During Operation Sceptic, where the 61 Mechanized Battalion Group attacked SWAPO bases in southern Angola, Second Lieutenant Paul Louw led his platoon of four Ratels to the battlefield at Smokeshell. In the chaos that ensued on June 10, 1980, under the brutal sun, 12 conscripts in his platoon of 44 were killed. Louw and a handful of soldiers spent the evening in a damaged Ratel, cut off from the others. In Bloedbroers (Blood Brothers), some of the survivors share their experiences during the battle. It sheds light on what happens to soldiers after the last shots are fired and follows the veterans as they return to the battlefield for the first time four decades after the operation.

Deon Lamprecht is a senior news journalist and award-winning feature writer. His debut novel, Tannie Pompie se oorlog (Aunt Pompie’s War, 2015), was a bestseller. He worked as a journalist for The Pretoria News, Beeld and Rapport, co-founded Media24’s Africa office, and served as the company’s representative in Washington, DC. He is currently a rewriter for Huisgenoot.