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Book synopsis

As one of the Specialist Pathfinders of 44 Parachute Brigade during cross-border operations into Angola in the early 1980s, they operated ahead of main forces, conducted reconnaissance, target marking, demolitions, and covert insertion tasks during the Border War. Missions included helicopter deployments, long-range patrols, infrastructure sabotage, and contact with FAPLA and SWAPO elements inside Angola within the structure of the South African Defence Force.

The author assumes familiarity with the tools and trade of soldiering and records operations as experienced

A lived record of the Angolan Bush War as part of the South African Border War, presented with historical precision and the dark humour of airborne troops but not with political reframing or retrospective moralising. Executed precisely and restrained in explanation.

For readers of military memoirs, airborne forces history, special operations, African war history, and studies of the 44 Parachute Brigade and its Pathfinders.

Volume 1 establishes the foundation for subsequent volumes covering additional theatres of War

Book details

• Full title: Philistine
• Subtitle: A professional Soldier in Africa
• Author: Mark Griffiths, Andrea E Sartori
• Language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 302
• EAN: 9781919534701
• ISBN: 1919534709
• ID: 51404156
• Publisher: Pilgrim Scribes Ltd
• Weight: 573 g
• Dimensions: 234 × 156 × 21 mm
• Date of publishing: 23. March 2026

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