Rhodesian southern reconnaissance unit

  Original WW2 Southern Rhodesia Reconnaissance Unit silver sheet beret badge.1940-1943.One lug missing.Rare badge from small unit LOCAL BIDDER PAYS R110 POSTNET OVERSEAS BUYER SEE POSTAGE RATES TABLE FOR SHIPPING OPTIONS

An extraordinary collection of 77 Pre and Post UDI Rhodesian military badges. Please look at the list below for an itemisation of all the badges & if there is anything to note for each. Given the size of the collection it’s not possible to photograph each, however they are all original with no “Kariba” or collectors edition badges in the collection. Note that the lugs of the Pre & Post UDI badges do differ.    Rh RAR Slouch hat badge Rh RAR collar badge set (1 missing lugs) Rh Regiment blackened beret badge - Rhodesian Rh Regiment blackened badge - Queens Crown Rh Regiment blackened badge - Kings Crown (missing lug) Rh Regiment silvered collar badge set - also used as officers beret badges Rh RLI Beret Badge  Rh RLI collar badge set Rh RLI beret badge pre UDI in 1965   Rh Greys Scouts other ranks beret badge Rh Greys Scouts collar badge set Rh Intelligence Corps beret badge Rh Intelligence Corps collar badge set Rh 1st Psychological Operations Unit, beret badge Rh Artillery beret badge (missing 1 lug) Rh Military Police cap badge Rh Military Police collar badge set   Rh Prison Services officers cloth / bullion cap badge Rh Prison Services other ranks metal badge Rh Prison Services collar badge set Rh Airforce officers cloth / bullion cap badge Rh Airforce officers cap metal badge  Rh Airforce women’s badge Rh Regiment blackened beret badge  Rh Regiment blackened beret badge  Rh Grand Cross of Valour (G.C.V) medal bar Rh ?Regiment Officers Cord Boss beret badge? Rh ?Army Sgt Major Mess Dress rank badge? single Southern Rh ?General Service Corps beret badge? Rh ?Army Sgt Major Mess Dress rank badge? set Rh ?General Service Corps beret badge? Rh BSAP Officers cloth / bullion cap badge Rh BSAP metal cap badge Rh Guard Force ?Commander rank badge? also used as Officers cap badge Rh Guard Force Cap badge Rh Guard Force collar badge set Rh Internal Affairs badge Rh Internal Affairs collar badge set (missing lugs)   Rh Signals beret badge Rh Signals beret badge pre UDI in 1965 (crown stitched onto backing) Rh? Defence Regiment beret badge? Rh? Defence Regiment collar badge? - single Rh Armoured Car Regiment beret badge Rh Armoured Car Regiment collar badge set Rh Corps of Engineers collar badge set also used as Officers beret badges (one missing lugs) Rh ?Army Service Corps beret badge? Rh ?Army Service Corps collar badge? set Rh ?Army Service Corps beret badge? pre UDI in 1965 Rh ?Army Service Corps collar badge? set pre UDI in 1965   Rh Medical Corps beret badge Rh Medical Corps collar badge set Rh Medical Corps beret badge pre UDI in 1965 Rh Medical Corps collar badge set pre UDI in 1965 Rh Pay Corps beret badge Rh Pay Corps collar badge set Rh ?General Service Corps beret badge? Rh ?General Service Corps beret badge? pre UDI in 1965 Rh Chaplains Corps brass beret badge  Rh Education Corps beret badge Rh Education Corps collar badge set  

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

Title: Selous Scouts Subtitle: Rhodesian Counter-Insurgency Specialists Series: Africa@War Volume 4 Author: Peter Baxter Publisher: Helion and Company / 30 Degrees South Publishers () ISBN-10: ISBN-13: Condition: Very Good Binding: Softcover Pages: 64 Dimensions: 29.5 x 20.9 x 0.5 cm +++ by Peter Baxter +++ Formed in by the legendary Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly at the behest of Rhodesian military supremo General Peter Walls, the Selous Scouts were to write their name into the annals of military history as one of the finest counterinsurgency units of all time, through their innovative pseudo-guerrilla tactics, brilliant reconnaissance operations into Zambia and Botswana and daring flying-column raids into Mozambique. Feared and hated by the liberation movements ZIPRA and ZANLA, the Scouts wreaked untold havoc and destruction on their Soviet- and Chinese-backed enemies, accounting for 68% guerrilla casualties within Rhodesia alone during the bitter bush war of the s. Uniquely ahead of its time, the regimen - a brotherhood of men that traversed cultural and racial barriers; their Shona motto was 'Pamwe Chete' (together only) - was to produce the type of soldier that earned for the unit one Grand Cross of Valour, nine Silver Crosses and 22 Bronze Crosses of Rhodesia. "Its members consisted of some of the finest guerrilla-fighting men in the western world, unconventional in many ways, disregardful of parade-ground discipline, unorthodox in their dress, yet a force so tightly knit in the face of danger that those who knew anything about them could only marvel" - The Citizen.   A passion for books and a passion for collecting fine editions was the recipe that created the successful group of bookshops in Johannesburg called Bookdealers. The group started thirty years ago with one store in the quirky suburb of Yeoville and has grown through the years to a total of five shops, plus our online sales. Bookdealers is well-known for its collectable and used books. We also have a large variety of remaindered books sourced from around the world.  If you collect from one of our five branches there is no delivery charge. We also offer postal delivery (when available) and courier delivery, subject to a quote.