I think that people who have never been under intense fire can comprehend the assault on your senses & the utter chaos that ensues in such a situation. To think coherently & logically when all around you is just a cacophony of sound & mayhem & you know that shouted commands or radio transmissions can not be heard. It takes a special breed of men like Andre who can operate in this environment. He has my undying respect from his first talk & this follow on just ramps up my respect for him & our fellow regular soldiers. Men of men indeed
As a navy troep I remember the shock I got when in the buts of the range for the first time I heard what a shit scary noise rounds make as they fly overhead. Massive respect for guys who have seen combat. Shout out to my mate Japie Du Toit ex SAS.
I am very grateful to Andre, Hannes, and John for this vivid chronicling of the largest and most ambitious op of the war. Sadly, it yielded so little in relation to the tragic losses suffered. It ihurts to think we left our brave men there who perished when 164 went down. Just as we pray their souls rest in peace, we hope there was a damned good reason for not recovering our dead.
Very interesting story, thank you Andre Scheepers. We (South Africa) lost 12 parabats and the air crew in a Puma that got shot down during the border war and our Recces were also used in a base attack which they attacked on foot in 1977 (Eheke) without the necessary support (artillery and air support) and lost seven men. In there video recording they said that such an attack was not their role as a special forces unit. Much respect Sir.
The amount of Bravery required to jump into an unknown trench first to protect your fellow countrymen and complete your task is unmatched today and awe inspiring. Andre, thank you so much for all you share. You are a legend.
Thanks for all your work chronicling the experiences of the Rhodesian soldiers. These stories are of great value, and it is so important to give as many a voice as possible.
I watch these old Rhodie videos and am ALWAYS utterly humbled by the incredible courage, civility and dignity of the Rhodesian people. How PROUD I am to be a Rhodie...albeit a Rhodie that is fading into my sunset!
Much respect to you Andre and to all those brave soldiers who faced such battles ! Indeed special breed of men to confront such battles . May those men in Puma 164 rest in peace and pray they are at rest . Salute 🙏🏻 Tatenda Andre .. always appreciate your talks and for sharing your experiences . Tatenda John and Hannes . Look forward to another episode with Andre .
I think the saddest thing for me of the loss of Puma 164 was out of the 14 Rhodesians who died that day, l knew 4 of them & l wasn't even in the regular army. So the loss of so many guys (RLI) from 1 unit must have been devastating to moral.
@@calummackenzie1797 I can fully understand your sentiments Calum , I feel for all those troops involved , especially for their families who had no bodies to put to rest and a decent burial where they could return each occasion to pay their respects . I find it hard to imagine why their bodies were never recovered over time , yes I can understand the conflict was making it difficult , but for those families it must have been extremely traumatic ! Very very sad ! Thanks for sharing your views . Respect ! Stay well . Hamba gashle brother !
thank you all for sharing and the continued hard work to highlight and document such an important part of history. Such sadness for the incredible guys who lost their lives and for an incredible country that was thrown away.
I'm 37 and I think the rest of my life I'm going to regret not joining the military. God bless every veteran for their service but especially you guys for fighting as hard and well as you did even with the whole wicked world against you
The scene in "To hell and back", 1953 film, Audie Murphy when being just about over run towards the end, just as he got wounded, and in "We were soldiers once and young", 2000 or 2001 film, Mel Gibson portrayed Lt.Col. Hal Moore, as he called Broken Arrow. There were some in rear areas that were baffled. The persons on scene would usually know the situation. Thank you all.
Thank you Andre and Hannes for the insight into Op Uric. Very sad those who perished on Puma 164 were not repatriated. It was dishonourable to have left them in the bush in an unmarked grave for thirty years.
Don't it always seem to go? That you don't know what you got till it's gone? I love these brave souls who tried to keep paradise alive, now it is only a dream. The country was betrayed by the western powers a remint of which still exist today, to the detriment of the world. God bless the fighting men of Rhodesia.
Rhodesian and South African soldiers were not only betrayed by Western governments but by their own governments and high ranking officers to retire with benefits.
An amazing story of this brave man and our forces. Thank you for your service, Sir, and all the men that served. Thank you, Hannes and John, for preserving the history of our country and this war.
For those using rifles to peel corners... merely take the corner wide if and when possible. Thank you for the war history. So much to learn from the veterans themselves. If anyone is interested... Rhodesia's government administration was "compromised". This led to several (many?) unsuccessful Rhodesian military operations. A Rhodesian MIL "target" was given advance warning of an incoming Rhodesian attack. This allowed the target to prepare defense or altogether flee prior to attack time. We must remember all wars are started by puppet politicians and it is the same political players who negatively affect combat operations.
Another good interview. It is a remarkable thing how personal perception may be that you are the target in any given situation, whereas in reality most of the time you most probably aren't. Andre's sentiments regarding the choppers is entirely reasonable, and I can tell you that being in a Chinook - which is even faster than a Puma - gave me exactly the same feeling. 😐
So many things that the Rhodesian military units achieved in so many instances still held in awe by a large amount of overseas military units to this day. Unfortunately and sadly at times there were mishaps for whatever reasons and soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Mr Hannes and Mr Scheepers got to write the book that our kids do remember the bravery of the real live were back then . It were not perfect but real for now . GOD bless you all .
I read the book about him, "We Dared To Win". Amazing how much you can do with with so little as long as you're smart about it. Very good read, recommend it.
It is hard to concieve of a conventional op without armour, arty and air support. It sounds like in the end it was the same ultra light infantry drill but with tin hats on up againt dug in, determined and forewarned foes who knew that they had the support of the entire world behind them.
Im often by that way, and trying to get more understandng of what happened where, its been confusing because theres two parts with diferent names. The town of 'mapai' is by the road but then threres the 'mapai' by the River which is seperated by a few kiliometers. Ands its touchy to ask the locals about it, and most came to the area after the war and have no idea.
Allow me some controversy here. As I now enter the tail end of my life, and armed with a lifetime of experience generated in senior management, I see the past more clearly. It seems to me Gen Walls was not prepared to let go and hand over the reins to his army commander. At Comops he was the chairman of the National JOC whose task was to broadly set the course of the war considering economic, political and social issues. He should not have been involved in tactics on the ground. In corporate parlance he was micromanaging and bypassing his managers. Gen Walls involvement on the Commend Dak is rather like a Brigade commander going out and dictating the course of a contact to a stick leader on the ground. Was he perhaps sucked into his celebrity status and no one could tell him to step back?
It's interesting that the South African contingent is criticised, despite the fact that the Rhodesian forces were being supported by the South African contingent. This support was paid for by South African taxpayers, often against public opinion, that generally felt the Rhodesian Bush War was not a South African concern. This unfortunate criticism leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This is a pity, because the South Africans that were involved, were highly competent and fully committed.
All in all, South Africa is the victim of rough justice in Rhodesian commentary. For example, some Rhodesians who happily lived in segregated suburbs in Salisbury and Bulawayo etc and happily sent their children to segregated government schools, criticise South Africans for apartheid and promote the myth that there was nothing like apartheid in Rhodesia. Thankfully, not all Rhodesians behave in that dishonourable manner.
Did the men really need to attack the camp? Couldn't they have just left it to the Canberras? The men could have then gone in AFTER the air attack to clean up the scene.
I'm sure they didn't volunteer. They were used as "slaves". Often their parents would report the presence of CT's because they objected to their daughters being forced to 'entertain' the freedom fighters.
Andre, what respect I have for you - really - but denigrating the RLI with that anecdote is disgraceful. I had a great friend in school. He went to SAS and started thinking he was God's gift if you know what I mean. No, you stepped over that line sorry maningi, shame
@@fightingmenofrhodesia the drift I get is it might have been set up. I mean if there was one way to get the Rhodesian public to settle, this was the event. The observations by Andre were spot on in general imo. Would like to hear RLIs response! "Good luck RLI because we don't need it" hehe, well you needed it that day because you were defeated! or it was a set up. Maybe the RLI boys would have done the job heheh
This probably relates to the dragging of feet of the one callsign of RLI soldiers during the withdrawal to the RV point. These guys were probably more gatvol from an aborted operation than physically exhausted. Anyway it was appropriate for an officer to admonish troops for that as it can be demoralising for the other troops. But after that it should be forgotten about forever - unless it endured and became gross insubordination or mutiny. It had not been brought up in books before and to bring it up now is unecessary and hurtful, actually inflammatory. The RLI were not primarily assigned to doing external raids and this was a big one that went bad. RMY
@richardyoung8526 I am afraid that this is a gross distortion that I find offensive.I was in command and my CSM brought up the rear of the RLI column. Scheepers should have been a few hundred meters ahead of us. There was no dragging of feet. He had no business admonishing an RLI soldier. ...sanctimonious in the extreme. Those remarks need to be erased from the record. A very poor show . Idiot.
I think that people who have never been under intense fire can comprehend the assault on your senses & the utter chaos that ensues in such a situation. To think coherently & logically when all around you is just a cacophony of sound & mayhem & you know that shouted commands or radio transmissions can not be heard. It takes a special breed of men like Andre who can operate in this environment. He has my undying respect from his first talk & this follow on just ramps up my respect for him & our fellow regular soldiers. Men of men indeed
As a navy troep I remember the shock I got when in the buts of the range for the first time I heard what a shit scary noise rounds make as they fly overhead. Massive respect for guys who have seen combat. Shout out to my mate Japie Du Toit ex SAS.
I am very grateful to Andre, Hannes, and John for this vivid chronicling of the largest and most ambitious op of the war. Sadly, it yielded so little in relation to the tragic losses suffered. It ihurts to think we left our brave men there who perished when 164 went down. Just as we pray their souls rest in peace, we hope there was a damned good reason for not recovering our dead.
Very interesting story, thank you Andre Scheepers. We (South Africa) lost 12 parabats and the air crew in a Puma that got shot down during the border war and our Recces were also used in a base attack which they attacked on foot in 1977 (Eheke) without the necessary support (artillery and air support) and lost seven men. In there video recording they said that such an attack was not their role as a special forces unit. Much respect Sir.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning - We will remember them. Brave Rhodesian solidiers
😊😊😅
The amount of Bravery required to jump into an unknown trench first to protect your fellow countrymen and complete your task is unmatched today and awe inspiring.
Andre, thank you so much for all you share. You are a legend.
Always enjoy Andre's talks
Men of Men for sure also respect to the Mozambique people who buried our poor soldiers!they knew whom and why my elders were fighting!
Thanks for all your work chronicling the experiences of the Rhodesian soldiers. These stories are of great value, and it is so important to give as many a voice as possible.
Respect to all the brave Rhodesian soldiers-special thanks to you who put this channel together in a unique Rhodesian way!!!
Much appreciated
I watch these old Rhodie videos and am ALWAYS utterly humbled by the incredible courage, civility and dignity of the Rhodesian people. How PROUD I am to be a Rhodie...albeit a Rhodie that is fading into my sunset!
Much respect to you Andre and to all those brave soldiers who faced such battles ! Indeed special breed of men to confront such battles . May those men in Puma 164 rest in peace and pray they are at rest . Salute 🙏🏻
Tatenda Andre .. always appreciate your talks and for sharing your experiences . Tatenda John and Hannes . Look forward to another episode with Andre .
I think the saddest thing for me of the loss of Puma 164 was out of the 14 Rhodesians who died that day, l knew 4 of them & l wasn't even in the regular army. So the loss of so many guys (RLI) from 1 unit must have been devastating to moral.
@@calummackenzie1797 I can fully understand your sentiments Calum , I feel for all those troops involved , especially for their families who had no bodies to put to rest and a decent burial where they could return each occasion to pay their respects . I find it hard to imagine why their bodies were never recovered over time , yes I can understand the conflict was making it difficult , but for those families it must have been extremely traumatic ! Very very sad ! Thanks for sharing your views . Respect ! Stay well . Hamba gashle brother !
That was the Fastest 46 minutes and 45 seconds I have ever experienced....!! Wow What an interview... Respect and Thank you Sir's.....
Glad you enjoyed it!
🎉Thank you Andre
Always an extreme pleasure to listen to anything by Andre! Thank you John and Hannes!🙏🙏🙏
Amazing truly amazing 😎
thank you all for sharing and the continued hard work to highlight and document such an important part of history. Such sadness for the incredible guys who lost their lives and for an incredible country that was thrown away.
Baie goed Andre.... excellent
I'm 37 and I think the rest of my life I'm going to regret not joining the military. God bless every veteran for their service but especially you guys for fighting as hard and well as you did even with the whole wicked world against you
Well, it could be worse, you could be spending the rest of your life thinking about it if you had.....
There is still the mystic silver thread that binds this gallant band
Of comradeship, travail and ah, the Regiment's last stand.
Much respect Ishe. Sometimes the man on the ground knows more than the boss in the office. Take care and God Bless
The scene in "To hell and back", 1953 film, Audie Murphy when being just about over run towards the end, just as he got wounded, and in "We were soldiers once and young", 2000 or 2001 film, Mel Gibson portrayed Lt.Col. Hal Moore, as he called Broken Arrow.
There were some in rear areas that were baffled.
The persons on scene would usually know the situation.
Thank you all.
Thank you Andre and Hannes for the insight into Op Uric. Very sad those who perished on Puma 164 were not repatriated. It was dishonourable to have left them in the bush in an unmarked grave for thirty years.
Fantastic stories thanks for sharing and keeping me alert on my long drive. You guys were tough as a nails
Great to hear Andre again. As usual a great story from all the veterans. Thanks.
Thank you for your service sir!
Goosebumps galore for that intro, John
Don't it always seem to go? That you don't know what you got till it's gone? I love these brave souls who tried to keep paradise alive, now it is only a dream. The country was betrayed by the western powers a remint of which still exist today, to the detriment of the world. God bless the fighting men of Rhodesia.
Amen
Rhodesian and South African soldiers were not only betrayed by Western governments but by their own governments and high ranking officers to retire with benefits.
Hard, commited, superbly well trained, highly self-disciplined, stamina-packed, very brave soldiers. Takes some beating-up. Thanks you two men.
Great personal account.
An amazing story of this brave man and our forces. Thank you for your service, Sir, and all the men that served. Thank you, Hannes and John, for preserving the history of our country and this war.
Once again, a very interesting and moving talk. Thank you, guys.
Thank you too!
42:00 Interesting to hear the story about the second Puma being hit. I never have heard this before.
Another excellent programme and I am thoroughly looking forward to the second instalment especially about the debrief 😊😊.
God bless
Thanks for a great interview Andre & Hannes; an officer I'd follow through the gates of hell, slap Satan's face and return.
Salute and Respect.
For those using rifles to peel corners... merely take the corner wide if and when possible.
Thank you for the war history. So much to learn from the veterans themselves.
If anyone is interested... Rhodesia's government administration was "compromised". This led to several (many?) unsuccessful Rhodesian military operations. A Rhodesian MIL "target" was given advance warning of an incoming Rhodesian attack. This allowed the target to prepare defense or altogether flee prior to attack time.
We must remember all wars are started by puppet politicians and it is the same political players who negatively affect combat operations.
Ken Flower..☠
Pumas and SFs are way faster than Allos which does give them some advantage. At the end of the day people tend to prefer what they are used to.
Serious stuff. Bliksem !!
My father in law was 2nd in command of Seloux Scouts to Ron Reid Daly.
Tout mon respect pour ces hommes. Vive la Rhodésie !
Another good interview. It is a remarkable thing how personal perception may be that you are the target in any given situation, whereas in reality most of the time you most probably aren't. Andre's sentiments regarding the choppers is entirely reasonable, and I can tell you that being in a Chinook - which is even faster than a Puma - gave me exactly the same feeling. 😐
So many things that the Rhodesian military units achieved in so many instances still held in awe by a large amount of overseas military units to this day. Unfortunately and sadly at times there were mishaps for whatever reasons and soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Was the rpg or a sam that hit the helicopter, puma 164.
Mr Hannes and Mr Scheepers got to write the book that our kids do remember the bravery of the real live were back then . It were not perfect but real for now . GOD bless you all .
Hannes has written 3 books from/ about ex SAS operstors
I read the book about him, "We Dared To Win". Amazing how much you can do with with so little as long as you're smart about it. Very good read, recommend it.
Amazing! Thank you.
Wow an education! thanks gentlemen
It is hard to concieve of a conventional op without armour, arty and air support. It sounds like in the end it was the same ultra light infantry drill but with tin hats on up againt dug in, determined and forewarned foes who knew that they had the support of the entire world behind them.
So interesting andre's alternative options on mapai.
Stuck thinking in the high command?
Look.forward to the analysis to follow.
Great reminisces. Can you let me know where I can get maps of the Rhodesia at the time of the war.
www.rhodesia.me.uk/maps/
Select the 1:250,000 map MALVERNIA, to see where Mapai is in Mozambique
cheers@@colinriddell9553
Im often by that way, and trying to get more understandng of what happened where, its been confusing because theres two parts with diferent names. The town of 'mapai' is by the road but then threres the 'mapai' by the River which is seperated by a few kiliometers. Ands its touchy to ask the locals about it, and most came to the area after the war and have no idea.
As I understand it, the one by the river was the CT camp?
love to hear about Old Rhodesia
Hi Hannes.,did Andre do a second talk..I can not find any other talks of his about Mapai.,hell it was certainly interesting..
We have another talk in the pipeline. Hannes has been sick, hence the delay
Ok ok..hope he feels well soon..
@@fightingmenofrhodesia
What is a RAD, please
Interesting that Gen Walls did not hand over to the Army Commander and let Gen McLean run the show.
Allow me some controversy here.
As I now enter the tail end of my life, and armed with a lifetime of experience generated in senior management, I see the past more clearly.
It seems to me Gen Walls was not prepared to let go and hand over the reins to his army commander. At Comops he was the chairman of the National JOC whose task was to broadly set the course of the war considering economic, political and social issues. He should not have been involved in tactics on the ground. In corporate parlance he was micromanaging and bypassing his managers.
Gen Walls involvement on the Commend Dak is rather like a Brigade commander going out and dictating the course of a contact to a stick leader on the ground.
Was he perhaps sucked into his celebrity status and no one could tell him to step back?
Total badass
Animation might better illustrate how the trench fighting took place.
who betrayed green leader on the aircraft plane which was gunned I think zambia
It's interesting that the South African contingent is criticised, despite the fact that the Rhodesian forces were being supported by the South African contingent. This support was paid for by South African taxpayers, often against public opinion, that generally felt the Rhodesian Bush War was not a South African concern. This unfortunate criticism leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This is a pity, because the South Africans that were involved, were highly competent and fully committed.
All in all, South Africa is the victim of rough justice in Rhodesian commentary. For example, some Rhodesians who happily lived in segregated suburbs in Salisbury and Bulawayo etc and happily sent their children to segregated government schools, criticise South Africans for apartheid and promote the myth that there was nothing like apartheid in Rhodesia. Thankfully, not all Rhodesians behave in that dishonourable manner.
There were very good reasons why recovery of those deceased was impossible for a long time. Stop demanding this and that...rather churlish.
Oupa se Hart se PUNT....!!!
Pragtige meisiekind!
Did the men really need to attack the camp? Couldn't they have just left it to the Canberras? The men could have then gone in AFTER the air attack to clean up the scene.
Let us not forget the young 14-16 year old brave black village girls, who carried food and amunitions in the night to the so called ' Terroristen '.
I'm sure they didn't volunteer. They were used as "slaves". Often their parents would report the presence of CT's because they objected to their daughters being forced to 'entertain' the freedom fighters.
Such young girls were abused in all the bush wars , many were killed when bases were struck. They were concidered bi products by SWAPO.
Andre, what respect I have for you - really - but denigrating the RLI with that anecdote is disgraceful. I had a great friend in school. He went to SAS and started thinking he was God's gift if you know what I mean. No, you stepped over that line sorry maningi, shame
@@fightingmenofrhodesia the drift I get is it might have been set up. I mean if there was one way to get the Rhodesian public to settle, this was the event. The observations by Andre were spot on in general imo. Would like to hear RLIs response! "Good luck RLI because we don't need it" hehe, well you needed it that day because you were defeated! or it was a set up. Maybe the RLI boys would have done the job heheh
Abba Waterloo... 1970s... was more fun.
Parts of this I found offensive. Perceptions may vary.
Would value your insights and comments Sir. Email or a short video perhaps? I could add it to the next episode..
Done.
This probably relates to the dragging of feet of the one callsign of RLI soldiers during the withdrawal to the RV point.
These guys were probably more gatvol from an aborted operation than physically exhausted.
Anyway it was appropriate for an officer to admonish troops for that as it can be demoralising for the other troops.
But after that it should be forgotten about forever - unless it endured and became gross insubordination or mutiny.
It had not been brought up in books before and to bring it up now is unecessary and hurtful, actually inflammatory.
The RLI were not primarily assigned to doing external raids and this was a big one that went bad.
RMY
@richardyoung8526 I am afraid that this is a gross distortion that I find offensive.I was in command and my CSM brought up the rear of the RLI column. Scheepers should have been a few hundred meters ahead of us. There was no dragging of feet. He had no business admonishing an RLI soldier. ...sanctimonious in the extreme. Those remarks need to be erased from the record. A very poor show . Idiot.
Rhodesians flew Pumas.
No, flew IN SAAF Pumas, piloted by South African pilots
@@calummackenzie1797 Yes I figured that too!
Very interesting once again👍What’s a rad?
It's a radio beacon
@@fightingmenofrhodesia ah ok 👍 seems obvious now🤪
Radio Activated Device…we used to call it RAM