South African Mirages and Cuban MiG-21s dogfighting over Cuito
Cuanavale, the largest tank battle on African soil since El
Alamein; Puma troopships shot out of the skies by Strela missiles
and RPG-7 rockets; Alouette III gunships hovering menacingly above
Koevoet tracker-combat teams as they close in for the kill;
Hercules and Transall transports disgorging their loads of Parabats
over Cassinga; suicidal helicopter hot extractions of Recce
operators deep in enemy territory; and a lone Alouette pilot who
disobeyed orders and under intense ground fire evacuated a
critically wounded soldier such is the story of the South African
Air Force, the SAAF, over the 23-year period 1966-1989, the period
of conflict that became known as the 'Border War'. Set against the
backdrop of the Cold War, the SAAF was effectively South Africa's
first line of defense against Soviet expansionism in southern
Africa. That the Soviets, through their surrogates-the Cuban
military, Angola's FAPLA and Namibia's SWAPO-sought a communist
regime in South Africa is indisputable, as too was the SAAF's
skill, quality, determination and capability to defeat the best
Soviet air defenses of the time. This account covers all the major
operations that the SAAF was involved in, from Operation
Blouwildebees, the opening salvo of the conflict at Omgulumbashe,
South West Africa in 1966 to the final curtain, Operation Merlyn,
the so-called April Fool's Day 'war' of 1989 when the SAAF and
Koevoet, almost alone, frustrated SWAPO's last throw of the dice
with its illegal invasion of South West Africa. In this account,
highlighting such operations as Reindeer, Bootlace/Uric, Sceptic,
Protea, Daisy, Askari, Moduler, Hooper and Packer, among many, as
well as the ongoing methodological operations like Lunar, Maanskyn,
Donkermaan and Butterfly, Baxter examines and brings to life the
squadrons and aviators that fought in both counterinsurgency and
conventional warfare roles. Besides an extensive selection of rare
photographs, the book features a comprehensive section on
camouflage and markings and 6 pages of color aircraft profiles and
insignia by noted SAAF authority William Marshall, making this
title especially useful for modelers.Peter Baxter is an author,
amateur historian and African field, mountain and heritage travel
guide. Born in Kenya and educated in Zimbabwe, he has lived and
travelled over much of southern and central Africa. He has guided
in all the major mountain ranges south of the equator, helping
develop the concept of sustainable travel, and the touring of
battlefield and heritage sites in East Africa. Peter lives in
Oregon, USA, working on the marketing of African heritage travel as
well as a variety of book projects. His interests include British
Imperial history in Africa and the East Africa campaign of the
First World War in particular. His first book was Rhodesia: Last
Outpost of the British Empire; he has written several books in the
Africa@War series, including France in Centrafrique, Selous Scouts,
Mau Mau and SAAF's Border War. REVIEWS Each of the books in this
series is a well-documented and researched synopsis of the events
that they are focused upon. They layouts and presentation are
logical and of a very high quality ... As an introduction to this
field of operation, this series is outstanding. A definite asset
for those wishing to improve their knowledge and understanding of
the development of successful, multi-faceted doctrine in the fight
against insurgent/assymetric war.Major Chris Buckham, Royal
Canadian Air Force Journal"I thoroughly enjoyed this terrific tome.
It's wonderfully researched. It's abundantly illustrated. And it's
a superb supplement to any library of Cold War history and African
insurgencies. Rabidly recommended David L. Veres, Cybermodeler
website"This title will appeal to historians and modellers alike,
particularly as there has been little written about these
operations, and indeed about the activities of the SAAF in general,
in the past." ModelArt Australia
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!