Fire Force: A Trooper's War In The Rhodesian Light Infantry

I really enjoyed reading the book. Nothing is omitted, and it leaves nothing to the reader’s imagination, including the descriptive horrors of Africa. The author was a young, junior NCO in the Rhodesian Light Infantry which saw heavy combat against the insurgents. This newly revised edition (Kindle) has been completely re-written and it’s excellent!

The book is about a young man who joins one of the most fierce, experienced, and highly effective counter insurgency armies ever created in human history The Rhodesian Army. I know there are many books that can explain to you the deep political drama and events which most of the domestic and the international public see. But in this book we get little of the politics at all just this amazing coming-of-age tale of Chris Cocks who is a reluctant recruit from enlistment, to basic, and how he adapts, grows and encounters unique characters along the way. And becomes a capable soldier in the RLI. This was a complete joy and informative read from start to finish and does get into the needy gritty of what many Rhodesian soldiers had to go through while in service during this time. Chris and the people in this book feel like personalities I've met in my life and it's just memorable. I highly recommend this book and if you didn't know too much about this chapter of world history it's ok. Open the first couple pages and you'll be transported back in time to the Rhodesian Bush War told from the author's perspective without sweating a brow.

This is a personal memoir of one young man’s experience in the Rhodesian Bush war, at its height in the 1970’s. This account brings to life the routine, the days and years of a trooper in the infantry, one who basically lived on the edge of life and death. What was new to me was the realization that a huge variety of sympathetic international volunteers made up the security forces, it was not simply Rhodesia against the world. Barracks was basically a continuation of the boarding school system but with coarser language and harsher discipline. Most soldiers were in their 20’s and the environment was pretty juvenile, a bit like overgrown public schoolboys on steroids, before they graduated to drug-taking and killing terrs. This book is not very deep, it does not touch on the nobility of the Rhodesian cause. I would have liked to have known why the author loved his country, or what he felt about what he did. Like a typical macho product of the system, he was barely in touch with his own feelings. It is fast-paced and action packed. I wouldn’t say it is gripping in the same way a novel can be, but it does hold your attention.

Well this book is really something. It shows you Rhodesian bush war through the eyes of a RLI soldier - the author himself. It is fast paced, no nonsense reading. Shows how terrible thing war really is and that most participants dont make it out unscathed.

An interesting and well written take on a subject that is not thoroughly covered. Looking through the view point of a common commando as he ages through his contract during a conflict that is not truely know except through articles in soldier of fortune and through literature. 10 out of ten would read again

I didnt quite know what to expect out of this book. But from the first page to the last, it exceeded expectations.

I don't want to be cheesy, but of the many military memoirs (from all over) that I've read, this one was one of the most engaging. There were times when I was giggling, times when I was morose, but never times where I was bored. Chris describes the war from his perspective and does a great job of explaining it to folks who've never been to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and wouldn't understand the politics. It will take you through his view of the last three years of the war (more or less) and explain the good, the bad and the ugly.

Chris Cocks in writing a book about his adventures in the RLI may have end up describing every infantry man in modern history. Was it worth it? In his case I believe so. History is always written by the victor. Unfortunately the sacrifice of ordinary men get lost in it translation. For what it’s worth I still refer to Rhodesia as Rhodesia, unusual for a ‘Yank’. I can only hope those remaining Rhodesians find a little comfort in this review.