The Silent War: South African Recce Operations 1969 to 1994 [Paperback]

 

 

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... than the history of the Recces as such.

I certainly learned a lot from this book, which filled-in many gaps in my limited knowledge of the conflicts in the "Front Line States", but learned less about the Recces than I expected.

The pattern that emerges is that after spending many pages building-up the background politics and events the author notes in a couple of paragraphs how the Recces were involved and then moves on to do the same for the next operation or theatre.

It is difficult to follow the thread of a particular theatre, such as Mozambique or Angola, as their chronological chapters are interspersed throughout the book. Perhaps this prevents monotony but I found myself having to jump back to earlier chapters to refresh my memory. The book really needs more and better maps, too, beyond bland white boxes with a few towns scattered across.

I was also disappointed at the lack of penetration into the Recce's organisation and fabric beyond the OCs and their bases. The exception is 2 Recce, the territorial members of which the author promotes to first-class characters, whereas the other Commandos are never permitted to develop.

The penultimate chapter about the pending election and last stand of the Homelands has no connection with Recce operations at all and belongs in a different book! Most odd.

The narrative is a blend of thorough first-hand research and digest of other books, which makes the prose a little uneven at times. The author needs to pay more attention to minor details, such as the constantly oscillating calibre of the Recce's recoilless rifles ( 106 mm , then 105mm, then 106mm.... ) and on occasion dial-back the hyperbole. I'm sure every nation contends that their SF are "the best".

I found presentation of the book tiring to read; it uses a sans serif font in a very wide column with little side margin.

Certainly a worthwhile book, and one which corrects several points in Barabara Cole's book "The Elite", but not quite what I had expected from the subtitle.

This book is the first in a trilogy by Peter Stiff of which 'Warfar by Other Means' and 'The Covert War' form the other pieces. Silent War presents the best and the only full length account of the South African Recces. The story begins with South Africa's support for the Nigerian breakaway state of Biafra. It then moves forward to support for the Barotse in their struggle for an independent state in Barotseland in 1971. The decision to form a special forces unit within the South African Defense Forces materialized between these operations. Jan Breytenbach was chosen as the man to formulate this unit and its creation was the brainchild of then Minister of Defense PW Botha.

The true power of this book results not merely from its ability to tell the story of military operations but to make these stories interesting to the lay reader and to present the conflicts in their context. Stiff goes beyond the history of the Recces to present short histories of the wars in Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique as well as giving the full picture of South Africa's politics. When discussing the decision to intervene in both Angola and Mozambique he provides a history not only of FRELIMO and the MPLA but he discusses the local situations and gives startling pictures of the fate of the bushmen and Portuguese colons and other minority groups who were deeply affected by independence. In addition he presents the full picture of the tribal support for various groups and politicians in each country, expertly explaining the differences between UNITA and the FNLA and other, now forgotten, guerilla groups.

Beyond the context Mr. Stiff deftly describes the foreign policy of South Africa during the period, concentrating on such towering figures as John Vorster, both the Bothas and De Klerk. Many of South Africa's generals make appearances throughout including General Loots and Magnus Malan.

The brilliance of the book is in its organization, presenting each operation by itself within the context of operations in a given country, chronologically and thematically organizing the immense amount of material so that it makes clear and easy reading. With large amounts of dialogue and scenes described as if the reader is sitting there listening to the story first hand the book reads like a novel with the caveat that it is all true tales of daring and heroism.

The book's theme is not merely combat but also about the people involved and the training methods used. The story of raids on Cobinda, Gaborone, Tanzania and Harare are all fascinating and detailed as are the unique black and white and color photographs included. Maps and diagrams help the reader navigate the sometimes hard to recall place names and descriptions.

Stiff describes the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the 1994 elections and his final chapter discusses assaults on white farmers, the gunfight in Bophuthatswana, the formation of the AWB. Stiff refers to the appointment of Ronnie Kasrils as Deputy Minister of Defense in 1994 as a positive act describing Kasrils as "a soldier at heart." Some may have qualms with this description but with this exception the book is one of the most important to describe the history of South Africa in the second half of the 20th century. A well written, masterful account that will not be surpassed because the author took such painstaking time in interviewing his sources and presenting a balanced story.

Seth J. Frantzman

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