Rugby And The Army Days

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Every white male between the ages of 18-35 was called up for National Service back in the day and you could not choose where you were going. The call up arrived and you were either lucky or unlucky which training base you got. You could defer this in order to study but once finished your degree you were then expected to serve the two years. If you refused you got 3 years in a military prison and were treated like dirt.

The youngsters of today have it easy and in many ways do think so many would benefit from National Service. I have seen the difference between those that served and those that did not and it is more about having structure and discipline in your life. Lessons learned through hardships of doing things you do not like and coming out the other side knowing you could do it again if you had to. The respect you have for others seeing life in a different light makes you grow up and be a positive member of society.

I may have hated the army days at the time because I think you were so restricted on what you could and could not do, but most of the memories are fond ones. At the time of service you are the property of the government and they are your boss and mine happened to be the Apartheid government. Being British I could have left the country but at the age of 18 and just left school had no clue what I was going to do next.

Would I have chosen another path and skipped military service knowing what I know now and the answer would be a most definite yes. Our conscription year was the 3rd last intake and the year after ours was only 18 months and not 2 years. Ours was a full 2 years and on top of that I had completed another 120 days of camps which was also non negotiable. I grew up fast from being a kid to a man over those two years and it did me so much good so the definite yes of not doing the 2 years may have turned me into something else. I have no regrets even though I would be curious what path my life would have taken if I had left the country.

Playing sport in the army gained you many benefits and if you played rugby to a high standard then it also offered you freedom. During basic training we had been warned by others in the know not to excel at any sport or you will be stuck at the training base for the entire 2 years. Personally I could not think of anything worse and a prison cell would trump this hell hole. We were based in Kimberley which is only known for it's famous hole where De Beers gained international fame with their diamond trade. The region around Kimberley is like a dessert with a dry hot climate during the day and cold at night. I would know as I slept in a tent for 6 months which may be exciting for a weekend break but try 6 months of polishing the main tent poles that are tarnished after being struck by lightning. This did happen watching a green flame transcend your tent pole whilst lying in a metal frame bed.

We had rugby trials testing out for the unit's team and even though it was tempting to smash the permanent force members who had been making your life a living hell there was no effort on our part. Having been told prior to the trials by other sports people trapped on the base our minds were firmly on leaving on the first truck, bus, train or plane. Shit I was so fit at this point I could jog to my next posting just give me the coordinates and I would be off. Things were so terrible here I joined the marathon team so I could get extra rations and I do not have the build to run marathons. This is kind of crazy thinking you have probably run a good 35-40 km's during the day with all the training exercises being done and you volunteer to run 10km's more for extra food and dodge the pre meal punishment routines. We had experienced sessions of pre meal vomiting sessions with water physical training known as op voks which were later banned as these were deemed dangerous.

Once the 6 months of basic training had been completed I was sent to the Special Forces base in Durban which I had volunteered for. Not crazy enough to be an actual special force soldier, but provide services for the operators at the base. The food was really good and had the reputation of having the best food in the entire SA Army and the stories were all true. We had menus with Wednesday being mixed grill night and was fantastic.

The Unit rugby team was a real fun place and as long as you could run, walk or punch you were selected. The team comprised youngsters like myself right up to 50 year olds who were ex special force operators often having some type of handicap like a severe limp. We did not play many matches and can only recall 4 such games.

Every year we would play a pre season "friendly" against a local first division club side that was preparing for the upcoming season. Friendly was far from the truth as it was the most brutal game of rugby I have ever played in. Hand offs for tackles were either elbows or punches to the head all done with a smile and laughter. The referee was one of ours and the mayhem continued to the final whistle which we won through being more brutal than the opponents. This is how the ex special force operators let off steam and if you had to choose a side to play on it had to be theirs.

The other 3 matches were more conventional matches by the rule book against the navy on 2 occasions which we won and another army touring team that was staying at our base as guests. The comradery playing with my team mates who were high ranking members of my unit did help me over the next 18 months and I got off lightly doing certain duties compared to others.

I was selected for the provincial army team for the local rugby league which we won hands down going through the season unbeaten. Many of my team mates went on to play professional rugby around the world which I still remain in contact with today. What sticks out for me is how fit we were due to being in the army and you could not really drink because having one beer and you would be drunk.

There were 3 of us who played for the provincial team and this allowed us the freedom to come and go as we pleased with weekends off. Saturdays on the base were RSM (Regimental Sargent Major) days and you were basically his slave for the day and you did manual labor. The guys often did building work which would then be blown up a month or two later by operators training for some cross border mission. They were always building and blowing up some structure that must have resembled some new target.

Playing sport in the army meant you would be at fitness levels you could never have imagined previously and will most likely never experience again. A game of rugby is 80 minutes long and that season I cannot recall ever getting tired which was a first for me. The log training, back packs full of bricks and never ending route marches that took days to complete had turned us into physical specimens. I never had to do gym work because of the physical work done during the day like off loading an ammunition truck that was more than 30 tons and there is only two of you. This was just another normal day and why it helped prepare you for life as you just got on with it as no one ever said no because you couldn't say no.

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