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...
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...
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...
The armourer Flight Sergeant didn't like it one bit - "Captain, our orders were to load your aircraft with 72 standard HE rockets. I cannot change that on your request!' He was quite correct of course. The type of weapon used in an air attack is determined after...
Our first operation, code-named First Blood, was to destroy a temporary base in Zambia belonging to SWAPO, the guerrilla group fighting for the independence of South West Africa [now Namibia]. The base was a small transit camp, situated less than ten kilometres over...
One of the last modern conflicts which saw the extensive combat deployment of the T-34-85 was the Angolan Civil War. In 1975, the Soviet Union shipped eighty T-34-85s to Angola as part of its support for the ongoing Cuban military intervention there. Cuban crewmen...
After the Hippo APC, the Buffel was the second-ever mass-produced V-shaped hull, open-topped, Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) / Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). It was made and used by the South African Defense Force (SADF) at a time when South Africa was subject to ever...
The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like Angola, India,...
The Ratel 60 is an infantry fighting vehicle of South African origin. It is a variant of the Ratel series of infantry fighting vehicles. The Ratel 60 can be used for indirect fire and battlefield support. In South African service it was issued to combat engineers. The...
Recce Operator Badge 303
Jim Maguire (46) a former Royal Marine from London who went on to serve in the Rhodesian and South African special forces, was a mercenary in Ivory Coast for three months.
American seeking adventure. He was a Foreign volunteer during the Rhodesian Bush War, known for serving with elite units of the Rhodesian Security Forces. After 1980 joined 32Bn South Africa
former member of the New Zealand SAS. Phillip Kearns