BOOK REVIEW Peter Chapman POINT OF THE DAGGER MEMOIRS OF SOUTH AFRICAN TOP SCOUTS AND SPECIAL FORCES SMALL TEAM RECCE OPERATIONS By Peet Coetzee © Peet Coetzee 2013 Softcover - ISBN: 978-0-620-55529-6 Published by: Peet Coetzee P.O. Box 2294 Noorsekloof 6331 South Africa The third of Peet Coetzee’s books on the former SADF that this reviewer has read, Point of the Dagger is a retelling of the personal stories of some of South Africa’s top Reconnaissance operators (Recces) and especially those who instituted and carried out some of the first small teams operations during the Rhodesian and Border Wars. As the subtitle suggests however, there is also a brief look at some of the pioneer scouts in South Africa’s past wars, mainly from the Anglo-Boer conflicts or the First World War in Africa. Beginning with his personal Foreword, in which the author makes it plain that his latest work is drawn from a number of other sources, especially those of former Recces Andre ‘Diedies” Diedericks and Jack Greeff, he has nonetheless written an interesting general account of the operations carried out not only by these man, but some of their formidable predecessors like Oliver John ‘Jack’ Hindon, a Scottish-born Boer who fought the British so successfully that he was to be posthumously paid one of the highest compliments by having a medal named after him by the post-1948 National government, and Boer elites like Jacobus de la Rey and Danie Theron, to name but two others. This first Chapter takes up 46 pages. The book then shifts from Chapter 2 onwards, concentrating on modern wars in Rhodesia and South West Africa, Angola and Mozambique. The first operator covered is Major Chris Schulenburg GCV, SCR of the Rhodesian SAS and Selous Scouts, who is perhaps the father of the small teams concept, at least as far as operating alone behind enemy lines was concerned. Although I found this interesting as it was all new information to me, I found that I was left wanting more, and Schulenburg’s story could have perhaps been expanded upon from other sources. The bigger part of the chapter is taken up with the background story of the late Captain Andre Diedericks HCS, HC, SM, MMM, and as can be expected it is more comprehensive as the author has had Diederick’s own memoir to draw on for information. Chapters 3 through 5 are reasonably detailed accounts of three external operations that Diedericks was involved in, Operations Interrupt, Barrage and Catamaran 2, with the author again relying heavily on his own involvement in these as photo interpreter at the time and Diederick’s own autobiography, but all are interesting and readable accounts of these successful missions. Chapter 6 recounts the background story of Staff Sergeant (later Major) Jack Greeff HC, PMM, MMM, with the subsequent three Chapters describing his and others’ role in Operations Amazon, Kerslig and Katiso. Information contained in Greeff’s own autobiography A Greater Share of Honour, has been heavily drawn on once more, but the author has also thoughtfully added what he could of his own small part in these operations, giving a better understanding of the role played by the back-room boys on many an op. One of the real pluses of this and other books by this author are the profusion of good maps, diagrams and photographs used to illustrate the account, all invaluable in making the story easy for the unenlightened reader to understand. There is also a handy glossary of terms, again indispensable to anyone not familiar with the SADF and the Border War. My past criticism is again relevant to this book; the author’s translation of his work into English suffers in parts, and can confuse at times instead of flow. Other than that though, this is again an interesting and good overall look at the small teams Recces and their roles in the war, with some fascinating stories of earlier pioneers thrown in. If you cannot afford copies of Andre Diedericks’ or Jack Greeff’s autobiographies, then you can always read about them and their outstanding exploits here. Recommended. Peter Stephen Chapman
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 12:26:12 +0000
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