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I only really had two political concerns growing up. The first was apartheid, which I was too young to do anything about, so I left that to my folks to do the right thing.

The second was going to the army. Until just before I left school, it was law that every white male when 16 years of age had to register for the army. The army people literally came to school and you enrolled as your headmaster watched you. Then mid-way through matric (final year – grade 12), you got your ‘Call Up papers’ telling you where to go, when and in which arm of the SADF you were in – Army, Navy, Air Force or Medical.

Some people managed to do their army service after varsity (not many), some emigrated, and those who were physically challenged or conscientious objectors got desk jobs, but not before they had six-week rigorous basic training. As I said, my peers and I narrowly missed it, after a decade being aware of and fearing it.

The Border War is a story of white South African men who could be at work on a Friday; board a military aircraft on the Saturday, and be dropped into an operational zone north of the border by the Monday morning. Same story on return – bush on Friday, at work on a Monday. Hence the numerous psychological issues and people being ‘bosbefok’.

The Border War featured the largest contingents of conscripts at any given time fighting a war, since military activity started. To verify, soldiers in WW1 and WW2 plus Vietnam and other wars were all ‘regulars’. These guys had more people on active duty than the Rhodesians. It is for this reason that the Border War has such relevance today all over the world with many military academies studying it.

For those who were involved in the Border War, they were months and years that will never be forgotten, which explains why it has its own unique literature genre, known as grensliteratuur, which, directly translated, means  “border literature”.

Not that your average South African is all that clued up about what went on during the tumultuous period during the 1970s and 1980s, and there is still much that has been left unsaid. Wikipedia had a good go at it and you can do some homework there. The part that we’re interested in, is on a more personal level.

That’s what makes a book like If You Lie Still, You Will Not Get Cold so important, focusing on the untold story of the South African Citizen Force soldier during the Border War.

Sometimes called the ‘pointy’ end of the Cold War, the “Border” saw many South African men taken from their careers and families, hastily re-trained, and then dispatched into the Operational Area.

Two young Platoon Commanders from the historic Cape Town Highlanders Regiment embarked on three tours of duty, and this is their story, told with humour and pathos.

The book is available on Amazon.com, and Amazon international affiliated sites, in hard copy format, and an e-book version will follow shortly.

However, the General and the Colonel (Derek Kohler and Simon Burrow respectively) have made special arrangements for purchases of copies by South African residents, so that you’re not dependent on the SA Post Office.

To order a printed copy locally, check out this site.