WE DARED TO WIN
WE DARED TO WIN
HANNES WESSELS WITH ANDRE SCHEEPERS
Published in the United States of America and Great Britain in 2018 by
CASEMATE PUBLISHERS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083, USA
and
The Old Music Hall, 106108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE, UK
Copyright 2018 Hannes Wessels and Andre Scheepers
Hardcover Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-587-4
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-588-1
Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-588-1
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After all have come & gone
We will remain shadows
Of a forgotten past.
Those that follow
After we are long forgotten
Will say ...
Here stayed men of substance
Therefore I pray
God Bless all sons of Rhodesia.
At least we tried, didnt we?
Yet how did we fail
When we were so sincere?
Found scrawled on the wall of an abandoned barracks somewhere in the bush. February 1977.
To my fellow Rhodesians, my friends in the RLI and SAS and to my fallen comrades who sacrificed their lives for their country.
Contents
Points of Operational Significance
Note from Andre Scheepers
My aim with this book is to record some of the other personal operations that Hannes Wessels has not mentioned in his previous book, A Handful of Hard Men . To not have these written would, I believe, be a loss to history since, soon I and my fellow soldiers will have left this life and the story of Rhodesia will fade into obscurity. I hope, in time our grand-children and their children will read this and remember us for what we were and not what the world portrayed us as. Many believe this was a racial war but that is simplistic and wrong; I did not fight for white domination or white rule but I did fight for the maintenance of what I saw as Christian civilization and I do not apologize for that.
There is no self-seeking praise or glamour claims attached to these experiences but simply descriptions of what happened. Some of the operations were successful and some were not. Either way, it still took huge effort to complete the tasks we were given and all were characterized by excellent soldering, finesse, fortitude and bravery.
The thread through the following narrative follows my progress through the war years but we have included material from other SAS operators to broaden the scope of the book and included other perspectives and records of events. What I hope we have succeeded in doing, is producing a colourful tapestry reflecting the lives and times of some remarkable men and the extraordinary challenges they faced.
Acknowledgements
There have been many fine men that have helped tutor me in my military career. I am aware of the providential role that they have played in my life. Im sure that if it wasnt for them, I would surely have been killed in the war.
I am indebted and thankful to General Fritz Loots of SADF (South African Defence Force) Intelligence Services, the late Major Bruce Snelgar of 3 Commando, RLI, the late Colour Sergeant Dave Berry, Captain Darrell Watt and all the men that deployed with me on the various operations. Thank you for your professionalism, loyalty and comradeship.
Andrew Standish-White, Steve Kluzniak, Frans Botha, Johan Bezuidenhout, Richard Stannard, Darrell Watt, Barry Jolliffe, Steve Seward, Mike West, Olly Jewitt, Dick Stent, John Birch and John Riddick all provided valuable assistance with the material used as well as with photographs. We are very grateful to them.
Robin and Jill Hammond for their comments and advice and Steve Lunderstedt, our editor.
I also want to thank my wife Sue for her love, support and encouragement in writing this book.
Chief of all, I thank my Lord Jesus Christ, for revealing Himself to me on the battlefield and dying for me on the cross so that I may obtain the forgiveness of all my sins and be reconciled to God, my heavenly Father.
CHAPTER 1
Schoolboy to Soldier
Andre Scheepers: I was born in Que Que in 1954 and went to Redcliff Primary School so grew up in what was then known as the Rhodesian Midlands. I was quite gifted at athletics and won five Victor Ludorums while often competing at national level in track and field events.
I had a very secure and stable upbringing, and my family life was exceptionally blessed with plenty of love and kindness. Never once did I hear swearing or shouting in my family. I loved and still do love my family. We always sat together at meal times, said Grace and talked about family matters around the table. This practice certainly served to strengthen the bond between us.
My parents were Christian and belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church. The Dominee (Minister) would always stay at our house on his circuit from South Africa, my dad being an Elder in the church. A real softie, he hated to hurt or kill anything. When a chicken had to be slaughtered he would have nothing to do with it; that was left to Magets our cook to do.
On the funny side, when the war worsened my Dad was called up to be part of Dads Army and had to do eight weeks of call up service each year. This put strain on my mother as the cows had to be milked, and she had to become the farmer which she struggled with. She hated being alone out there. A big sacrifice for the family but Dad thought he was quite the soldier. He used to patrol with a white vest on and would always go to great trouble to prepare a whole black trunk full of rusks to go with his morning coffee so he would have enough for the deployment. He used to think of everything he needed and on one occasion he took everything but his rifle! A very big and strong man but with a heart of gold.
My father worked for RISCO (Rhodesian Iron and Steel Company) for 32 years and had an incredible knowledge of molten metals. He was able to look at the molten iron and tell you about the sulphur, silicon, carbon and manganese content.
While we were not rich, we lived a very comfortable life in Rhodesia with few luxuries but all the basic necessities. Our house in Redcliff was well situated and was close to the shops, school and my dads work. We also had a farm about 25 kilometres outside Que Que towards Gokwe. My parents had an orchard of Citrus and Litchi trees and bred Sussex cattle.
The area where we farmed was incredibly rich in minerals. There was an abundance of wildlife and it was common to see hyena, jackals, kudu, impala and eland. I remember being told that the last black rhino in the area was shot on our farm. I spent many of my childhood days hunting and prospecting for minerals. On occasion, I would spend three days in the bush looking for rocks as I had an interest in geology. On my prospecting exploits I would find rocks and because of the weight factor, would put them into little piles and then on my return journey pick them up and put them into my pack. Often the weight caused a logistical problem for me and I had to make several return journeys because they were too heavy to carry all at once. Sometimes I would get upset because I would get lost and couldnt retrace my steps to where I had placed my precious rocks, but this was a learning curve that would help me later as a soldier.
