James and the Duck: Tales of the Rhodesian Bush War (1964 - 1980)

Faan Martin

Sep 2007 · Author House

About this ebook

A very different tongue-in-cheek personal account about a forgotten war. Between 1964 and 1980 Rhodesian men from all walks of life left their families and jobs to fight for their country. They were farmers, bankers, railwaymen, shopkeepers, miners and even Members of Parliament, who every six weeks, changed their soft civilian life for battle dress, rifles and grenades.

These are their stories.

It's not really about war heroes. It's more about bluestone charged, but still lustful troops coping with fighting terrorists, boredom, longing, fear and death. All this set against the background of Africa's sweltering heat, annoying insects, dangerous animals and venomous snakes. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

The reader will meet a long suffering prisoner-of-war, infantry soldiers, helicopter gunship pilots, tribesmen, pompous army officers, mercenaries and even a duck.

Some of the personal incidents will have you laughing and crying at the same time.

No matter how you view the Rhodesian Bush War, you will enjoy the humour and at times satire and even sadness of this true account of how men coped with the horrors and hardships of war.

Ratings and reviews

A well written collection of one mans experience in a nasty war. The author takes you with him in recalling both good and bad times from his perpective as a father, husband, soldier and mate to his brothers in arms. A good read.

Proper story by a good bloke. It's good that he has taken the time in his life to bring to light a story about a war that many don't even know of on an international scale.

Very interesting, and even quite funny in parts...despite it being about war.

About the author

Faan Martin, was born in 1947 in the scenic Rhodesian border city of Umtali. He was educated in Rhodesia and South Africa. During the war he was a cattle rancher in the Manicaland province of Rhodesia. After completing his national service with 1 Independent Company he served as a territorial soldier with the 4th Infantry Battalion. During his time in uniform, he qualified as a marksman and served in the Operation Hurricane, Thrasher and Repulse areas. He also took part in external operations into neighbouring Mozambique and served with a helicopter gunship group known as a "Fire Force." In November 1978, Rhodesian Security Forces attacked 200 terrorists on a mountain on the Martins farm. Three days after the battle in which eight ZANLA insurgents were killed and a Rhodesian helicopter was shot down, the author and two friends searched the mountain and found a huge arms cache. Not long afterwards Rhodesian Special Branch policemen visited the author and his wife Jayne and warned them that their names had been found on a ZANLA death list after a highly successful attack on a massive terrorist base in Mozambique. One night in January 1979, 12 terrorists launched a bazooka attack on the Martins family. They survived the attack, but it changed their lives. Concern over the safety of their four small children, the regular theft of their cattle and knowing Robert Mugabe would soon become the new political leader of the country, eventually made the Martins immigrate to South Africa. After a short spell of teaching and farming in South Africa, Martin became a journalist. He has written 500 published magazine articles and was the Editor of two weekly newspapers, the Northern Review and The Pietersburger. Later he was the Assistant Editor of the Farmers Weekly magazine. He now lives in Scotland.