A Handful of Hard Men: The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia

Rhodesian SAS captain Darrell Watt leads relentless battles from airborne assaults to covert operations against Mugabe and Nkomo, then pivots to wildlife and continental welfare after war.

During the West’s great transition into the post-Colonial age, the country of Rhodesia refused to succumb quietly, and throughout the 1970s fought back almost alone against Communist-supported elements that it did not believe would deliver proper governance.

During this long war many heroes emerged, but none more skillful and courageous than Captain Darrell Watt of the Rhodesian SAS, who placed himself at the tip of the spear in the deadly battle to resist the forces of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo.

It is difficult to find another soldier’s story to equal Watt’s in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anyone who can match his record of resilience and valor in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry. In the fight he showed himself to be a military maestro. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination to close with the enemy, he had no peers as a combat-tracker (and there was plenty of competition). But the Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one in which he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role; as an airborne shock-trooper leading camp attacks, long range reconnaissance operator, covert urban operator, sniper, saboteur, seek-and-strike expert, and in the final stages as a key figure in mobilizing an allied army in neighboring Mozambique.

After 12 years in the cauldron of war his cause slipped from beneath him, however, and Rhodesia gave way to Zimbabwe. When the guns went quiet Watt had won all his battles but lost the war. In this fascinating work we learn that in his twilight years he is now concerned with saving wildlife on a continent where they are in continued danger, devoting himself to both the fauna and African people he has cared so deeply about.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
A Brief History of Rhodesia

CHAPTER 1
Rebellion • Darrell Watt • The wind of change 19

CHAPTER 2
Formation of the SAS • Harold Wilson and the Soviets • The first farm attack • Recruit Watt •Robinson on SAS selection

CHAPTER 3
First blood • The two-toed tribe • Watt’s first action • Operation Cauldron • Hadebe • Into Mozambique •Into Zambia • Smith settles • Mbuya Nehanda

CHAPTER 4
The end of the beginning • Hawkesworth • Macombe • Andy Chait • Rhodesians on top • Coup in Portugal •Détente • Herbert Chitepo

CHAPTER 5
The Victoria Falls débâcle • Exodus from the SAS • Machipanda • Life on the ‘front’ • A ‘Kiwi’ entry •The ‘Winged Stagger’

CHAPTER 6
Mozambique declares war • Enter Henry Kissinger •Water warriors

CHAPTER 7
Rude awakenings • Renamo is born • The south-east heats up • Shooting the messenger • Operation Mardon • Carter wins, Rhodesia loses • Frustration •Mine everything • Walking on water

CHAPTER 8
Going for broke • Do or die • The attack • Watt shot

CHAPTER 9
The madness continues • Watt to Botswana • Domestic problems • Camp on the Zambezi • Internal settlement • Renamo rises • Murder most foul • Back to Tembué • The stay-behind party

CHAPTER 10
Monkey business • ‘Tiny’ Rowland • Viscount Hunyani • The deafening silence

CHAPTER 11
Chris Dixon • Para attack • Ambush

CHAPTER 12
Privateers • Richard Stannard • Innocents die • Lights out

CHAPTER 13
Another Viscount downed • Watt finds the killers • Stannard back to Chimoio • Recce on a ZIPRA camp • Bishop Muzorewa wins power

CHAPTER 14
Combat tracking at speed • More farmers murdered • The ‘Iron Lady’ folds • Scheepers back in the fray

CHAPTER 15
Chopper down • Yankee Section • Operation Bumper • Monte Xiluvo • The Russians are coming

CHAPTER 16
A leader dies • Life with Luke • A mystery death at Lancaster House

CHAPTER 17
Bust the bridges • A big surprise • Time to say goodbye

CHAPTER 18
Ceasefire • More attempts to kill Mugabe • Walls folds • The order that never came • A farewell to arms

Appendix A The Unilateral Declaration of Independence
Appendix B SAS Roll of Honour

Endnotes
Bibliography

Hannes Wessels was born in 1956 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) but grew up in Umtali on the Mozambican border. As a boy, holidays were spent with Game Department rangers; time on safari in Mozambique with the late Wally Johnson was a big influence on him. Wessels also grew to know Robert Ruark whose love of Africa, its people, politics and the written word left a lasting impression. He saw action in the Rhodesian bush war before acquiring a law degree which he chose not to use. He has hunted big game in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania in a 20-year career. In 1994 he was severely gored by a wounded buffalo which almost cost him his life. While no longer directly involved in hunting, he is part-owner of a lodge and game ranch in Zambia on the Zambezi and remains keenly interested in all matters relating to African wildlife and conservation. He has published Strange Tales from Africa in the USA, a collection of anecdotes from his hunting days. He is also a syndicated writer for Outdoor Life in the United States and is currently writing a history on the Rhodesian SAS. He is married to Mandy and has two daughters, Hope and Jana, and lives in Darling in the Western Cape of South Africa.