Fireforce : One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry

Cocks, Chris

ISBN 10: 158160615X / ISBN 13: 9781581606157

Edité par Paladin Press, 2007

A propos de cet article

Covers & Spine: front and back showing only light scuffing & signs of handling otherwise undamaged, minimal wear along edges and at corners, spine is intact and solid. Binding: firm throughout. Pages & Markings: unstained, no markings, clean throughout. All items are protectively packaged, and a postal tracking number will be sent to all customers whose current email address is registered with AbeBooks.

N° de réf. du vendeur 007420

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Fireforce : One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry
• Éditeur: Paladin Press
• Date de parution: 2007
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 158160615X
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781581606157
• Reliure: Soft cover
• État de l'article: Fine
• Poids: 612 grammes
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Biography & Memoirs
  • Military & War

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Fireforce is the compelling, brutal account of Chris Cocks' service in 3 Commando, the Rhodesian Light Infantry, during Zimbabwe's bitter civil war of the 1970s – a conflict that came to be known simply as "the bush war". The book's title refers to a tactic of total airborne envelopment developed and perfected by the RLI, together with the Selous Scouts and the Rhodesian Air Force, that became the principal strike weapon of the beleaguered Rhodesian forces in their struggle against the overwhelming tide of the Communist-trained and -equipped ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas. The combat strain on a Rhodesian fighting soldier was almost unbelievable. Always desperately short of ground troops, officers were sometimes obliged to parachute the same men into action into as many as three enemy contacts a day. While estimates of enemy casualties vary, there seems little doubt that the RLI accounted for at least 12,000 ZANLA and ZIPRA guerrillas - but not without cost. This book is not for the squeamish. It blends the intrinsic pathos and humour peculiar to war with face-to-face combat in the bush and death at point-blank range. A frank and moving factual account, the book takes the reader through three years of life in the RLI, with all its ferocity, pride, fear and survival recounted in a vivid, humble narrative. Now, here is your chance to read what several critics have called the best book on the Rhodesian War ever written.

À propos de l'auteur

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 books: the bestselling Fireforce: 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.