Dit was oorlog: Van afkak tot bosbefok

by J.H. Thompson

In die 1970’s, 1980’s en vroeë 1990’s is honderde duisende jong mans vir militêre diensplig opgeroep. Die meeste het streng fisiese opleiding ondergaan en baie het aan die oorlog in noord-Namibië en Angola deelgeneem. Hierdie boek is ’n versameling besinnings oor en herinneringe uit daardie tyd, byeengebring deur JH Thompson wat onderhoude met voormalige nasionale dienspligtiges gevoer het.
Bydraers sluit in gewone soldate en Spesmaglede, sjefs, medics en helikoptervlieëniers. Hulle bied ’n verskeidenheid van standpunte oor inklaar, opleiding, inspeksie, lyfwegsteek, grenspatrollies, geheime operasies en oorlogvoering, en dan die heraanpassing by die lewe op civviestraat.
Die boek is ’n boeiende werk wat die gees en atmosfeer vasvang, die daaglikse roetine, die verveling, vrees, kameraderie en ander intense ervarings van ’n SAWsoldaat. Vir elkeen wat diensplig meegemaak het, sowel as hulle familie en vriende, is hierdie boek ’n moet.
JH Thompson is in Spanje en Suid-Afrika opgevoed en was ook ’n veldwagter en toer gids. Sy woon en skryf in Johannesburg. Sy werk as ’n vryskutjoernalis vir koerante, tydskrifte en webwerwe.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Africa, South Africa, Military Fiction, War

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2006

About the author

Author also writes as Jacqui Mansfield

Reviews

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having just attended a talk by Theresa Edlmann, Director of the Legacies of Apartheid Wars Project, on the long term effects of the various Apartheid wars on our national psyche and on the lives of conscripts, I re-read this book with new insight. I was more immersed in the often harrowing tales this time, and was personally affected, feeling as though I had experienced some of the incidents. It is interesting hearing the inside stories of the wars, particularly the war that didn't take place officially (Angola), but also very disturbing and sad. Such loss of life on both sides, so much error leading to deaths which shouldn't have been, so much social and psychological destruction.
Not a comfortable read but one which every South African should read to understand what happened and to help one understand the effect on the survivors.

[Yzelle Brockman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interresant. Dit gee mens bietjie agtergrond oor hoe dit was in die weermag. Nogal erg.

[Charles Withington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am glad I read this book as is offers some interesting, indeed some alarming insights into this war.

I would have rated 5 stars be felt that the author could have stretched the input a bit further as there were many cases of the same who kept popping up in different sections. It would have also added to the gravitas and interest had she found some military big wig lateral enough to write a forward.
So much for the input - as to the content, I comment as follows. Firstly, the bravery, resilience and camaraderie of the National Service men. A regular soldier makes a conscious choice to join the armed forces, probably 90 percent of those involved here did not make that choice, and yet on the whole, performed incredibly professionally. Secondly one cannot but marvel at the courage of the helicopter pilots in the challenging tasks and literally facing death at every lift off. Thirdly, one remains horrified at the conduct of politicians who could so deliberately allow the public and especially the families of the servicemen to be kept in the dark. These politicians were prepared to send conscripts into another country, without any form of identification, and in some cases without any options of air casualty evacuation, solely to live out their political dreams. Lastly, and worst of all, at the time of political changes, neither they nor the senior military staff, were prepared to stand up and acknowledge the psychological damage done to many servicemen and the obligation they had to them to help them re-adjust into society.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of servicemen's anecdotes from their time doing national service in the SADF. The period covers the South African border war which is practically unknown to most of those outside of Southern Africa.

It was really interesting for me and helped me understand some of my dad's experiences a bit more. I would've liked to hear some of the experiences of the Afrikaner guys though.

[Wendy Coen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably not everyone's "cup of tea". It was a walk down memory lane for me, evoking the voices of siblings and friends from the years following graduation from high school and again during my time in the Navy. A very, very difficult book to read once the scales have been lifted from one's view of the world.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the perspective of this book. I loved that it showed the border wars from so many different perspectives. Sometimes interesting, sometimes, sad, sometimes shocking, sometimes hilarious! Loved the glossary at the back too. Could not stop laughing as I went through all the slang and classic sayings that we all used to use.

[Zuzana Kubáň · Rating 1 out of 5]

First a little explanation. I read this book as part of my commitment to read all the books that I have somehow acquired ever since I moved to South Africa four years. In this way, I also got to this book.

Honestly, looking back, I shouldn’t have even read this book. This book gives snippets of stories of the various young white South Africa men and their time in the compulsory military service. The point of the book, as the author stated was to humanize the soldiers, because as the author said “even if the politics were abhorrent, the soldiers were not”. I have so many problems with this perspective (I could write a whole essay about it). However, instead, I’ll keep it short.

Throughout the book, you see these “white men” complaining about the food they ate in the army, the conditions they lived in, etc. But my question is, what about the millions of people who suffered and lived in horrible conditions their whole lives, not consoling about “bad food” because they often didn’t have any food in the first place, while these men were to live comfortably their lives, at the hands of the system that benefited them but suppressed all the others?

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Ewald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Akkurate vertellings uir die Grensoorlog. Wat my opgeval het, was die oorgrote meerderheid se gebrek aan haat...

[Thorsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it a bit one sided but that's a personal view.

[Simone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent insights

[Ilze · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are times when your choice of books surprises even yourself. Earlier this year a good friend of mine died - young, heart attack. It had nothing to do with the army, but he occasionally still volunteered for the army (in Lesotho, for example). He wrote poetry too and here the scars of his experience revealed themselves ... perhaps in some strange way I was hoping to find some or other trace of him in the pages of this book. I regret not having asked him more about it and wish I'd spent as much time reading his poetry while he was still alive.
Shortly before his sudden death I had ordered Diensplig . The book arrived when I heard of his passing.

To return to An Unpoopular War, it echoes what you read about in Diensplig: About how hard basic training was, about the shock of arriving in Namibia (then South West) and/or Angola to discover the heat and the nothingness of the place. About the pain of killing another human being and the fascination of discovering "the other" might as well "be you". About the number of accidents that caused the death or serious injury of one of their mates and it didn't happen during combat, but during training exercises.

By 1994 one soldier in particular sums it up on page 227: Chris writes, "Was that it? Was that all there was?" ... or Stof on page 222: "... then told us that South Africa as we knew it was going to change ... His speech was met with complete silence. I've never known such silence. PW had just resigned and FW had just been sworn in ... No one had an inkling that was gonna happen. I tell you, it was pretty weird." 'Weird' because the meaninglessness of the bullets fired and bombs dropped during the years prior to this moment had become completely meaningless. In the past you didn't want them in the country, now you were inviting them into the SADF and they were accusing you of apartheid. It was the moment your trigger-finger was suddenly not aiming outward, but pointing to you.

The result is that hundreds of men that had been driven to distraction to kill "the bad guys", now had to welcome them into their community with open arms. Many of these are still battling PTSD and then they had to discover what they had been fighting for for two torturous years (or more) was meaningless. To my mind the soldiers in the Ukraine and Russia, in Israel and any other country in conflict will some day also stumble on this hard truth.

[Wessel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, being in the military myself, I could relate to these guys. Some of it cracked me up some of it made me sick! Especially Rick I read one or two of his pages but the rest I skipped, if it wasn’t for Ricks pages I would have given it 5 stars

[Kean Pizani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just wasn't what I was looking for. The military had such a major impact in the history of SA too. Disappointing.

[Helene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about what my father and his family went through when he had to go to the army. He would never speak about it to me or anyone. I liked that so many different men were interviewed so the book was multifaceted. So many people don't even know that there was conscription or what it was like for these 'boys' to leave home while still teenagers and go and fight a war in a far away land. I laughed at some stories but many were sad or terrifyingly violent. It gave me a feel for what this war was like for the common foot soldier. It was a very human book and is a piece of historical significance. I enjoy reading history through the eyes of those who lived in it not above it. This book does that.