The Elite: The Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service

Barbara Cole’s “The Elite” is the singular cornerstone book on the Rhodesian Special Air Service, one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world. They operated almost exclusively across the Rhodesian border during the long bitter bush war undertaking deep-penetration missions against insurgents being harboured inside neighbouring Mozambique and Zambia. There were missions into Botswana too and at one stage. They were operating without the benefit of passports in all three neighbouring black territories at the same time. Long before the war escalated and the whole region became their battlefield, secret clandestine missions across the border were undertaken by Special Air Service operators, Later, when the situation intensified, they were responsible for some of the most audacious and highly sensitive missions of the war. Yet little is known of this highly-professional Special Force unit which had its beginnings in the days of the Malayan Emergency and like its parent unit. the British SAS. boasted the coveted and very apt motto. Who Dares Wins. Fought against the magic and madness of a changing Africa, against almost insuperable odds, against two terrorist armies who were aided and abetted by the armies of their host nations and backed by Russia and China, two of the world’s superpowers, the role of the Special Air Service was unique. The Commander of Combined Operations, Lieutenant-General Peter Walls, while reluctant to single out any one unit, was to acknowledge this after the war.