The South African R1 series of rifles are based on the Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN) Fusil Automatique Léger (light automatic rifle) or FAL. Formally introduced by its designer Dieudonne Saive in 1951, and produced two years later, it has been described as the...
War in Africa
R-4 Assault Rifle
Long relying on foreign arms to stock its military inventory, the South African national army faced a dilemma of sorts when a UN arms embargo cut the nation off from outside support. The embargo began as a voluntary measure in 1963 and formed into a mandatory...
The story of the Fiat G.91R fighter bombers operated by the Portuguese Air Force in Angola
This is the short story of Fiat G.91R fighter bombers operated by the Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP, Portuguese Air Force) in Angola [partially covered in War of Intervention in Angola Volume 1 published by Helion & Company]. None of the Fiat G.91R fighter bombers...
The Hawker Hunter and Rhodesia’s ‘Bush War
How rapidly times alter. As the so-called ‘Winds of Change’ swept through colonial Africa, the process of decolonisation gathered inexorable pace. Rhodesia was a prominent example. In July 1964, it experienced its first terrorist incident when a white farmer was...
FIRST SHOT COUNTS
Tank Killers Take on Big Game A Soviet T-55 battle tank rumbles slowly through the southern Angolan countryside, its two mates in echelon close behind. The FAPLA tank commander peers nervously at every shadow, at every oddly shaped bush and rock. He knows the South...
Disaster Strikes on 9 August 1982 – We Loose Fifteen Splendid Soldiers in One Swell Swoop
From Eye of the Firestorm, Operation Meebos 1982 9 August – a crisp winter’s morning found 61 Mech in an ambushing position to the east of the Cuvelai-Techamutete road close to where it intersected with the Mui River. The frustrations relating to the finding of the...
Counter Insurgency In SW Africa
South Africa vs SWAPO Terrorists The story may be apocryphal, but judging by the depth of sentiment expressed when it is recounted, I doubt it. The way it was told to me by a senior member. of SWAPO's external military command in Addis Ababa a few years ago, it...