19 With a Bullet (24 page)

Operation
Protea
. This Soviet-built tank didn’t even get the chance to leave its moorings inside the FAPLA military base of Ongiva. Paras can be seen inspecting the tank from above.

Paratroopers leaving Ongiva on their way to attack the big FAPLA base at Xangongo. A captured T-34 tank is on the right; sundry captured red lorries and buses can also be seen.

A T-34 tank burns at Ongiva. The brave, or foolish, tank commander had decided to attack the paras single-handedly when an SADF ‘Noddy’ car (Eland armoured car) brazenly careened through the scattered Parabat lines and took out the tank with one well-aimed shot.

A Buffel armoured troop-carrier destroyed by a SWAPO ‘cheese mine’. Fortunately for the paras, casualties were minor.

A 44 Brigade Q-Kar, or Sabre, well camouflaged during Operation
Protea
. At the time 44 Brigade was comprised mainly of Rhodesians and Americans.

The author en route to R&R, showing clear signs of strain.

D Company returning to base in Angola after a combined assault with UNITA troops on a SWAPO camp.

Valk
4 troops watch as an SADF Buffel troop carrier burns during Operation
Daisy
. The troops were loading captured ammo onto the Buffel when a booby-trapped case of SWAPO ammo exploded. A quick-thinking major jumped into the Buffel and drove it off to a safe distance. He was awarded the Honoris Crux for his action. Half an hour later a lieutenant was killed by a booby trap when he entered a SWAPO bunker.

Stan and Granger Korff take five.

Blackened up!

Chopper dropping off troops in Angola.

The author knocking out an opponent in the fourth round.

The author fighting in Los Angeles. This particular opponent had just come off a split-decision loss to James ‘The Heat’ Kitchener, a world-renowned ‘bad ass’.