Into Africa. Rhodesia at War: The Selous Scouts & Fireforce Collection

By Gordon Wallis

TWO LEGENDARY FIGHTING FORCES.

ONE BRUTAL AFRICAN WAR.

ONE EXTRAORDINARY STORY.

Deep in the African bush, a handful of men moved secretly among the enemy. They wore guerrilla clothing. Carried guerrilla weapons. Spoke their language. Learned their habits.

And waited.

Miles away, helicopters stood ready beneath the African sun. Pilots waited. Soldiers waited. The radio remained alive. Then intelligence arrived.

The siren sounded. And Fireforce went to war.

Into Africa: Rhodesia at War brings together the complete stories of the Selous Scouts and Fireforce, two of the most remarkable and unconventional military systems to emerge from the Rhodesian Bush War.

Their methods could hardly have been more different. The Selous Scouts operated in secrecy.

Using pseudo warfare, tracking, intelligence and deception, small teams penetrated guerrilla networks from within. Some of their men had once been guerrillas themselves. Others were black and white Rhodesian soldiers trained to enter a dangerous world where one wrong word or unfamiliar mannerism could expose an entire team.

Their job was to find the enemy. Fireforce was designed to reach him. When a guerrilla group was located, everything changed.

Alouette helicopters lifted from remote airfields. Four-man infantry sticks raced towards the contact. Above them circled the K-Car, its 20 mm cannon ready. Dakotas brought paratroopers. Lynx aircraft swept across the battlefield.

Men who believed they had hours to escape suddenly discovered they had minutes. Together, the two systems created a devastating combination.

Intelligence and deception found the enemy. Speed and air power brought the battle to him. But the Rhodesian Bush War was never that simple. The enemy adapted. The war spread. The fighting crossed borders into Mozambique and Zambia.

Secret reconnaissance missions became deep penetration raids. Fireforce operations multiplied across the country. Young soldiers, pilots and technicians were pushed harder as casualties mounted and a small nation struggled to sustain an increasingly large war.

Some operations became legendary. Others ended in confusion, controversy, tragedy and death. At Nyadzonya, fewer than a hundred Selous Scouts carried out one of the most audacious and controversial operations of the war.

Elsewhere, Fireforce helicopters and paratroopers descended again and again upon contacts scattered across thousands of square miles of African bush.

Captured guerrillas were turned against their former comrades. Pilots flew into gunfire. Soldiers jumped from helicopters into uncertain country. Trackers followed footprints through the bush. Ground crews struggled to keep ageing aircraft flying.

And always the war continued to grow.

The Rhodesian security forces became extraordinarily effective at fighting the battles in front of them. But Rhodesia itself was running out of time.

INTO AFRICA: RHODESIA AT WAR contains both complete books:

THE SELOUS SCOUTS. The Extraordinary Story of Rhodesia's Legendary Fighting Force

FIREFORCE. The Extraordinary Story of Rhodesia's Legendary Airborne Fighting Force

Together they tell the extraordinary story of the men, aircraft, intelligence networks and unconventional tactics behind two of the most famous names of the Rhodesian Bush War, from their beginnings in the early 1970s to the final days of Rhodesia.

How did a tiny regiment penetrate an insurgency from within?

How did a country with limited manpower and aircraft create an airborne system capable of putting soldiers onto a battlefield within minutes?

And what happened when these two extraordinary military ideas came together?

THE SCOUTS FOUND THEM.

FIREFORCE CAME FOR THEM.

Turn the first page and enter the secret, dangerous and extraordinary world of Rhodesia at war.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HMS74DRB
• ISBN13: 9798161882962
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 484 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"