed as a commando battalion in 1964 after the dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the RLI was an all-white unit made up of South Africans and men from the UK, Europe and US. It was a key weapon in independent Rhodesia's struggle against the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army and Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army during the bloody Rhodesian Bush War. This comprehensive study explores the unit's dramatic history, revealing the RLI's fearsome airborne and combat capacity, which gave the unit, at times, near total tactical superiority against its opponents.

Jeremy Hall’s childhood in the white-ruled apartheid South Africa of the 1950's and ’60s was ostensibly idyllic: growing up in the farming areas of Natal, he had free rein to pander to his keen exploratory mind, yet niggling away was entrenched racism and interracial hatred. Closeted in the hallowed halls of an English-speaking high school, the revelation of the real world that followed — a world of township unrest, Afrikaner politicians issuing dire warnings of the red and black hordes massing on the borders — exploded into Hall’s psyche with his national-service call-up into the South African Defence Force (SADF), where he encountered the institutionalized hatred of the Afrikaner hierarchy for the English-speaking recruits, the  rowe, or ‘scabs’. Disillusioned and unsettled, following his SADF conscription, Hall found himself in 1976 signing on for three years with 2 Commando The Rhodesian Light Infantry as the bush war in that country erupted from a simmering, low-key insurgency into full-blown war. As a paratrooper with this crack airborne unit, he was to see continual combat on Fireforce operations and cross-border raids into Zambia and Mozambique, such as Operation Dingo, the 1977 Rhodesian attack on ZANLA’s Chimoio base.   PAPERBACK: 360 PAGES WITH PHOTOS & MAPS. Published March 2014

Jeremy Halls childhood in the white-ruled apartheid South Africa of the 1950's and 60s was ostensibly idyllic: growing up in the farming areas of Natal, he had free rein to pander to his keen exploratory mind, yet niggling away was entrenched racism and interracial hatred. Closeted in the hallowed halls of an English-speaking high school, the revelation of the real world that followed a world of township unrest, Afrikaner politicians issuing dire warnings of the red and black hordes massing on the borders exploded into Halls psyche with his national-service call-up into the South African Defence Force (SADF), where he encountered the institutionalized hatred of the Afrikaner hierarchy for the English-speaking recruits, the  rowe, or scabs. Disillusioned and unsettled, following his SADF conscription, Hall found himself in 1976 signing on for three years with 2 Commando The Rhodesian Light Infantry as the bush war in that country erupted from a simmering, low-key insurgency into full-blown war. As a paratrooper with this crack airborne unit, he was to see continual combat on Fireforce operations and cross-border raids into Zambia and Mozambique, such as Operation Dingo, the 1977 Rhodesian attack on ZANLAs Chimoio base.   PAPERBACK: 360 PAGES WITH PHOTOS & MAPS. Published March 2014

At last! The history of the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Weve seen the stories of the more glamorous 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 worlds attention - the devastatingly ruthless airborne envelopment and annihilation of a guerrilla enemy. Dubbed The Killing Machine by Charles D. Melson, chief historian of the US Marine Corps, the RLI was a veritable foreign legion with over 20 diverse nationalities serving in her ranks. The RLI, a truly international airborne battalion, comprising of over 20 nationalities, fought the bitter Zimbabwean bush war for 15 years against the overwhelming tide of communist-trained guerrillas. Kill rates dont win wars, but during its brief 19-year history, it is estimated that the RLI accounted for between 12,000 and 15,000 enemy guerrillas, for the loss of 135 men. 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! 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, one of the ouens. 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. PAPERBACK: 544 PAGES WITH  1,800 b/w illustrations & maps.  Published June 2007

The first ever Special Forces for the SADF started with a small group of eleven men under the command of Commandant Jan Breytenbach all handpicked by him in 1970. They commenced their training in Oudtshoorn and all 11 men did specialised courses in something they were not qualified for in as yet. e.g. divers, demolition, parachute jumping. etc. The group was divided into two and also did courses in France in that year. Their first deployment took place into Angola. With the influx of more members, the group was changed to a Special Forces Unit in 1972 known as 1 Reconnaissance Commando. It was decided that the unit was to be moved and in December 1974 the unit relocated to the Bluff in Durban. The unit grew in numbers as more and more men qualified as Special Forces Operators. The decision was made to form three subunits: Airborne (Commandant Swart), Seaborne (Commandant Kinghorn) and Pseudo operators (Commandant Verster). The Seaborne group moved to Langebaan (4 Reconnaissance Commando) the Pseudo group to Dukuduku in Zululand (5 Reconnaissance Commando). A headquarter element was stationed in Pretoria, under command of General Loots. In 1982 they moved into their own Headquarter buildings just outside of Thaba Tshwane. In 1975 a Citizen Force unit 2 Reconnaissance Commando, under the command of Commandant Sybie van der Spuy, was formed to accommodate all members that had left the Permanent Forces units as citizen forces members. With the independence of Zimbabwe, members of the Selous Scouts and Rhodesian SAS were given a choice to join the SADF. The members that took this opportunity were transferred into two units: The Scouts as 3 Reconnaissance Commando in Phalaborwa and Rhodesian SAS as 6 Reconnaissance Commando in Durban. A year later these units amalgamated into the Permanent Force Units: 3 Reconnaissance Commando became part of 5 Reconnaissance Regiment and 6 Reconnaissance Commando became part of 1 Reconnaissance Regiment when the Commandos became Regiments in 1981. The volume of operations increased and more and more support personnel were transferred into Special Forces to support the operators in their task. The author served in Special Forces as a signaller for 5 Reconnaissance Regiment and then Special Forces Headquarter for a number of years. He did his parachute course with other support personnel at the age of 35. His responsibilities included the training of operators in communications radio and Morse code, the control of operational communications networks, plus all cryptography work. This book on South African Special Forces depicts the Pictorial History from the beginning up to 1994. It is the 4th edition, and the 1st pictorial version of the history of the South African Special Forces, Operators and Operations. There are more than 2000 pictures of 420 full color A4 pages bound in a hardcover showing pictures of events never before captured in one print.  FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINT - NOVEMBER 2014