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A Handful of Hard Men

The SAS and the Battle for Rhodesia

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A Handful of Hard Men

By: Hannes Wessels
Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
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About this listen

It is difficult to find another soldier's story to equal Captain Darrell Watt's in terms of time spent on the field of battle and challenges faced. Even by the lofty standards of the SAS and Special Forces, one has to look far to find anyone who can match his record of resilience and valor in the face of such daunting odds and with resources so paltry.

In the fight, he showed himself to be a military maestro. A bush-lore genius, blessed with uncanny instincts and an unbridled determination to close with the enemy, he had no peers as a combat-tracker (and there was plenty of competition). But the Rhodesian theater was a fluid and volatile one in which he performed in almost every imaginable fighting role.

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

©2015 Hannes Wessels (P)2017 Tantor Africa Armed Forces Military Military & War Special & Elite Forces World World War II War
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A great insight into the Rhodesian war, the battles and ultimate betrayal of a once beautiful country and its people.

hard men indeed.

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FIRST OFF - NARRATION. Not the best but much better when played at x1.25 speed playback. Much improved after I did this, played at x1.0 I nearly deleted it. So not the narrators fault. As with most military books you hope the narrator is taught how to pronounce terms correctly but these can vary from country to country so again it's not the narrators fault if they don't match 100% to the 'norm' you're used to. A recent read focused on Vietnam -1937-1979 had the narrator calling helo's as 'Hello's' and the city of Hue (pronounced 'Whey') as Hooey!

Excellent background and historic point of view from the Rhodesian side. It's definitely candid, and lifted the lid on the behaviour from some UK politicians, who have since risen to the highest levels as nothing more the the worst kind of bigots and opportunists, and it goes without saying, imperialists.

Putting the political aspects to one side (I'll be searching for further reading on this) the stories of danger and camaraderie are captivating, written with emotion and exciting all at the same time. Never a glorification of war, these guys were fighting for a cause and were committed to the highest level of sacrifice.

The book really sets the scene for post colonial Africa and the politics and subterfuge sadly set the standard for African leadership, on the whole, up to this day and the interests of outside governments have generally enriched the rich and manipulated the masses to their own ends.

100% recommend as a book but remember to adjust the speed of the audio!!

A brilliant insight into this conflict.

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Great stories. Really gives a good idea of what it was like. I was born in Rhodesia and the thoughts and beliefs of the people comes through here. The Rhodesians were tough buggers.
What i find incrediblle is how Johannes writes a good book and then lets this narrator ( with no clue how to pronounce many words from Rhodesia ) make such an aweful reading.
Even more incredible is that hes a narrator!
Anyway - i listened to the complete book. Its good

Hopeless narrator

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I lived throughout these times in the uk and seems we were misinformed and David Owen whom I know was out for him self I find to be disrespectful and disgusting in the way he treated this matter . I did not agree with Cecil Rhodes taking the country over

Very informative

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Disappointing book. Hard to follow at times and strangely written. Good account of an awful war.

Disappointed

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