40 min

Al J Venter — Takka Takka Bom Bom A South African War Correspondent’s Story

With Al J Venter — Takka Takka Bom Bom A South African War Correspondent’s Story

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In short

Al J Venter, in his 84th year and the author of around 60 books, traces a route from a Marist Brothers boarding school to three years in the South African Navy, a shipbroking fellowship in London, a Tilbury–Calais ferry line, and then four decades of war reporting from Nigeria, Angola, Lebanon, Rhodesia, Mali and the Central African Republic — plus one bout of PTSD and two occasions of being blown up. The one takeaway: A boarding-school reading habit, not military ambition, set the direction of Venter's life: he wanted to see the places he had read about in the war-at-sea volumes.

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How does a South African schoolboy end up wanting to see wars for himself?

Reading did it. At Marist Brothers College the Irish, Scottish and English teachers pushed British literature, and Venter read omnivorously rather than learning his Latin declensions. By 14 he was working through Captain Roskill's thick volumes on the war at sea, learning about Kwajalein, Iwo Jima and the sinking of the Scharnhorst, and wanted to see those places himself.

What did he do straight after leaving school?

He joined the Navy immediately and stayed three years in a peacetime service. He was the youngest man on the ship for the first year, and his first voyage was an emergency run south to Prince Edward and Marion Island, going ashore while the coxswain held a hand grenade with the pin drawn because of aggressive killer whales.

How did he get from the Navy to a professional career in London?

He hitchhiked up Africa to Mombasa, talked his way onto a Scandinavian ship and worked his passage to Montreal, then spent six months in Canada as a lumberjack, in tobacco and in mining. He landed at Southampton, found a room in Putney and a job, and studied at the Baltic Exchange, becoming a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers — in the top five of the overseas students.

How did he come to set up the Tilbury to Calais ferry service?

A letter of introduction got him in front of the chairman of Clarksons, who shook his hand and asked how he would like to run his own shipping line. Venter was 27. He was given four months to launch the daily Tilbury–Calais service, called the Londoner, and hired his own staff.

Why did he staff the ferry line with "colonials"?

Because the British workforce went on strike constantly. He recruited Canadians, South Africans, New Zealanders and a chap from Fiji — people who had qualified at home and come to London for two years of extra experience, and who were happy to work ten-hour days for a good wage. The service was running within four months.

How did he actually become a war correspondent?

By accident, in Nigeria. He arrived for a commercial job two days after an army mutiny, spent six months travelling the country, and concluded another revolution was coming. His manager dismissed it, so he wrote cover stories for a South African news magazine and its Afrikaans equivalent predicting a second mutiny. It happened two weeks later, with the planning taking place 50 yards from his office at Ikeja airport.

Where does the title "Takka Takka Bom Bom" come from?

From his father, who used the phrase to amuse him at bedtime. Years later his father explained that he had fought in Tanganyika against the Germans in the First World War, where the German side used Swahili askaris — and Swahili speakers called the Maxim machine gun a takka takka bom.

Which conflict was the most intense he covered?

Lebanon's ten-year civil war. He went in and out for a decade, entered Beirut with Sharon's force, and spent a week on a gunboat patrolling for infiltrators. Unlike most of the media, who worked from the Muslim side, he stayed with the Christian forces on the other side of the Green Line.

Has he had PTSD, and how did it show up?

Once, properly, about ten years ago in London, though he argues the term is now used far too loosely for things like being laid off. It hit at three in the morning as an inexplicable fear and dread; the American woman he was seeing talked him through until dawn, and it recurred nightly for eight or nine days.

Why did the Wagner group fail in northern Mozambique?

They ignored the basic rule that intelligence comes from local people, and they were not local. Wagner arrived three or four years ago with heavy transport aircraft, armoured vehicles, Mi-17s, gunships and drones, promised gas and oil concessions by Maputo, and lasted four months. The insurgents know their own backyard and share the local population's religion.

Is he still going to wars at 84?

He thinks he has done his last one. He had returned from the Central African Republic two weeks before the interview and was in Mali the previous October, but being blown up cost him the use of his left ear and with it his balance, and he accepts he is not as sharp. Two or three more books remain.

In their words

Taken from the recording, word for word.

and the strange thing about is neither the British or the American intelligence they were caught with their pants down because they didn't leave their offices they didn't wander around the countryside

— Al J Venter

this Swahili people referred to the maxim machine gun as a taka taka bomb

— Al J Venter

I hired colonials because the British went on strike all the time so I got Canadian South Africans New Zealanders I got a cop from Fiji

— Al J Venter

PTSD is used far too often these days for simple things which is not people get laid off for PTSD which is rubbish PTSD is a very real affliction

— Al J Venter

they lasted four months because they ignored the basic rule your intelligence comes from the local people and they were not local people

— Al J Venter

Key takeaways

  1. A boarding-school reading habit, not military ambition, set the direction of Venter's life: he wanted to see the places he had read about in the war-at-sea volumes.
  2. His scoop in Nigeria came from travelling the country and talking to people in remote places — something he says British and American intelligence failed to do from their offices.
  3. Access, not bravado, defined his war reporting: the Portuguese, the Israelis, the Rhodesians and the Lebanese Christian forces all let him move with their units.
  4. He distinguishes genuine PTSD, which he experienced as nightly terror over eight or nine days, from the loose modern use of the term.
  5. Heavy foreign firepower fails against local insurgents who share the population's language, geography and religion, as Wagner found in northern Mozambique.
  6. Close protection can be counterproductive for a reporter: as the only man in civilian clothes among paratroopers, a heavy guard simply marks him out as valuable.

Show notes

In this episode of Watts Involved, we dive into the incredible life of a former Navy man turned writer and war correspondent. Our guest has done everything from predicting army mutinies in Nigeria to running a successful ferry service between Britain and France. We'll hear about his adventures travelling through Africa. He'll share his insights into the conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, including the recent unrest caused by insurgents in northern Mozambique. Join us as we explore this remarkable journey and the experiences that shaped this extraordinary man."

Frequently asked questions

How many books has he written, and who has he worked for?

Around 60. He was not employed by Jane's but worked with them on and off for 40 years, which fed the reporting trips into various wars across Africa, the Middle East and El Salvador.

What is his next book?

"Africa in the Line of Fire", which he was finishing at the time of the interview. He expects it to be published overseas rather than in South Africa, because it is somewhat critical.

Where can Takka Takka Bom Bom be bought?

It was out at the time of recording and available at good bookstores and online. Venter had flown from England to launch it at book outlets in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

How was he treated on the Central African Republic trip?

He worked with a NATO commando force who treated him, in his words, like a grand old man. When he asked to go into Bangui they sent an armoured infantry fighting vehicle and a bodyguard of 12 men — to take him for tea.

Does he like being called a war correspondent?

No. He says he does not like the term personally, describing himself as an ordinary man doing what he thinks he does best, and elsewhere calls himself the biggest coward who gets his head down when the shooting starts.

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