Load, Aim... Fire - Duncan Mattushek

Condition : Good.

First Edition, Camara Press, 2021, Large-format paperback - Biographical  - 144pp. ISBN 9780473556617.

The first thing I remember was waking up to see a bright orange full moon in the sky. I lifted my right arm and in the light of the moon I could see long pieces of charred skin hanging from my hand. I couldn't feel my body at all, and it was probably a good thing that my nostrils had been singed so I couldn't smell my burnt clothes, hair or flesh.

Eighteen-year-old Duncan Mattushek was called up for compulsory military service in South Africa, 1974. He fought in a bush war in South West Africa and Angola. Duncan moved effortlessly into army life as a gunner with 4 Field Artillery Regiment in Potchefstroom. So much so that when given the opportunity to sign for a further 12 months (to avoid annual camps), he volunteered. 

As he then had to complete two years of national service he applied to attend Artillery School where he qualified as an artillery instructor. He was not concerned when the regiment deployed to the Caprivi Strip on the Angolan border. Until his platoon was on their way to deploy in South-East Angola and the Unimog vehicle hit a landmine and Duncan's life changed forever. 

Forty-five years later, he has given an extraordinary account of that fateful day and all that followed. The deaths of three fellow soldiers and his own horrific injuries were but the start of what was to become a flood of casualties in the border war. Duncan has put together a blow-by-blow account of what happened, from his own memories, those of others who served with him on the border and later in one Military Hospital in Pretoria. 

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