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About us:
Contact details
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Our Books:
- How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs
- Dive South Africa
- Wreck Hunt
- Mercenary Invasion of Seychelles
- Jack Malloch
- Deadline Africa
- Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
- Diving with Sharks
- Neall Ellis
- Barrel of a Gun
- South Africa's Border Wars
- The 'Coloured' People of South Africa and Apartheid
About our Authors:
Al J Venter
John H. Visser
Charles Shapiro
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WEBSITE PAGES
Contact Page - About Us
Al J. Venter
Charles Shapiro
BOOK PAGES
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs
Dive South Africa
Wreck Hunt
Mercenary Invasion of Seychelles
Jack Malloch
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
Deadline Africa
Diving with Sharks
Neall Ellis
Barrel of a Gun
South Africa's Border Wars
The 'Coloured' People of South Africa and Apartheid
PHOTOGRAPH PAGES
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Isandlwana
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Ulundi monument
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Lt Col Redvers Buller's bravery at Hlobane
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Battle of Khambule
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Battle of Ulundi
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Battle of Intombi Drift
Battles of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Gingindlovu memorial
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Stuart Philpott
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Seano Botha
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Seano Botha
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Seano Botha
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Seano Botha
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Wolfgang Leander
Dive South Africa - Photo by: Wolfgang Leander
Diving with Sharks - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Diving with Sharks - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Diving with Sharks - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Diving with Sharks - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Diving with Sharks - Photo by: Andrew Woodburn
Barrel of a Gun - Al Venter on patrol with Portuguese marine unit in Portuguese Guinea (today Guiné-Bissau)
Barrel of a Gun - Crew of an Israeli 'Dabur' gunboat operating close to the Lebanese port of Tyre check a local fishing for weapons
Barrel of a Gun - Side gunner onboard an El Salvador chopper gunship readies his weapon prior to take-off
Barrel of a Gun - Along Beirut's Green Line when fighting was at its worse between Christian and Islamic forces. Is history going to repeat itself?
Barrel of a Gun - South Lebanese Army 113 armoured personnel carrier - courtesy of the IDF - prepares for action near the heavily defended Fort Beaufort Muslim stronghold
Barrel of a Gun - South of Beirut, the distinctive yellow Hizbollah flag flies everywhere
Barrel of a Gun - Members of the crack Israeli Golani Brigade prepare for a patrol in South Lebanon not long before the Jewish State finally pulled back behind its own frontiers
Barrel of a Gun - The South Lebanese Hizbollah stronghold of Sur (Tyre) in an unusual view from a helicopter
Barrel of a Gun - On the road to Gulu in rebel-encircled Juba in Northern Uganda. Many of these troops were still in their early teens
Barrel of a Gun - Jeep-mounted recoilless rifle with the Lebanese Force Command in Beirut
Barrel of a Gun - Insignia of El Salvador's crack helicopter strike force: they took us everywhere, except into the heart of their command and control centres
Barrel of a Gun - Angolan Army (FAA) special forces prepare for action near the capital
Barrel of a Gun - South Lebanese Army M113 preparing for action near the SLA regional HQ at Mar-Jaoun
Barrel of a Gun - Israeli gunship at speed off the Lebanese coast. The author spent a week onboard on patrol to Palestinian insurgency
Barrel of a Gun - Early days of Border patrol along the Angolan frontier with Eland armoured cars
Barrel of a Gun - Angolan Army BMP-2 on static guard on the outskirts of Saurimo, the diamond capital of this part of West Africa. Unita several times penetrated FAA defences
Barrel of a Gun - SAAF Alouette gunship on sunset patrol on the outskirts of Ondangua in South West Africa (Namibia today)
Barrel of a Gun - Russian-built Mi-8 flying the American flag during the Sierra Leone war - in the livery of private military company ICI of Oregon
Barrel of a Gun - On the foothills of Mount Hebron in South Lebanon: this is one of the major Hizbollah infiltration routes out of Syria. The author spent a week patrolling the area with snowmobiles pictured
Barrel of a Gun - Foot patrols in the mountains of Kaokoveld, South West Africa. Mules were used as 'packhorses' to haul ammo, in this case, for mortars
Barrel of a Gun - South African 'Troopie' on patrol along Angolan Border
Barrel of a Gun - Critical casualty following a firefight in South Angola is flown back to Oshakati by a SAAF Puma
Barrel of a Gun - Dead and dying children in Biafra. This spectacle deeply affected all the hacks who spent any time in the beleaguered enclave. Al Venter covered this war with Frederick Forsyth.
Barrel of a Gun - Ugandan 'Boy Soldiers' in the days after Kampala was taken by the rebel group that was eventually to form a permanent government. Some of the youngsters weren't yet into their teens.
Barrel of a Gun - Biafran General in the final stages of the Federal Nigerian push. Though there were thousands of people of all ages dying and we were eating grain mixed with sawdust to stay live, Ojukwu's senior command was always immaculately turned out.
Barrel of a Gun - Ambulance, Biafran-style, hauls wounded to a makeshift clinic manned by the forerunners of Medicines Without Frontiers in Owerri.
Barrel of a Gun - In El Salvador with Colonel Robert K Brown (right) and 'Big John' Donovan. On the landing above Brown is former mercenary Bob MacKenzie who was later killed and eaten in Sierra Leone.
Barrel of a Gun - Letter from Biafra's 'embassy' in Dar es Salaam to Venter, then freelancing for London's Daily Express, authorising him to go in.
Jack Malloch - Jack Malloch's DC-7C seen in temporary 'home-made' camouflage at Salisbury airport in 1978. Although technically 'civilian', this aircraft was used for long range SAS supply drops by the Rhodesian Air Force's Number 3 Squadron, usually flown well behind enemy lines in Mocambique, Zambia and Tanzania by Jack himself.'
Jack Malloch - HuntingClanKariba 1955 - 'After selling his first airline 'Fish Air', Jack flew DC-3's for Hunting Clan. Here his aircraft is seen being unloaded at Kariba. This old airport has long since been flooded and now lies one hundred feet below the waters of Kariba Dam.'
Jack Malloch - 'Jack Malloch's DC-8 A40-PA seen at Schipol airport in its 'CargOman' livery in the late 1970's.'
Jack Malloch - 'The nose of Jack Malloch's Spitfire MkXXII before receiving its final coat of camouflage. Standing in the background are two Rhodesian Air Force Hawker Hunters, readied with drop-tanks and rocket pods.'
Jack Malloch - Jack's Rhodesian Air Services DC4 delivering weapons into the Yemen desert in the early 1960's.
Jack Malloch - The first flight of Jack's Afro Continental Airways Super Constellation from Salisbury to Europe in 1970.
Jack Malloch - Jack's DC-7F having crashed in Libreville Gabon in 1973.
Deadline Afica - Other wars in which Southern African-based journalists sent dispatches from included Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation: Al Venter wasn't sent in two film teams to capture the action. He is seen here in Peshawar (second from left) with Dr Paul Moorcaft (right) and cameraman Chris Everson on his right.
Deadline Afica - Freedom means different things for different folks, particularly in Africa. The Freedom monument in Lusaka, Zambia, for many years a flashpoint for hacks of various persuasions.
Deadline Afica - Execution Row in Liberia. The problem was that those doing the firing were all drunk and ran out of ammunition before they were half done. A soldier had to be sent back to barracks to get more so that the grisly job could be finished.
Deadline Afica - Civil wars and civil disturbances in Africa always result in bloodshed: a legacy of Sierra Leone.
Neall Ellis - Eagle 2 on the ground at Aberdeen Barracks, Freetown, being gunned up for action in the interior. Neall Ellis is in the foreground, right. Christophe, the French mercenary side-gunner is at his right shoulder.
Neall Ellis - Sierra Leone jungle view with Mi-24 rocket pod, foreground (left). In places it was truly spectacular.
Neall Ellis - Sierra Leone Air Wing Mi-24 comes in to land at the Freetown base of operations.
Neall Ellis - Al Venter in the gunners seat on Neall Ellis' 'Eagle 2' gunship. He flew combat for five weeks with the South African mercenary pilot
Neall Ellis - Some of the mercs in Sierra Leone conducted anti-piracy patrols. It was a hugely successful series of operations
Neall Ellis - French merc 'Christophe' in action with GPMG against rebel elements around Makeni, enemy HQ in Sierra Leone in the latter stages of the conflict. Note depleted shells at his feet
Neall Ellis - Royal Air Force Chinook deployed against the rebels in Sierra Leone: note anti-SAM flares discharged on lifting off from a jungle clearing.
Neall Ellis - British Army patrol on the outskirts of Lungi, Sierra Leone's main island airport
Neall Ellis - Cleaning windows at Aberdeen barracks where the gunships were kept overnight
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Anti-Aircraft Weapon
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - A cluster of the original bomb casings for the South African atom bombs which, though primitive and 'overweight' by today's standards, would still have had the same kind of destructive force as those dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All were stored under heavily-guarded top security at a Pretoria site with the warheads kept separate.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - One of the last remaining South African-built RSA-2 mediuim-to-long range intercontinental missiles on display at Pretoria's Swartkops Air Force Museum.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Puma squadron returns to base after cross-border operations in Northern South-West Africa, today Namibia.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Cutaway-drawing of a multi-stage RSA-3 SLV with Greensat satellite in the cargo bay. This was a joint South African-Israeli venture, which was eventually ended as a consequence of strong American pressure.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - A peek at an American Mark-7 nuclear bomb, about to be loaded onboard an aircraft during the Cold War.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - One of several South African Air Force British-built Buccanneer strike aircraft initially adapted for the nuclear weapons program. These jets would eventually have carried a local version of the cruise missile which would have been nuclear-tipped.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - British Tigercat anti-aircraft missile battery supplied clandestinely to South Africa by Jordan. Though deployed on the Angolan border (such as this one, with R numberplates), they were never used offensively. Nor was Jordan the only Arab state that helped the Pretoria government during the course of the war: Morocco was also a prominent player, to the extend that there was even a South African military atta ch é in Casablanca, a country with which Pretoria ostensibly had no diplomatic links.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Cross border raid into Angola during the latter stages of the conflict, with one of the vehicles used by Reconnaisance Regiment elements ('Reccies') to probe this vast, hostile and underpopulated region.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Because on international sanctions, South Africa was no longer able to counter modern Soviet MiG and Sukhoi strike aircraft supplied to the Angolan Air Force and flown by East European and Cuban combat pilots. South Africa had an impressive array of jets - such as the Mirage fighters above - but they were soon outperformed by what Moscow was supplying its pre-eminent African ally.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - The Sa-6 (NATO designation 'Gainful') anti-aircraft missile was supplied in quantity to the Angolans in their war against South Africa. It was on of the most effective weapons in the Soviet arsenal.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Sketch of one of South Africa's atom bombs. This line-drawing (with warhead, below) presents the full-up weapon with its distinctive 'boat tail'.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - SAAF Buccaneer with, from the top: a representation of the bomb and two different types of free-fall nuclear weapons casings; and bottom, a notional representation of the so-called Hento or Hanto (H-2) nuclear stand-off glide bomb.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - A Chronology of Israeli missile developments. From the Jericho 1:2 (Y-2) and Project 'Burglar' missiles, almost all were initially joint Israeli-South African efforts, or had some South African input. The Jericho 2 (YA-3) shown herein was known as RSA-2 in South Africa.
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs - Artist impression of America's 'Little Boy' atom bomb dropped on Hirosima and the identical concept applied to South Africa's six bombs. The cutaway amply demonstrates the 'Gun-assembly' method used to iniciate the nuclear blast.
Wreck Hunt - From the Portuguese East Indiaman the Nossa Senhora dos Milagros (1686) - Small jars in conglomerate
Wreck Hunt - From the Portuguese East Indiaman the Nossa Senhora dos Milagros (1686) - carved statue of ivory
Wreck Hunt - From the Portuguese East Indiaman the Nossa Senhora dos Milagros (1686) - carved statue of ivory
Wreck Hunt - From the Portuguese East Indiaman the Nossa Senhora dos Milagros (1686) - carved statue of stone
Wreck Hunt - From the Colebrooke (1778) - Cloth Bale - Lead Seal - Photo by Stuart Ralph
Wreck Hunt - From the Colebrooke (1778) - Refurbished pistol - Photo by Stuart Ralph
Wreck Hunt - From the Colebrooke (1778) - Small jars - Photo by Stuart Ralph
Wreck Hunt - From the Colebrooke (1778) - Penknives still in their wrappers
Wreck Hunt - From the Oosterland (1697)
Wreck Hunt - Brass from the HMS Birkenhead (1852)
Wreck Hunt - Brass from the HMS Birkenhead (1852)
New Titles Coming Soon.