This work covers all aspects of the Border War in which the South African gunners took part, from 1975 when a young lieutenant was seconded to train UNITA troops in Angola on US 4.2-inch mortars - through Operation Savannah, the first operation, to the last rounds fired in June 1988 against the Cuban 80th Division. During this period, the artillery grew from an under-strength troop of 17 men and two medium guns to an artillery brigade supporting a mechanized division. It is a story of heroism, of fear, of well-planned, successful operations and of losses to own forces by ill-timed and inaccurate fire. It tells the story of the 8,500 South African gunners who took part in operations during that time. Personal accounts merge with historical fact organized in chronological order, highlighting the shortage of equipment and the efforts to combat a wellequipped, numerically superior enemy through innovation, application of the principles of war and sheer pluck.