`THE SAINTS - THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY` BY ALEXANDRE BINDA & CHRIS COCKS

"THE SAINTS - THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY" BY ALEXANDRE BINDA. COMPILED AND EDITED BY CHRIS COCKS, 2007 FIRST EDITION, HARDCOVER, 544 PAGES, COMPLETE INTACT DUSTJACKET. IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. DVD NOT INCLUDED.

Dubbed The Killing Machine by Charles D. Melson, chief historian of the US Marine Corps, the RLI was a veritable foreign legion with over 20 diverse nationalities serving in her ranks. The RLI fought the bitter Zimbabwean bush war for 15 years, against the overwhelming tide of communist-trained guerrillas. Kill rates dont win wars, but during its brief 19-year history, it is estimated that the RLI accounted for between 12,000 and 15,000 enemy guerrillas, for the loss of 135 men. RLI soldiers were recipients of four Silver Crosses and 42 Bronze Crosses of Rhodesia. An RLI trooper holds the world record for operational parachute descents, a staggering 73 op jumps, most under 500 feet!

A glossy, pictorial format with hundreds of color photos, maps, rolls, honours and awards. It is not intended as a definitive history but, with more of a classic scrapbook feel, the presentation attempts to capture the essence of this fine unitwhat it was like to be a troopie, one of the ouens. This book provides access to a host of unique, previously unpublished photos and illustrative material and many former RLI members have embraced the project, generously contributing photos, memorabilia and anecdotes. Ian Smith has written his tribute in the front and the foreword is by the last CO, Lieutenant-Colonel Charlie Aust.

ALEXANDRE BINDA was born in Beira, Mozambique in 1945. He joined the Rhodesian Army in 1965. Although he had attested into the Pay Corps, he was to get more operational and combat experience than any of his colleagues. Between 1968 and 1972 he took part in a dozen or so deployments with 1RLI and SAS combat-tracker teams in support of the Portuguese Army in the Tete Province of Mozambique, countering Frelimo and ZANLA guerrilla incursions from the north. He was awarded a Military Forces Commendation. During his 15 years in the Rhodesian Army, he did a four-year tour of duty of with the Selous Scouts and was commissioned in 1979. Alex is a keen student of African military history and has written several articles for Lion & Tusk, the magazine of the Rhodesian Army Association. He now lives in Northumberland, England with his wife Jane.

CHRIS COCKS was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia in 1957 and served three years and 28 days as a combat NCO with 3 Commando, the Rhodesian Light Infantry (the RLI, an airborne/airmobile unit), from 1976 to 1979. He was then offered a farming job in the countrys Lowveld; however, the army refused to countenance a waiver of call-ups, so he attested into the British South Africa Police and spent the remaining 14 months of the bush war as a PATU (Police Anti-Terrorist Unit) stick leader and avoiding the Military Police. He moved to Johannesburg in 1996 and stumbled into a publishing career, specializing in southern African military history. He has written four books: the bestselling Fireforce: One Mans War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, its sequel Out of Action, a steamy novel Cyclone Blues, and co-wrote The Saints, the RLIs history. He is the historian for The Rhodesian Light Infantry Regimental Association and edits its magazine, The Cheetah.

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