Nub News gets UP CLOSE with former anti-apartheid activist, Steve Marsling who is looking to raise a red flag among the sea of blue in Felixstowe and whose story as a London Recruit set to be told in a feature film.

On the face of it a political activist enjoying retirement living on the Suffolk Coast is nothing particularly out of the ordinary. However, Steve Marsling, a former postal worker, teacher, local government officer and art dealer has an extraordinary story, which is about to hit the big screen.

Steve, now aged 69, is chair of the recently formed, East Suffolk Communist Party with a growing number of members from Felixstowe, and knows a thing or two about getting a message across.

50 years ago Steve went out on a clandestine mission to South Africa on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC), narrowly escaping hefty jail sentence, having his arm blown off and ultimately playing a crucial part in helping end apartheid.

A strong union man, even as an 18-year-old with the Postal Workers Union, a post cricket match beer led him into joining the Young Communist League and it was his enthusiasm, intelligence and staunch anti-racism stance (somewhat unusual for a Millwall supporter from the Elephant and Castle) brought him to the attention of the ANC.

Steve explained to Nub News how he became part of history as a member of a secretive and select group called the 'London Recruits'.

"The ANC was decimated by apartheid forces, they had captured Nelson Mandela," said Steve. "They had captured all of the ANC executives, some escaped to London or Zambia but most were killed or imprisoned on Robben Island."

Two of those who had made it to London was Oliver Tambo and Ronnie Kasrils, an exiled freedom fighter.

Steve said: "The whole infrastructure against apartheid was damaged. They could not even hand out leaflets, people thought the ANC was no more so the only way they could tell people they were still around was to fly in white people with leaflet bombs."

Although known as bombs, the projectiles were more like the sort of devise used nowadays to fire T-shirts or other merchandise, into crowds

Steve added: "The South African state were saying they were going to rule for 1,000 like the Third Reich rhetoric.

"To disprove that, boost morale and show the ANC was still alive and well, they came up with the idea of whites going out there because whites could walk around freely and did not need a pass card.

"The workers would grab the leaflets then take the back to the townships and show people that the ANC was still alive.

"Unbeknown to us, similar events were going on in other cities like Durban and Johannesburg. It coincided with the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre so it was front page news."

That was not to be the end of the story for Steve and Sean.

"When we got back to London I was told there could be other missions and I volunteered," said Steve, who was then accepted on a teacher training course and was living in Reading.

"I got a call asking if I could go out to SA easy job, hand over false passes and money. I said yes but realised my first teaching practise would be at that time and there was no way I could explain why I would be away in the middle of it.

"I spoke with Sean who who said he had leave coming so he would go in my place to Durban in the sunshine and have a holiday. He did then got sunburnt.

"When he went to the rendezvous to hand over the money and the passes, he was arrested. It was a trap. The authorities had broken the code.

"They tortured him, including rubbing his sunburn, he spent eight months in solitary confinement and he was given five years with no remission.

"Meanwhile, I cleaned out his flat on the Holloway Road as we knew the state bureau would come looking for evidence by pretending to be Seans friend and wanting to stay a few days."

An agent did turn up and it was also clear Neve had been compromised and was covertly followed and had his phone tapped, so plans to go back to South Africa and work undercover were scrapped.

Meanwhile the struggle continued with help from young Britons. ANC set up a safari company as a cover using a certain jeep, which is now in a museum. Merchants Navy seaman sailing to South Africa smuggled things things for the ANC until Mandela was released and became president in 1994, thus ending apartheid.

It was not long before the London Recruits' story became known and Ken Keable's London Recruits - The Secret War Against Apartheid, was published five years ago, and was picked up by a film company.

Steve said: "When South Africa was liberated and became democracy one of our people called Ken Keable said he wanted to write a book to tell the stories and it all came together."

The London Recruits will be attending a preview of the film in mid-December, which will then gets it final polish, before being released by the end of February or early March.

"I am proud to have played that part in history. Probably be even prouder when the film comes out," said Steve. "The actor playing me is very handsome, he is doing me justice.

"There are many stories, like the time I nearly injured an arm priming the bomb. The parking timer was dodgy the I set it for 15 minutes but it started to go off. I rather stupidly put my finger in there and got my fingernail between the timer and the fuse and managed to twist it back. Sean was as white as a sheet

"There are loads of stories like that in film, like when the maid came in while another couple were putting together a leaflet bomb."

Steve is now using his experiences as attacher and freedom fighter to educate young people about the anti-apartheid area and the struggle for black Africans to become equal.

He has written a teaching pack with the National Education Union (NEU) approval called The Struggle Against Apartheid which is a workshop for teachers and pupils. A grant has been applied for and if successful, the packs will be in all secondary schools next year.

Steve said: "The NEU is pushing it because as the Black Live Matter movement comes along looking at black history and they way apartheid was.