Iron Fist From The Sea
Publish date: 13 February 2017
Issue Number: 714
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Corruption
Iron Fist From The Sea
By Douw Steyn and Arne Soderlund
Helion & Company. R859
This seminal work documents the clandestine seaborne operations undertaken by South Africa's 4 Reconnaissance Commando Regiment. It breathtakingly reveals the versatility and effectiveness of this elite unit which worked with a range of other South African and Rhodesian forces, including the Rhodesian SAS, to engage in a range of raiding and war fighting activities. These operations saw the clandestine reconnaissance of harbours, the sinking of enemy shipping and the destruction of shore installations in Angola and Mozambique. Just some of the tasks undertaken by this extraordinary maritime capability which totalled no more than 45 operators, both black and white. With unparalleled access to previously secret material, the authors, both of whom worked to develop 4 Recce's operating capabilities, trace the origins of the regiment back to the 1970s when the South Africans determined the need for a maritime force projection capability.
