Timothy Bax

The only comments I have found on this book appear to have been written by people who were there - fellow ex-Rhodesian soldiers. I am not one of them. This book was commended to me by a friend who was in the BSAP (Rhodesian Police) thru most of the '70s and knew a number of the people who feature in the book, tho' not the author. Bill suggested it might allow some insight into 'cultural' differences between the white Rhodesians and South Africans, which I believe it does (at least late in the book). It is an enjoyable read. I had to suspend my usual intolerance of typos and some of the sorts of errors that can only have been caused by a spell-checker. I am sure I saw a reference to a "swab Englishman" and "violent crime in South Africa had reached academic proportions"! The author seems to make light of what must have been some horrific experiences in the course of Rhodesia's bush war. The theme of (too much) alcohol and jokes (often practical) recur thru the book. The 'sips of gin' referred to in the title are effectively a battlefield anaesthetic. Being unacquainted with life in Southern Africa, I had a few unanswered questions resulting from reading this book. A couple that arose were why did they (Selous Scouts and other Rhodesian security forces) appear to have such success in persuading captured terrorists to switch sides? And if as it appears that protocol on arriving at a new army base was for all of the officers to head down to the local sports and social club and join the local planters & farmers in an all-out booze-fest, why were these places not targeted by the terrorists? Why did Rhodesia conscript farmers into the army - madness surely? A local probably would not need to ask, and my ex-BSAP friend was able to provide plausible answers (and he reckoned conscripting farmers was madness). But I digress - it is a fascinating book and adds a little more to the voices of the white South(ern) African diaspora. It seems to me that white Southern Africans are rendered voiceless in the face of a smug 'we know what you got up to' sort of an attitude that they face when living in the countries they have dispersed to. Maybe that is unfair on people from other places, but it seems to me a lot of former Rhodesian and South African people face that sort of attitude here in New Zealand where the media is stuck in an arguably imagined past.
I can't help feeling that there is a much darker story lurking beneath this one.… (mehr)