THE BORDER WAR - PART 1 - TRAINING & LIMPOPO RIVER A South African conscript chats with his Corporal

PART 1 - Steve and Pierre discuss their service in the SADF army 40 years ago. Called up for 2 years to 6SAI (6th South African Infantry) in Grahamstown. Recollections of 9 months training then 15 months serving in the Border War with Alpha Company.
Topics covered in this series:
- Infantry training
- Patrolling the Limpopo River (SA/Zimbabwe border)
- Active service in SWA at Okatope, Okankolo, Alpha Tower, Ondangwa
- External operations into Angola
- Contacts, landmines, patrols, life in the bush, warfare tactics, Koevoet & 32Bn, the good and the bad, humorous and tragic events
PART 1: 6SAI TRAINING and LIMPOPO RIVER PATROLS

[@topcat8891]

Hi there I too served at 6 SAI 87 to 89. Being British I didnt actually recieve a call up even though the law had been changed by 1987 for immigrants to do national service.I volunteered (I was 18 and didnt want to be called years later )but for the Air Force and after a month at Valhalla I was transferred against my will to 6SAI. I did a year on the border as an assualt pioneer and was amongst the last troops to leave Namibia before independence. One of the last tasks we had was to destroy millions of rands worth of munitions we built the biggest bomb ever dug a hugesix by six ft pit and filled it with munitions including brand new RPG rockets in the wrappers complete with Russian text. That blast was just unbelievable! Good listening to your chat look forward to the next parts 👍

[@stefangresse554]

Just finished reading "Bush Brothers", great book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the Border War and what life is like for an infantryman. Definitely one of my favourite books on the subject.

[@rwiebosch26]

I was in Alpha co in 1975-76 we just did the one year. At 6 SAI Grahamstown. Have been at Ruacana, Sa Da Bandeira, Okatope, Opoho, Epupa falls, Montenegro, Oshakati. With Roodepoort Commando.

[@cl0udbr3ak]

It was not Ferdi who came from Bats, it was Lochner. Ferdi actually came down from 8 SAI with Brent and I.

[@mrd7067]

Is the curriculum for the section leader course aviable online ?
To my understanding it`s a 6 weeks course, much shorter than simmilar training than in Nato to my understanding.
Thank you for your time.

[@stona9222]

6 SAI 79/80 Samajoor BieBap and with gumpoles in the ice rain to springs