Rhodesian Light Infantry, South Africa Recce | Mike West | Ep. 294

That's the big bonus for that. I mean, we also do some Patreon bonus episodes for our subscribers, but this is the biggest and best way that you can support the Teamhouse channel and podcast if you'd like to, and we really appreciate that. So go and check us out at patreon dot com.

Internet access, the world's most transparent VPN. Now, a VPN or a virtual private network is an app that hides your IP address and safeguards your Internet connection through an encrypted This way, it shields your digital life from the eyes of those that are looking to exploit your private information, and that might not just be your service provider.

it didn't face. It was difficult, but you went through it and once we got out there, you know, My whole life was always violent. But my family was violent. My father was violent, my uncles were violent. They all came out of the war. They they loved. They enjoyed the old fisty cuffs and fighting, and we witnessed so much of these fights. We used to walk over to your place. And we lived in a mining town in Welcome in the freest and our entertainment, our television was

to go to the old Valkymotel and watch out. The Italians and the Africans used to get stuck into one another, bottle each other. It was it was absolutely we enjoyed it. You know, a lot of blood and it was good fun. And that's what we lived with. There was a lot of animosity between us and the Afrikaans kids. This stems now the parents reared the kids. They hated the English people,

you know, and and this what was about. So we ended up going to boxing clubs where I actually became a Northern Free State boxing champion, and we went through a lot of this stuff, a lot of violence. Violence. But life was difficult. It was really difficult. Obviously, we were very poor. You didn't worry about being poor because everybody was poor in the mining town and my life turned out. I'd got a step mother. My dad noted another woman stepped mom and didn't go very well, and

I decided to disappear. I ran away and I lived in Banangna plantations. I even slept in a subway with some hoboes, and I slept in railway stations. And this was the way I was going. And through this whole tour of mine around the country. Event she landed up in a place called Victoria, where had her aunt over there. And I must have been there two weeks or so, and then she the police were looking for me, and then she notified got all of my parents or whoever

got out. But anyway, the cops came and got me police and took me back, and the plans were to put me in a reformatory, but some guy came up with a with a with the ingenious of an idea, and they decided to put me in the prison Service Training College was was in the Fee State as well, in a place called Crown Stuff where they took me on and I went there and trained as a warder to go work in the prisons. So that was up to their very violent life. Let me tell you these

little Africanas founded us. I tell you, I've never I don't think anybody's got as many hidings as what I got. You know, I really my brother and I got some very.

I went over there and I did very very well. Well. I had no option. You had to fight. And the fun part of a young was the parents. My dad would be in the mind. Everybody's kids would go and box and the miners would bet probably a ten cent or five cent, I don't know. What it was? Whose son with thump? Who in the club? You know? And the coach soreled the beer. Well, I didn't really like English either, so I landed up in quite a few

little skirmishes at the club as well. It was a very interesting childhood, but it for the for the whole, my whole upbringing was incredible violence. I went home many a day with a blood nose and bleeding lips and you know, and a black eye. And is it all? Africanas really laid into us. They actually hated us. I haven't got another word for it. You know, they used the most horrific names for us, which you people wouldn't understand over there, you know, the type of names are

used in Afrikaans uce. But there was an unbelievable amount of animosity and that was normal to us.

We did a lot of fighting in the school as well, you know, but I hated school. And then I wanted to go to the mines and my dad said, no way, are you going to land up in the mines. But they so the problem came up. The welfare took over with me, and they, like I said, they wanted to put me in a reformatory, and some guy came up with this brilliant idea and they put me in the prison Service College, which served me well. You know. That kept me out of trouble, and that was quite an

interesting little trip. It was nice. It helped me ahole of a lot in life. And when I finished during my dad was in nineteen sixty five. When I finished during my prisons of a training, they sent me they transferred me to a place called zond of Art, near the Color of Mine where that huge diamond was found, now as zoond of Arta. Once again I landed up in a lot of fighting, you know, where the miner's kid.

And I was just a bit of a ruffian. I wasn't a year of any sorts, but I just somehow landed up, always landed up in the in the fights and the trouble, and I became quite a problem to this lot. We had an officer over there with the name of a snaye On and they called him Double O seven. And these guys couldn't handle me and I got up to a lot of weird things, and I

was making money on the side doing other things. I would drive into town and go and work for Indians and do illegal things for Indians, like driving cars and parking cars at places. And I got paid for these things and I made good money. And they started to investigate because it didn't make sense how a guy like me could own Alpha Mayors and he had underds and motorbikes, and they they just had enough at me. But I

was causing a lot of trouble. But on the other end, I played a very good game of rugby because I was a violent littlebugger. And in the end they decided they wanted to get rid of me. And Pierremont Franti was a guy at the Prison Service College, a country members rank colonel or Brigadier. Pierremont Fronsali was with the Northern trans Or rugby teams. They brought me to Vittoria

because of my rugby skills, you know. And they got me there and then they placed me in the gallows, the maximum security and I worked in the gallows, not as a hangman. I just was one of the assistants in the gallows. Which was a very very interesting story. But inside the gallows there was a gentley the name of Demetrius Offenders. That was the same gentleman that murdered the Prime Minister handled for both in parliament when he standing to death. Wow, So I got to meet this

chappie over there. He wouldn't reveal anything, but you know, I met the guy said that was a very interesting part of the history. Now, while I was at the gallows, I started to moonlight by going and doing part time taxi writing because the prison service didn't pay money. It was a pathetic story. While I was moonlighting on the one Saturday morning and at the railway station, and all of a sudden we see this chappie come running along in petigear and it was one of the convicted guys,

a guy with the name of Fanstian. He had been sentenced to death for killing of a He killed a detective. He had an affair with the guy's wife and then he murdered him and then he got the death sentence. And I ran over and I grabbed this puppy and well, obviously he tried to resist, which was you shouldn't have tried that anyway, But I saw to him out quickly, we dumped him in the car and we raced him

back to maximum security where he escaped from. And it was it was such a strange sight to see because they had they must have had two hundred wardens with rifles and dogs and they were going on this massive manner to look for this escape conmy and yeah, I suddenly pitched up with his guy at the gallows. Now that that made me a sort of a year and I landed up in newspapers with photos and you know.

And what happened was this guy had quite influential friends and they were they decided there was talks that people wanted to kill me, and you know, things were going wrong. So the prison service decided they getting rid of me out of Petorium for my safety, and they sent me to Point Prison in Turbert, which was a real shittle excuse the word. I managed to get out of there and get back to Pretoria again. When I got back there and I looked at this lot and I thought,

I don't see chance for this discipline stuff anymore. I just had enough of this lot and I decided I'm now going to do. I want to become a full time taxi driver. Now, you know, people look at taxi drivers. I don't know, different countries, different opinions about taxi drivers. But those days, a taxi driver was encyclopedia of knowledge. Man, let me tell you this. Now, I did a lot of fighting in the taxi game as well. You know, you hit people. It happened. I was just that way

in claim. And at that time, while I was at the taxi I was fighting for a Phoenix boxing club which was run by Tony Currm, a Lebanese guy, very very good trainer, and the South African heavyweight boxing chump, and Jimmy Richards was at the club. But anyway, that was all the interesting parts. And I had a physic cuff with a one taxi driver at the railway station. Now was a brutal a guy and a very aggressive guy, and everybody was very cautious of him because he you know,

he lost his school very easy. He owed me money, and I owed him money. You know, we had he owed me more than what I owed him. But he had a very bad day and he decided he wanted his money. And he told me, listen, I want my money or so I'm going to thump you. You know what I mean. And I told him to go and fly a kite, you know. And then this pubby came charging down on me, which was the biggest mistake because I could throw the fists, you know, and I was boxing

and I something good. I beat him and he fell over a corner, was hitting and people pulled me off, and this guy ran up towards the railway station where the railway police are, and while I was standing down at the station, he came out to the railway policeman and he was shouting, that s him, that shim, that's him. But I was angry at this stage of the game, and they told me, told me I must come out, and I just told him to go and fly a kite because I was very very angry. But you know what,

the beauty I was. One of the other taxi drivers went up with him after I thumped him, and when they went into the bathroom, then he attu rinse his mouth and the water was coming out of his cheek. I had given this guy a man. I was so proud. How he took the blow, I don't know, but the water was coming out of his cheek and I felt

toughed with myself you know, because he was an aggressive guy. Well, anyway, I told Eventually, because the Row police couldn't get anything right, he went down to Central Police station to lay a charge against me over there. But this was on the premises of the railroad Police. It was their jurisdiction, so they couldn't charge me. Anyway. This thing went up and down, and somehow the other, the railway police or ever behind it, got sick and tired of us guys, and decided we

got to get off the station. You know, they didn't want us anymore. There's good money and everybody knew us. And I mean, you could come to me as a taxi driver and there's nothing you couldn't add. I could arrange anything you wanted, you know, Encyclopedia of Knowledge. Anything doesn't matter what you want, I could arrange it. And I had very good customers, and I was making very

very good money and I was living well. They decided, you know, they had enough of us, and they removed us from the station and we had to go and start a new rank in Fambilan Street in Petoria. Now you can't just go and open a taxi rank in a new area. You need client tell anyway, they didn't work. Outside, I sold my taxi. I had a human vogue, a little automatic, little job, and I sold that to an Italian guy with a cinema from Wandi, and he bought up quite a few of these taxis while he lost

all his money. Eventually, because it didn't work, I decided I went to work for a guy with the name of Vessels. Good guy, nice guy, had a valiant, wanted these old valiants, and I was doing quite well over there. But while I was over there, now I there was a local pub called the fron of Cell Pub, and there used to be all these railway apprentices, ruffians man really rough little guys. We just do a lot of fighting.

And the barman's name was Richard, and he asked me one day, don't you want to come and sort out these puppies rice, you know. And then every time they called out, run drive down, and I'd gone sump these guys. You know. I got a couple of good shots against their head there as well. But anyway, I sorted this lot out at the in the pub. Now, this Vessels guy, now I was losing customers who'd come to the taxi and I wasn't there, and they went and complained about it.

So he came and he gave me a bit of a bollocking which I didn't handle. I told him to go and fly a kite. Now I was joblessly. I had no work. Now where do I go? And I need job. At this stage of the game, I'd married another woman and I had you know, I had a kid with her and I needed income. So I get an ingenious idea. I decide I'm going to join the army. Now at this stage of the game, these special Forces of South Africa, the Wrecks, very well known special forces.

They were on the go and I was sitting in the pub talking to Richard, and I said, I'm going to give this a go. You know, I'm going to give it a go. So I go over to the head office. A whole lot of guys we're completing forms, sitting there, were handed in. We're waiting, and the guy comes out. He were speaking in Afrikaans and told the guys okay, we'll contact you contact. They came over to me and said to me, you know you can go. You don't qualify. I said, what's wrong? I said, no,

you don't have qualification. Because I was expelled. You know, he son at six. I had a son at six certificate because I was naughty and I was fighting, and we were naughty little buggers, so I could. And I had no religious upbringing. You know nothing, we religion didn't exist for us. We weren't worried about things like that. So yeah, I said, where do I go with all this cup? So Richard and I was sitting in the front of Stell having a good chat and we talk

about Rhodesia. Now, the war was on the go in Rhodesia, and I said, oh, man, I must give this a go. But now I know I've got absolutely no military backer. I've never served. I'm a damn taxi driver. Came out the gallows, taxi driver with no military expen How am I going to get into a military organization? Now? Way back when I lived in the Friest, a guy with the name of Bruce Fisher came and lived us, and he was in the arm and he used to spin a lot of which I didn't know at the time.

I used to believe him. And whilst there was a taxi driver, we would take a lot of the guys to the military base in fir tracker work there, and I used to listen to all these stories. So I decided I bothered my dad's green page and station wagon had a bit of bucks, and I decided I'm going down. So I concoct the story the biggest load of bullshit under the sun about infantry. And I can't remember all

the crap I put together. But anyway, when I got to Salisbury, I completed this application form and I thought, I'm in the military. No, we had to go back and they would inform me, you know, they'd called me up. Oh what a disappointment to go all the way back because now you've got a riding convoy with the BSAP escorts here because the convoys got ambushed by the terrorists

on the roads. Anyway, all the way back I speagan the correction and maybe three weeks two, three weeks down the line, Yeah, I get a telegram ticket and all I'm being called up to go to Rhodesia. Man was I thrawed? Oh, man, I've got a job, you know, Because I can't get a job. People didn't like me. Well, I didn't know why, but I didn't understand at the time where people didn't want to give me a job,

you know. Anyway, on the train got to Salisbury, there are some guys waiting in the gyp picked me up and they drive me off to a place calleding Como Barracks to the Gray Scouts. Got there and it's horses and questions centers and allah felt, I got a camouflage uniform, boots and oh man, I felt on top of the wall. You know, I'm in the military as a taxi driver with the biggest loaded crack. I don't know anything about military Mike. How old are you right now?

was quite fun. And they gave me a horse with a name of Wetfort, a potolous, a big puppy, and I was jeoff. But you know what the beauty is now I'm sitting here cow, I'm in the army. Man, I've got no idea what anything is about. I'm just winging my way around, you know. And anyway, we were very fortunate to get through the question. I could ride horse because as youngsters we used to ride donkeys and horses, you know, the place called Rainbow Valley in the mining areas,

So it wasn't a problem. I just struggled to fit a saddle on a horse because I had no idea to fit a saddle. But I mean, obviously I mastered that, and wow, man, a great moment of my life. This whole convoy got together, horses were loaded on vehicles, RL's Bedfords and four or five Merks and we off. We go to a place called Yama Panda, which was well quite away from Mozenbig, but was in the eastern area off to our base camp. You must remember Yarm sitting

as a taxi driver amongst a lot of people. Now, a lot of the guys that came and came from America, you name it, all over the world. They joined Rudesia because it was a war. You know, they took everybody on and all on. I'm just listening to all this stuff. But the guys are talking. Some guys spoke about Vietnam and I was listening to all this stuff and I just was winging my way around. I had no idea

what's going on. Anyway, we got to this place Nearma Panda and there we hung a run in the base camp, grooming horses and doing gud duty and so on. And then on a day came they said to us, okay, we're going to deploy. Now. The guy's name was Dave Spots was my first team leader. Came over and he said, okay, guys were going out, and you know we're going to deploy. You know, praduc felt today. You know, you can imagine

this taxi driver with a uniform. They gave me a heavy barreled FN and I need to any rounds the same as any normal effort, but it weighed about three or four killos eavery year. But I felt an ace. Man. Now I'm sitting on a horse like Geronimo, wepping up in the air, and yeah, we riding through the camp and all the guys again. Oh with the point, I just wish I can explain how I felt as a taxi driver sitting on a horse, whether every barrel machine going going into war, got no idea what was but

I'm on my way. Yeah, anyway, that was. It was unbelievable. It was. But as time went on. Now I'd seen a black and white movie in my life about a war, you know, Second World War, guys running with payments on rifles and and that always suck in my mind. Now we're out of these horses and that, and I was thinking to myself, oh, you look, I'm not a stupid guy. And I was thinking, oh, if somebody shoots at men on top of this horse, I've got trouble. You know,

there's typical custos scene over here. And the other thing had got me very concerned. When we went into an lup, which is a lineup place for the day, then the horses got to be tied at a certain area. Now, these things stump and fought, and you know, they carry on and the horse flies and it's noisy. So we got to be quite a distance away from the horses because you couldn't hear a stampede coming with the noise

that these horses made. And the other thing was fearful at night, these things they always make a noise, and I was scared. We wake up one morning and the horses are gone, and the terrorists had made hamburgers out of the bloody things. But we decided we at night times, we would stay over in a protected village, which was a kip where all the locals were kept because of the terrorists activities in the area. They get all the locals in these protected villages and there was a group

called the Guard Force that look after them. And that's how we would go out in the day, ride around and sleep there at night. Now they were a punch up. There was a punch up, but we had split up and the other guys had a punch up, and I arrived there too late, and they killed two of these turs, and I was oh. I was angry because I wanted to shoot somebody, you know, and anyway, we burnt the villagers and whatever the case, God and I did. I did a couple of these things, but I didn't get

satisfaction out of it. Departs from the fact that I was like Geronimo, sitting on a bloody horse with a heavy barrelfort, which looked good. But I wanted to be the guys with a bayonet, you know, charging trenches and like I saw in movies, and just I don't know, it just appealed to me. Good fortune came my way. I remember getting back to the camp the one way,

and our officer's name was Heywood. He was a lieutenant, a good guy, and he said to me, listen, Mike, we're going to go and do a resupply with an oorl which was a bedfit. We got to take some rations out. I want you to escort me. Oh sto thrilled about it by that time. Then I got a normal F and I got rid of the heavy barrel f because there was pointless carrying a thing with bipods.

It took twenty rounds like any other. And I'm in the in the ourl in Kyward's driving and he's got his dog which is a Labrador, beautiful dog by the name of Blue, sitting between us, and yeah, we go driving into the sunset. I never we get looking. You know. We were going east and I just felt so much. You're sitting with us fn out the window. You know, I'm serving a purpose, no idea. What the hell's came on, man? And anyway, the roads are in a very very bad state.

And it's zigzag zig zag all over the road because it's a lot of potholes and you name it, very bad roads. And I remember it's coming with the speed to the one side, to the left hand side of the road wed like a dip where we could go through quite smoothly. And all of a sudden, nothing, we hit a land mine. Now I didn't I couldn't identify a landmink for the life of men. Didn't even know where a land mine is. You know, I learned all

these things afterwards. What happened was the vehicle we were traveling east, that this land mine hit it, lift the vehicle up, threw it off the road in a suddenly direction, facing south, and there we sat. The windskin was out, and the dog was gone, and I was sitting there. It was just dust and I didn't even Okay, I'll tell you what happened over there. Now I'm sitting and we and I looked over KVID. But my ears are blasted now, you know, the ear drums and a medim

saying we must get out and get out. They can kill us, you know. And I jumped out. And when I got out, I'm holding my eff and in my hand and it's broken. I've got photos of it. It's actually smashed. Now, what happened was good fortune when the landmine went off. Now what you must understand, the oral has got water in the tires for the shock. Then it got conveyor belting riveted on the floor. Then it's got sand bagging, so you sit with your legs quite bent.

Then you've got to cross over seat belt that ties you down. Now when this, when we hit this landmine, it snapped the seat belts and hit me into the ceiling the roof of the of the of the cab, and good luck to me, the FN came past me and smashed and damage broke the weapon and it caught me under my chin and lost my head. Who decapitated me? Anyway, I get it. I'm standing with this broken weapon in my hand. I don't know what's going on. I'm deaf. It's a hell of a store. And your blue comes

running over. Now when the landmine went off, blue and right through the where the windskin was, he went right through. But it came over all happy and no problem. All of a sudden, all these vehicles right, and it's these engineers. Now I'm learning as I'm going along now and we get a lift, they later said, they take us back

to camp. When we get back to campyn with my broken eff and then we learn there's a mind called the TMA three, which is a Yugoslavia And it looks like these cheese you buy it in the supermarket, you know, cheddy cheese in the dread there's that shape has got no metal on, it's just the T and T. Now, this was a double puppy because the size of the hole and the way it threw us. Now, I wasn't supposed to be alive, but I didn't know it at the time that I'm supposed to have been, you know,

because I was right on top of the landmine. But I felt, I tell you, you know, proud I felt of that one I had survived this landmine. Everybody slapping me on the back. My back was hurt, my ankle was hurt, but I felt top notch I had. Now, I mean combat man, this is what I wanted and being worn this was it. I was so proud of myself. And whilst I was in the Gray Scouts, I heard about the Revision Light Infantry. These guys used to jump into combat from Dakotas or deployed by Alouette choppers into

the war into combat. There's no question. You go on the ground and you look for teurs. You were right in the combat. And I thought, now I want to join this man, you know, I want to progress a bit because this landmine really motivated me. I loved the I just felt like a year omen. Anyway, got back, did my forms and they sent me to URL and I landed up in a IN two commando. Now remember I'm now twenty seven years old, and my troop commander was a guy with the name of Mike. She was

a lieutenant. He was nineteen years old, nineteen year od kid. And all the youngsters that people around me are kids, and you understanding amongst these kids, it was another world, you know. But I was there and I was happy I was there, and while we tied, just my luck, they decided that I was going to be one of the guys going to be trained as a paratrooper. Now in Rhodesia, they had to train people in parachuting because we didn't have enough aloege to deploy everybody. So I

landed up on a parachute course, basic parachuting. My instructor was the guy with the name of Andy Steen. It was a magnificent course. It was out of this wall there. Now, I'm a parabat, day taxi driver, no war experience on a par of course, you understanding. And I'm a parabat and I got a nineteen year old officer leading me. Let me tell you something. This guy's name was Mike Rich. It looked like a tom Cruiser hall of Ahn, some looking a smart guy. You would never say that this

guy's a combatant, but balls of titanium. You must see these guys in combat. I've never in my entire life, well up to that stage. I mean, what I don't know about war. Eighteen nineteen year old kids like that they go into combat. Now what happened was I was very fortunate. I wasn't deployed to a place called the Grand Reef where there and off go the sirens. We run to the Dakota. The choppers are warming up, the gunships, the CA cars. It's got a twenty mile the geekas.

We've got twin Brownings on that goata warming up, We got the shoots on. Your weapon gets struck and into the deck. You're going off we fly. Now, I'm very very excited today. I mean, I don't ever know what's going on. What do I know? I just hear these stories and then we get our stand up, you know, hook up, check equipment, and then eventually out the door and we jump right into combat. Man, you know how

fantastic I felt. You know, the strangest thing is I didn't know any fear because I didn't know what war was. He was a hell of a lot of shooting and bangs. The gun ships were flying around circling, and twenty males were going and Brownings were going. It was oh, it was unbelievable. There was Lynx lobbing, napalm comes down, staffing and I thought, wow, man, this is beautiful. Now, this is my first time I've actually been in real combat.

And remember being on the ground on the left flank. Now, I've got the mag which when I was at oral they obviously went less. I've got a machine gun. It's a big puppy. It it's a big weapon to jump with, about thirteen kilograms. Anyway, I'm on the left flank, and as we're swooping through our sea, on my left flank, I see that as the choppers are circling, there are two of these terrorists under the trees, firing through the

canopy of the tree at the choppers. And I turned the alan and I open up, and I get the spirits of sayin, I take the one guy it must have been I reckon eighteen meters. I'm speaking under correction, but I know him. The other puppy goes to go and he starts opening up at me, and I enjoyed that, and I rapped him, and I put a hell of a person and I got rid of him, and I used the whole hundred rounds over there to kill these

two guys. Then I put a new belt on and then we stepped forward, and then I got covering fire and they did the rest of the job. I never forget. When we got back to the camp, the mockery because now the old man, I was the old man. I mean, these are kids, man. I had an underground and the command of the base cap was mocking me that it took a hundred rounds around to killed two guys. But I was a bloody taxi driver and I enjoyed it, you know, Dave and Jack. I just want to tell

you something how this relates to this story. Two women are sitting and having tea, and they chatting about the kids, and the one says to the other one, Oh, my son has gone to the military. They've given him a uniform, they give them a big steel helmet, they've given him a gun and boots, and he's gonna go in and kill all these people. And the other lady looks at it and says, to you, but I amn't too scared. They're going to kill him, she says, But why would

they do that. They don't even know him, you know, gave me that. Yeah, people were shooting at me, and I wasn't scared, because what do I know about bloody war, you know? But I enjoyed it. It was It's fun. How can I numerous of these punch ups, A lot of punch ups.

old kids carry on. As I'll explain a bit further on. Anyway, I landed up in a lot of punch ups and I enjoyed it. And I know there's a lot of talk where they say everybody crept himself in war and that, but I just couldn't wait to get out of the bloody plane. I don't know what it was. I just got a hell of a thrill out of us. I saw didn't even worry about death. Death never worried me, and we went into We had the Sulu scouts would be on the ground. They would pick up the terrorists

coming in the country. They would notify the fire force in the area, and then we would go up. And we went out for another punch. Up was a nice, big group of urs over there, and we jumped out and I had the MG. Now the MG, if you see the fight, there's a massive weapon which is stapped over your shot. It's massive. And I'm coming in for backward landing. Now you know, they're taking shots at us coming down and I connect the ground without knowing it. The butt breaks off of this MD and I'm on

the ground. I loosen it. They get it up and I pick us up and there's like a submachine gun. It's but the butt still is touched on the swings. I'll throw it over my shoulder. Got the pistol grip. I loosen the bipods and I tell you it must be the first time. I don't even think Amber has done this and into combat. Didn't perturb me. I'm honest with it. Didn't even perturb me. And I've got this

thing and I'm having born man, I'm gaining. I'm having fun. Anyway, we called a lot of guys there, and the one guy managed to slot one of these guys who was carrying an RPD. Edward Lindsall was his name. He passed away reously, a brilliant youngster, was eighteen years old. There. I was towering over these guys. This guy's had bump fluff men. You can't believe it. The bravery is I

can't explain it. Anyway, they give me this RPD and they took some turs and undertwo what they threw them on the aloe with a gun and offered when I'm sitting with an RPD, and I all I had to know is where the barrel was, where the trigger was, and the safety catch. And I was thrall and I so badly wanted to kill somebody with us. And we went in, but I didn't have a chance to kill anybody. I was so peered off with us. I really wanted

to kill somebody with us. Anyway, went back to Kleoopity and so on and so forth, and as this thing progressed, I was I was so excited with us, you know, I'm sure I could have fathered some of these guys, you know. Yeah, and the beautiful thing came up in seventy seven Operation Dingo, probably the biggest operation ever Indonesia. I think it compares with Vietnam with the biggest ever they was. And I land up with Mike Rich the nineteen year old. Oh what a gutsy guy. That's you

can't believe it. It's awesome, man, and MG and off I Gobert. I mean alo is Now we're going out the stop groups now and the three commanders and the sas we're going to jump in sweep to the camps. And we were putting a type of horseshoe around it. I can't remember the whole story, but I'm in the stop group and they jump in and they represent they come running towards you as man, what a dream that was for me. I love the day. I well, I can't explain it to you.

essays anywhere in the world. I'm telling you that. And I thought, hell I want to be in the Essays. So once we get back to your two, Commander, I go to my crits and I said, I want to go to Essays application for selection. Oh man, that I regret that.

cull and it's it's it's absolutely amazing, you know. Yeah, so time goes, time flies. The one day we deployed twice, the record is three times. I can't remember which command it was, but we deployed twice. And that day I felt it because we got out about half the sixth that night. But it was a hell of a buncher. But it was so enjoyable. You know, that smell of the gun. Well, and I don't know, I just crave this stuff. I just loved it. Maybe my childhood dreams

some singer the Second World War movie. You didn't get enough of this anyway, This SAS appuilt, man, I thought I came for a selection. Wow, man, who let me tell you all the instructors in the SAS are qualified operators. They don't take shit, man. Did I only realized when I was there. I heard stories and the stories you hear about SAS selection. Believe it, I'm telling you believe it. That is at another level. That is torture. But I

was determined to make it. Now. With the reputation that I arrived there, they didn't really favor me much and I they gave me a hard time. But I was a tough cookie, you know, I wasn't going to give it because I wanted that parade and I wanted to be says. I wanted the war that they had. I wanted this comeback and I stuck it out. Look, they gave it to me, but I was fortunate over there. They at one stage I hammered me very very hot. And the guy's name was Rob Johnson, was a major

awesome operator. I operated him afterwards as calm as hell under fire as while a brilliant operator. And they decided they didn't exactly like who I was and where I came from because I I was a trouble make and if you and I did a lot of smuggling, I told you I was drive cars pop cause don't know what's in the cause get paid, land up in fights. It was a bit of a hooligan and he wanted to get him me, so they turned up a pressure on me. But to break me you needed to add

a lot, a lot more instructors. Because I wanted to be there. I ended up wrestling in the mud with Brian Murphy, religion player and that open guy. Yeah, what a tough guy. Him and I were brawling in the mud anyway. Eventually Rob Johnson went to Darrell what what got wounded in the leg and he was on the selection. He was out of combat, and he said, we can't break this puppy. And Darrell said, give him to me. Man, you know, I'll take him because Daryl was my type

of guy that was a shutster. Listen, this is a tough puppy. This is not a type of guy that you find anywhere. It's a very unique human being. He loved trouble with this out of the bush and you in town at night, he will fight. You'll cause trouble. If he's in the bush and he's bored, you'll go look for trouble. And I love this guy. But i'd only heard of Darrell What then. And I remember the

one up. Everybody spoke about Daryl Arret Tarts all the years, Darryl Darrell and I wanted this guy because I just some man knew this is where the fight was. You know. I ended up in a lot of punch ups with different offices. But I remember going on this up with him now and we went to an area called Kavala Mana. Now we were four manting. Now I was the RPD gunner. I love machine gun because you know I could kill with this thing. Now I loved just just something appealed

to me. I was a bit of a not We had a signal a medic and Darrel wattered myself and four guys and we got into an Lupa area which is a high ground, and we were sitting up on the ill and were scouting, looking with binoculars. Now you look for shine, you know, yours, your normal shape, size, spacing, silhouette, shadow shine movement. And we looked for this. And as the day got near last night, Daryl came over and said, listen,

I picked up a glint. It was to the west, so I picked it quite away from there, probably about five seven killers, I can't remember. He said, I'm going to We're gonna go invest it. He said, Mike, you're going with me. So we leave all our heavy kid dying. I've got my just my normal bult webbing on and my RPDO. Loved my rpdo just what I loved it. I could have married a arpedion and I just loved the weapon. Anyway, we went down and walked into got

into the night, walked and eventually found vehicle tracks. Remember I come out of fire force. Now I've got a lot of combat. I'm not scared of fighting, and I'm used to combat now. And Darryl Man, I wish you guys could meet this guy. This guy's as wide as what is taw and man I called him the god of war. Nothing like that or what on this planet? Man? Anyway, we are, we walking and we get you a makeshift

boom and the vehicle tracks agagain and Darrell's walking. I'm following Daryl and we walk right into a turken But I think most people who realized it had turned around and scamp it in another direction. But not there or what. He just keeps walking. Now. I don't know if we were in the middle of the camp on the side of the camp, but we were between the turs. I could hear the night sounds this is but I had this RPD and I was ready, And yeah, Darrel was walking.

Beautiful moonlight, but a lot of trees in the camp. And we walked, I don't know, maybe one hundred meters to get through this camp. The other side. We got to a Cattie bush. Now we're standing in bright moonlight. It feels like I'm standing, you know, on a light so bright, and he's just listening and I'm standing and I'm waiting, and I don't know what's going on. And he just does this and yeah, he goes back on the same way walking, and yet all these nights sounds

and I think wow, But I didn't. At that stage of the game. I realized were right in amongst the puppies. But I wasn't actually the ter because I was Darrel in the Daryl. I heard so much about him, I didn't care. You know, a bunch of with him as wouldn't worry me. Anyway, we get right to the camp. We moved a long distance on the camp, and we moved up into a high ground. Now we're sitting on this high ground and Suddy, we hear these rifle shot,

these gunshots going off. Now I don't know what's going on. I mean, I'm a fire force man, you know, a taxi driver. They're not gray scout, grown up with a bloody landmine. Now I'm sitting in this nice combat and I said, what said, Daryl says, it's hunters. I said hunters. He says, oh, they're going to shoot meat in that. So I said, would you like to go and take these guys out. I said, oh fuck, I'd love it, you know, love it. And he says, okay, let's go listen.

This sounds like you don't you won't even see this in a bloody movie. But it doesn't register me to me as normal, you know what. I'm just doing what I'm told. And Daryl walks, gets down and finds some jumbos for elephants for But there's a lot of bush. It's sick. It's Zambia, and he points in that direction. He says that that places off you go. And I thought, what the hell. Now I'm walking with the RPD and I'm walking. I look at my perif. It's about five

meters behind me. You know, I might as well be walking in down window shopping. And I'm walking and in the bush round, and all of a sudden there come these three chappies. The one's got some game over his shoulder. That and the other are but too late. The advantage was I knew they were there, and Daryl told me, you know, I'm gonna go kill one. They did not as they and they went for the guns. But sorry for you, you know, too late, and I got rid

of them. I dispose of them very very effectively. Anyway, now we have caused quite a commotion with this machine gunner mine. So we moved to another eye ground and Daryl's sitting up there wants to see what reaction comes if the camp picked it up, because we found the cant Now we got to attack this place. While I'm sitting up there listening, and I look at him, I seemed smiling at me, you know, and I say, well, I called himself. I said, what's it? So he says, hey, Wes,

did you ship yourself? I said, hold one, you know, close it was, and he gives a little little chuckle of his He just loved the day. Oh, he loved He just loved it. I mean it was. It was bloody close, you know. I mean say, there was seven or eight groops. You know, I could have been in

quite a fight, but I would have got them. I have confident of the modelm Anyway, we moved back to the lup with the other two guys with our hop with our single thirty A TR forty eight big radio mate comes to Salisbury gives them the whole picture, and we moved about twenty five kilos to the south, and then they came and dropped a lot of guys in so we could attack this cap. So there's a lot of slogging, minimum sleep and a lot of walking. And yeah,

but you're an operator, you're an Essays operator. When you pass an SAS selection, let me tell you you're your something else. That is, if you got five at of one hundred, you've got a hell of a lot of people to get in over there. Because I remember the day when we went to Llewellyn Directs its a lot of these wanna be puppies around. Everybody goes in to get a day office, probably about six hundred people coming to participate

in it. In the end when it was all over, I think we were seven that made the bloody selection. It's a hell of a story. It's torture. I really do not recommend as to my worst enemy to go and try SAS selection. It's not fun. Anyway, we got the lads and we slug all the way back and we attacked the camp and it was absolutely amazing. I mean I was now in the skirmish line with Darrell

and man we moved these guys. It was absolutely amazing it and we did quite a lot of these things, quite a lot of his camp attack one of the I did a lot of camp every single camp attack, gave and jack every single kampa tech did introudiesia. I was on every single one. You can read from Mike Rich it was he was in the RLI with me, he was in the essays, and he was in the recuse with me. And then Darrell what the god of war is probably the most renown soldier you're computing. You

gotta look what they write about me bottom day. You see, no people, no guys ever been as much combatant. Now, I'm proud of that. As a you must remember why I'm proud of it. I'm a bloody. It was a taxi driver. I didn't do a military training. I mean this is standard. Yeah, yes, this man, that was absolutely crazy.

And then they ride next to you and they run you in the yat of the sun with sand bags and they really give it to you, and they tell you, come on, jump on, man, go to the club at night. There was a club called the Electric Circles in bull Away. Come go with the dollies man, and you see other guys jump on and take the coats, and that's how they love you on. But it's just help you go through a three six hour red. No sleep, no food,

no water, no shit. You got bricks and all you've got to shout the whole time is I love my instructor, I love selection, I love my brick. And you got to carry on with us, and they nail you, and they nail it never. It just doesn't stop. I can't explain it to you. And then at one stage they line you up in the line and they come with a salt tablet and can't remember what they call it with quaninia also for for malaria, and you open your mouth and check it in your mouth and you got

to chew it. Then they got a dirty, old bloody kettle which they get tissue from the scullery, the rubbish, dirty water, and they walk past and the age just pouring it and if you get some in your mouth, you're lucky and that's your water. But man, it is it is, it is. It is torture. Listen, it's torture. Then they pull another trick on you. When the thirty six hour rivers over, we get a massive log and must weigh about three hundred kilograms, and it's called daffodil,

a daffodil. These are supposedly mortar tube. Now and we've got to go about fifty kilometers over uneven ground to get to a high point to mortar certain down on a tourist map, and you have to be there at a certain time. Yeah, now this is where they now whilst you're doing this thing, this is where you see where the guys start fading. Then when we get to the end of this, they give every guy a piece of paper and a pencil and you must write down who do you think must go because that's where you

see where the guys don't pull their weight. Then you lose a lot of guys over there there, you lose a lot of guys. Yeah, and listen it, man, I tell you I wouldn't well, I couldn't do it today anymore. I'm seventy six years old now. I wouldn't chance it again in my life. I wouldn't even think of it. Listen, it's not meant for everybody that. It's a very very tough game.

first albino. I was so proud of myself. He was a machine gunner and I was a machine gunner and I got rid of this guy. Oh, I was toughed. You didn't fight out from the front. He John was shutting the oh man, you know, Oh, I felt good. If I read a book where some revision book where they killed an albino and this, I just felt like a you know, I killed my first albina. I'll ask

proud of myself. Mane. But we went on a quite a few of these competexts, but a very nice one one that I call nice that I don't people probably so I'm stupid, but I don't know. It was nice. It was the mccushey one. Now there were females and males and with the what happens is the aircraft go in. The Canberra's bombed the place. The hunters come in and strike, and then the gun ships are up nailing it with the twenty moors and it and then US guys come in with the decatas and we jump out. But we

jumped very lowly. You haven't got much time that if you're shoot malfunctions too dead because we're jumping too low. But we can't jump high because this puppies shoot at us. My shoot actually got hit already, you know, with rams going through it. It's but it doesn't worry you. Now with your weapon being swept, you got a nine more behind you, your reserve, which as you come down you must if they're shooting at you fight back. But when we jump that lowly on the ground very quick, remember

eating the deck in mccushey. And I'm on the ground. We scattered all over and I tell you not look up, and I just see this whole lot running towards me. And I got this high powered browning and I'm just going and I actually dropped them with this bloody thing, but a thing I remember, you know what, Dave and Jay, I swear I can see the guy's eyes still today. You had a brownieh that looked like an overall nearly

like sad South African defense, all the type overall. This guy in mid air turn he came running at me. So many turned in mid air, but I doubled apt him and I put him away. So with a nine ball. While we're on the gun, some guys are stuck in trees. You know, it's you don't know where they held you hand. It's a very dangerous game and it can break you up. One guy even broken neck once Keith click. So it's

a hell of a dangerous game. So you get all your machine gun off for you, whatever weapon you got. Once you got that in your hand, man, and you formed that line. Now the cake which is your your commander, the ops commander guides the skirmish lines now from the cake of and then we moved through the camp and we nail these guys and that listeners are we're always outnumbered. Man, you have ten thousand, two hundred of us or that we've hopelessly outnumbered. But we're essays. We are men. These

are men, and it's a different caliber of mandates. You've got to people, I see so much in you, so much, but you've got to experience being with the r I and the essay. I've never seen fighting force. I don't even believe anything like it exists on the planet. It is unbelievable. The amount of people we take on the trenches, we take on the amount of fire we take, and how we beat them at their own game. It's unbelievable. But you know how you do it if you've got

the right teacher. I'm so glad I Darrell what around me most of the time because what I don't know. That guy just didn't stop me. He was, Oh, I know, wish people could meet this guy. This is the type of guy I'd like to have up on the wall stage and tell people about this guy. Oh man, what our operator. Anyway, we sweep through these canton It was quite a good oplet and the one officer, Colin was there next to me, and we very staggered the line

because the ground and everything. And he walked past a massive branch which obviously got blown off with the explosion with one of the planes with a bond strike. And I was behind him about five meters by, and as us coming on, I see this movement and I yanked his branch away. And he has one of these gooks where the sks at his back, and I yanked the sks out and I doubled tap it in the head. Well, he said thank you, but he was a gone. He was as dead as can be. But that was fun.

But anyway, a lot of some guys have a lot of actions. Some don't you know, you know, what I love about this guy. You can be three meters from another guy. You don't know what war is fighting taking more numbering a duot. It's just the unbelievable experience and the smell of cordite and and and the Nate palm and whoh man, it's another game. And we sweep through this camp and we I mean, we really flow the slot and we get to the other side are we're

standing over there. While we got to the other side, we see a hell of a lot of these Zambian troops coming with steel helmets and all that. And we watch them coming and we wait. We waited them come. But there's a river bed down at the bottom with reeds and everything out because that's where the water was. And as they got close it, we open up and we we slotted a lot of these guys, so they take cover. Then they're opening up from the low ground

at us now. And I'm just gonna say, Graham told us calling us, listen, guys, go around and hit them from the flank, you know. And so we go around and we come up on the side of these guys. Man, you can actually see the white in their eyes. We mowed these puppies to pieces. We took them apartment, we really really took but they had an adoptive with them with white hair, which I think was could have been a German, I don't know what. But we couldn't find

this puppy. He dived into the river somewhere. We were lobbing Empton grenades into the water to try and you know, to get him, and we couldn't find the guy. But that was a was a was an awesome bloody operation, as with all the others. You know, there were many of them, and they were absolutely If anybody once experience of war going into a camp, man, wow what an experience. And I've done so many of them. It was absolutely beautiful.

liberated to terrests, the farming areas. We haven't got enough troops on the ground, so we go. We do bounty hunting for money. But now we fall Chappis, and you're taking on unbelievable odds. Anyway, we went into this area. We stayed at the farm the night we deployed. Four o'clock in the morning, I got on to the Mother Donna Mountains is high and I was watching a kid and I saw somebody come out shake the God Force guy. But the God Force were friends of the ters man

because obviously because they would kill their family. And the guy came down down and he disappeared in the valley down beneath the mountain. And I said, we got them. So I leave the guys up there with four guys in the in the in the in the lup the lying up place on the hill, and I take Mark with me and we go down to go and see where the hell did this guy go. Anyway, we work our way down and we got into an area that looked like a holiday resort. Man, but the way that

the rock formations were it was absolutely amazing. But there were no Thursday, but we can see it was a hold income and so Mark puts up four claymores, puts up a banquet. Claymores out of there, well concealed, you know. And we moved back now to go back up the thing down. But half way up, yeah, we yea this listen that valley the mountains. That's a hell of a

puppy game off over there. So I get on the small means and I call the other John Berry, and the guild guy said, hey, guys come down with we've got the groups. And that's a let them get away, you know, we want the money. So they come down. But now it's getting dark and they're starting to rain. It's really rainy, and we're moving down and you've never seen such rocky area in your life, and trees, it's unbelievable.

Down the saddle like we call it going down, and we're moving down, moving down, and a hell of a long distance. Through a gap, I see two guys carrying a guy on the stretcher and and I'm pointing, and I'm showing we must go, and all of a sudden all l breaks loose and a firefight breaks out. So I've got I've got the Allen G with me, Alan, I love my machine gun and I'm pumping lead, and I hear on my left flank I'm hit. I'm hit. I'm hit. And I recognized John's voice. A very good

friend of mine. He was the godfather of my daughter, very good friend of mine under under nineteen redision rugby play. A brilliant guy. Anyway, I get over to him. Yeah, he's lying. Now, you can't drag him? Is he through the middle of now? And we're in the ship they there's spec shit and it's dark, it's raining coming down, and he's now wounded. So what happened is I quantum, So I kneel behind his body and I'd fire over his body, which is the only thing I could do.

But he's screaming because he's in pain. So I take my face, oil up my neck and a stick it in his mouth. And John was the medic, and he left the m A three pack behind in the in the in the l up. When I called them down because he rushed down, so we had no morphine, we had nothing lost, and he had sosagon and each operator carries a sozogon and a bomb bandage, so all I could do I hit John both soasagons couldn't touch him up.

It was to my blood as bomb bandages good nothing, So I fought over his body and I stayed there for the whole night. But it's it's raining now, and it's cold, and it's miserable, and slowly but surely life was running out. All I could do the best thing you can do for any guy in combat is give him hope. Now we knew the snow support when you're

going downtown thing. Nobody supports you on your own. And I just kept telling them the choppers on the way chopping which was alive, because I knew John was dying anyway. He died anyway. The next day we mowed the trees down with L and G. The choppers came, they loaded John's body and we had to go back to the Joint operations come on at Matopos. Gave them the whole

story what happened. They faire us back to Salisbury, and remember I conducted Now you know what what I didn't mention that I conducted the illegal operation as a troop eate no rank, and I two guys into wolf and I lost a qualified operator. Now when I get back, it's I can't explain to here. That's it's dead quiet. I'll see other says guys standing, But everybody's dead quiet.

And I got to go over to the main block to the head office and they tell me the standouts, and the Orizon comes over says wait out, and then he comes and he doubles me in there. Y, I just walk. I thought they held with you. Man. Now you guys don't bug me, and they take me in front of the It was like an old formation in front of me with these officers. Remember these guys all qualified operators. Now qualified operator. But the worst thing what I did while John was dying, he was suffering. He

asked me to get him out of pain. And I was teaching John to fight because I liked the office, and I was hitting down with and I dammaged his whole jaw. And this was on the report as well. Now I land up in front of these guys, Man, did they give it to me? I was the biggest load of crap under the sun. They gave it to me. They chased me out the risen ski me. I just walked. I thought they held with you, man. I wait outside. They called me back and then they said to me,

what happened to his jaw? And I told him what happened. Then they said, oh, why did you hide behind his body and take cover behind his body? I said, no, I did what I had to do. Well, I mean it was on the downslope. I was fighting over his body. I wasn't lying, I said, I was kneeling and fighting. What am I supposed to do? It was a hall of a debate. They chased me out there, and I thought they were gonna get rid of me, because, I mean,

I lost a qualified operator conducted illegal operation. Nothing happened. When I looked again, I became a lance corporal in the essays, I was joff. Then I was a corporate. When I looked again, I went on the sergeant's cart at all, I became a sergeant. You know what it is to be a sergeant in the essays, probably the same as a general in any other bloody army. Man, it's a hell of an achievement. But anyway, I'm in big shit to that said. Daryl comes me one day

and he says, you want to go bounty Undy. I said yeah, he says, okay, this guy. You know, it's unbelievable. There was a mission over then the mary Mount area. Now we were in the Mount Darwin with that previous one with my crap I had. Now we're going to the Merry Mount where it's also liberated area. We got a lot of guys and off we go to combat again. No backup that or what taking us as tide? Yeah, what a bummer. And anyway, we moved into them. There's a lot of tours, a hell of a lot of turs,

and we moved onto this high ground. We could physically watch the BSAP guys chatting to the turfs from the high ground. Obviously their families, you know, so they feed them and they don't trouble them. I don't report them anyway. When we look again, that comes a little black guy. We call them majiebas. They walk with the goats in there and then they look for spot. Now they must have picked up something on this high ground because they sent this majieba up against our high ground and as

he got to a certain point. The guys grabbed him and hold him. Now we know we got ship because I mean, the tours are waiting for the magieba and it doesn't come back. When we looked again, along comes a skirmish line. I don't know how. There was a love a lot coming up as you to attack us. So that alsiddenly says, hold on, this shows wait right right right, wait, you initiate. Daryll always initiates, and we

wait and we wait in these groups. I reckon about fifty meters or whatever, and Daryll double taps and takes the one guy out and we open up and we take this lot out. But there was a lot of them. So Darrell what then says attack, So of course we jump up and we run at these guys. Now they're crazy stuff, but you know, we do it. And I'll never forget that. I had the chop of pilot's name,

he was flying it. Then Darrell got a chopper to come out, which were not that I had, but allot came out a gunship with a Chico with brownings on and they're flying head. Now got a small means and I got the op it and I'm running them up firing and that's why I got the name of Audie Murphy. All I felt proud of myself. But anyway, was this punch up. That punch up we went through. We didn't get the googs. A lot of cerities were shot there.

It was it was all other thing. We are not totally blown, but we want to still take them on. So we got to get out because we don't know where they've scattered you. So that all says we're getting God Force to come and take us out with a vehicle. So God Force came there with a Koodoo. It's a funny looking vehicle and the crocodile and the whole lot of us bold on the crocodile, down on the Koodoo in front, and we're driving out. Now these goops were

ay man, they aggressive. So they set up an area with a gorin or that's that machine gun who shoots a seven sixty fifty four round same as the sniper rifle,

a big weapon, but on fixed firing line. And they set this weapon up and RPG seven's waiting for us, and unbeknown to us, Yeah, we gain and as we got to a certain point, they said, how's that baby, And I'm sitting with my back against the cat, my head lying back, you know, relaxing, and this RPG seven fedy sent in my enters and blows that drive it to smother rings. And of course ear drum's gone again.

But the shirt will hits me, hits my weapon. You mus see how my RPD look doesn't hit me again, much the same as a landmine throws me to the ground. We come up and they pumping us with the got ingof Fortunately it was set on wheels in it just below the otherwise none of us who have survived it. Anyway, We opened the fire, we jumped off Carrot daryld Love

mortars and we managed to repel them. And then that's when they abducted all those nuns and that from the Merry mountains and all that once again, all over we get back to Salisbury. I never I won't even use the language that the officer look at me, said, you are such a don't you ever bloody learn? I didn't learn, you know, It's just the way I was. I just liked it. Look, I know it's stupid, but I enjoyed it. I don't say you you don't shift yourself at times.

Look it gets difficult out there. Have you ever had rounds coming you guys? Got explained out closer. It sounds like popcorn. Man, Now, I could never describe it. My friend Blackie from Threety Battalion said, oh, like popcorn. I said exactly that. I've been under that on younumerous times. But anyway, this whole thing went and everything came. Then, Oh to end it? What Jack you were asking out? Take it down? Look at it was a hell of

a lot. I can carry on all night. I can talk a whole week to you guys, and I don't need book and I don't need to make notes dates. Yes, but not here us. I know my team, This is my game. I loved it. We got to a stage over there when they decided that we must pop mcgarby. And who do they select for the job, Darrell? What

in my west? Off we go. We had a team that helped us, and we had this culvert under the rod, this pipe, and we packed us with TNT and all because he was coming back from a rally and we packed all this and we're going to take us Poppy out. I must remember, had we taken this democratically elected first black guy of a country take and would have been strung up. We had have been given away, I can promise you now. Yeah, but something went wrong. I don't

know what went wrong. I've read a lot of things off towards our detonation went off in front of the vehicle and we missed it. Now, we couldn't miss I can tell you now, we couldn't miss, but we didn't. We ever said that off it was a aircraft flying a Telstar. We know something went wrong there.

Mike and Darrell, my guns were cold. I don't know. I have to accept it. But we had to escape and the vaide out of there and we managed to get to the point that we arranged where a vehicle picked it up. We washed this, change their clothes and we're ride into a BSAP roadblock and yeah, but we've thrown everything out the window. We three. We got a dolly driving Joe and a dolly driving the car with

a cover story. They stop and they ask questions. They look around the car and I see this guy look in the car and he looks at the back and he looks at Daryll and you could see he knew Darrell was. He just went like that and he said you can go, and off we went and we got away with that one. Mate. Oh man, but I'm telling you had we succeeded and we killed mcgoby. They didn't know this because afterwards it came out he was behind it.

Then we had another temple I think it was borroweday when we went by his house we're going to kill him, and then under wolves school we were added at him in now he was dead, telling he was dead. I could have run fixed by mits and killed him. They stopped us and he survived that one as well. That was a it was an unbelievable war, but there was so much Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting too.

got back here, Dave, look, he knew I was. I knew the s He said to me, listen, giving you twenty four hours get out of this bloody country because I'm going to lock you up. So I gapt it. Now I took her. By the time I got to the border, I scared it an ar restaurant, I go through customs, so I took He got a dugout. Now

that's not a man. What an uncomfortable thing to row across and the crocodiles and anyway, I got in his dugout and I rowed across, got across the Limpopo, got to the other side, jumped out, and I must have so dip into the bloody worster man with my bag because I got out the other side, stripped down and had to dry my clothes off, you know, because I'm a mess. Now. Eventually I got this all done and

I headed for Vittoria. Now the whole SAS and now come down to South Africa because June nineteen eighty everybody had to get out. Mike West left behind again with all his nonsense. You know. Anyway, I get to this Best Corps Special Forces head office. They know the travisions come down. I port over there, I go and see them. I tell them who I am, and I asked me if they can help me with a lift to get me to Durban. They tell me, and I must consort

my own shit out, you know. Then I said, can you offer me some accommodation for the night because I look like over there said no, you must go. So I left, and I went and slept in a lot of blue gum trees for the night. And the next time on the road and eats liked. And I got to Durban. Now that same Rob Johnson, who was in the selection with me, I didn't want me there. When I arrived, they called me over and he said to me, if it was in my powers, Mike Westy said, I'd

get rid of you right now. No, no, right now, get rid of you because I've had enough of your shit. But it couldn't because now I was I belonged to the sadf Wow. Then then I saw my family drove me down with a busty man some TOATI saw my family again after the very very long time. Next time, I've got the uniform. Now I've got browns on I didn't like browns. That's not a uniform with appealed to me. Didn't look at the part, you know. I mean we

wear camouflage. You know, camouflage is all over the world. It's a beautiful it's war man. Anyway, we got our group photos. They can now we've become six RECKI the Philistines, they called us. Can I take a minute break? Yeah?

pre order right now. You can find a link down in the description. It's just the Kindle version for pre order the paperback. Amazon won't let me set up pre orders unfortunately, but that the paperback will be released the same date as the Kindle version of it, December ninth, So appreciate it.

stand up Marsaka. I believe I know he was in Detachment one because I'm reading the book now, So we'll have him on Monday, and then on Friday, I believe it's Joe Mussia who wrote Cry Havoc about the Rangers that jumped into Grenada in eighty three. So that's kind of what's coming at you guys next week.

they sent them up to Revision. They came to us as the squadron and we took them into war and that's how they learned and it was a fantastic relationship between us and these guys. We got on famously. However, when we came down in June nineteen eighty and we got the total different ball game. They wanted nothing. That just turned out to be absolute animosity. And it's not. It's no nonsense. This is fact. You can yet all over from any goldure anywhere. How bad it was, it

was a very bad story. But we hung around and we stayed one side. We didn't attend their parades because every morning they have church parades. They pray their boots of polis they need. You know, we're Ruffians. We come out of a you must remember we come out of a full scale war. This is is like a part time there man. You know, they didn't have the war we had. That's why they came to us for war. Anyway, So it carried on, carried on, and we were very fortunate.

Operation came up in a in Mozambique called Matola. There was a NC nests houses out there. They were causing problems from there was quite big puppies from the a n C. I'm not going to mention names, it's in the books, but they were at these targets, and there was a lot of There were three different targets we had to hit. So they decided that six Wrekki, which is the Revisions, are going to eat two targets and

the Wrekis are going to eat one target. And so we all traveled, did a lot of rehearsals in empty buildings and the normal old crap in preparation. Excuse me. Then we went down to Gomati Port just outside the border fence. We sat in the in the bush and we got all our things ready over there. The the

unfortunate part was just we had timings. Maybe everything goes about timings yet and as we're about to go the old the old Germany or past, the pictures up and he wants a deliver sermony, which was the wrong time for this type of stuff. And this guy sort of got carry ried away or felt important and he just elaborated on this, and man, this was annoying me. By the time he decided to wrap up his load of stuff, he was busy with we had to rush off. Now

we're late. Now cut the fences we're going through and we got lost on the way. Oh this is beautiful, man. Now we dressed exactly like for a Limo in the uniforms weapons vehicles, and we're driving on their roads and driving and we get lost and we drive right into for a lima base cap on the boom. He has a guy on the boom. Now we stopped. Now we got a guy with the name of Quiros was a Malati from Mozambique. I think it was Mozambika, mozambik Or and Gola. But he was a Malata and he could

speak the lingo. And he's in a br d N that armored personnel can. He's standing up and he's craps this guy out on the boom. And the guy jumps to attention, salutes him, and he gives him, hell over there, you're untidy and I don't know what all and the carry on and he asked in directions and this guy's telling him where and what and what. And the whole convoy follows and we all turned right in front of

the boom the enemy man. You know, big these bases on the brigades over there, man, And we drive right past and we go to our respective targets. Now I'm going to start with our target. This youngster Mike Riage from the ROI who was in the sas with me as well. What I love about Mike rich you can read them my book even when he was in the SS. Now you knew me in the URALI when he was in the SS and he had to go in operation, you'd say, I want Mike quest. You know. It was

just a beautiful thing. And Daryl what wanted me? And he wanted me. I was, I was, I was in combat and I loved it and I felt actually important that these people wanted me. Anyway, we were mic reach in the head for our target. We got a twenty millies paro, the old thing you have them on aircraft twenty more and we drive to our target and we had but like a thirty meters of the pathway down towards house and we're in the gas and that stops and are gunna opens up to this twenty mile at

the house. Now we killed and killed a lot of guys with that inside. We read afterwards. So myself, Dave Berry, Frank Tunning, myself, we run at this house now because I mean, the puppies are going to shoot at us. You know, everybody tries to kill everybody there. Anyway, we get to the doorway, and we got to get this door open. Now, the guy on the on the twenty mill has got a borderline he couldn't overshoot, but he obviously overshot with a twenty more and whatever shut on,

either from the round or whatever. I'm right against the wall. We've got to get close to the wall because I mean there's lead flight and this thing goes right through me, mane. It just skinned me. And Dave's sitting in It hits him in the leg, takes him out in the middle, and Franks on the other side. So Dave's a big puppy. Now, I say, every guy, and I grabbed Dave and I run for the vehicle. And while I'm running with Dave

to the vehicle, I'm telling you au fat. He says, shit, you know this, And you're telling Ah West and yeah, bloody human man, it doesn't matter. We had humor because you're from Essays, you know. Jumped him on the vehicle. Run back, Frank and I bridged ouse. We get inside. While we're in setting up a massive crate of plastic explosive with safety fuse A year something coming and I loved it. Whatever that was is history. I understand he

went to the appy hunting grounds. They try to get out seat of the explosives, and then we all drove back, went to commodity work. But what happened was on the other target, just briefly. I wasn't there. Three essays guys died. They landed up in a hell of a battle. They had a bigger target than us. There were more guys, a bigger team, and had the bigger house. I wouldn't mind if I was on that one because it was

more firing over there. But three guys died and the one guy landed up this he had a can of fuel with it, which was a reason for burning, and they had to destroy and a white foss went off and he set the light. He got hit as well, got shot, fell down next to a car. That fuel ignited brother's car and he was a ball of flame. So after all this punch up in it. And now you can't hang around too long with the target because

remember now for limos coming. You know, when all these weapons got the troops come, so they get ordered to withdraw after a certain amount of the such and they drive away and he stayed behind in the fire. They couldn't do anything about it. That was quite quite a bad story. They found helmets and it was in newspapers and all that. But after that operation, when we got back at one Wreckie currently blew theirs away with a one who six ural coils, blew it away. We eat

ours and they eat it. There was a lot of slong about us again, and of course so much crap and arguments, and you can't believe these were our friends. They came to Rudisi. We trained these guys, not me, But I went into war with it, you know. I mean they are as as a result of us, that's where they come from. But they had no time for us. And our guys had enough of these guys and their parades, and they're praying and they're flag raising seramonies, and listen,

this is not our cup of tee. We bloody soldiers and the guys kadadle and they go in all directions. They are a very good idea. Had a good chance to go to other places. Now I could have gone to Paros, like I said, I could have gone to Lebanon, had a lot of chance choices, places I could go. But I decided I just loved war. I just loved cold, right. I don't know what it is. I just loved it. I decided to stay on. Fortunate for me, I stayed on because for some reason or the other, they these

we went on a lot of this. Look one WRECKI where we were at the stage. There's a special forces outfit. They are not cunning for it. Their job is to penetrate deep enemy lines via strike craft submarine and destroy enemy installations and so bug up the economy. That was their task. Now Frank Tunney from Australia, Oh, what a brilliant guy. What a soldier was a boxer as well. Him and are sort of landed in fab and we seem to get these jobs and we would go out

on these things and we loved it. Man, it was it was bloody awesome. It's it hasn't got the action and the shooting and that. But you sneak into refined his place, explosive, blow it up, sneak out. It's all right, but it's not that exciting like being in combat. You know.

like a core on the ocean. Anyway, when we're going up, it becomes a cotch bucket because you whatever you got goes out, goes out. You can't keep it in. But we landed on numerous very some very nice ones, you know, and I want to call two of them for you guys, quite interesting one. The one was called Operation Candlelight cat Candlelight, and the whole group we had to go in and blow this to find me up. But the small teams

had gone in photographed. The place was about one hundred men, just clearance all around, spotlights up god ours, fences around the thing. We had to get to this and go and blow it. So we got to the area and we were crawling hands and knees over this open area, got to the fence cut and we went in. Now Frank and I were left on the fence because of the patrols said anybody come, we had to kill them. And these other guys had these explosive devices to go

and put on the tanks. Now something went seriously wrong. Yeah, while they were in there and they were placing these devices on the tanks which have got a delay switch when you pull the pin, we get out to get back to the strikeert were out in the ocean and kaboom, you know, everything goes. But the one team, when the guy pulled the pin, whah, vaporized and the two other guys with him were about five meters away from him all around the fence. They made it and he was gone.

If there was absolutely buggar all left of him logically. But anyway, while we're on the fence, we see this one guy running streaming like it. He didn't know his from his elbow, you know, was taste, but he didn't know where he's going. But they screamed him, got him and said what he said, the other guy is lying over there. So two guys went with him and they went and picked him up and they brought him out to the fence. Now, I want to tell you, guys, I mentioned it in my book and I mentioned on

the podcast of Fighting Men of Rudesia. I got to mention this. It's very important to There's a lot of these things, and I feel quite offended by it. When we now got the wounded guy to the fence, we are now stranded in a refinery. God tell us up.

And the team ran out and I showed them going. I sat to this ensign line, walked backwards and we got away and then we got to help the wounded guys, got them, got back to the strike craft, got on the stricraft. Whilst we're on the stricraft, this candlelight happens, this massive eruption goes up to the finery, goes beautiful sight this. I wish I had a camera to take a photo there. The one guy comes over to me. He says to me, why did you do that? You

could have died. I said, how are you supposed to get out of the refinery. No, I didn't do it because I thought it's a bloody year. I did it because that's what you do. You know, get back medal parades. All the guys go for medals. Everybody gets medals. The guys who went and picked up the wounded guy got these high neurist crooks, medals, high decorations. When the refinery goes off, there's fire, nobody runs in the refinery. Nobody will go and to find the very dangerous there. There

was no danger. You could have sent your mother in law there to pick up the guy. There's no danger. I'm telling you now, I don't give it. Damn what people say. When the refinery goes up, nobody runs around inside its death anyway, all decorated. Frank, who's with me, gets decorated. But nothing happens to me. I get nothing fit. What's going on? Now? You know? Six months later they decorate me for just the same metals the other guys got,

but nothing of bravery, but just the liberty. There's a book written, I'm Fist from the Sea, yeah about this operation.

They didn't like me, not him, but the big guy at the base cap didn't liked me. I was. I just didn't like me being the Englishman from Reddish. I listen. I wasn't fallen on my mouth. I wasn't the most disciplined soldier or whatever I was. I could be a bit of a problem. You understand. I was a bit different than most people because I was really different. I grew up in a very violent life and I was just different. And they had a little bit of animosity towards me. But we land upon a I've got to

tell you this. And we land up on a It was called Operation Keg. This was in Angola Mossamedes Harbor. Now there's a there's two bridges that have to be plowing. This is a massive operation. So whilst we're preparing for this operation at the place at Langabahn in the cake where the four Eki guys because they were going to take us in uh, we went to the pub over there called the Tropic Corner. But and I don't drink, you know, but I had I don't know, I must

have had a bit of bierut. But anyway, we my friend pulled pulled the ones city down some timber bit and then we went There was some skirmish and some guy came out and made a comment and I decked him. But when I hit him, his teeth went into my fist, you know, in his teeth, and that wasn't that anyway, he landed up in the garden. I planted him. We finished the operation, but my hands started to get stuffed because the tooth went into the bloody bone and I

had to get tentamus in action. But I can't close my hand. But I wasn't going to miss out on this bloody operation, you know. Anyway, we had rope ladders. We were carrying a hell of a lot of explosives, were very very laid and down, and we had to go over a very rocky ground. We had to use rope ladders to climb over things. Was difficult and I was winging it with one end much like Rambo, you know, to do it. But I wanted to be on the op. It was. It was a very difficult op, but it

was enjoyable. We got to the bridge and everything on the ground when you get orders, nothing on the grounds the same as what you do in the office. That doesn't work that way. And when we got the small teams that'd been there, they'd photographed the target. But the main guy with the explosive, we all got advanced demolitions and you name it, all this stuff, but this guy set up to do the explosives on the bridges. This target was a totally different ballgame. And it took longer

to set up the explosives. So by the time we had to be back on the sycroft out on the sea, and then the bridge is at to go. What happens were light and we might go way back and the sun is coming up. Now we're on the beach and the Kevlo boats are coming in to pick us up. Now now it's not low tide anymore because we're light. Now it's high tide and it's rough. And the one of the boats step over when the guys were getting

on they lose their weapons. Where we look, we're in big crap yacht and right in the harbor, Mossamdia's harbor. Is this what do they call it? A Russian gunboat man. You must see this thing. It's in the book. I talk about it a cave or I don't know what, but it's a big puppy. But where the hell of a lot of troops on the day. But yeah, we're are okay. So now we on the hermon that the main command of the beach standing on the beach. We are all in the ocean, swimming trying to get on.

Some guys are off drowning. I grabbed the one guy with my dammy's hand and I pulled him up, got him on the on the on the boat, and while we battling all that there the bridges go daylight. He dies in his swamps. You get him on, But now we're overloaded and the back of the trans and sinks into the water and the engine cuts out, and then we're stuck on the ocean. And what happens he has the enemy ride bys. We're dead man, all captured. You know what our luck was, which you found it off.

Towards the night before, the commander or whatever of the of the of the of the battle cruiser gave the troops off to go and have fun with the ladies and get tanked up and everybody went on surely and they were out. And when the bridges went and the alarms went off, these guys were still called to their pants down and we had a chance to get away. So when the sycraft came in, came and got us and got us out, just we were all gunners over there.

But that was our operation to talk about. I'll tell you that was you see now the guys were sinking the guy's It was a dangerous story. Hi tied heavily laden guys in the waters, sinking, pulling guys over.

would send me up to few ops over there. I was busy and I spent a lot of time away, and whilst I was away, things went wrong at home, all right, And when I got back, I heard about it and I lost my Look the normal procedures, everything's going to follow military rules, not me. I had a pair of hands, you understand, and I landed up and what happened was there was a ruckus in town where the Stricroft had pub problems at a pub, and the guys left and said, we're going to bring the guys

and we're going to flatten this pub. So when he left, they got all these bouncers together with patons and everything waiting for this lot to come. And we arrived, Mike West and these two buddies and one of our guys. The real asshole has trouble with a city in the fight breaks and we go out and what happens. There's lord of people come out of Therevid patons. I get pumbled. I've got a crackskull, broken broken nose, lying in Addington Hospital and I was in the ole of the state.

But you're gonna get me down. I still got out. They decided. Then I was very angry, so I started to hunt these guys down. And somebody went and chirped by the commander what I was busy with, and they decided, listen, this king is a nutcase. So they sent me to the psychiatrist in Putorial. Guy's name was Paul Meyer, was the head of this, and they questioned, they got these little flip charts and what do you see? And what

do you see and all this stuff crap. Anyway, I go through all this nonsense, I get locked up in the unique ward where the wounded guy was. I go for runs. I threatened the military police. I was a bit of a problem, and they declare me a jackal and hide a nutcase and they send me back. And when I got back to they empty. The military police get on the bloody trained with me, which is the biggest mistake. They've never done that. I walked in their compartment.

I they if you ever saw a money, should have seen those guys. I would have flattened them, but not one moved. I was very angry with these bosses, for you know, I've been like anyway, I get back gud picks in the station. He says to me, Andre is waiting for it. That's a command. I'm not going to mention his rest a command that's waiting. He wants to see you get back there walking his office, says Mike, we've got a lot of trouble up and down. We

want you to gut there. Tomorrow. We're taking you down to water Cliff flying him is going to sort it out for us. I said, no problem, man, you know I like it. Get to my house. My house is empty, curtains in the room, everything is gone, and my clothes in the cupboard, wife and kids, everybody gone. I said, yeah, what's going on? Yeah, I realized I's pictured. Anyway, next day they fly me down to water Cliff. Watercliff, they fly me to Endanga Swapper Base. Now get over there,

walk in this guy, salute this puppy. He just tells me you're not going back to South Africa. You play you, you station, your permit. I said, but what about my family? I couldn't understand what's going on? Says not my problem. Get ready for deploying. You just arrived there with my water drunk and everything. No orders, keep my gear on everything. They load me up in the castle one of these armored vehicles. When the dark and they drive me out

into the bush. Don't know what's going on. Nobody says nothing. They're obviously very cheesed off with me. The gates that the doors open, the back, I got to jump out. Off goes the vehicle. I'm standing in the dark. Your four of these captured swap will come sacrament and I know the guys and they come and they showed me. We go to the lup, the lying up place, and we slept there for the night. Now I'm lying there.

I am so confused. I mean, I went to all this crap at the military hospitals and I was declared in that case. Then I get sent over yard. Then I'm told I'm not getting back to South Africa. They don't care about my family. I'm thrown in the bush with no orders. Yes, your mean y's something seriously on. Yeah, forty the next day, but I've said eight o'clock we eat the punch up where we kill seven guys, and that that lifted me up. But I needed action and

that helped me anyway. We got back to the base camp and I only realized that now unpopular was this guy in this base camp didn't like me. I get back today, next day, deploy again. And so it carried on. But then I started to take my own teams out. And if I take a team out to that, right, I get. I'm I'm quite creative, you know. I enjoyed

the game. And one specific, one, very specific one. They had these guys engineers that used to come up and blow all the pylons and things on the communication line. But they ride it around on bicycles and they put their weapons and on the on the bicycles. And they told me I actually slotted a couple of them at night. Anyway, we go out and shoot them with this KKB night's cope with the H one and they they told me they want me to try and block this line the

cut these guys coming up. So it's quite a dangerous area to go up there. I mean there's a there's FOP light up there, armored, big big forces up that way. Anyway, I get up there, go in and I killed quite a few like that. I killed a hell of a lot of these guys on the time there. But this one specific day, as we lay up for the whole day,

nothing happened slept the night. I walked about fifty meters of the ride going further north, and as we're going up, three of these guys came racing paths on the bicycle. The two far away with fire. We run, they get away. I realized that we've been firing, let's say, olive a noise. Not going to get out of the area. So I head east about three kilometers takes about forty five minutes. Am I going to lie up in the area because

it's Can I take another break quickly? Can I take another break quickly?

But they didn't scare me. I'm not worried about these people, but this specific instant, I had a three kilometers east and I get down in the position and lying low. You don't move in the daytime. Look, it doesn't matter where you are there. The gooks know where you are. It's day time. They know where you are. You can't move around in there, and turns don't know where you are.

That's investigate. And I'll see to my north and I see extended line coming, but the bush is thick, and I could see about seven of them, but they're coming towards it. I realized, those guys that escaped to the bicycles, you know that it's coming. Anyway. We open up on these guys. You pop a couple of them. Wasn't a hell of a punch up. And all of a sudden, this piece of bark flies out down next to my head,

and all old breaks loose from the right flame. And they knew exactly where, so they launched a flanking attack on me, which was a big mistake. As they came at me. I got that sixty round magazine. I'm the only guy sparest forces that add it. But this one worked. A lot of guys tried it. But once infuse those springs, the thing gets stopped. Just mine never stopped. Believe me, it never stopped. They can tell you it never stopped. Anyway, Attorney. We opened up and the only way I could beat

these guys is what Darrell what taught me. Run at the bastards. And that's exactly what I did.

It wasn't a big deal, you know. We were too fast in them and the most beautiful I've never seen anything more, these guys who were on their knees with their hands in the air. Man God felt so proud of myself. I took this whole lot wounded guys everything. We grabbed them. Look, we're in big trouble now because there's been a hell of a lot of shooting. You know, there's going to be trouble. So I grabbed these guys.

We start moving south. I had to convince them, you know, to walk, and then we stopped at a point to hit them because they're bleeding profuse. And you'll see in my book there. We made homemade stretchers and we put drips in them, and I made these guys carry each other wounded on their own shoulders to get them out,

because a life captures money. Not for me, but for these turn guys, you know, the Swapper guys that are fighting with me, and they prefer it if we left them alive because they don't want to kill their own guys. So we were takings and what happens was this foppler comes down. I don't know how many vehicles are after us now because of all the shooting, and I'm in

big trouble. Man. I've got Turns that are captured, and we're heading south out the way and they on us, and I took on these guys that were with us. I didn't play games with them. They realized you better run with Mike Quest because yah, you're gonna die, and they went with us. So I got hold of the commander at and I said, please, we need backup, and they sent two impolers in. And these impolos came in out to strike at that speed and to see the enemy with that push is difficult, but I threw a

white foscing gave them an indication there. The impolas were striking, and I moved and we got pumans and we got out. Now the funny part that never never, and I'm telling I'm looking, I'm telling you, never before in combat in that anybody captured so many guys and spuggered up so many guys like I did. We got it, got back to the base and you know what happened. Nothing. The commander got invited us called Sector one zero step out to go for dinner for the great success. It's not

me get ready, you get into the bush. That's why he didn't like me. He didn't like me one. But because him and the guy back in Durban, we're big Chinas, you know, big buddies. And when he sent me up, he said, listen, let's make a plan with this guy. Now, any operation, Dave you guys, must you ever saying you and Jack after an operation, when you get out and your ben in combat, you've got to break, not Mike West, not screwboy. I get back whatever time leaving in tomorrow night,

you're going out again. But I did. That's where you see where Darrell what writes that, or what the God of war says? Even Challenge essays, nobody says much combat as Mike West and Mike Rich, and he says as well in modern day warf and nobody's seen as much combat as Mike and Lift to tell us all now, I'm not boasting about this. I'm telling you these puppies threw me into this action continuously. But so what I

did it? I did it, and I was created and I pulled the stint over day which with a lot of I had a lot Listen, I got a I've got a lot of experience in IEDs, you know, yeah, improvising,

so I'm very good at stuff like this. And I went and I took a TAM fifty seven Russian landmine metal case, and I took car body putty in the guy's name was Villain at at the transport park and I packed his body putty and I made it clay more out of this this land mine, and I took it to Maramba, which is a big open area but far from the base cap, so the commander doesn't need it because they're gonna get a nappy rash with what I'm doing. And I used this as a clay more

on targets. I was so impressed. I went back and I made another one. And anyway, I contacted the one group i'd captured eating rapist things. He must have wait twenty five thirty killers. Man, you must see the size of this thing with all this explosive put it in his head and the camouflage to Tim and who went to a place called Pupu, which is right up there in the western ere a lot of tears over there, and it came from there. And what happens, Why I

enjoyed taking his turs out with me. They take it to where the gooks are because they know where they are, so you know you're gonna have a punch up. And that's what I liked about it. When you go out to them, you're gonna have a fight. You know, You're not going to sit and be bored over there. You're going to fight. And I made this guy carry this thing. But now the strangest thing without me laying it, Wallace heading up at wait Fopplay had a company coming my way.

Now I don't know, some bush telegraph went off and they were coming towards me, and I was heading towards them, and the guy from one O one Battalion, Lucas Lopesha came up on the small means and said, hey, you guys are heading into big porpoil. Yeah, they're coming directly at your massive lot of guys. Now, had I been with Sas and what, we would have continued and taken these puppies on. But I know these guys, I'm gonna sand and fight, not the force like that. So we

made a U turn and I headed back east. So I stopped and John and I decide we're gonna I call this landmine of mine Frankie Frankenstein. So let's set up frank Here we are on our tracks. So I put Frankie against a tree and John walked this long trip wire out we found a beautiful air. It was our old mash try and you could hide the trip wire and we lay this out and I told John get out the way. The scariest things to put a debt in a thing like that, because you know when

this goes off, there's nothing left anyway. Got to debt well, camouflage and we gap it. We didn't walk al of a fine You comes look us charging where the casper's through. We all jump on because we're in big, big trouble. Is a hell of a lot of turs coming away. And the caspers turned and as we gain we suddenly feel this, you know, and we look and you see this bloom gager and we know these puppies walked into Frank. Now the beauty was. We don't know who it wiped out,

but we never ever heard of that patrol again. Now, I couldn't have killed them all, obviously killed the radio operate and whatever, But I tell you I'll put a serious dent in that bloody lot. My ranking. I I was proud of myself. But the base commander, oh he would get a nappy rash with my experiments by telling me I'm reckless and that because what I did. I would pull tooths off. Run. You know, when these guys come out to the bicycles, the weapons are tied on

the handlebars. What dangers? He guys, there's no danger, and I would run and dive them off from catch them alive. You know what trouble. I got invested and I'm putting people's lives at this. I said, but there's no danger. They said, you don't do things like that. I said, why not? What's it gonna do? Well? I enjoyed a minute. It was if you read the book Born to Storm by armand Finiko. You see, he tells you about his operation he wasn't coming on, tells you about Mike Wist

and his bicycle diving you little accident much fun. I enjoyed it. That was fun.

worth anything. Bugger off. I came back and I took them to war and another thing I want to tell you, I just want to tell her that, yeah, in Space Forces, as a team leader, you have to be an officer. Remember my words, you have to be an officer. I came back. I was so experienced and I was so in the thing. I was the first guy in the history of Spacial Forces as the NCO to become a team leader, and I was proud of it. And when they announced it, nobody said anything.

was ever jumped is four hundred. Wow, now four hundred five. If you jump out and you got a twist in your when you get a twist, the first thing you do as you get out, you look up, kick out of your twist, get out of your seat belt, and then get a leading. My man, when you're out there, you hit the deck. If you have a malfunction, bye bye, yeah, you did, Yeah, you did sech on camp attext and they're shooting at your Yeah, that's another ball game, man.

guy knew me. He wasn't most amenies with me, this officer, and he went and he said, I wanted Mike west and there to go to very top level, and then managed the war was over anyway, and they got me out, and then I went underground and I started to operate like that, and then I got up to.

were worried about the TLC, the reconciliation. They just said, we got to get rid of this paper, and they got rid of me. Tell me, get the hell out of you when they go in.

I then decided. Then I went and I thought, okay, I became a bouncer, and you can really I used to pummel people. I enjoyed fighting, you know. And then when I enjoyed the fighting, then I got into VIP protection. And then if you've got to see what I went, you over there, how I got followed, how people tried to I got arrested, you must look at it. I've had a fun folk life I had. I've had really, I've had a very the day I lay my head down, I can tell you I've had a ride.

and that I didn't want. In the day I released this book, this thing went absolutely. I can't believe that this book took off.

But there's a lot of things that the author I looked at and we had to remove because if I got to put it in the book, it's going to Let me tell you that book can be one hundred and twenty pages more. I wish I could tell the whole story and tell you everything and what's all in? And I wish I could talk it just unbelievable.

to get a signed copy. I've sent signed copies. People have picked up it, gone to Italy, gone to France, but they've gone all over the world. But people from Yo left that way, and I've sent to Zambia. I've sent to many places. But how how to get it to pay that cost to get my book to America? I mean, how the hell are you going to buy your backside or it's not true? How to get a signed copy? I don't know. Well, I don't mind signing it at all.

there any ambushes. So they give me another team and I take that team because I don't know there's an ambush, and I make a tea formation. I take the extended line in front, and I got the information behind me. But had they told me the ambush is there, which they didn't, I would have been better prepared. And that's the one when they hit me with that rifle the night. Now, luckily it was an anti vehicle. I was so fortunate in my life. Otherwise I would have been my mind.

This thing exploded right in front of me, threw me on my back. I jumped up. John Broco. My nickname was Zaka Nucci, which means as good as honey swapp it, And he said Zak I jumped up. I said yes, and I shouted my walk cry pomparing the horn, door, folded the wall, and I ran at these baskets and they ran it. I cleared that old ambush out and all the rounds that were coming at us, and sue us, we're hitting the guys in the vehicle there to lie down.

But what annoys me? Why didn't they tell me there was a bloody ambush?

lot to cover there. Then Operation Hooper with those mortars, when I was caught in those beatens on you see this ship, my friend yay Man, it was Look, it was a romance of note day.