Rhodesian soldier and others who fought, by Chas Lotter

Rhodesian soldier and others who fought, by Chas Lotter. Galago Publishing. Alberton, South Africa 1984. ISBN 094702008X / ISBN 0-94-702008-X

Chas Lotter, author of Rhodesian soldier and others who fought, has won recognition for his work far beyond the borders of his home country. It has earned him membership of the English Academy of Southern Africa.

In mid 1978, in an effort to get around the world's demands that Rhodesia be immediately handed over to her black terrorist enemies, which she wouldn't do. It was a war he fought mostly alone without open and declared friends, and with most of the world dedicated to his downfall, but he was part of a small but elite people. This book has no pretensions of being the full pictorial story of the war, but it does capture a mood of the times which books packed full of historical facts rarely achieve. Many books have been written, will be written and others will die stillborn, justifying the war or flatly condemning it; books full of pride for Rhodesia and the Rho-desians, books full of sneers for them, books pro UDIing and books anti UDIing, books talking of politics and books telling of the passing parade of politicians worldwide having their comfortable say while gradually, a country which had been so young and vibrant, bled and died. This book contains little of those things, for the Rhodesian soldier and others who fought with him out there in the bush, were not concerned with politics or justifications. The Rhodesian fighting men, both black and white, knew they were fighting for the very survival of the country they loved, their country, Rhodesia, and believed, and could see by the evidence of their eyes, that the naked terrorism they opposed was evil, and that the native black people would be the main sufferers if the enemy prevailed. They fought, too, because it was their duty as soldiers to fight, as have soldiers since time immemorial. There has rarely been a finer or braver fighting man than the Rhodesian and his name and the names of his regiments are carved with pride in the halls of glory. He owes no one an apology. He never lost a battle, but because the odds were enormous and so unjustly stacked against him, he lost a war and then, afterwards, he lost his country that was Rhodesia. Chas Lotter, the soldier poet of the Rhodesian bush war, had an unusual apprenticeship in the craft of poetry. Life began for Lotter in Germiston, South Africa in 1949. His family moved to Rhodesia in 1953 and it was there that Chas grew up on farms in the Bindura and Gatooma (Kadoma) areas. Chas moved to Salisbury (Harare) in 1974 where he met his wife, Avril. The early years of their marriage were typical of Rhodesians of their generation. Family life and daily routine were overtaken by the increasing demands of army commitments as the war gathered in intensity. As a field medic, Sergeant Chas Lotter served for nine years with frontline units of the Rhodesian Army. It was these nine years of action, emotion and savage experience that fuelled the poet's fire in Lotter. He started writing poetry "on the backs of cigarette boxes" in an attempt to deal with the realities of the war that surrounded him. From such humble beginnings emerged a series of vivid pictures of an African nation at war. Lotter's work was first published in Peter Badcock's volume Shadows of War. Subsequently, Lotter collaborated with Badcock on another successful work, Faces of War, that blended Badcock's pencil sketches and Lotter's poetry. Then, in 1984, Chas published his highly acclaimed book: Rhodesian Soldier. This remarkable volume is now a scarce and much sought after collector's item. Rhodesian Soldier blends photographs and verse to form a wide-ranging monograph of the Rhodesian bush war. Echoes of an African War will be similarly arranged although it will be a far more comprehensive work. Given that Chas has dedicated an entire year to scour the world for the right photographs to tie to his poetry, Echoes of an African War promises to be a hugely successful and honest attempt to capture the spirit of a small but doughty nation at war.

This is an excerpt from: Rhodesian soldier and others who fought, by Chas Lotter.

Title: Rhodesian soldier and others who fought
Author: Chas Lotter
Publisher: Galago Publishing
Alberton, South Africa 1984
ISBN 094702008X / ISBN 0-94-702008-X
Hardcover, dustjacket, 24 x 33 cm, 122 pages, several b/w and colour photographs