Eerste Daar

Abstract

In the introduction to his book, Van der Waals claims that the book is largely based on
a manuscript that he wrote for his children about 15 years ago, and he acknowledges
that it is not an academic work.564 With this disclaimer of sorts, Van der Waals firmly
places his book in the memoire segment of recent South African military historiography.
While this is true – the book certainly reads like a memoire – Van der Waals manages
to incorporate much more than just personal reflections and recollections in his work.
Perhaps due to his academic background, his narrative is lifted above the proliferation
of recent memoires by South African Defence Force (SADF) soldiers by occasional
analyses and opinions interspersed throughout the book.