This issue of the Record of Service is about Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky who served with a very early group of irregular soldiers known as the Forest Rangers. The Forest Rangers date back over 140 years to the New Zealand Wars where they proved the worth of their guerrilla type warfare. There were other Ranger […]
Bomber is a quiet professional when it comes to any of his work or pastimes. I first met Bomber on a CQB course and over the years have worked with him on many such courses. He is not one to boast but believe me he has a history to be proud of and qualifications and […]
Kobus Huisamen and Tank Phase military close quarters combat. Note replica weapon, a practice derringer gut-gun. I have read countless articles Tank has written about other close combat instructors and thought it was about time someone outlined his close combat story. I met Tank in Australia in the early nineties and was amazed at his […]
I have been the Chief Instructor for the Todd Group in Australia for approximately 10 years now and I still can’t believe it took me so long to find out about what real combat training was like. Lets back track for a while. I was the normal kid growing up I enjoyed playing contact sport […]
I would like to on behalf of myself and all Todd Group members convey our most sincere condolences on the passing of Charles Nelson to Mrs Nelson, Carol, Bryan and family. I write this final tribute to my instructor, mentor and close friend knowing it must be my best and most complete effort as Charlie […]
Former Team Leader for a rapid response unit in a maximum security prison in the U.K. and now personal trainer at the Olympc Gym, Mosgiel, Dunedin, Andy Gillies holds the Todd45 tactical baton in the ready position and states he wishes he had the Todd45 in his former profession. The TSB 45 short for Tactical […]
Kobus Huisamen was born in Cape Town and grew up in Franschhoek, a little town just outside Cape Town. His Dad was a construction worker on large scale projects such as dams and as such he and his family lived all over the country, however, he has always considered Cape Town his home. As a […]
From a very young age I had known of the legendry Col Rex Applegate. He had been described to me as the expert of special operations cloak and dagger close combat, the type of subjects never found in the civilian publications. I had met individuals that had corresponded with Col Applegate or who had met […]
Charles Nelson's monument. Photo courtesy of his daughter Carol Randall. Mrs Nelson Carol, Brian and family members and friends of Charlie, I opened my email on Friday here in New Zealand to the saddest news, something I never planned would happen not to my hero and mentor. In 1979 the late Harry Baldock my unarmed […]
The following is a brief outline of the life and times of three of the most important pioneers in modern military close combat. While there have been and will continue to be historic writings on these individuals from historians, there is only one living post-World War II instructor qualified descendent of the late and great […]