Cheetah: The Rhodesian Light Infantry

by Chris Cocks (Editor)

The Cheetah is the regimental association magazine for the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI). It was last published in hard-copy format in 1980 at the disbandment of the RLI following the cessation of the bush war in the embryonic republic of Zimbabwe. Prior to this, the magazine, renowned for its witty and informed content, was a much sought-after and eagerly-awaited publication for civilians and servicemen alike, being sold commercially through the southern African book trade. (Today, original copies change hands for ridiculously high prices, being regarded as collectables.) With the revival of the RLI Regimental Association (RLIRA) in 2007, the magazine has been published on a quarterly basis since then, in electronic format, also being viewable on the RLIRA website www.therli.com. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the RLI on 1 February 1961, and 30 years after the disbandment of the regiment, the RLIRA has decided to bring out this hard-copy commemorative glossy edition that takes a nostalgic journey back in time, as well as highlighting the association’s efforts of today in keeping the regimental esprit de corps alive.

Chris Cocks was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia in 1957 and served three years and 28 days as a combat NCO with 3 Commando, the Rhodesian Light Infantry (the RLI, an airborne/airmobile unit), from 1976 to 1979. He was then offered a farming job in the country’s Lowveld; however, the army refused to countenance a waiver of call-ups, so he attested into the British South Africa Police and spent the remaining 14 months of the bush war as a PATU (Police Anti-Terrorist Unit) stick leader and avoiding the Military Police. He moved to Johannesburg in 1996 and stumbled into a publishing career, specializing in southern African military history. He has written four the bestselling One Man’s War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, its sequel Out of Action, a steamy novel Cyclone Blues, and co-wrote The Saints, the RLI’s history. He is the historian for The Rhodesian Light Infantry Regimental Association and edits its magazine, The Cheetah.

80 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

I was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (part of the Federation of Rhodesia & Nyasaland) in 1957. The Federation collapsed in 1963 and Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence (from the UK) in 1965. The country became Rhodesia and the "Bush War" started in 1966—the Chimurenga, or war of liberation, conducted by ZANU / ZANLA (Mugabe) and ZAPU / ZIPRA (Nkomo). I grew up in a land of sunshine clouded by growing war clouds, as colonialism was facing ts death throes.
In 1976 I was conscripted for my national service, and ended up serving 3 years in the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Then 18 months with PATU, the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit. A ceasefire was declared in December 1979 and came to power in the newly independent Zimbabwe in April 1980.
For the next 20 years I drifted, moving eventually to South Africa in 1996. I finally found my place in the world in 1999 when I stumbled into publishing. In 2015 I moved to the UK.