Böcker i Africa@War-serien

The Rif War in rugged northern Morocco is remembered for romantic novels and films about the French Foreign Legion. In reality, the French intervention was late and secondary in importance to that of the Spanish.

This book describes and examines the first phase of the 'bush war' during which the Rhodesian forces honed their individual and joint skills, emerging as a formidable albeit lean fighting force.

Lacking funding to purchase and operate own aircraft, the Rhodesian police established the British South Africa Police Reserve Air Wing (PRAW). Equipped with private aircraft, mostly flown by owner pilots, this extended policing across a country that had few roads, reaching remote villages and farms, separated by long distances. Established in 1967, the PRAW assisted in the capture of criminals, transported police officers, and flew in support of police operations. During the 1960s, it was expanded into three flights with more than 20 aircraft: all of these saw gradually intensifying operations as the war in Rhodesia escalated.Based on extensive use of official documentation and participant recollections alike, and richly illustrated, Copper Wings: British South Africa Police Reserve Force Air Wing Volume 1 is the first operational history of the service from its establishment in 1967, until 1974.

Lacking funding to purchase and operate own aircraft, the Rhodesian police established the British South Africa Police Reserve Air Wing (PRAW). Equipped with private aircraft, mostly flown by owner pilots, this extended policing across a country that had few roads, reaching remote villages and farms, separated by long distances. Established in 1967, the PRAW assisted in the capture of criminals, transported police officers, and flew in support of police operations. During the 1960s, it was expanded into three flights with more than 20 aircraft.By 1974, the PRAW included five flights, by 1979, nine, with two of its pilots being awarded the M.B.E. for outstanding services. As the conflict in Rhodesia escalated, it began actively cooperating with the Rhodesian armed forces: its miscellany of Beechs, Cessnas, Pipers, and Taylorcraft - all apparently 'sports and utility' aircraft - were armed: sometimes with light machine guns installed in underwing pods, but often with heavy machine guns that fired through the side doors, de-facto converting them into mini-gunships.Based on extensive use of official documentation, participant recollections, and richly illustrated, the British South Africa Police Reserve Force Air Wing Volume 2 continues an account of this service.

This second volume documents the continued deployment of Koevoet during the South-West African conflict and its further expansion and development as a counter-insurgency force. It details the tempo of day-to-day Koevoet operations in the operational area across Owamboland, the Kavango and Kaokoland, alongside the continued pursuit of SWAPO insurgents and PLAN fighters into Angola. In addition, this volume continues to trace the development of Koevoet doctrine, tactics and its ongoing co-operation with other arms, including the South African Defence Force, the South West African Territorial Force and the South African Air Force. All of which is set against the context of an emboldened SWAPO and PLAN who were securing ever greater leverage with, and amongst, the civilian population.The challenge of sustaining counter-insurgency operations is examined, as is the continuing importance of intelligence gathering and analysis. Intelligence that was the key to shaping South Africa's approach to the 1988 US brokered peace talks with Cuba and Angola which paved the way for Namibian independence in November 1989. Koevoet Volume II details the establishment of the two UN monitoring missions - the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM) and the United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) - and the plans for free, independent, elections and the return of PLAN and SADF units to their bases. However, this was compromised when SWAPO reneged on the ceasefire agreement and 1,600 PLAN fighters sought to move into Namibia to subvert the elections and to ensure SWAPO seized power. Koevoet was tasked to respond, along with other security assets in what was to become known as, 'Operation Merlyn' or the Nine Days War. This action is examined in detail, as is the rationale for Koevoet's disbandment; a demobilization process that would see the SAP abandon its trackers to a dangerous and uncertain fate.Koevoet Volume 2 also examines the legacy of Koevoet, controversies and accusations of which there were many. A cutting edge COIN capability or Pretoria's Waffen SS?Color profiles detail the continued development of Mine Protected Vehicles (MPVs) used by Koevoet, along with full color artworks that document the evolving uniforms and insignia of Koevoet.

A detailed account and operational analysis of Portugal's air campaign over Portuguese Guinea from 1963-1974, with particular emphasis on the evolution of counter-insurgent air operations and guerrilla air defense measures.

The book covers the history and activities of the United Nations Operation for Peace in Western Sahara (MINURSO) from its creation in 1991 until the end of 2021. The author of the book himself served as a peacekeeper in Western Sahara, and shares first-hand information and unpublished photographs with readers.

This book tells the story of the international intervention that took place in Somalia, the successes, failures and lessons learned.

Through late 1987, the battlefields of southern Angola moved ever further away from the border to South-West Africa (Namibia), until the show-down between the Soviet-supported government in Luanda and South African-supported insurgency of UNITA culminated in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.

The build-up and operational history of the Force Publique - a paramilitary force established by King Léopold II to secure the Congo Free State, in 1885 - including its deployments elsewhere in Africa, during the First and Second World War, in the Sudan, East Africa, and in Ethiopia.

The first authoritative account of Operation Mar Verde: the Portuguese amphibious assault on Guinea's capital in 1970 aiming to stage a coup and destroy the Guinean Air Force.

A history of the little-known conflict between insurgents in northern Morocco and Spanish colonial forces that forged the leaders who went on to fight the Spanish Civil War.

A detailed account of the fascinating aviation warfare during the colonial war in Guinea during the 1960s and 70s.

The little-known story of the Angolan and Cuban air forces at war in Angola during the later 1980s, told from the Cuban and Angolan perspective.

An examination of the clandestine role of the CIA and British mercenaries in Angola's civil war of the 1970s.

Providing a history of the SAAF in the Border War, an extensive selection of rare photographs, and a comprehensive section on camouflage and markings and colour aircraft profiles.

The work covers the emergence and growth of Mau Mau, and the strategies applied by the British to confront and nullify what was in reality a tactically inexpert, but nonetheless powerfully symbolic black expression of political violence.

Congo Unravelled solves the intractable complexity of this violent period by dispassionately outlining the sequence of political and military events that took place in the troubled country.

Battle for Cassinga is the first-hand account by a South African paratrooper who was involved in the 1978 assault on the Angolan headquarters of PLAN, SWAPO's armed wing.

The Selous Scouts were to write their name into the annals of military history as one of the finest counterinsurgency units of all time, through their innovative pseudo-guerrilla tactics, brilliant reconnaissance operations and daring flying-column raids.

The little know story of the CIA-recruited Cuban exiles' covert operation in the Congo during the 1960s. It relies on their personal testimonies, on government archives, on declassified documents.

With Ethiopia in disarray following a period of severe internal unrest and the spread of insurgencies in Eritrea and Tigray, Ethiopia and its armed forces should have offered little opposition to well-equipped Somali armed forces which were unleashed to capture Ogaden, in July 1977. However, excellently trained pilots of the Ethiopian Air Force took full advantage of their US-made equipment, primarily their few brand-new Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighter-bombers, to take the fight to their opponents, win air superiority over the battlefield, and thus have their hands free to interdict the Somali supply links to stop the invasion cold. This air victory practically sealed the fate of the Somali juggernaut in Ogaden, especially so once Ethiopia convinced Cuba and the Soviet Bloc to support her instead of Somalia. In a fit of pique, Somalia forced all Soviet advisers to leave the country. Already bitter over similar experiences in Egypt in 1972, Moscow's revenge was designed as a clear message: nobody was to treat her in such fashion again. The USSR subsequently launched an air bridge to Ethiopia, unique and unprecedented in its extension and importance, delivering huge quantities of armament and equipment necessary for the Ethiopians to reconquer Ogaden, and beyond. In turn Somalia asked the USA for help and thus occurred an unprecedented switch of Cold War alliances. This volume details the history and training of both Ethiopian and Somali air forces, their equipment and training, tactics used and kills claimed, against the backdrop of the flow of the Ogaden war. It explains in detail, supported by over 100 contemporary and exclusive photographs, maps and color profiles, how the Ethiopian Air Force won the decisive victory in the air by expertly deploying the F-5Es - unequaled in maneuverability, small size and powerful armament - to practically destroy the Somali Air Force and its MiG-17s and MiG-21s.

Great Lakes Conflagration is the second in two volumes covering military operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the turn from the 21st century.

Between 1973 and 1989, Western powers and Libya were entangled in an exchange of blows. Supposedly launched in retaliation for one action or the other, this confrontation resulted in a number of high-profile clashes between the Libyan Arab Air Force (LAAF), the US Navy and the French. Meanwhile, the LAAF also saw deployment in Chad. Initially, with

In 1961, Portugal found itself fighting a war to retain its colonial possessions and preserve the remnants of its Empire. It was almost completely unprepared to do so, and this was particularly evident in its ability to project power and to control the vast colonial spaces of Africa. Following the uprisings of March 1961 in the north of Angola, Portugal poured troops into the colony as fast as its creaking logistic system would allow; however, these new arrivals were not competent and did not possess the skills needed to fight a counterinsurgency. While counterinsurgency by its nature requires substantial numbers of light infantry, the force must be trained in the craft of fighting a ¿small war¿ to be effective. The majority of the arriving troops had no such indoctrination and had been readied at an accelerated pace. Even their uniforms were hastily crafted and not ideally suited to fighting in the bush. In reoccupying the north and addressing the enemy threat, Portugal quickly realized that its most effective forces were those with special qualifications and advanced training. Unfortunately there were only very small numbers of such elite forces. The maturing experiences of the Portuguese and their consequent adjustments to fight a counterinsurgency led to the development of specialized, tailored units to close the gaps in skills and knowledge between the insurgents and their forces. This book is about the fuzileiros or Portuguese marines, a naval force that operated in the riverine littorals of Africa and that was both feared by the enemy and loved by those loyal to Portugal. The fuzileiros underwent one of the longest and most physically demanding specialist infantry training regimes in the world, lasting some forty-two weeks. Perhaps only 15 to 35 percent of the inductees eventually passed the course and were awarded the traditional and highly coveted navy blue beret. When deployed to Africa, they underwent further acclimation for weeks until they were able to move through the slime and mud of a riverbank with ease, as their lives depended on it. They became experts at riverine warfare and regularly ranged inland on extended patrols, many of which are recounted here. They were comfort able with the uncomfortable fighting nvironment, and this ability translated into an unpredictability that the enemy feared. This book is the story of how they came to be formed and organized, the initial teething difficulties, and their unqualified successes.

A history of necessity and innovation, takes an in-depth look at 22 iconic South African armoured vehicles.

Ripe for Rebellion is the first of two volumes examining the so-called 'Congo Crisis'.

It has been over three decades since the Union Jack was lowered on the colony of Rhodesia, but the bitter and divisive civil war that preceded it has continued to endure as a textbook counter-insurgency campaign fought between a mobile, motivated and highly trained Rhodesian security establishment and two constituted liberations movements ...

In 1961, Portugal found itself fighting a war to retain its colonial possessions and preserve the remnants of its empire. It was almost completely unprepared to do so, and this was particularly evident in its ability to project power and to control the vast colonial spaces in Africa. Following the uprisings of March of 1961 in the north of Angola, Portugal poured troops into the colony as fast as its creaking logistic system would allow; however, these new arrivals were not competent and did not possess the skills needed to fight a counterinsurgency. While counterinsurgency by its nature requires substantial numbers of light infantry, the force must be trained in the craft of fighting a 'small war' to be effective. The majority of the arriving troops had no such indoctrination and had been readied at an accelerated pace. Even their uniforms were hastily crafted and not ideally suited to fighting in the bush.

War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 3 covers the air warfare during the II Angolan War - fought 1975-1992 - through narrating the emergence and operational history of the Angolan Air Force and Air Defence Force (FAPA/DAA) as told by Angolan and Cuban sources.