Fighting Men of Rhodesia ep103 | Cpt. Jungle Jordan MFC | C Sqn. SAS

John "Jungle" Jordan tells us about his SAS selection, a two-man close recce of Chimoio with Rich Stannard, and the death of Martin Pearse in Lusaka. Huge respect to this TF officer who went from banking to special ops in the SAS!
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[@vinnymackay6589]

Thank you to Rhodesian Army forever.I’m Coloured Rhodesian male with everything Rhodesian etched in my heart.Thank you all for Bravely Fighting and Sacrificing all to give a better life in Rhodesia .Rhodesia was Super.Thank-you for giving us a History that’s Forever. Sheffield U.K

[@andycap1223]

These are the stories that should be told & retold to succeeding generations. Salute, honour & respect to the then Rhodesian military, home to arguably the most courageous, resourceful group of men this world has seen. May GOD, in His wisdom, resurrect this once glorious nation & wipe the many tears away. Soli Deo Gloria!

[@garycoppard3596]

An amazing man and azaming recollection. May God bless you Sir. Thanks for service ❤❤❤❤

[@NGT_C7]

Great interview. Any possibility of Chapter 2 ? I can remember quite a few occasions taking 2-3 SAS members over the border on an ext. op where due to the kit the SAS had in their back packs a vertical take-off was impossible and a rolling take-off needed. Most cases on the return they were lighter obviously having left a few gifts behind. Same aso apolied to members of the Scouts. Brave men - Salute and Respect.

[@dougmeaker8983]

Jungle's description of falling into the trees from the chopper on his way out (while wounded), climbing back up a tree in hope and leaping from the top of the tree to chopper wheel...is awesome. Hence his name? Great interview.

[@russellfulton6935]

Great interview and truly impressed with Jungle's journey and his humility about it all. This is the stuff that made Rhodesian's the people we were to become respected for.

[@RICHARDJOHN-s6n]

Men of Men......Absolute heros you guys. So brave.

[@jacobusjooste9574]

Incredible story, incredible man, utmost respect. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

[@sonsofthesilentage994]

A part of the operation the gentleman describes mirrors the experience of a soldier colleague of mine, during the SAS/Para Op Barras. Part of the SAS fast rope assault group, he exited the chinook, landed and promptly, fragged a flimsy mud hut while standing with his back to one side of the door... Happy to say he survived to serve another day

[@calummackenzie1797]

Ah so now l know where the drive in a covered truck at sunset & get chucked out on your own & make your way back to base camp idea come from on our recce selection course. The indomitable Captain Jungle Jordan 😂😂 l had a good sense of direction & after running through the bush in the dark, came out about 800 metres from our base camp. I think l was 15 minutes behind Jungle & the 2nd guy "home". I always suspected that the instructors had given him a pointer to which direction to take, as he out ranked all of them 😂😂😂

[@marklabrum2440]

You might have known my dad, Bob Labrum, who was with the Standard Bank in Rhodesia for 33 years, ending as manager at Selukwe? He was also with Patu and Police Reserve for 15 of those years, I remember when I was a boy he was more in the bush than at home sometimes, but he loved it! As did I later.

[@davereid-daly2205]

Incredible bravery. Thank you Hannes and John

[@KernowekTim]

Harder times beget harder men ; those that 'make it', 'they' say. These Rhodesian S.A.S were certainly very 'hard men' in deed. They had to be I guess, with all the guano that came their way in the bush. Great talk Hannes, John, JJJ.

[@workingwithsnakes.2143]

Easy on the ear,I like the humility and ability to say very difficult things/situations in a dignified manner...I respect you sir.

[@cyberphox1]

Fixing my car and listening to these awesome stories, thanks Gents

[@robkilcollins310]

Amazing interview. I think it's a fantastic display of the quality of the typical Rhodesian as everyone you interview is intelligent, well spoken, outgoing and kind.

[@eugenedavid3932]

Eugene David. I was droped on somewhere towards Kariba If Iam not mistaken with food rations. I thought that was odd and wondered where the rest of the squadron was. I was met by some airforce pilots and 1 or 2 airforrce NCO'S I cooked food in small batches and in a few days we broke camp and returned to units, me to Kabrit and the rest to the airport and only learnt from Sargeant Major Toland that I was cooking for Green Leader and then read about it in newspapers, radio and television. Thank you for reminding me of the small service I contributed to a great effort to make Rhodesia safe. I was attached to C squadron under Captain Pearce.

[@Vlerkies]

Wonderful interview. thank you Hannes, John, and John Jungle Jordan in particular for sharing a part of your service. Simply astonishing what a committed bunch of people can accomplish with limited means against all odds. 2 man team in the middle of nowhere and next to nothing except danger. Sterling stuff indeed! And this was par for the course and taken in ones stride in Rhodesia at the time.

[@eugenedavid3932]

I have met the captain jungle jordan I was the chef for SAS C Squadron and was at base camp when Capt Pearce when the wall fell on him in Zambia. Only found out of his passing when C squdron returned to Kabrit. At the entrance (Boom) I notice the flag at half mast and asked the guard on duty why? He passed on to me the sad news that Captain Pearce Died.

[@annaliedupreez9488]

Sir, you are a brave and special person!

[@tonykirkham4087]

Great stories again, I was in Canada at the time I never realized how much action went on in ZAMBIA itself. GREAT JOB GUYS.

[@rogermoore6726]

Respect and Tatenda 🙏.

[@barbaracurrie3187]

Remarkable. Utmost respect. Thanks for this John, Hannes and Jungle.

[@barbaracurrie3187]

I love this story. What guts!!! Thanks guys!

[@adamvanderriet9669]

Awesome! Keep 'em coming!

[@ktmtragic1397]

Amazing ! Jump to grab a chopper wheel ! Wow

[@whenwe9168]

He explains the selection course EXACTLY as my dad mentioned it. Guys on the truck drinking beer enticing you to jump on and have a beer

[@calummackenzie1797]

I remember Jungle being on our combined 4RR/8RR Recce course. He was just keeping fit & his skill sets up before doing SAS selection again. If l remember correctly he had badly hurt a finger during his first attempt & had to bail. Extremely fit guy & very confident of his abilities. I was in no doubt that he would pass SAS selection at his next attempt. He was absolutely focused on making SAS

[@r.cooper9790]

Its surely very interesting as one's experiences at school and in the bush all count to make one's character. I was made a writer growing up in Chipinga. Ross.

[@mikelayard6581]

Amazing work well done

[@chrisfitter7212]

Excellent detailed chat with Jungle. Tough for a civvy to go into that environment, what a well balanced soldier.

[@richmac1732]

Respect.. my brother law Graham Van Zuydam appeared briefly in your title pic a great man a sick sense of humour

[@macmcc3201]

Brilliant. Makes me home sick living in the UK. Rhodesia and her military were the best in the world.

[@stuartspoffee6113]

Another excellent interview. Thanks so much Hannes, John and Jungle.

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@thunderchildSCO]

What a guy, shot through the leg and didn't even notice it and carried on walking 😬

[@rickkenny]

Captivating interview, well,done Gents!

[@jackmaxey9525]

In the opening pictures there is a guy firing an American 180 .22 sub gun. Any info on the use in Rhodesia would be most appreciated. Great series. Hand salute.

[@expedition1017]

I need to understand more about this war

[@nicholaskendrick8967]

If you were to write a fictional novel and the main character would be a special forces soldier the name Jungle Jordan would be ideal 😁 Brave soldier much respect

[@rossitherhodie5659]

Great stuff, Thanks guys - Salute. Guess you got the name "Jungle" from your tarzan tree story?.

[@leebrand2172]

Hard as nails 😜 A forgotten age.

[@tightcamper]

TR28, Now you don't hear that radio mentioned too often.

[@calummackenzie1797]

Yup that mother was HEAVY plus the spare battery. When l carried it in '76 in Gonarezhou, as we were also using A30's which were absolutely useless in the flat expanse of the lowveld. So the OC decided that there would be TR 28's mixed amongst the operational sticks. You couldn't carry it in your army issue rucksack, so you carried it in its own pack & just had to find room for your rats, bivvy & sleeping bag. Had the crazy situation where 1 of our sticks had picked up fresh spoor & the Air Force were choppering in 2 Scouts Trackers. They only had an A30, so me about 12kms away had to home the chopper in to them by listening on my A30 & then relaying the instructions to the pilot via the TR 28. Fun times relaying to the pilot "roll out" by which time with the delay it was "come left, roll out. Come right, roll out, come left, roll out" 😂. It was a miracle no-one in that chopper was air sick 😂😂

[@tightcamper]

The TR28 was the first production SSB transistorised radio used in action in the world - and it was all ours! The Portuguese were not far behind us. The rest of the world took nearly 10 years to catch up. The Brits only caught up in the late 1970s- oddly enough with the Commonwealth Monitoring Force.

[@Cammoyoung]

Thanks Gents, a great listen. Interesting to hear Jungles version of the Op with Rich Stannard. Ps where did the nickname Jungle come from ?

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

He got it at school and it followed him into the army

[@whatisanamelol]

Where is he based now John?

[@haraldhofmann2333]

Proud of you John!

[@hudsonchalmers6504]

When called up I learnt to switch off the civilian life, had 3 children and my wife ran the business

[@kyleroy2226]

Was that Mike Lougan Higgens at 51sec.... if it was I great man in many ways.

[@calummackenzie1797]

Yes it is, & you are right about him being a hard man. Saw him at Salisbury Drill Hall when l was de-mobbing after a 1st Batt camp just after his jump accident. He was walking with a stick (no crutches for him) & if l remember correctly he'd broken his pelvis & a femur quite badly. It was shocking to see this "hard" man limping around after having played rugby with him at Llwellyn during my NS, when he was determined to make the Rhodesian Rugby team as a hooker, if l remember correctly. He was always doing extra fitness routines after rugby practice. A real fit bugger

[@jamesdnmackenzie7101]

Hi John, hope you are keeping well. I have enjoyed every one of these interviews, thanks to all involved. John, as you know, I have done a lot of research on the Rhodesian forces. I am puzzled with the mention of Ian Cochrane with 4 RR. I have a Major J.D.Cochrane with 4 RR and see that there was an Ian Cochrane in the BSAP. Is there any way you can confirm with Hannes or Jungle if it was definately Ian Cochrane and did he serve with the British Paras during WW2 or after the war please?

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

Hi James, I will ask Hannes and get back to you

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

Hannes says definately Ian Cochrane. He had para wings but not 100% sure where he got them.

[@waynekrahner4791]

What is the title of the book that is referred to in the talk.

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

Men of War? exmontibusmedia.co.za/product/men-of-war-the-fighting-few-who-took-on-the-world/

[@b.bruster1462]

👍

[@ledman9135]

Howzit, Was wondering where the nick names from. School days or Army and how did you get it? Thanks again.

[@fightingmenofrhodesia]

Apparently from school

[@uncleTee2023]

Where they any blacks in the Rhodesian SAS?

[@calummackenzie1797]

No, like the RLI they were exclusively white. Because of operations that Selous Scouts did (psuedo groups-masquerading as terrorists) black soldiers & "turned" terrorists tended to be far more useful in the Scouts

[@eugenedavid3932]

No.

[@clarencelafuentes5331]

There were good men, blacks, that worked the civilian jobs and militarily in the Army. Many good men that wanted to preserve peaceful loving.