# FIREFORCE, ONE MAN’S WAR IN THE RHODESIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (Book Review)



## Danjanou (27 May 2003)

In 1964, the former British African colony of Rhodesia defied their colonial masters and made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. For the next 16 years the small landlocked nation defied almost the entire rest of the world until a flawed political resolution was achieved in 1980 and the country of Zimbabwe was created. 

For most of that time Rhodesia was at war. Two major guerilla armies ZANU and ZAPU based in neighbouring nations and with the full financial and material support of the former Soviet Union and its allies waged a bitter struggle against the embattled and illegal government. By the 1970‘s this was had reached such an intensity that almost all the citizens of the country were affected in one way or another. 

In 1976, 18 year old Chris Cocks reluctantly reported to the Rhodesian Army for his mandatory one years military service. Cocks was from an upper middle class white family that were opposed to the present government, their policies, and therefore the war itself. Cocks himself was, as many teenagers are, indifferent to the politics of the world around him. 

He only wanted to get his military service over with as quickly as possible and move on to university in England. He even considered illegally leaving the country to avoid military service and even made the necessary preparations to do so. In the end though like many others he reported to do his national service. 

Cocks was assigned to the Rhodesian Light Infantry Regiment (RLI), one of the elite anti terrorist units of the security forces. His initial one years obligatory service was extended to 18 months due to an increase in the tempo of the war and resulting manpower shortages. At the end of 18 months he surprised himself by enlisting as a regular soldier for a three year term. He was discharged in 1979, the initial 18 months counting towards his enlistment, after turning down an offered promotion and refusing to sign on again. 

Fireforce is Cocks’ first person account of his service in the RLI during those three years. He wrote it by his own admission as a sort of therapy to help him adjust to life after the conflict and deal with what he experienced in it. 

Cocks is not a trained or experienced writer and this shows in his narrative. However his raw unabashed personal glimpse into his experiences including his own shortcomings make this a powerful read. This brutal honesty is perhaps most evident in the series of letters to his fiancee and later wife that make up the bilk of the latter sections of the book. 

With him, we are taken through recruit and commando training with what at the time was one of the best armies in existence. Later he is posted to Number Three Commando where he spends most of his military service and first sees action. Cocks’ attends various courses throughout his service; paratrooper, medic, and jump master. He even serves a one month period in military prison for an “AD” (accidental discharge) of his pistol. In three years he goes from naive and perhaps idealistic recruit to bitter cynical combat veteran. 

Along the was there is the boredom of garrison life, the joys of infrequent and short periods of leave, and most of all the sharp intensity of combat. By the time Cocks’ joins the RLI, the war has intensified to such a point that his unit, often finds itself in up to three separate contacts or firefights a day. That is on three times they will either parachute or insert by helicopter to engage a group of guerilla troops in a short but intense and often bloody skirmish. 

The war in Rhodesian was a unique one. The conflict was defiantly a low tech one. There were few modern weapon systems, and expensive equipment on either side. Despite this or perhaps because of it, the fighting was brutal with atrocities committed by all parties. 

The two guerilla armies ZAPU and ZANU based in Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique enjoyed an almost unlimited supply of equipment from their backers. They even had a steady source of recruits, from the various villages in the country, often including kidnapped children who were taken across the borders for indoctrination and training. 

The Rhodesian military by contrast were always shorthanded. There were serious manpower shortages as the almost the entire White population was mobilized towards the end of the war, with reservist called up every six weeks for six weeks service. Surprisingly this group while governing the country and constituting less than ten percent of the population were not the only ones in the Rhodesian military. By the late 1970s almost 80% of the Rhodesian Security Forces (Army, Police etc.) were Black or African or persons of what was referred to as mixed race. 

The military was also chronically short of equipment. A world wide embargo on all trade had been brought in by the United Nations and this naturally include weapons and other materials need to fight a war. There were of course sieves in this, and some nations like neighbouring South Africa flaunted it, if discretely. However it is rather hard to smuggle material in and out of a land locked country surrounded on three borders by belligerents. 

The Rhodesian Army became masters at improvisation and developed techniques suited to the particular war, and the inherent shortages of equipment such as modern helicopters. For most of Cocks military service, he and the RLI were on Fireforce duty. This consisted of small air portable units of company (100 men) strength at strategic points around the country. At a moments notice units of between 4 and 16 men could be inserted by parachute or helicopter to counter guerilla incursions or actions. Sometimes as noted this happened several times a day for the same unit. 

Later in the war the Rhodesian Army launched punitive cross border raids into Zambia and Mozambique to destroy ZANU and ZAPU training camps and to steal needed supplies from their enemies. Some of the techniques and tactics developed by both sides are well documented here. 

Soldiers and former soldiers will recognise many elements of Cocks story. There is the intensity of recruit training and the mindless, to the frontline soldier, bureaucracy of base camp mentality with their various BS rules and regulations. 

Punctuating this is the combat. It is both intense and short. It seems that as soon as a contact is brutally initiated it is over and those involve have to quickly prepare for the next one. 

The toll this takes on the soldiers is evident. Cocks spends a lot of time discussing their off duty antics. For the most part these seem to consist of getting drunk and wild partying, usually involving property damage. Its obvious that it is a form of stress relief and while self destructive and excessive he makes no apologies for it. 

We are introduced to his fellow soldiers. The ones he joins up with and trains with. The various characters in 3 Cdo RLI, and elsewhere in the army. We party hard with them, and later jump into firefights with them. Many, too many it seems, become casualties. One sees the effects that losing so many friends and comrades has on the young Cocks. 

Three Commando Rhodesian Light Infantry, was a unique formation, not only in its tactics but in its makeup. There were many members like the author who were born in Rhodesia either serving their obligatory national service, or career professional soldiers. Many though, as was the case in other units of the army were foreign nationals. 

These are the so called mercenaries as the press of the time labelled them. If they were mercenaries as Cocks points out then they were the worst paid in history. All were paid the same as Rhodesian born nationals dependant on rank etc. They were paid in a currency that was essentially useless outside of the country, even if they could ship some of their earnings out, which by law they were prohibited from doing with the bulk of their salary. They all also paid income tax to the local government too. 

Some fought because they considered it a fight against communism , others for a variety of personal reasons. There were South Africans who believed that they were indirectly defending their homeland. Refugees form the former Portuguese colonies who had lost everything and fought for revenge. There were also many Americans, most of them Vietnam veterans. 

Others in the ranks included British Australians, Canadians and others, some professional soldiers who desired to test their skills and abhorred peacetime soldiering. Others were just adventure seekers including a few without any prior military service. Their numbers fluctuated, and at one time Cocks notes he was the only native born Rhodesian in his troop of 16 men. 

Cocks also talks about the others involved in the war, including some of the guerillas they encountered. He also mentions many of the innocents and non combatants who suffered because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Cocks left the army in 1979. Less than a year later the country he fought for ceased to exist. After years of fighting and behind the scenes political negotiations a cease fire and political resolution was achieved. Rhodesia ceased to exist and Zimbabwe was born. 

The first attempts at a brokered peace and a moderate transitional multiracial government were rejected by ZAPU and ZANU. Later in a farce of an election supposedly monitored by the UN and Commonwealth Robert Mugabe came to power. 

Almost a quarter of a century later he’s still in power, maintained by brutal oppression of opponents, election fraud, and a corrupt police state apparatus that is far worse than what it replaced. Zimbabwe and its people irregardless of race suffer more so now than they ever did during the “Bush War.” One wonders what Chris Cocks must think of that.


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## rolandstrong (6 Jun 2003)

I have got to get that book. My uncle, as a member of the South African Defence Force spent some time around that region (unofficially of course) against SWAPO in the late 70‘s. My family is from the region originally, and our Sgt Major had some time there (you know who I mean). 

Is this a readily accessible book (chapters?)


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## Danjanou (6 Jun 2003)

I don‘t think it‘s that easy to get, but Chapters or Amazon may be able to order it.  Mine was a gift and an autgraphed copy.

He does a little name dropping in the book BTW.Well maybe not name dropping, but he does list/name a lot of the foreigners who served with him.


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## rolandstrong (9 Jun 2003)

Yikes! I looked it up on amazon...used $125! new $145!


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## Danjanou (9 Jun 2003)

Yikes is right. I‘m treating my battered copy with a little more respect from now on.


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## Danjanou (9 Jun 2003)

I just found a link from my review of it on Epinions, and you‘re right about the price on Amazon. Booksamillion.com has it listed for a more reasonable $28.00 US, but it says they have no copies available at the moment.


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## inferno (22 Jun 2003)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1919874321/qid=1056322409/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-5206737-5825555?v=glance&s=books


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