The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale

The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale PDF

Author: Leopold Scholtz

Publisher: Africa@War

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781909384620

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The battle for the town of Cuito Cuanavale is a myth. The conduct of Operations Modular, Hooper, Packer and Displace by South African and UNITA forces in the 6th Military Region of southeastern Angola initially prevented FAPLA and its allies from occupying the UNITA town of Mavinga. The success achieved in this endeavor then led to the conduct of offensive military operations to force FAPLA and its allies to relinquish their bridgehead over the Cuito River and to redeploy to the western bank at Cuito Cuanavale. The FAPLA deployment and occupation of Cuito Cuanavale, on the western bank of the Cuito River, was never contested militarily by opposing forces during 1987 and 1988.

THE SADF AND CUITO CUANAVALE

THE SADF AND CUITO CUANAVALE PDF

Author: Leopold Scholtz

Publisher:

Published: 2020-02-15

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 9781928248033

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'A shooting war is often followed by a second war. This war is not fought with bullets or artillery shells, not with tanks or bombers, but rather with words.' In 1987-1988 the dusty Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale was the backdrop for the final battles of the Border War. Ever since the war ended, the fighting around Cuito has been the subject of a fierce public debate over who actually won the war. While the leadership of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) claims it was never defeated, the supporters of the Angolan MPLA government, Cuba and SWAPO insist that the SADF was vanquished on the battlefield. They contend that the SADF wanted to overrun Cuito Cuanavale and use it as a springboard for an advance on Luanda. But was Cuito Cuanavale ever really an objective of the SADF? Leopold Scholtz tackles this question by examining recently declassified documents in the SANDF archives, exploring the strategic and tactical decisions that shaped the six main battles, from the SADF's stunning tactical success on the Lomba River to the grinding struggle for the Tumpo Triangle. His incisive analysis untangles what happens when war, politics and propaganda become entwined.

The SADF and Cuito Cuanavale

The SADF and Cuito Cuanavale PDF

Author: Leopold Scholtz

Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers

Published: 2020-02-15

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1928248047

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"A shooting war is often followed by a second war. This war is not fought with bullets or artillery shells, not with tanks or bombers, but rather with words. The war is, in effect, fought again on paper." In 1987–1988 the dusty Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale was the backdrop for the final battles of the Border War. Ever since the war ended, the fighting around Cuito has been the subject of a fierce public debate over who actually won the war. While the leadership of the former South African Defence Force (SADF) claims it was never defeated, the supporters of the Angolan MPLA government, Cuba and SWAPO insist that the SADF was vanquished on the battlefield. They contend that the SADF wanted to overrun Cuito Cuanavale and use it as a springboard for an advance on Luanda. But was Cuito Cuanavale ever really an objective of the SADF? Leopold Scholtz tackles this question by examining recently declassified documents in the SANDF archives, exploring the strategic and tactical decisions that shaped the six main battles, from the SADF's stunning tactical success on the Lomba River to the grinding struggle for the Tumpo Triangle. His incisive analysis untangles what happens when war, politics and propaganda become entwined.

The War for Africa

The War for Africa PDF

Author: Fred Bridgland

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2017-06-19

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1612004938

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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

In Different Times

In Different Times PDF

Author: Ian van der Waag

Publisher: AFRICAN SUN MeDIA

Published: 2019-11-15

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1928480349

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This is the first attempt to bring together diverse scholars, using different lenses, to study South Africa’s Border War. As a book, it is critical in approach, provides deeper reflection, and focuses specifically on the SADF experience of the war. The result is a more complex picture of the war’s dynamics and its legacies. Although South Africa is a vastly different country today, the study of the Border War opens a range of questions, also relevant to contemporary deployments such as in Lesotho (1998) and the Central African Republic (2013). It includes the debate on participation in foreign conflicts; on the deployment, design and preparation of appropriate, modern armed forces and their use as foreign policy instruments in far‑off theatres; on military planning; and, as the historical controversies regarding the battles at Cuito Cuanavale and Bangui illustrate, on the interface between foreign campaigning and domestic politics.

Back to Angola

Back to Angola PDF

Author: Paul Morris (Psychotherapist)

Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781770225510

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"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.

Striking Inside Angola with 32 Battalion

Striking Inside Angola with 32 Battalion PDF

Author: Marius Scheepers

Publisher: Helion

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781907677779

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Join 'The Terrible Ones' on clandestine operations and in conventional warfare during the harsh bush war that raged through southern Angola in the 1980s. The conflict ended with the last major battle of the Cold War, one of the largest land battles of the latter part of the 20th century. This book presents an eyewitness account by a South African Defense Force (SADF) Signals Officer, Marius Scheepers, who served in arguably the most formidable battle unit that ever existed in the history of the South African Defense Force: 32 Battalion. It describes how members lived and fought in the bush during 1983 under the most difficult conditions. Being the Signals Officer of 32 Battalion, Scheepers was privy to all major command decisions of the time. Although he focuses primarily on operations during the year 1983, including Operations Snoek and Dolfyn, he includes concise descriptions of all other major operations that took place inside Angola between 1966 and 1988, including Operation Askari (1983/84) and the decisive battle at Cuito Cuanavale in 1987/88. Extensive appendices include 32 Battalion sitreps, radio-code cards, SADF radio equipment used by 32 Battalion and details on SADF, SAAF and SWAPO.

South Africa's 'Border War'

South Africa's 'Border War' PDF

Author: Gary Baines

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2014-02-27

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1472508246

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South Africa's 'Border War' provides a timely study of the 'war of words' waged by retired South African Defence Force (SADF) generals and other veterans against critics and detractors. The book explores the impact of the 'Border War' on South African culture and society during apartheid and in the new dispensation and discusses the lasting legacy or 'afterlife' of the war in great detail. It also offers an appraisal of the secondary literature of the 'Border War', supplemented by archival research, interviews and an analysis of articles, newspaper reports, reviews and blogs. Adopting a genuinely multidisciplinary approach that borrows from the study of history, literature, visual culture, memory, politics and international relations, South Africa's 'Border War' is an important volume for anyone interested in the study of war and memory or the modern history of South Africa.