Commando - Shoot To Kill: Rhodesian Bush War Operator

by Peter Rische

Ranged against two powerful communist terrorist armies, the small, under-equipped army of Rhodesia defied all military convention by not only resisting the onslaught, but taking the fight to the very heart of the ZIPRA and ZANLA terrorist machines. The efforts of the Rhodesian army and air force shocked the world; how could such a small force of men repel the hordes of Russian and Chinese backed communist terrorists who threatened to overwhelm them? At the very heart of the Rhodesian war effort lay the RLI. The Rhodesian light infantry Commandos were second to none. Brave, tough, resourceful, stubborn and highly trained, the exploits of the RLI soon became legend, not only in Africa but the world over. Where ever the war situation was at its most dangerous, you would almost certainly find ‘The Incredibles’ at the epicentre of the action.



“Stu was taking first stag and he woke Richard and me when he heard it. The voices were coming from the bush north of our location. We were unable to accurately determine distance, but estimated they were about fifty metres away. Often FRELIMO and ZANLA had little regard for noise discipline, even in circumstances such as this. So, the enemy was out here searching for us? The voices came closer then suddenly sheared off into the distance. Shortly afterwards there was more noise. Orders being issued and the clanking of unsecured kit drifted through the bush from several tens of metres away. We still couldn’t see anything but it was obvious we had been overtaken and possibly encircled. In response to a question from Stu, I whispered that I didn’t think the enemy knew our location. They were being far too indifferent. Had they known they would have approached cautiously, making as little noise as possible. No, they were looking for us alright, but didn’t know where we were.

We were on the alert now. We had about twelve hours of daylight left before we could move, plenty of time for Freddie to find us….”



‘Commando – Shoot To Kill’ is a thrilling account of service with the elite Rhodesian Light Infantry during the final year of the Bush War. Peter Rische describes heart stopping behind the lines reconnaissance missions and the realities of brutal close quarters combat as he leads the reader into the heart of the bitterest conflict in sub Saharan African history.

Genres: Nonfiction

113 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 7, 2018

Reviews

[Jack Dawes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's final words are the lesson learned by all those who paid the price fighting communist brutes in Rhodesia:

Don’t ever be complacent about your freedoms. They have been bought and paid for with someone’s blood. While it is now not usual for political change to occur through war or armed insurrection, it is quite easy for those who do not have your best interests at heart to affect change by socioeconomic means. We should all exercise caution in today’s complex and ever-changing world lest we fall victim to oppression by guile….

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Commando: Shoot to Kill by Peter Rische left me with mixed feelings. It is presented as military fiction, yet it is written very much like a first-person memoir, which creates an odd tension throughout the book. The tactical descriptions of the Rhodesian Bush War are generally convincing and often align well with techniques described in other accounts I have read. At the same time, some of the terminology and phrasing feels out of place, and the relatively limited use of distinctly Rhodesian military language made me question just how closely the author understood the culture he was portraying.

I also had trouble with several of the operations. The opening engagement, in particular, felt strongly reminiscent of Operation Dingo, only reduced in scale, while later operations in Zambia seemed to parallel episodes I remembered from other Rhodesian accounts. There is nothing wrong with military fiction drawing inspiration from history, but when recognizable real operations become apparent templates, it begins to blur the distinction between historical fiction and simply repackaging historical events. Unless an author is deliberately writing alternate history or placing fictional characters within known events, I would prefer the fiction to stand more firmly on its own.

Unfortunately, the greatest weakness of the book is its editing. The prose contains frequent problems with verb tense, grammar, and sentence construction that repeatedly pulled me out of otherwise enjoyable action sequences. There are some good military stories here, and at times the book captures the aggressive small-unit nature of the Rhodesian conflict quite well. Ultimately, though, I can only rate it as an okay military-fiction read. Between the poor editing, questions about authenticity, and the apparent reliance on recognizable historical operations, I simply cannot recommend it as a particularly good example of Rhodesian Bush War military fiction.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short book, mainly focusing on combat in the bush and the end of Rhodesia with the Mugabe regime and the betrayal of the Rhodesian people.

[lyle swann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting

A great source of anecdotes describing the tactical wherewithal of the best of the best of the 20th century. Not preachy or full of political messages; just what happened. Some typos but all of these types of memories have typos (I’m extremely sensitive to finding them though)

[george ingols · Rating 5 out of 5]

History from a soldier's eyes

Refreshingly honest account of the life and times of very brave men fighting for their homeland while the rest of the world abandoned them. The book is well written and editted, easy to read and hard to put down. Very enjoyable, highly recommended.

[ikn0wn0thing · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an interesting book in the sense that is written by an individual who was essentially an infantryman in the late Rhodesian military.
It for sure gives a glimpse into the conflict a seen from the viewpoint of a 17-year-old white male who was not particularly interested in college education and chose to be an infantryman on the side of a white minority politicians that were clinging to power and refusing to relinquish control to the black majority of the population in the region.
To be fair, none of this messy complexity of the conflict is explored in the book except for the author frequently painting the other side as clear despicable villains.
Reader beware to treat this as very narrow view of the conflict by an individual who’s family benefited from white colonialism in Africa and all the cultural and biased views that goes along with that.
For anyone interested, feel free to view a more balanced view of the conflict summarized by Perplexity with relevant sources: https://www.perplexity.ai/search/3561...
What makes this dip into a subpar territory is the poor editing and writing in general. Paragraphs frequently end in ellipses for no apparent reason….
There are exclamation points for mundane sentences! Sometimes back to back!
Then there spelling issues (I’m not talking about the UK spelling of words, no offence), conjugation problems, poor punctuation, and generally mediocre sentence structure.
There is no debate that the conflict took place but this writing is so poor I’m not sure if Amazon has this categorized as “War Fiction” because of the unreliable account or because the author simply made it all up. If you’re reading the book and find it to be absolutely unenjoyable, don’t let it’s short length keep you from DNF’ing it.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

-4.5- This was a fantastic biography of a Rhodesian Light Infantry soldier during the last stages of the Bush War. My only complaint, and it is a rather mild one for me is god damn man get a proofreader! At times I felt like I needed an enigma machine to decipher the misspellings and bad grammar. This book drops the reader right in the heart of the combat with the author on recce (reconnaissance missions) to root out terrorists within and outside Rhodesia. One fantastic element is the author unapologetically kills the shit out of terrorists throughout the book and his only reflection is every damn one of them deserved a bullet. I ever run into you at a bistro in the South of France (where the author resides) I will be buying you a frosty beverage. This book was a quick read and I highly recommend it.

[Joseph Freedom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Risch tells the Rhodesian Light Infantry’s version of events leading to the eventual fall of Rhodesia and sullied rise of Zimbabwe. It writes back in the violence and hubris of the Robert Mugabe’s ZANLA and Joshua Nkomo’s ZIPRA terrorism in the colony.

It is a great accompaniment to “A Handful of Hard Men” by Hannes Wessels and “Bush War Operator” by A.J. Balaam, and details the “conventional infantry” role in the Bush War.

Risch’s work is a case study in irregular warfare and counterterrorism; and what a undermanned and under-resourced military force can do when backed against a wall. Great read!

[Corbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The combat scenes in the book was interesting. It puts you on edge and helps you see how scary fighting in the bush must have been, especially in the beginning. At the same time, there is little character development and the combat gets repetitive because you don’t really have enough information or time to get attached to any of the characters. Everyone is just a random soldier, and it makes them all feel kind of robotic. Overall, not a bad listen in the car to pass time

[Mattster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sad tale

The story of a war against communism and the free world refusing to join the fight that a small nation fought. As a result the story is of intestinal fortitude and tactical genius to develop TTPs with what they had.

[Steven A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book from a brave man.

This book had me saying to myself "Oh crap, now he's in trouble!" Great descriptions of combat situations. Brave Rhodesian who fought to the end.

[Doug Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Excellent book about the struggle in Rhodesia and the men that fought for her.
Worth your time if you're interested in the history of Rhodesia

[David Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tale of a Rhodesian Patriot

Good story from a man who was involved in the war and ultimately betrayed by politicians. As always the feckless support commie scum.

[Joester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Communist took over and 10000 of thousands died from disease poverty and hyper inflation but the liberals are happy with the some BS. fjb

[James Higham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bush battles

A great read.
An honest no nonsense tale of one man’s Rhodesian bush war experience.
No punches pulled easy read

[Steve H · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is Fiction.
He has obviously read a few non-fiction books on the Rhodesian war and some of the narrative is correct.
However, a lot of the equipment, weapons, terms and operations that are mentioned in the book are incorrect from the RLI (his characters corps) perspective, either caried out by other units or confused with what he has read in books on Vietnam.
As for the opening battle scene which seems to be based on operation Dingo, he has little idea of the operation especially the length of the operation.
Reasonable book for entertainment but would have liked to have seen a bit more accuracy in the story line.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

great history

a wonderful telling of brave action in a time that’s been largely forgotten or never known. we need to read these kind of books to remember what complacency breeds

[Ken Tuckey · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh when the Saints……

Great read about far distant times but brings memories flooding back.

How many people today have experienced the same thing?

Well done, stay well in peace.