The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil WarAs the Soviet Union teetered on the edge of collapse during the late 1980s, and America prepared to claim its victory, a bloody war still raged in Southern Africa, where proxy forces from both sides vied for control of Angola. The result was the largest battle on the dark continent since Al Alamein, with forces from both sides paying in blood what U.S.-Soviet diplomats were otherwise spending in diplomacy. The socialist government of Angola and its army, FAPLA, fully stocked with Soviet weapons, had only to wipe out a massive resistance group, UNITA, secretly supplied by the U.S, in order to claim full sovereignty over the country. A giant FAPLA offensive so threatened to succeed in overcoming UNITA that apartheid-era South Africa stepped in to protect its own interests. The white army crossing the border prompted the Angolan government to call on their own foreign reinforcementsÑthe army of Communist CubaÕs. Thus began the epic battle of Cuito Cuanavale, largely unknown in the U.S., but which raged for three months in the entirely odd match-up of South African Boers vs. CastroÕs armed forces, which for the first time in the Cold War proved what it could achieve. And it turned out the Cubans were very good. The South Africans were no slouches at warfare themselves, but had suffered under a boycott of weapons since 1977. The Cubans and Angolan troops, instead, had the latest Soviet weapons, easily delivered. But UNITA had its secret U.S. supply line and the South Africans knew how to fight, mainly at a disadvantage in air power for lack of spare parts. Meantime the Cubans overcame their logistic difficulties with an impressive airlift of troops over the Atlantic, while the Boers simply needed to drive next door. As a case study of ferocious fighting between East and WestÑalbeit proxies for the great powers on all sidesÑthis book unveils a remarkable episode of the end-game of the Cold War largely unknown to the public. The Angolans on both sides suffered heavily, but it was the apartheid South Africans versus CastroÕs armed forces that provides utter fascination in one of historyÕs rare match-ups. |
Contents
Preface | |
Dedication | |
Cuito CuanavaleAn Overview | |
the Cuban Forces | |
the South African Forces | |
the FAPLA Soviet Advisors | |
the Angolan UNItA | |
General Ben | |
the Retreat | |
the Siege ofCuito Cuanavale | |
Casualties ofthe Battle of Cuito Cuanavale | |
Glosssary | |
Appendix CU S S R Forces | |
Notes | |
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The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: Decision at Cuito Cuanavale and the ... Peter Polack Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
101 Battalion 20 Brigade 25th Air Combat 32 Infantry Battalion 47th Brigade 61st mechanised Battalion Air Combat Fighter aircraft Angola antiaircraft antitank artillery attack Battle of Cuito bomb Bosbok bush Captain captured Casspir casualties Chief Colonel Fred Oelschig Combat Fighter Regiment Combat Group Commander crew Cuba Cuban Cuito Cuanavale defensive Deon Ferreira email interviews equipment ernesto FAPA FAPLA brigades FAPLA forces FAPLA soldiers FAPLA troops February Final South African fire G5 howitzer Hartslief Heitman helicopter Honoris Crux killed kilometers Lance Corporal Lieutenant Colonel Lomba River Luanda major mavinga menongue miGs military mirage F1AZ missile mmCA mPLA multiple rocket launchers Namibia October ofAngola ofCuito Olifant tanks operations radio Ratel retired SADF UNItA retreat Richard Wiles Rifleman Rundu SAAF SADF SADF liaison SADF soldiers SADF UNItA liaison Savimbi September 1987 South African Infantry South African Phase Soviet tactical tumpo UNItA UNItA forces UNItA liaison officer Zhdarkin