Discovering a “Who Dares Wins” Brass Plaque
Dave Jackson, born and bred in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), came across an amazing piece of SAS war memorabilia quite by accident in 2008.
Dave was involved in the Rhodesian War from 1974 to 1980, doing his National Service and of course many, many call-ups. When the government changed hands, he decided to emigrate to South Africa where he became involved in the stock market, and has since traded local and international markets from Stocks to Forex (which is now his passion and purpose in life).
In early 2003 he founded The Traders Edge with the goal of sharing the knowledge and expertise he had gained so as to give South African traders an edge in their market trading.
Plaque Authenticity
Dave needed to check the authenticity of this interesting plaque, so he made contact with Torty King, a friend who was in the SAS during the Rhodesian war years. He discovered that there were indeed two plaques, and that one of them was housed at the Shamwari Club in Durban.
The next time he went to Durban he met Torty at the Shamwari Club for a beer and to see the twin of the plaque in his possession. Sure enough, the plaque on display for public viewing in the Rhodesian War section of the Shamwari Club was exactly the same.
The plaque is a beautiful piece of work which weighs 22.4 kilograms and is 75 cm tall and 400 cm wide. It is made of the brass shell casings from the shooting range that was used by the SAS. It was cast in a sand mould and the original pattern was probably carved from wood.
The Only One
A few hours with some brass polish brought the shine back, and it became Dave’s intention to donate the plaque to the SAS at the Shamwari Club. As usual, the pressures of work and the distractions of life took priority and the idea was pushed into the background.
In 2011 the idea came back to the fore when Dave attended a Churchill School Reunion.
Neill Jackson, a class mate of his from school days, and Neill’s friend Rick van Malsen got together to write a book titled The Search for Puma 164 (Operation Uric and the Assault on Mapai).
Towards the end of the Rhodesian war in September 1979 (Mugabe became President of Zimbabwe in April 1980) a Puma helicopter was shot down in Mozambique during Operation Uric.
Puma 164 was carrying 14 Rhodesian troops and 3 South African Air Force personnel in a counter insurgency operation to stem the build-up of Zanla and Frelimo forces planning to invade Rhodesia from the Gaza Province of Mozambique.
A very interesting book indeed and hearty congratulations to Neill and Rick for the incredible amount of work and research they must have done to put it all together.
Neill put Dave in touch with Graham Wilson, who it turned out was 2nd in charge of the SAS during this operation, and also has the distinction of being the most highly decorated soldier during the 15 year Rhodesian War. Graham and Dave subsequently met to discuss options for the plaque in Dave’s possession.
During the course of the conversation Graham mentioned that the plaque at the Shamwari Club had been stolen by one of the cleaners, and parts of it had been recovered from a scrap metal merchant to whom it had been sold. This meant that the plaque in Dave’s possession was now the only one left in the world.
Replicas
Dave subsequently decided to have some replicas made of the plaque. In 2012 a mold was made by Russell Scott, another ex- Rhodesian who is now in the business of making sculptures.
To keep the replicas as authentic as possible to the original, they were made from brass casings which were collected from Guthries Shooting Range in Midrand.
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