Willem Steenkamp

Willem Steenkamp is a South African author, journalist, historian,^[1] military analyst and citizen soldier.^[2] He has published a number of books and consults widely in military affairs.

Major Willem Petrus Steenkamp MMM JCD JP
Born	(1940-05-02) 2 May 1940 (age 85) Cape Town
Allegiance	South Africa South Africa
Branch	South African Army  South African Army
Rank	Major
Unit	Cape Town Highlanders Regiment (CTH)
Awards	Badge for Reserve Voluntary Service Chief of the Army's Commendation

Awards

• Cited in 1967 and 1968 in United Press International's annual selection of its best news feature articles worldwide.
• Awarded the Settlers' Prize for Enterprising Journalism in 1982.
• Awarded the Maskew Miller Prize (co-winner with James Ambrose Brown) in 1983 for the Anglo-Boer War novel The Blockhouse.
• Awarded the Lady Usher Memorial Prize in 1985 for the historical novel The Horse Thief.
• Awarded the Barcom Prize for Professional Military Writing in 1988 for an essay on future amphibious assault personnel requirements.

Appointments

• Justice of the peace (appointed 1993).
• UN international election observer (appointed 1994).
• Member of the Ceremonial Staff Board (advisory body to the SANDF's Director of Ceremonial and Military Music) up to 2004.
• Member of the VOC Foundation.

Military service

List of postings and tasks

• 1958: Called up for Active Citizen Force service: Study deferment.
• 1961 – 1965: Routine non-continuous regimental service.
• 1966 – 1969: On inactive reserve.
• 1969 – 1979: Regimental service (training and operational).
• 1980 – 1983: Seconded to 71 Motorised Brigade staff.
• 1984 – 1990: Regimental service (training and operational).
• 1990 – 1992: Seconded to 75 Motorised Brigade/9 SA Division staff.
• 1993 – to date: Regimental service, in various capacities: inter alia officer in charge of designing and implementing the wreath-laying at Woltemade Cemetery by HM Queen Elizabeth II, 1995.
• Extra-regimental/staff employment:
  • Secondments to 71 Motorised Brigade and 75 Motorised Brigade/9 SA Division, as noted.
  • Observer on three external operations, 1979 – 1985.
  • Minute-taker/diarist: Operation Sclera (1984 South African – Angolan Joint Monitoring Commission).
  • Member/scriba of official SADF delegation sent to attend national convention of United States Reserve Officers' Association at Nashville, Tennessee, July 1993; also visited ROA head office in Washington DC for confidential briefing to convey to SA Minister of Defence
• 1997 – 1998: Member of the SA National Defence Force's Education, Training and Development Team (with Lt Col A. M. Marriner JCD) revising Reserve Force training

Military Awards

Badge for Reserve Voluntary Service
(Service Award)

Five Years Voluntary Service Black on Thatch beige, Embossed

• Military Merit Medal (MMM)
• Pro Patria Medal
• Southern Africa Medal
• General Service Medal (South Africa)
• John Chard Decoration (JCD)
• John Chard Medal
• Unitas (Unity) Medal
• Chief of the Army's Commendation

Published Books

• Ngami! (1971). Fictionalised re-telling in Afrikaans, for mid-teenagers, of explorer Charles John Andersson's epic mid-19th-Century trek from Walvis Bay to Lake Ngami.
• Land of the Thirst King (1975 – reprinted 1979). Historical/contemporary travel book about Namaqualand (North-West Cape Province).
• Adeus Angola (1976). First account of the initial South African military incursion into Angola.
• The Soldiers (1978). Short interlinked biographies of Generals Christiaan de Wet, Koos de la Rey, Sir Henry Timson Lukin, Sir Jaap van Deventer, Dan Pienaar and Evered Poole
• Poor Man's Bioscope (1979). Historical/contemporary travel book about Cape Town
• Moedverloor (1980). Historical novel, in Afrikaans, about Great Namaqualand (now Namibia) in the 19th Century
• Sê vir Leonardo (1980). Contemporary action novel, in Afrikaans, set in Cape Town
• Aircraft of the South African Air Force (1981). Illustrated survey of contemporary SAAF aircraft; later reprinted as Jane's Book of the SAAF
• Borderstrike! (1983). First detailed account of early South African military incursions into Angola, 1978–1980. Expanded/re-edited edition 2003
• Namakwalandse Oustories (1983). Re-telling, in Afrikaans, of traditional Namaqualand folk-tales
• Christmas Story/Kersverhaal (1984). Re-telling of the Nativity, in separate English and Afrikaans versions, from the viewpoint of the animals in the stable
• The Horse Thief (1985). Historical novel set in Namaqualand in the 1870s (winner of 1985 Lady Usher Memorial Prize, and later staged at Nico Malan Theatre, Cape Town)
• Blake's Woman (1986). Historical novel set in 19th-Century Great Namaqualand (now Namibia)
• The Blockhouse (1987). Historical novel set at the end of the Second Anglo-Boer War (co-winner of Maskew Miller Prize)
• South Africa's Border War, 1966–1989 (1989). Illustrated history of the SWA/Namibian border war
• Jim Zulu (2006). Historical novel set in the Kimberley diamond diggings area of the 1880s, inspired by South Africa's only known case of public lynching
• Assegais, Drums and Dragoons (2012). The early military and social history of the Cape of Good Hope, 1510–1806
• The Black Beret: the history of the SA Armoured Corps, Volume 1 (early beginnings up to 842 Madagascar campaign) 2016)
• SA's Border War 1966–1989 (revised and updated edition) (2016)
• SA se Grensoorlog 1966–1989 (revised and updated edition) (2016)
• Mobility Conquers: The Story of 61 Mechanised Battalion Group 1978–2005, with Helmoed-Römer Heitman (September 2016)
• The Black Beret: the History of South Africa's Armoured Forces. Volume 2 (The Italian Campaign 1943-45 and Post-War South Africa 1946-1961) 2017)

Title	Author	Type	Genre	Topic	Year
Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola[3]	Willem Steenkamp	Non-Fiction	Military History	Military	2006
Assegais, Drums & Dragoons: A Military and Social History of the Cape[4][5]	Willem Steenkamp	Non-Fiction	Military History	Military	2012
South Africa's border war, 1966–1989[6]	Willem Steenkamp	Non-Fiction	Military History	Military	1989
Soldiers Verse: An Anthology of Poetry[7]	John Dovey (Editor)	Non-Fiction	Poetry	Military	2006
Jim Zulu[8]	Willem Steenkamp	Fiction	Historical	Novel	2006
Blake's Woman[9]	Willem Steenkamp	Fiction	Historical	Novel	2007
Freedom Park: Roots and Solutions[10]	Willem Steenkamp	Non-Fiction	Editorial	Military	2007
Aphorisms and Observations for the Fighting Soldier[11]	Willem Steenkamp	Non-Fiction	Military	Military	2007

Notes