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About
the Author
The Bush War in Rhodesia is a soldier’s story told sim, humour and without heroics. It also gives a fascinating 1.
personality of the author, who relates his personal experience. to-earth, no bull style of storytelling. After 35 years the Rhodes
war has been largely f orgotten, but the author’s front-line accow. rekindle the memories and depict the bush war from a squaddie’s pu of view.
Dennis Croukamp was born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and lived an idyllic life in the bush. As a young boy he spent his free time fishing The Bush War in Rhodesia: The Extraordinary Combat Memoir of a Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist by Dennis Croukamp Copyright © 2006, 2007 by Dennis Croukamp
ISBN 13: 978-1-58160-614-0 Printed in the United States of America Published by Paladin Press, a division of Paladin Enterprises, Inc., Gunbarrel Tech Center 7077 Winchester Circle Boulder, Colorado 80301 USA +1.303.443.7250
Direct inquiries and/or orders to the above address. Originally published in Cape Town, South Africa, under the title Only My Friends Call Me “Croucks” PALADIN, PALADIN PRESS, and the “horse head” design
are trademarks belonging to Paladin Enterprises and registered in United States Patent and Trademark Office.
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the publisher. Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for the use or misuse of information contained in this book.
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and hunting and had shot school he was called up January 1965 enlisted in served in the Rhodesian eventually retire with the
his first buck at the age of seven. to do his national service and the Rhodesian Light Infantry as Army until 1980, rising through rank of Warrant Officer.
In his career as a soldier, Dennis
After leaving thereafter in a Private. He the ranks to
at first served in an Infantry
unit, but later served as a member of the elite Selous Scouts under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly. During the late 1960s the Rhodesian bush war started and ZANU and ZAPU guerrillas infiltrated into the country, As a member of the armed forces, Dennis was often involved in skirmishes with the guerrillas. In 1970, not only was he the most junior ranked but also the first person to be awarded the Rhodesian Bronze Cross for gallantry and determination in action after a fierce battle.
As a member of the famed Selous Scouts, Dennis became a reconnaissance specialist and carried out numerous reconnaissance missions into Mozambique. Whilst on one of his missions he became separated from his two companions and spent the following six days making his way back to Rhodesia, all the while being pursued by FRELIMO soldiers. During this epic escape and evasion saga, Dennis
had no communication with his base; he had no food or support and had to walk nearly 200 kilometres to get back to Rhodesia.
Dennis experienced guerrilla warfare from its inception in Rhodesia in 1967 until the cease-fire in 1979 and the eventual transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. He had an exciting and adventurous career, was wounded in combat, and saw action on all border areas of Rhodesia and also in Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana. Some senior officers have
told their experiences of the Rhodesian bush war, but this book gives the views and experiences of a man in the rank and file of the Rhodesian
Army. He pulls no punches in telling his story and the book reflects his
ability as a narrator.
TABLE OF CONTENTS VL isddsdddddddddcddddddddddddddddddddddddaddééd ix
FOREWORD
XV
PREFACE
Dedicated to the children of all Khodesians.
“Be as proud as we were.”
1
YEARS
CHAPTER
1: EARLY
CHAPTER 1964
2: INTRODUCTION
TO THE
ARMY
CHAPTER 3: ARMY INTRODUCTION CONTINUES CHAPTER
4:
3 COMMANDO
RHODESIAN
a9
CHAPTER
5: URBAN
CHAPTER
6: TRAINING
OPERATIONS
Ov
EXERCISES
CHAPTER 7: UDI, RURAL VILJOEN MURDERS
AND 51
8: MY FIRST PROMOTION,
CHAPTER
9: OPERATION CAULDRON CONTROL
11: OPERATIONS
45
OPERATIONS
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
19
LIGHT
INFANTRY
CHAPTER 10: BORDER OPERATIONS
9
1967
77 85
& MORE 10]
IN MOZAMBIQUE
131
CHAPTER 12: EXILED BARRACKS
TO LLEWELLIN
CHAPTER 13: SELOUS COURSE
SCOUTS SELECTION
157
167
CHAPTER 14: MATABELELAND AND LONG LEAVE
OPS
17"
187
CHAPTER 15: MY FIRST SCOUTS RECONNAISSANCE CHAPTER
16: ESCAPE
AND
EVASION
CHAPTER 17: ESCAPE (CONTINUED)
AND
EVASION
18: CROSS-BORDER
CHAPTER
19: BIG BANG
CHAPTER
80: LAST YEAR
CHAPTER
21: A BUG
CHAPTER
13°
ROO
OPERATIONS
IN LITTLE
RUSSIA
IN SCOUTS
CNOT AN INSECT)
297 O15 551 or?
OF INFANTRY 40]
23: GOOD NEWS ALL ROUND
421
CHAPTER 84: AN EXCITING LIFESTYLE DRAWS TO A CLOSE
443
REFERENCES
457
NAME
OP. GRAPPLE
275
CHAPTER
CHAPTER 22: SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR
ell
& BIBLIOGRAPHY
459
INDEX
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It’s not the critic who counts...The credit belongs to the man who actually is in the arena, who Strives violently, who errs and comes up short again and again.... Who if he wins, knows the triumph of high chievement, but who if he fails, fails while daring greatly.
Foreword
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_. Theodore Roosevelt.
Few professional soldiers, unless they are senior commanders, commit their lives to memoir. This in itself is fairly easy to understand if one stops to consider that the professional soldier is not concerned with memoirs based on grand strategy and historical accuracy. Professional soldiers live close to the coarse and often the
brutal detail of the battlefield, a far cry from the inner confines of map-covered walls and communication equipment. Many common soldiers’ lives and particularly those in Special Force
units seem more suited to fiction rather than fact. A soldier’s mind, PS pea
too, can quite easily become a “crowded” place. More may happen in
pos Re
a minute of his life, and at times with regular repetition, than would
SasiRetr Sate nen oN see ITED eh eae Sees Testa
CPEs S aN rsEe
Wethe P eStats TA Ree
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occur in an entire lifetime of the average person. There is little, if anything, that can be described as beauty in war, and if so, it is rare.
Only years of training and discipline separate the soldier from the chaos of the moment. Few soldiers would deny the fact that in time of war they become
a law unto themselves, dwelling, existing and surviving in a world unto itself. Within this mental framework are the tedious boredom, frustration and disorder that are the soldiers’ lot. He knows that his each and every action could result in his own death. Strange as it may seem, there are those who thrive on such a life. Not mere fleeting moments of it, but in its entirety: the parade ground and drill, garrison life, training exercises, parachuting, patrolling, ambushing, endless
duties,
boredom,
discipline,
noise,
silence,
and
above
all
adrenaline charged combat. This latter emotion, once experienced,
soon becomes an unquenchable thirst, the barometer against which all else is measured. Rhodesia’s war has been adequately covered by numerous books and writings. It ended in 1980 and to those who were not involved, or had no ties to this small landlocked country that was once the pride of Britain’s African colonies, past events are of lithe consequence or of interest now. Few modern travellers to Zimbabwe even know that it was once called Rhodesia, nor do they seem to care. One Special Forces soldier, who epitomises the word “professional,” s Wits.