This is a book that everyone who did who was in the SADF needs to read. The author is Gustav (Prof) Venter and can be contacted on gustavventer@gmail or 078 967 7634. Get your copy now, you won’t regret it. Below is a review of the book by Peter Chapman Having ordered a copy of this latest book last year when it was first published, your reviewer had to wait until he could collect the book on his travels through South Africa in 2014, before actually reading it, and what an entertaining read it is! The autobiography / biography details the author’s experiences as well as those of some fellow recruits’, during their basic training at 1st South African Infantry Battalion in Bloemfontein, beginning from January 1983, and concluding with the end of their basic training and departure for home on their first leave. When first confronted with the sheer size of the book, over 300 pages, the ex-SADF veteran can be forgiven for perhaps a little initial scepticism that there could possibly be anything that detailed to write about when discussing one’s experiences in the former South African Defence Force, especially during such a narrow and focused time period – just three months. However, if you ever at some point experienced this same ritual humiliation in the SADF, even if at bases and in Corps other than the infantry, then the author’s account of his own and his wider group of rower comrades during their basic training will have you chuckling in great mirth, or reflecting in more sombre mood on the injustices visited upon the conscripts of the time, especially whilst being turned into soldiers. Blessed with a wonderfully descriptive turn of phrase, the author waxes effortlessly and entertainingly from one subject to another, bringing to life his comrades’ and his own experiences, sensations or sheer gut feelings in side-splitting detail, all of which were shared by those who completed National Service in the SADF. Not shy to reveal his happiest and darkest moments, his reflections on the experience as a whole rang very true for me personally, and I found that I too could point to a moment where I was on the point of cracking, I too could share in the simple pleasures of a furtive cigarette between opfoks or the childlike joy at ultimately making it through, and being able to wear your browns and your beret with pride. What is all the more remarkable is that the author had no right to be there, being medically unfit for service, yet determined to complete his basics and qualify as an infantryman, an aim he achieved with some aplomb it must be added. The book, although written in English, is also written in the language of the time, with Afrikaans terms and phrases, not to mention insults, very much to the fore when describing the interaction between rowers and their instructors. In one way this is a pity, as it removes the ability of anyone other than a native South African who can converse in both Afrikaans and English to get the most out of the book. For those of us who have been the victims of a Corporal’s invective however, often for the most flimsy of pretexts, it is a very funny view into the past, when we were turned from hapless hopefuls into neat soldiers and comrades, still sharing that experience and the way it changed most of us, imperceptibly yet permanently. I understand that the author hopes to write further on the adventures, both good and bad, of himself and his fellow recruits, who ultimately formed a Platoon of Ratel drivers under the dreaded Corporal Pierre Digue If the latter are anything like this first book about Digue’s Platoon, then I say bring it on, and the sooner the better! This book will resonate with any and all who served in the South African Army during the Border War years, and in my humble opinion, is perhaps the most funny and descriptive account of basic training in that Force that I have had the enjoyment of reading. Wonderful! Very highly recommended. Peter Chapman
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 08:03:56 +0000
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