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(More customer reviews)This is the fascinating story of the Rhodesian Selous Scout extraordinary Dennis Croukamp. This legendary scout established the tactics, techniques and procedures for small team and singleton reconnaissance (recce) operations that were so successful in the Rhodesian Bush War that the South African Special Forces (5 Recce) adopted these same techniques in their Border War (you can read about the South African exploits in the book "Journey Without Boundaries by Andre Diedericks).
The Rhodesian Selous Scouts was a visionary organization that took various tactics to extremes with success, this outfit was not afraid to "think out-side the box". They mastered and used tactical combat tracking with extraordinary results. They also employed a technique they are most famous for, that of pseudo-operation which they used to ultimately infiltrate terrorist cells and nets to disrupt and eliminate terrorist "underground" and infrastructure. And finally they mastered the art of singleton/small team operation which this book covers in-depth. There is a lot of lessons to be taken away from this book that still can be applied today. The American military in general do not like to operate in small teams outside the special operations community. Back in the day "regular" military snipers operated as singletons then in two man teams (Sniper and spotter), now today most conventional snipers operate in three-man teams and greater! So as you can see this method of operation is ultimately falling to the wayside. This book shows and proves it can be used successfully (risk vs. reward!) in counter-insurgency operations and special operations.
Now back to the book. It covers Crouks career in the Rhodesian Army were he first served in the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) and were he was initially decorated for valor (he would later become one of Rhodesia's most decorated), following the RLI Crouks attends the dreaded Selous Scouts selection and is selected to be a member of this elite unit commanded by Reid-Daly (you can read his book "Pamwe Chete - The Legend of the Selous Scouts"). Once in the Selous Scouts Crouks found that the "cloak and dagger" life of pseudo-operations was not as exciting as he hoped (as most fire fights and kills were done by the RLI and Fireforces), so Crouks moves on to the elite Recce Troop within the Selous Scouts to find the excitment/action he so missed, this is were he became the Rhodesian military reconnaissance specialist a true subject matter expert. Crouks goes on to see action in the all the border areas of Rhodesia as well as conducting external operations (cross border) in Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana. Also Crouks was instrumental in the employment of military free-fall in the Recce Troop.
This book also has a lot of references (corrections and additions by both gentlemen) to the Reid-Daly book "Pamwe Chete" as for a long time Reid-Daly and Crouks were on the "outs" over incidents in the past during their service together in the Selous Scouts, so much that Reid-Daly had cut all (or most of) the exploits by Crouks out of his book. In Crouks writing this book he contacted Reid-Daly to set the recorded straight and in doing so they both are now somewhat friends again. So this book is like the lost chapters or appendix to "Pamwe Chete". So to truly get the full story of the Selous Scouts you need to read both books to finally get the complete history.
This book was originally titled as "Only My Friends Call Me Crouks - Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist". Finally I cannot recommend this book more; it is a superb read for any one interested in counter-insurgency. It is a ideal read for the true military professional and a must read for the Rhodesian Bush War enthusiast or historian.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Bush War In Rhodesia: The Extraordinary Combat Memoir of a Rhodesian Reconnaissance Specialist
The Rhodesian Bush War. It was a ferocious guerrilla warfare campaign between the regular and elite units of the Rhodesian Army doing battle against Communist-backed terrorist groups in the valleys, jungles and bush country of Rhodesia, Mozambique and Zambia. Warrant Officer Dennis Croukamp fought in the conflict from its beginnings in the 1960s to the very end in 1979, and his combat memoir is an extraordinary chronicle of that bitter struggle from inside some of the most highly regarded elite combat units to ever take the field.In The Bush War in Rhodesia, Croukamp chronicles his eventful service with the Rhodesian Regular Army, the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI) and the Selous Scouts Reconnaisance Troop as he took part in cross-border reconnaissance operations, HALO jumps behind enemy lines, urban ops in the townships of Salisbury, raids, ambushes, demolition missions, prisoner snatches and more. And through it all, Croukamp brought along a camera, providing a remarkable visual documentation of this little-known war.This searingly honest, action-packed memoir is sure to become a classic, ground-level account of the bloody "bush wars" of Africa.
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