South African Armour of the Border War 1975–89

South African Armour of the Border War 1975–89
Author: Kyle Harmse
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2017-02-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472817451

The Border War saw the biggest armoured battles in Africa since World War II. Starting as a counter-insurgency operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) against the South West Africa People's Organisation, South Africa became embroiled in the complex Angolan Civil War, where they came up against enemies well supplied with equipment and armoured vehicles from the Soviet Union. With the aid of stunning illustrations and photographs, this study details the characteristics, capabilities and performance of the wide variety of armoured vehicles deployed by the SADF, from the Eland armoured car to the Ratel infantry combat vehicle and the Olifant tank. Designed for the unique conditions of the region, South Africa's armour was distinctive and innovative, and has influenced the design of counterinsurgency armoured vehicles around the world. Frequently requested by Osprey readers, and written by two renowned experts on armoured vehicles, this will appeal to all those interested in modern armour and the Cold War proxy wars.

South Africa's Border War 1966-89

South Africa's Border War 1966-89
Author: Willem Steenkamp
Publisher: Helion
Total Pages:
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781912866106

Of all the books about South Africa's 21-year 'Border War' - fought on both sides of Angola's frontier with present-day Namibia - South Africa's Border War has always been rated as among the best. This version is the first re-issue of the original, written by Willem Steenkamp. Almost all the photos were taken by Al J. Venter who covered that confli

Recce

Recce
Author: Koos Stadler
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2018-07-13
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1612006957

A gripping firsthand account of life and combat operations in the elite South African Special Forces, known as Recces, by a veteran Recce officer. The South African Special Forces are one of the most effective—and mysterious—military units in the world. Working in secret on covert operations, the legendary Recces have long fascinated, but little is known about how they operate. Now Koos Stadler, a career officer in the South African Special Forces, shares a revealing chronicle of his life and his experiences in the Border War. Shortly after passing the grueling Special Forces selection course in the early 1980s, Koos Stadler joined the so-called Small Teams group at 5 Reconnaissance Regiment. This sub-unit was made up of two-man teams and was responsible for many secret missions behind enemy lines. Sent to blow up railway lines and enemy fighter jets in south Angola, Stadler and his partner stared death in the face many times.

Back to Angola

Back to Angola
Author: Paul Morris (Psychotherapist)
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Angola
ISBN: 9781770225510

"In Back to Angola Paul Morris recounts his return to Angola in 2012 after going there in 1987 as a soldier. Morris, who was reluctantly conscripted just before he turned 19, goes back to the country to try and put his memories of war to rest and replace them with images of a peaceful Angola. The narrative switches between his solo cycle trip and his memories of the war." --Internet.

The Aftermath of the Cassinga Massacre

The Aftermath of the Cassinga Massacre
Author: Vilho Shigwedha
Publisher: BASLER AFRIKA BIBLIOGRAPHIEN
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2017-04-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 3905758806

It took the former South African Defence Force (SADF) less than four hours to kill more than eight hundred Namibian refugees at Cassinga on May 4, 1978. Thousands of survivors were left with irreparable physical and emotional injuries. The unhealed trauma of Cassinga, a Namibian civilian camp in southern Angola before the massacre, is beyond the worst that the victims of the attack experienced on the ground. Unacceptable layers of pain and suffering continue to grow and multiply as the victims’ grievances and other issues arising out of the aftermath of the massacre have been ignored, particularly following Namibia’s political independence. In this book, the afterlife of the victims’ traumatic memories and their aspiration for justice vis-à-vis the perpetrators’ enjoyment of blanket impunity from prosecution, in spite of their ongoing denial of killing and maiming innocent civilians at Cassinga, are explored with the aim to create public awareness about the unfortunate circumstances of the Cassinga victims.

The War for Africa

The War for Africa
Author: Fred Bridgland
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2017-06-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612004938

A “gripping” story of the Angolan Civil War and how it evolved into a Cold War struggle between superpowers (New York Journal of Books). Lasting over a quarter of a century, from 1975 to 2002, the Angolan Civil War began as a power struggle between two former liberation movements, the MPLA and UNITA—but became a Cold War struggle with involvement from the Soviet Union, Cuba, South Africa, and the United States. This book examines the height of the Cuban-South African fighting in Angola in 1987–88, when three thousand South African soldiers and about eight thousand UNITA guerrilla fighters fought in alliance against the Cubans and the armed forces of the Marxist MPLA government, a force of over fifty thousand men. Fred Bridgland pieced together the course of the war, fought in one of the world’s most remote and wild terrains, by interviewing the South Africans who fought it, and many of their stories are woven into the narrative. This classic account of a Cold War struggle and its momentous consequences for the participants and the continent now includes a new preface and epilogue. “Highlights just how much political and social considerations dictate the outcome of war . . . A highly detailed work of military history, The War for Africa can tell us a lot about the nature of counter-insurgency warfare and how small states can become contested battlegrounds between superpowers.” —New York Journal of Books

Borderstrike!

Borderstrike!
Author: Willem Steenkamp
Publisher: Lulu.com
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2006
Genre: Angola
ISBN: 1920169008

Beyond the Border War

Beyond the Border War
Author: Gary F. Baines
Publisher: Unisa Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2008
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781868884568

For some fifteen years little attention has been paid to South Africa's late Cold War conflicts and the memories of soldiers who fought in them. Likewise, combatants with the liberation movements have all but been forgotten or otherwise marginalised in the new political dispensation. But the recent controversy over the exclusion of the names of SADF soldiers from the Freedom Park memorial wall and the popularity of publications and the existence of Internet sites that host personal accounts of the war suggest that there is significant public interest in these matters. The discovery of mass graves and questions about the treatment of detainees in SWAPO camps have kept the war in the public eye in Namibia. This volume offers new perspectives on the Border War through the paradigms of diplomatic and military history, cultural and literary studies, as well as victimology. Contributors to this volume have challenged the boundaries, broken the silences, even tackled some taboos about the war. They have put the Border War firmly back on the academic agenda thereby mirroring its place in the popular imagination.