At Thy Call We Did Not Falter

Plot

At Thy Call We Did Not Falter is a gripping frontline account of the Angolan war, as seen through the eyes of a 19-year-old conscript soldier. It tells the story of so many young white South Africans who, like him, were sent into battle against overwhelming forces straight after finishing school. Clive Holt was at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, where the South African Defence Force supported the rebel movement Unita after a massive build-up of Cuban and Angolan troops. It was the bloodiest and most significant battle fought by South African troops since World War II. With diary extracts, previously unpublished photographs and a riveting narrative, this book transports the reader into the firing line and the dark realms of war. At Thy Call We Did Not Falter is a classic account of war, as well as a window into the world of post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a chilling account of how a government took schoolboys and turned them into killing machines. The timing of the book is extraordinarily fortunate, coming just as interest in Cuito Cuanavale is being revived, with moves afoot to arrange battlefield tours, and debates raging anew in military and veteran circles about who the victors and vanquished were.