the first recipient of the Honoris Crux Medal in the battalion on 17 December 1975
South African Border War
South African Mirage F1’s versus Angolan MiG-23’s
In the dramatic power struggle for Angola in 1987, South African Air Force Mirage F1s tackled MiG-23s in the skies above south-western Africa. Lionel Reid recounts the story Angola 1987. The Soviet and Angolan MPLA forces decided on an ambitious plan: a large-scale...
Carlo “Kattie” Gagiano
After completing his basic military training, Gagiano started his South African Air Force career as a student pilot on the AerMacchi MB-326M in July 1968 at Flying Training School Langebaanweg. After completing his "wings test", on 28 August 1969, he was transferred...
Alouette III
The Aérospatiale Alouette III was a pivotal and versatile light utility helicopter in the Rhodesian, South African, and Portuguese Air Forces during the various Southern African conflicts, particularly the Portuguese Colonial War and the Border War (or Bush War). It...
Derek William Andrews
Derek William Andrews was born in Wyndham (WA) on 4 January 1950. He first served in the Citizens Military Forces (CMF) from 13 February 1968 to 18 November 1969 and then enlisted in the Australian Army on 24 November 1969. After basic training he was posted to the...
F1 Hand Grenade
This is the Russian F1(Ф1), a High-Explosive-Fragmentation (HE-Frag), defensive, striker-release (SR), hand-grenade, nicknamed the Limonka (lemon-like), used as an Anti-Personnel (AP) hand-grenade and also used as part of a booby-trap (BTP), it has been copied in many...
M26 Hand Grenade
This is the American M26, a High-Explosive-Fragmentation (HE-Frag), Anti-Personnel (AP), delay (DLY) detonating, hand-grenade which has a notched fragmentation coil liner including the M26A1, A2 and A3 and is manufactured in various countries. Its distinct lemon shape...
MiG-21
During Angola's long-running civil war, MiG-21s of the Cuban Air Force were frequently deployed to attack ground targets manned by rebel forces or engage South African Air Force Mirage F1s conducting cross-border strikes. Most MiG-21 losses over Angola were attributed...
MiG-23ML
The early MiG-23 variants had a number of design shortcomings, including airframe strength and reliability, engine performance, maneuverability and radar performance. A considerable redesign of the airframe was conducted, resulting in the MiG-23ML (L - Lyogkiy or...