George M James
Military Author
The Extraction of Assets from a Hostile Country
In Code Name Missa 72 we deal with extracting an agent from a hostile environment which is no easy task.
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For background, when Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980 the war did not stop. It carried on with many Zimbabwean Army incursions into neighbouring Mozambique to find and kill RENAMO fighters. RENAMO was an anti-communist movement created by the Rhodesians to destabilise Mozambique, a Marxist country at the time. When the Rhodesians became Zimbabweans and the enemy of their creation, RENAMO, South African Special Forces stepped up and valiantly supported the anti-communist liberation movement.
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Foxtrot and Geelslang operated in 1987 in Manica Province, Mozambique, helping RENAMO against the communist regime in Maputo and clashing with the hard-charging Zimbabweans. During that mission, they spare the life of one Lieutenant Colonel Mark Sithole, lately of the Selous Scouts, Rhodesian Army and now a staff officer in the new Zimbabwean Army.
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Years later, this officer, by this time a lieutenant general and head of their Military Intelligence, must be rescued and extracted with his family. He asks for Geelslang Peter Ndebele, naming him explicitly, to assist with the coming defection attempt to MI6. MI6 asks Angelique Dawson, South African Secret Service Spymaster, for assistance as General Sithole will not work with anyone but Geelslang and Foxtrot whom he trusts for unknown reasons.
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Angelique is puzzled but willing to assist for her own reasons and turns towards Foxtrot and Geelslang to help her satisfy the strange request and to find out why General Sithole made the appeal to them. It is odd as Geelslang does not admire Shonas because of the Matabele Genocide where his wife’s family got wiped out and General Sithole is a Shona man.
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The mission is dangerous, to be captured means an agonising death and none of the participants are admired in Zimbabwe. A clash is looming, a shootout bound to take place sooner or later and even if they succeed in the initial removal of the source and his wife, chances are excellent that the
Zimbabweans will follow them across the border into Mozambique. They will do whatever is needed to get General Sithole back.
Description:
When Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980 the war did not stop. It carried on with many Zimbabwean Army incursions into neighbouring Mozambique to find and kill RENAMO fighters. This was an anti-communist movement created by the Rhodesians to destabilise Mozambique, a Marxist country at the time.
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When the Rhodesians became Zimbabweans and the enemy of their creation, RENAMO, South African Special Forces stepped up and supported the anti-communist liberation movement.
We flashback in time to where Foxtrot and Geelslang operated in 1987 in Manica Province, Mozambique, helping RENAMO against the communist regime in Maputo and clashing with the hard-charging Zimbabweans. During that mission, they spare the life of one Lieutenant Colonel Mark Sithole, lately of the Selous Scouts, Rhodesian Army and now a staff officer in the new Zimbabwean Army. Years later, this officer, today head of their Military Intelligence, must be rescued and extracted with his family.
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He asks for Geelslang Peter Ndebele to assist with the coming defection attempt to MI6. MI6 asks Angelique Dawson for assistance as General Sithole will not work with anyone but Geelslang whom he trusts for unknown reasons.
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It is a classic undercover smuggling of a human source out of a hostile environment. Nevertheless, Angelique Dawson was not born to fail. Foxtrot supports her valiantly and Geelslang leads his team into Zimbabwe...
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If you wish to read about Covert and Special Forces Operations in sub-Saharan Africa, the GMJ Books are the place to start. You will learn about Special Forces techniques and military history not known outside the select few.
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Code Name Missa 72 is the 13th book in the popular GMJ Series.