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Viscount Down
The complete story of the Rhodesian Viscount disasters as told by a SAS operator
Unknown Binding
First published November 2, 2011
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51 people want to read
About the author
Keith Nell
2 books2 followersKeith Nell is the author of 'Viscount Down' that reaches into his upbringing and entry into the Rhodesian S.A.S. at the age of 37. His career path is highlighted by numerous exceptional achievements, most notably planning and leading the TOP SECRET mission to locate and eliminate a terrorist group responsible for bringing down two airliners with missiles causing 107 fatalities.
After leaving Zimbabwe in 1980, he built up a security company in Johannesburg with legendary results and conducted private investigations into serious and violent crime. So successful was his company that it became the subject of a television documentary produced and screened by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to all French speaking countries.
Following semi retirement in 2002, he conducted over land safaris for four years, he has settled down to write his memoirs, including those of the Viscount disasters and his experiences as a private investigator.
Following the launch of his book Viscount Down in December 2011, he has been the invited guest speaker at functions in South Africa, the UK and the USA, and has also participated in radio interviews with the BBC and Classic FM.
His next ambition is for an epic movie to be made of his book.
After leaving Zimbabwe in 1980, he built up a security company in Johannesburg with legendary results and conducted private investigations into serious and violent crime. So successful was his company that it became the subject of a television documentary produced and screened by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to all French speaking countries.
Following semi retirement in 2002, he conducted over land safaris for four years, he has settled down to write his memoirs, including those of the Viscount disasters and his experiences as a private investigator.
Following the launch of his book Viscount Down in December 2011, he has been the invited guest speaker at functions in South Africa, the UK and the USA, and has also participated in radio interviews with the BBC and Classic FM.
His next ambition is for an epic movie to be made of his book.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 2, 2013
I hardly ever read a book without putting it down, this was one of the very few. Fantastic read, and highly recommended. Keiths personal account of his experiences as a covert SAS operator at a very dangerous and treacherous time during the Rhodesian Bush War era. How he survived and indeed thrived, is amazing and the stuff of legend. A Man of Men, "as their fathers before them,faces of boys who fight like lions, and make us appear as women". The Matabele were not wrong about Rhodesian soldiers, the proof is here again, and cannot be denied.
If this story is not made into a movie, it will be because an ignorant, and uncaring world, is still not ready to understand that only the truth will set them free.
If this story is not made into a movie, it will be because an ignorant, and uncaring world, is still not ready to understand that only the truth will set them free.
December 6, 2012
This true story tells of the atrocious acts committed against innocent civilians and the heroic actions and words that took place during the Rhodesian war!!! It is a book, that brings great emotion, great pride and catapults the British, their Allies during this time, to a place of great shame!!!! It is a story that must never be forgotten and is written by a humble, 'ordinary' soldier with objectivity, integrity and honor!!! Through this amazing truth, the Author, Keith Nell has been able to create a permanent memorial for all the families and a people affected, so that we shall never forget! I have no doubt that the day will come soon, when it will become one of the greatest true movies the world will see.
December 5, 2012
One of the most impressive accounts of Counter Terrorism and COIN warfare I've ever read. The book is about the true life story of how one Rhodesian SAS guy turned 100 Terrorists into an Anti-Terrorist Hit Squad, and hunted down and executed a group that shot down a civilian airliner. This is the beginning of using the in-air destruction of Airliners for political purposes (ala 911). A fascinating book about a true story rarely heard about. The full color illustrations and photos are beautiful as well.
December 6, 2012
This book is destined to become a Rhodesiana Classic. Keith Nell has a unique way of writing and bears witness to his stoic and unbending desire for the truth, no matter what. There were so many covert operations during the Rhodesian bush war and so many of them remain untold ...I salute Keith Nell for bringing the truth at last to the fore; for his dedication to the Viscount saga and at last bringing closure to family and friends of the victims so savagely murdered. This book is an absolute must read.
October 10, 2015
I withdrew my review on Amazon as I have subsequently learnt from reliable sources that while Keith Nell claims his book is non-fiction it is in fact just the opposite and in that case, misleading.
Keith was upset that I didn't give him 5 stars but I'm not apologising. Here are my reasons..
1) From a literary point of view, the beginning (when this young man takes off to Kariba for a well deserved break), is a little clumsy, as if it had been added as an afterthought.. and doesn't flow.
2) I felt, on the whole, the story could have done with a little more embellishment, eg more on the survivors, even if it meant using fictitious names to protect their identities.
3) I could not find one non-fiction war author's title, not even on Goodreads, with 5 stars. Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down), John Hersey (Hiroshima), Stephen Ambrose (D-Day), Cornelius Ryan (The Longest Day & A Bridge Too Far), Paul Brickhill (The Great Escape), T.E.Lawrence (Seven Pillars of Wisdom), Primo Levi (Survival in Auschwitz) and even William Shirer (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich) are just a few that spring to mind, all with 4 stars, some with literary awards and most made into epic films.
Keith was upset that I didn't give him 5 stars but I'm not apologising. Here are my reasons..
1) From a literary point of view, the beginning (when this young man takes off to Kariba for a well deserved break), is a little clumsy, as if it had been added as an afterthought.. and doesn't flow.
2) I felt, on the whole, the story could have done with a little more embellishment, eg more on the survivors, even if it meant using fictitious names to protect their identities.
3) I could not find one non-fiction war author's title, not even on Goodreads, with 5 stars. Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down), John Hersey (Hiroshima), Stephen Ambrose (D-Day), Cornelius Ryan (The Longest Day & A Bridge Too Far), Paul Brickhill (The Great Escape), T.E.Lawrence (Seven Pillars of Wisdom), Primo Levi (Survival in Auschwitz) and even William Shirer (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich) are just a few that spring to mind, all with 4 stars, some with literary awards and most made into epic films.
March 7, 2013
Keith Nell’s telling of the Viscount Down disasters that occurred during the Rhodesian Bush War is a very intense and emotionally gripping read. His narrative is filled with details about these events that are not common knowledge, which can only be told by somebody who was actually there.
The first half of the book reads very fast. Keith Nell describes how two Viscount passenger aircraft are shot down by Communist guerrillas on separate occasions. Keith writes from the perspective of a member of the Special Forces whom he calls “Martin.” That name is fictitious to protect the individual’s true identity.
Verbal recollections from a variety of people are quoted by the author to describe actions that were taken when he (Nell) or “Martin” were not present. The second half of the book contains background to the Rhodesian Bush War, supporting documentation, and commentary on the motivations behind the shoot down of the two Viscount airliners.
On September 3rd 1978 Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 took off from Karibia with a full manifest of holiday makers returning to Salisbury. Shortly after take-off the Viscount passenger aircraft was hit by a Soviet made SA-7 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.
The author relates what happened next through the recollections and official testimony of survivors and SAS personnel who arrived on the scene afterward.
The experienced pilots used great skill and courage to bring the aircraft down in a controlled crash inside fields scattered with trees. The plane’s momentum carried it into a ditch. The ditch had been impossible to see from the air. It was a cruel twist of fate.
Metal from the twisted wreck was scattered over the area. Everyone in the forward portion of the aircraft was dead. Survivors in the rear of the cabin were still recovering their wits when they realized the plane’s fuel tanks were starting to ignite. A couple of the survivors managed to force open a rear door, creating an escape route for the rest.
The author relates a heart-wrenching moment between passengers when an injured woman, knowing her life was at an end, handed her baby to a survivor who was on his way out of the plane. The remaining survivors gathered as a group and took stock of their situation. Six of them agreed to go look for water and seek help for the injured.
The search party who had gone out looking for water and help hid when ZIPRA terrorists approached from their nearby camp. They witnessed the slaughter that resulted when the crash survivors were attacked. The author relates their graphic testimony as a matter of historical record, which some readers will find disturbing. The baby that had been saved by a total stranger was among the casualties. Everyone had been shot, bayoneted, or some combination of both.
At this point, I have to confess that two aspects of the book not related to the brutality of the terrorists affected me very deeply, to the point where I had trouble writing this review. Both of these things are connected to my own past. Two of Keith’s recollections struck just a little too close to home.
Before he becomes involved with the hunt for the missile gang, Keith describes how the SAS became victims of friendly fire from the Rhodesian air force during an operation inside Mozambique, around the time of the first Viscount air tragedy.
All of this took place on an operation in Zambia around the time of the first Viscount aircraft was shot down. The SAS and regular Rhodesian forces were greatly outnumbered by the enemy. Large trees absorbed the impact from the bombs as they exploded. Those trees saved Keith’s life as shrapnel landed inches from him. Critics later claimed that it wasn’t possible to survive such a close call from that kind of air attack.
By that logic, my own father should be dead. He was seriously injured by land mines in Vietnam. In fact, he still has a piece of shrapnel close to his heart. Doctors decided that was safer to leave that fragment in place, rather attempt the dicey procedure to remove them. Critics who deny Keith’s good fortune would also have to explain why my father survived his close call in combat.
“Viscount Down, The Complete Story of the Rhodesian Viscount Disasters as told by a SAS Operator” serves as a personal memoir and a piece of history. First-hand accounts of historical events are something we should cherish because they give us a window in to the past. The events that Keith Nell wrote about were, and still are, quite controversial. It’s fitting that somebody who was actually there should give us this window in to that stormy period, so that future generations will have something substantial to think about when they debate the right and wrong of what happened in Rhodesia.
The first half of the book reads very fast. Keith Nell describes how two Viscount passenger aircraft are shot down by Communist guerrillas on separate occasions. Keith writes from the perspective of a member of the Special Forces whom he calls “Martin.” That name is fictitious to protect the individual’s true identity.
Verbal recollections from a variety of people are quoted by the author to describe actions that were taken when he (Nell) or “Martin” were not present. The second half of the book contains background to the Rhodesian Bush War, supporting documentation, and commentary on the motivations behind the shoot down of the two Viscount airliners.
On September 3rd 1978 Air Rhodesia Flight RH825 took off from Karibia with a full manifest of holiday makers returning to Salisbury. Shortly after take-off the Viscount passenger aircraft was hit by a Soviet made SA-7 shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.
The author relates what happened next through the recollections and official testimony of survivors and SAS personnel who arrived on the scene afterward.
The experienced pilots used great skill and courage to bring the aircraft down in a controlled crash inside fields scattered with trees. The plane’s momentum carried it into a ditch. The ditch had been impossible to see from the air. It was a cruel twist of fate.
Metal from the twisted wreck was scattered over the area. Everyone in the forward portion of the aircraft was dead. Survivors in the rear of the cabin were still recovering their wits when they realized the plane’s fuel tanks were starting to ignite. A couple of the survivors managed to force open a rear door, creating an escape route for the rest.
The author relates a heart-wrenching moment between passengers when an injured woman, knowing her life was at an end, handed her baby to a survivor who was on his way out of the plane. The remaining survivors gathered as a group and took stock of their situation. Six of them agreed to go look for water and seek help for the injured.
The search party who had gone out looking for water and help hid when ZIPRA terrorists approached from their nearby camp. They witnessed the slaughter that resulted when the crash survivors were attacked. The author relates their graphic testimony as a matter of historical record, which some readers will find disturbing. The baby that had been saved by a total stranger was among the casualties. Everyone had been shot, bayoneted, or some combination of both.
At this point, I have to confess that two aspects of the book not related to the brutality of the terrorists affected me very deeply, to the point where I had trouble writing this review. Both of these things are connected to my own past. Two of Keith’s recollections struck just a little too close to home.
Before he becomes involved with the hunt for the missile gang, Keith describes how the SAS became victims of friendly fire from the Rhodesian air force during an operation inside Mozambique, around the time of the first Viscount air tragedy.
All of this took place on an operation in Zambia around the time of the first Viscount aircraft was shot down. The SAS and regular Rhodesian forces were greatly outnumbered by the enemy. Large trees absorbed the impact from the bombs as they exploded. Those trees saved Keith’s life as shrapnel landed inches from him. Critics later claimed that it wasn’t possible to survive such a close call from that kind of air attack.
By that logic, my own father should be dead. He was seriously injured by land mines in Vietnam. In fact, he still has a piece of shrapnel close to his heart. Doctors decided that was safer to leave that fragment in place, rather attempt the dicey procedure to remove them. Critics who deny Keith’s good fortune would also have to explain why my father survived his close call in combat.
“Viscount Down, The Complete Story of the Rhodesian Viscount Disasters as told by a SAS Operator” serves as a personal memoir and a piece of history. First-hand accounts of historical events are something we should cherish because they give us a window in to the past. The events that Keith Nell wrote about were, and still are, quite controversial. It’s fitting that somebody who was actually there should give us this window in to that stormy period, so that future generations will have something substantial to think about when they debate the right and wrong of what happened in Rhodesia.
October 28, 2020
A bit of Rhodesian propaganda, enlightening and confronting, even if the good Major Nell writes like a brick.
October 11, 2015
Viscount Down is nothing but a shocking example of self-aggrandising fantasy fiction.
The author was nowhere near the area at the time either viscount was shot down so was not "there" as he maintains. He certainly was not involved in any TOP SECRET mission to track down and eliminate the so-called "Viscount Gang" as he claims.
This book while claiming to be the true and complete story of the viscount disasters serves only to degrade and debase the history of the Rhodesian Buash War.
Shame on Keith Nell.
The author was nowhere near the area at the time either viscount was shot down so was not "there" as he maintains. He certainly was not involved in any TOP SECRET mission to track down and eliminate the so-called "Viscount Gang" as he claims.
This book while claiming to be the true and complete story of the viscount disasters serves only to degrade and debase the history of the Rhodesian Buash War.
Shame on Keith Nell.
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July 5, 2015The Rhodesian SAS have issued a note in which they distance themselves from the author and the book. This book is FICTION and not to be believed. My first review stated as much and despite invitation Nell has been unable to corroborate to the satisfaction of his peers any of the events he has allegedly taken part in. Genuine SAS operator Darryl Watt has also distanced himself from this man and his work.
June 18, 2016
The complete story of the Rhodesian Viscount disasters as told by a SAS operator.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews