André Wessels joined the staff of the Department of History at the University of the Free State (UFS) as a Lecturer in 1988, and retired as a Senior Professor in 2021; but he continues his association with his Department and the UFS as a Research Fellow. His main research focus is the military history of twentieth-century South Africa, with special emphasis on the history of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902, and the history of the South African National Defence Force and its predecessors. He is the author, co-author or editor of eleven books, and has also published some 150 articles in peer-reviewed accredited academic journals, many articles of a more popular nature, some 150 book reviews, and about twenty chapters in books. His latest book publication is 'A century of South African Naval history: The South African Navy and its predecessors 1922-2022' (Naledi, 2022).