During the West's great shift into the post-Colonial age, the nation of Rhodesia chose not to give in quietly, and throughout the 1970s resisted practically alone against Communist-supported components that it did not think would provide appropriate governance. During this long war numerous heroes emerged, but none superior and courageous than Captain Darrell Watt of the Rhodesian SAS, who positioned himself at the suggestion of the spear in the fatal fight to resist the forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. It is hard to find another soldier's story to equal Watt's in terms of time spent on the battlefield and challenges faced. Even by the lofty requirements of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anybody who can match his record of strength and valor in the face of such overwhelming chances and with resources so paltry. In the fight he showed himself to be a military genius. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny impulses and an unbridled determination to close with the opponent, he had no peers as a combat-tracker (and there was a lot of competition). However the Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one where he carried out in practically every you can possibly imagine fighting function; as an air-borne shock-trooper leading camp attacks, long variety reconnaissance operator, covert metropolitan operator, sniper, saboteur, seek-and-strike professional, and in the lasts as a key figure in setting in motion an allied army in surrounding Mozambique. After 12 years in the cauldron of war his cause slipped from below him, nevertheless, and Rhodesia gave method to Zimbabwe. When the weapons went peaceful Watt had actually won all his battles but lost the war. In this fascinating work we find out that in his golden years he is now concerned with conserving wildlife on a continent where they remain in ongoing threat, dedicating himself to both the animals and African individuals he has cared so deeply about.
A Handful of Hard Men The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia