A photo of me as a (recently turned) 20-year old 2nd Lieutenant Infantryman in 1982, filling my water bottles with ‘quality’ water (by bush standards) at a waterhole at Umundaungilo village, Ovamboland approximately 2km from the Angolan border. These events are still clear in my mind and of those who were with me. Although some […]

In the context of the former Portuguese colonial empire, the territories of Guinea and Cape Verde played an important role in the maritime and air routes connecting Southern Africa, where Portugal had two important colonies: Angola and Mozambique. Furthermore, on the island of Sal, in Cape Verde, the Air Force had an airfield (AM1) that […]

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 were deployed in Angola until the Carnation Revolution – a coup […]

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 murdered. Relations with the British government worsened the following year over the issue of majority […]

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 Africans are nearby, and he’s sweating not only from the […]

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 next viable target for the TAC HQ was now […]

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 goes like this-the timing is […]