An extract from an article in the book:

The shyte hit the fan as we hit the ground. All hell broke loose and a long and fierce firefight took place. I experienced just about everything a soldier could expect to face in a lifetime in the army. There were airstrikes that nearly hit us, a terrorist threw and hit me with an empty AK magazine, two of my friends, Kevin and Kim, were seriously injured and flown out, and I had my first kill. I have never forgotten that moment … 18 years old and I took another human being’s life. Raised as a Catholic this had a severe impact on me. The worst was to come. At the end of the day we had to retrace our movements and collect all the bodies and drag them to a pick-up point. The sight of the fatal injuries were horrific, limbs shattered, huge holes everywhere, exposed internal organs and brains oozing out the bodies; the yellow fat, the flies, the stench of death were gut-wrenching. No training could have prepared me for this.

On our return to Mount Darwin camp, the troop decided that it wasn’t too late for me to be initiated. So there I was at 2100hrs, jogging on the spot, totally naked and drinking from a four-litre bucket filled with a mixture of beer, Chibuku (African beer made from maize meal) and spirits. I could not believe this was happening on what was probably the most frightening day of my life.