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AFRICA@WAR SERIES
OPERATION DINGO: RHODESIAN RAID ON CHIMOIO AND TEMBUE 1977
Startling in its innovation and daringly suicidal, Operation Dingo was not only the Fireforce concept writ large but the prototype for all the major Rhodesian airborne attacks on the external bases of Rhodesian African nationalist insurgents in the neighbouring territories of Mozambique and Zambia until such operations ceased in late 1979.
FRANCE IN CENTRAFRIQUE. FROM BOKASSA & OPERATION BARRACUDE TO THE DAYS OF EUFOR
France in Centrafrique explores the early colonial and post-colonial history of French Equatorial Africa with a particular emphasis on the role of the Central African Republic in the Second World War and the Free French Movement...
BATTLE FOR CASSINGA - SOUTH AFRICA'S CONTROVERSIAL CROSS-BORDER RAID, ANGOLA 1978
The first-hand account by a South African paratrooper who was involved in the 1978 assault on the Angolan headquarters of PLAN, SWAPO’s armed wing...
SELOUS SCOUTS - RHODESIAN COUNTER-INSURGENCY SPECIALISTS
Formed in 1973 by the legendary Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Reid-Daly at the behest of Rhodesian military supremo General Peter Walls, the Selous Scouts were to write their name into the annals of military history as one of the finest counterinsurgency units of all time... Read More
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ZAMBEZI VALLEY INSURGENCY. EARLY RHODESIAN BUSH WAR OPERATIONS
Dr J.R.T. Wood
Across Africa in the post-1956 era, the aspirations of African nationalists to secure power were boosted and quickly realized by the British, French and Belgian hasty retreat from empire. The Portuguese, Southern Rhodesian and South African governments, however, stood firm and would be challenged by their African nationalists. Influenced by the Communist bloc, these nationalists adopted the 'Armed Struggle'. In the case of Rhodesia, the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo, took this step in 1962 after their effort to foment rebellion in Rhodesia's urban areas in 1961-62 had been frustrated by police action and stiffened security legislation. Rhodesia's small, undermanned security forces, however, remained wary as Zambia and Tanganyika had given sanctuary to communist- supplied ZAPU and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) guerrillas.
The Rhodesians had foreseen that the northeastern frontier with Mozambique would be the most vulnerable to incursions because the African population living along it offered an immediate target for succour and subversion. The Portuguese were not seen as a bulwark as they were clearly making little progress in their counter-insurgency effort against their FRELIMO nationalist opponents. The Rhodesians were fortunate, however, that ZAPU and ZANU chose to probe across the Zambezi River from Zambia into the harsh, sparsely populated bush of the Zambezi Valley.The consequence was that the Rhodesian security forces conducted a number of successful operations in the period 1966-1972 which dented insurgent ambitions.
This book describes and examines the first phase of the 'bush war' during which the Rhodesian forces honed their individual and joint skills, emerging as a formidable albeit lean fighting force.
Publisher: Helion & Company (2012)
Softback: 72 pages 8pp colour photos, many b/w photos, maps
Our Price: £16.95 + £2.99 - Coming Soon!
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CONGO UNRAVELLED. MILITARY OPERATIONS FROM INDEPENDENCE
TO THE MERCENARY REVOLT 1960-68
Andrew Hudson
Post-independence events in the Republic of the Congo are a veritable Gordian knot. The ambitions of Congolese political leaders, Cold War rivalry, Pan- Africanism, Belgium's continued economic interests in the country's mineral wealth, and the strategic perceptions of other southern African states all conspired to wrack Africa's second largest country with uprisings, rebellions and military interventions for almost a decade.
Congo Unravelled solves the intractable complexity of this violent period by dispassionately outlining the sequence of political and military events that took place in the troubled country. The reader is systematically taken through the first military attempts to stabilize the country after independence and the two distinguishing military campaigns of the decade-the United Nations military operations (Opération des Nations Unies au Congo, or ONUC) to end the secession of the Katanga Province, and the Dragon Operations led by Belgian paratroopers, supported by the US Air Force, launched to end the insurgency in the east of the country-are chronicled in detail. Finally, the mercenary revolt-an event that tainted the reputation of the modern mercenary in Africa- is described.
Lesser known military events - Irish UN forces cut off from the outside world by Katangese gendarmes and mercenaries, and a combined military operation in which Belgian paratroopers were dropped from US Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and supported by a mercenary ground force to achieve humanitarian ends - go far toward resolving the enigma surrounding post-independence Congo.
Publisher: Helion & Company (2012)
Softback: 72 pages 8pp colour photos, many b/w photos, maps
Our Price: £16.95 + £2.99 P&P - Coming Soon!
