One Commando: Rhodesian Light Infantry

by Dick Gledhill

A novel, based on actual events, about One The Rhodesian Light Infantry. "In the distance Ray could see columns of dust and black smoke where the Canberras' bombs had hit the camp. G-cars were deploying Stops and he could clearly hear the whoosh and boom of the rockets released by the Lynxs as they began their initial sortie and pounded their targets. K-cars prowled the camp like hungry cats. Ray looked down to see terrorists running only meters below him before he hit the ground and rolled in the dust."

218 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

-4.35- A very good entry in the Rhodesian Bush War pantheon. Writing in novel form the author Dick Gledhill does an excellent job covering the sheer brutality that occurred during the later stages of the Bush War from 1975 until its conclusion in 1980. Beginning with the savage Mau Mau rebellion during the 1950’s in which the lead character watched his mother raped and murdered brutally (is there any other kind?) by scumbag black rebels (see previous brackets). The book’s protagonist Ray Hunter later joins the Rhodesian Light Infantry also known as “The Killing Machine” for a 100-1 terrorist kill ratio during the war. Absolute bad asses. As Hunter goes on increasingly dangerous missions he forges a bond with a black insurgent to try and blunt the chance of that utter piece of verminous shit Robert Mugabe coming to power and destroying Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Unfortunately spoiler alert they do not succeed. While not perfect this is a powerful read and recommended as further confirmation handing Rhodesia over to Commie Black rule was an unmitigated disaster. 10 trillion dollar bill anyone?

[Naresh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked it up only because I wanted to read something from that time. Since Wilbur Smith has decided to go off on a tangent with crappy books, I've no other source.

It was an ok book. Reads like someone's diary, not professional, but that's to be expected - the author was a career soldier in the Rhodesian Light Infantry and wanted to have his story heard. From that perspective, it wasn't bad at all.

[Rick Brindle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story, but told rather as a documentary than a novel. It deals with the last days of Rhodesia as a nation as told from a white soldier's point of view. It is told in a very biographical way, and the fictional part seems to have been added on. I think it would have been better if written as a factual memoir, similar to Fireforce.