Troepie: From Call-up to Camps, by Cameron Blake

Troepie: From Call-up to Camps, by Cameron Blake. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Zebra Press. Cape Town, 2009. ISBN 9781770220515 / ISBN 978-1-77022-051-5

Troepie: From Call-up to Camps, by Cameron Blake. 'I don't know why you want to hear my story. What have I got to say that yone wants to hear?

Cameron Blake  

The Special Forces okes - speak to them. I wasn't a Recce. I wasn't a Bat. I never even had contact. I never did anything special.' 'That doesn't matter,' I replied. 'Anything you have to say interests me.' I explained that I was not looking for war stories, but for any memories of his time in the military - no matter how seemingly insignificant. 'Why? There's nothing to say. It's over and done with. People don't want to talk about it.' Yet, when I asked whether he was glad to have done fational Service, his immediate response was, 'Yes. I'm very glad. I'll shout it out as loud as possible - I'm proud!' Troepie: From Call-up to Camps by Cameron Blake is a compilation of individual recollections of life as a conscript in the former South African Defence Force (SADF). The accounts of National Service collected here supply valuable insight into a largely unrecorded history. As one interviewee said, 'That flash in your head - that memory - is like a dream. Yet I know it was not. I saw it, I lived it, and I cannot forget, while others do. Let it not be forgotten. We were there and I want it to be remembered.' I assist in The Africa Star, a small shop in Cape Town that sells coins, medals and surplus military items, some of which are SADF-related. The merchandise triggers memories in many customers; over the years I've listened to dozens of former National Servicemen recall their time in the South African military. My interest in the individual stories of ex-Servicemen dates back to my teenage years, when I came across a book of personal accounts of American Vietnam war veterans. I have long felt the need for a public record of our own men's experiences, and when JH Thompson's An Unpopular War: From afkak to bosbefok. Voices of South African National Servicemen was published in 2006, I was inspired to start documenting the stories of those who served in the SADF. The first person I interviewed talked with such fervour and in such detail that I felt somewhat overwhelmed. Yet the energy with which he spoke and the ultimate success of the interview gave me the validation I needed to continue with the project. Within weeks I had collected several interviews from a variety of people: I interviewed strangers who walked unsuspectingly into the shop, customers I've known for years, friends and family members. Included in the book are the accounts of a city planner, a computer technician, a doctor, a jeweller, a lawyer, an operations manager, a professional musician, a property consultant and a traffic officer - an extraordinary assortment of people with a diverse range of opinions and experiences. I focused exclusively on National Service, beginning most interviews with the question, 'Where and when did you klaar in?' From there, the recollections flowed. Some remembered only the good times, others remembered only the bad, but most of the interviewees were forthcoming with their experiences, whether positive or negative. It quickly became apparent that the level of the responses varied: there were those who had told their stories time and time again, their material polished and entertaining, and there were those whose stories were filled with fresh emotion and significance. In speaking about their past for the first time in years, these men were taken by surprise as old memories resurfaced. Every interview was unique: some interviewees spoke with passion and excitement, while others' words were soft, slow and deliberate. [...]

This is an excerpt from Troepie: From Call-up to Camps, by Cameron Blake.

Title: Troepie: From Call-up to Camps
Subtitle: South African National Service
Author: Cameron Blake
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Zebra Press
Cape Town, 2009
ISBN  9781770220515 / ISBN 978-1-77022-051-5
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 328 pages