The Blockade Runners
By Peter Vollmer
It is 1965. Ian Smith unilaterally declares Rhodesia independent under white minority rule.
The UN declares an embargo, bestowing Her Majesty’s government whatever means of enforcement necessary. With no country recognising Rhodesia, they are desperate for trade.
David Tusk, a former Air Force pilot and now a successful accountant at the only non-British- controlled bank in South Africa, is ‘asked’ by his superiors to help break the embargo. He pairs with the stunning Gisela Mentz, an East German-born Rhodesian, who is also ex-Stasi.
From London to Amsterdam to Paris, Frankfurt, Beirut, and the Seychelles, bloody hand-to-hand combat, car chases, bombings, and sea battles ensue as MI6 stops at nothing to prevent David and Gisela from smuggling oil, munitions, spare parts, medicine, and whatever the fledgling republic needs to soldier on.
Meanwhile, a rebellion of the Communist-backed majority is waging guerrilla warfare on white farmers. Despite their mission being over, David and Gisela must once again fight for their lives.
Will HM government be successful in their campaign to destroy an independent Rhodesia? Will the ZANU rebellion exact revenge on the white minority? Will David fall in love despite the hatred in Gisela’s heart?
Peter Vollmer’s latest novel is an exciting and breathtaking journey through the demimonde of arms dealers and smugglers during a time and place left to history.
Peter Vollmer is the grandson of German colonists who settled in the German colony of South West Africa (now Namibia) in the late 19th century. After living and studying in Namibia, France and England, Peter returned to his native South Africa. He was involved in assisting then Rhodesia when it declared UDI and assisted in breaking the embargo set by the United Nations. His other novels include The Gunrunners, Diamonds Are But Stone and Per Fine Ounce.