Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry by Chris Cocks
Highly Collectible.
Fireforce: One Man's War in the Rhodesian Light Infantry by Chris Cocks.
Very Good. Slight tanning of pages. Minimal wear to wraps.
Softcover, ISBN 9780958489096
Publisher: 30 Degrees South Publishers: Third impression, fourth edition 2011
Fireforce is the compelling, brutal but true account of Chris Cocks service in 3 Commando, The Rhodesian Light Infantry, during Zimbabwes bitter civil war of the 70 SA war that came to be known almost innocuously as the bush war.
255pp. Illustrated.
Internally clean and in good condition with mild age-associated edge wear.
"Fireforce is the compelling, brutal but true account of Chris Cocks' service in 3-Commando, Rhodesian Light Infantry, during the bush war.
Serving in 3-Comando's elite ranks, other than born Rhodesians, were British, South Africans, Americans, Australians, New Zealanders and a host of other nationalities.
It was the closest parallel to the French Foreign Legion in recent times.
Chris Cocks joined the RLI as a National Serviceman in 1976 for 12 months at the age of 18, then signed on as a regular for three years. He soon became a lance corporal and stick leader. His upbringing had been a sheltered one and he knew little of life - but he was due for a radical change.
The combat strain on a fighting soldier was almost unbelievable, and the Rhodesians, who were desperately short of ground troops to deal with guerrilla incursions, sometimes parachuted the same men into as many as three contacts in a day.
Fireforce is not for the squeamish, although it has been written with an unforgettable pathos and humour. It tells of face to face combat in the bush and death at point blank range. It is a book which does nothing to glamourise or glorify war. For as Chris Cocks found at such a young age, war is merely a catalogue of destruction, suffering, and death.
Fireforce will be to the Rhodesian War what All's Quiet On The Western Front was to World War-1, except this is not a novel, its true.
Read it - it will be an experience you'll never forget."
