AAR Triumphant March of Socialism?

A small village in NE Angola, mid November 1975

I used the above table for this battle. The rules were an adapted version of Cold War 83. Instead of individual figures I had three or two man fireteams per base. Vehicles were mounted invidually. This means I can use my 15 mm figures as they are based for the AK 47 Reloaded rules.

Cold War 83 uses an ingenious mechanism to represent training, morale and fatigue called 'Bottle'. Simply put, a figure (or base in this case) is assigned a Bottle value and all actions and attempted actions are influenced by this value. Unusually, the player as to throw a score on 2D6 below a base's current Bottle value to succeed in movement or combat actions. So, the higher a base's Bottle, the more chance it has of actually doing what the player wants it to; whether that's moving, spotting, firing and hitting a target, unjamming a weapon or just about anything else you can think of. Bottle changes during a game, usually downwards, as your men respond to the stress of combat, are wounded or, in some cases, are inspired to bravery etc.

When their Bottle falls to below 2, they're assumed to rout, curl up in a ball, surrender or othrwise find a way of no longer taking part in combat.They can also be killed outright, most often when the firing enemy scores a 'critical success' - that is a successful 2D6 score that is a double.

In my game I assigned the FNLA's two mercenary stands, armed with a total of 6 G3 Rifles a Bottle value of 8 to reflect their training in the Foreign Legion or the Paras etc, as well as their experience as hard bitten dogs of war. Their Angolan FNLA comrades were only rated at 6, indicating they are conscripts with little experience but who have gained some appreciation of the dangers of war. They're armed with a total of 7 x AK47 Assault Rifles, 2 x PK LMGs and a couple of RPG 7 Grenade Launchers, presumably courtesy of the Chinese before they lost faith in Holden Roberto. Crucially the FNLA have one vehicle that's a runner, a Toyota pick up truck armed with a .50 cal HMG, and crewed by two Angolans also rated at 6. One item there is no shortage of is hand grenades.

I decided that the village was deserted, the locals having made themselves scarce when the soldiers showed up. All the built up area, rough ground and woods templates were assigned a 'clutter value' of 3, meaning that once contact is made then a stand has to subtract that number from its Bottle value if it wants to move anywhere or hit anything in the template. There are three gentle hills to the NW, NE and SW of the village that don't impede movement but block line of sight. Most of the area is light bush with a clutter value of 1. The roads are rated 0.

The mercenary Jean Langarotti set up as all round a defence as he could manage with the resources to hand. I decided the FNLA would deploy first and then the road entrance tthat he MPLA would enter on would be chosen randomly. This simulates the 'frontless nature of the fighting' (see the previous post). The MPLA would move without dicing for success against Bottle until contact.

The MPLA were represented by a full platoon of motorised infantry, transported in three newly aquired URAL trucks, with an 8 men squad per truck split into 3 fireteams with a total of 6 x AK47s, 1x PK LMG and an RPG 7. Like their FNLA opponents they were rated at 6 for Bottle.

Six Cuban Special Forces soldiers provided the leadership and expertise. Two were in a GAZ jeep mounting an HMG on point, and another five, including the force commander, Leiutenant Alonso, in the follwing GAZ jeep, also equipped with an HMG. These were given a Bottle rating of 9.

The MPLA attempted to get on table on turn 1. The point jeep was hit by the HMG mounted in the Toyota technical, obviously the Cubans weren't anticipating an ambush! So much for their training and experience. Although they suffered some damage, neither the vehicle or the crew were incapacitated by this first burst of fire. As their comrades followed them into he kill zone however, an FNLA fireteam, emboldened by the noise and the obvious power of the technical's HMG, opened up with everything they had, namely an LMG and two AK 47s.

The leading Cuban jeep was destroyed and the following one accelterated into the cover of the buildings south of the FNLA technical. Two URAL trucks followed, taking rounds on the way in. The third URAL didn't make it on to the table, the sound of the firefight obviously leading the driver to stamp on the brakes.

One brewed up Cuban jeep in the background, the FNLA technical and fireteam that did the damage in the foreground. Note that the FNLA firteam's bottle rating is inicated by the two small green dice. It's at 7 because of the proximity of Langarotti who can be see in botom of the picture



From this point on things went rapidly downhill for our heroic revolutionaries. Of the two URALs that drove towards the village, one copped a burst from the Toyota's .50 cal and the resulting mayhem led the hapless Alonso and his comrades to go to ground and become suppressd as they were within 7.5 cm of the truck that was hit. The second URAL truck came under fire from another FNLA fireteam before it reached the cover of the buildings and the crew were killed and the troops on board all suppressed. The only postive thing the MPLA managed to do was get the third truck on the table and under cover in the woods to the north of their entry point.

By  the end of turn three more and more fire was being poured into the MPLA and Cubans either in, or just outside, the buildings and casualties were mounting. The squad in the third truck disembarked and moved forward to engage Langarotti and his men from the cover of the woods but by then it was all too little, too late. The rest of the MPLA's force was either suppressed and/or had a Bottle rating of 2, meaning there was nothing they could do about their predicament.

Here you can see the MPLA & the Cubans with their rapidly dwindling Bottle scores


At this point I decided to end my little experiment. What have I learned? Firstly, I really like the rules and especially the Bottle mechanism. At last I can see what others rave about. This is a fast play rule set that gives a flavour of how I imagine the chaos of a firefight to play out. As the player, you can see the danger your litte men are in, but getting them do do what you want to get out of it is another matter. With a little thought I think I can come up with plenty of scenarios involving all sorts of pressure on the protagonists - not shooting at civilians in the war zone, securing the merchandise from Mr Arms Dealer, avoiding being filmed by a news crew as your men go on the rampage/break and run/loot and pillage - are a few that have just come to mind. Secondly, get out off your trucks and spread out as soon as you hear incoming fire...

The Truimphant March of Socialism?

Mid November 1975. The FNLA offensive on Luanda in the north has been halted. The South African led forces  on the southern front have started to retreat towards Benguela. The MPLA's grip on Luanda becomes more secure as each day goes by. Soviet Anatov transport aircraft fly Cuban troops into Luanda round the clock. The Cubans are supplied with heavy equipment from freighters docked in Luanda's harbour. One of the freighters is 'The Carlotta', the same name that has been given by Fidel Castro to the operation that is sending thousands of Cubans to Africa. Carlotta was a the leader of a slave revolt. For Fidel and the Cuban leadership Angola represents their revolutionary destiny - more slaves came from this part of Africa than anywhere else, many of them were shipped to the Caribbean, now their descendants are coming home to liberate Angola from the Imperialists.

At least that's the official version. The Soviets have swallowed bile and are providing arms and transport to their 'tropical socialist' allies. The MPLA is now trying to secure the approaches to Luanda to the north and south using recently recruited Cuban led troops kitted out with Soviet supplied weapons and transport.



But where is the front? Comrade Farrusco, fighting near Lubango for the MPLA , told Ryszard Kapuscinki:

'In Europe they taught me that a front is trenches and barbed wire, which form a distinct and visible line...on a river, along a road, or from village to village. You can trace it on a map with a pencil...here the front is everywhere and nowhere...there is too much land and too few people for a front to exist...so the front doesn't consist of a line but points, and moving points at that...Every unit is a front, and a potential front. If our unit runs into an enemy unit , those two poteial fronts turn into a real front. A battle occurs.'

'This is a war of ambushes. On any road, at any place, there can be a front.'

'You can travel the whole country and come back alive, or you can die a metre from where you're standing. There are no principles, no methods.'

'This war is a real mess. Nobody knows just where they stand.'

Jean Langarotti and Kurt Semmler know where they stand. They're holed up in a small township at a crossroads about 100 km east of Luanda. Since the defeat at Caxito and the death of their leader Carlo Shannon, the two mercenaries have been retreating into the interior. Their transport has all broken down or run out of gasoline. They have one Toyota pick up truck that is a runner, and mounts a 50 cal machine gun. The South African Jan Dupree and the Briton Gary Watson, together with two Portuguese, are the only other trained and experienced men they have. There are thirteen Angolans with them, all of them FNLA, poorly trained conscripts. Between them they have a couple each of PK LMGs and RPG 7s, half a dozen G3 rifles, and seven Kalashnikovs.

They know they have to move, and move soon. The trouble is there is a dust cloud on the horizon and that can only mean one thing. The MPLA have caught up with them.

Langorotti softly whistles 'Spanish Harlem' and makes is dispositions.

The battle that followed was fought using an adapted version of Cold War 83 rules by Wessex Games. Full AAR in a couple of days.

Task Force Orange

The third South African Task Force in our campaign is Task Force Orange. Like Zulu and Foxbat, TF Orange crossed the Namibian border on 15 October and by 25 October was driving on the airstrip at Menongue.

To date the advance has proceeded relatively smoothly over 380 km or so, the biggest challenge has been mines and ensuring the column well supplied.

Portuguese FNLA Mercenaries serving with TF Orange

Like the other two southern task forces Orange comprised an FNLA motorised infantry battalion, albeit with a greater proportion of Portuguese mercenaries, and two SADF motorised infantry battalions together with  an armoured reconnaissance element and engineering and artillery support.

Early in the morning of 25 October a company from 1 Para was parachuted in and, after a short pause to get organised, had seized the airfield.

Orange's task now was to rendezvous with the paras and secure a base at Menongue. An airlift of fuel, rations and ammunition would then re-supply the column before the drive on Luanda would resume.

The lack of resistance to date has prompted the SADF command to make Orange the priority column. It was still over a 1000 km from Luanda but air reconnaissance indicated that significant opposition was unlikely and there were still two and a half weeks to independence day on 11 November.

TF Orange was operating in relatively remote territory but the MPLA and its Cuban advisers were aware of its presence by 25 October.

The question was what, if anything, could they do about it?

Cahama 19 October 1975

The South African objectives were to secure the road entering the battlefield on the right, the crossroads over the bridge to the left and the road exiting the battlefield at the top of the picture.

A motorised company of FNLA militia was assigned to sieze the wooded area to the right of the river at the top of the picture and cross the river by the nearby ford; three FNLA technicals were ordered to drive over the bridge and take the crossroads in a coup de main; and an understrength company (two platoons) of SADF regulars were to secure the kraal in the right foreground. A full strength SADF infantry company, supported by six Elland armoured cars was in reserve. The accent was on speed and aggression: since crossing the border four days ago Task Force Zulu had not encountered any significant opposition from the MPLA or their Cuban allies.

The Bridge at Cahama

FNLA Technicals poised to charge over the bridge: the graffiti on the building on the right should have been a warning...

 The plan went wrong almost from the very beginning. The technicals drove across the bridge at high speed and ran into a well laid ambush at the crossroads. Cuban trained FAPLA troops, armed with recoiless rifles and dug in amongst the buildings, opened up on the softskinned FNLA column. Two thirds of the FNLA vehicles were knocked out immediately and as the remainder tried to retreat across the bridge they fell prey to pre-registered mortar fire.

The FNLA motorised infantry successfully approached the ford but were caught in withering fire from an understrength FAPLA militia company led by Cuban officers and instructors from their southern training camp. The FNLA retreated and went to ground.

The South African infantry approached the kraal with caution. Given the unexpected amount of firing and the confusion that was apparent from the radio traffic, their commander had decided a careful advance was called for. Once amongst the cover of the primitive dwellings, he was astonished to see half a dozen soviet built jeeps bristling with heavy machine guns drive at full speed over the bridge and take up position in the buildings where only half an hour ago the FNLA technical crews had eaten breakfast. He and his men spent the rest of the morning pinned down by machine gun fire. What he didn't know was that a Cuban special forces captain had commandeered the jeeps and, seizing the initiative, had driven straight through the FNLA position.

Securing the Kraal

The South African Commander acted decisively and committed his reserve. Fortunately for him Bravo Company had found the river to the south of Cahama to be easily forded and had outflanked the FAPLA position on its left. Even this good luck was limited however, as his troops entered dense bush and found themselves involved in close quarter combat with Angolan troops led by Cubans.

As night fell the South Africans counted the cost. All nine FNLA Technicals were destroyed, The FNLA infantry were refusing to move and his most successful unit had lost nine dead and over a dozen wounded. total casualties were 27 wounded and 14 dead. It was a disaster.

The Cuban commander made a quick appraisal of the situation. Astonishingly his men had suffered no fatal casualties although he had six wounded, one seriously. It was clear this was a large enemy force and the fighting in the bush by the river had left him in no doubt he was up against South African regulars with armoured support. Now wasn't the time for heroics.

As night fell the Cuban and FAPLA troops melted away and, under the cloak of darkness, headed north.

Training to Win

Cuban Instructors Training MPLA Cadre

'The training is going well Comrade Colonel, but I fear that time is not a luxury we have'

'Elaborate Major'

'We have small arms and equipment to train enough cadres to wage a guerilla war on a scale sufficient to successfully take on the FNLA and UNITA. My fear though is that, because our strength is in urban areas like Luanda, we'll end up fighting a conventional war. For that we need heavy weapons, armour and artillery. Even if we get them we aren't going to have enough time to train the men to fight with those weapons. UNITA is getting stronger and the FNLA is starting to probe in the north. If the South Africans move on Benguela we'll be fighting a war on three fronts. It looks bleak.'

'There is no prospect of heavier weapons being supplied. Things will have to get much worse before we commit to anything drastic. Your comments are helpful though. Write me a report - I particularly want hard information about UNITA. Where they are active and some assessment of numbers. In the meantime, keep running the programme - the more trained men we have the better.'

'Yes Comrade Colonel'

Progress Report

A busy week and a half over Christmas and the New Year with 6 x T55s, 6 x BTR 60s, 6 x GAZ 69 Jeeps 'Technicals' and 6 x Toyota Pick Up 'Technicals' painted and based. I've also finished off 20 stands of Cuban Infantry and have made progress painting 10 stands of Cuban RPGs.

The T55s and BTR 60s will obviously be Cuban/FAPLA, as will the GAZ 69 Technicals. The Toyotas could be FNLA/UNITA or FAPLA.




T55s and a BTR 60



GAZ 69 Jeeps and a Toyota Technical

Toyota Technical with 23mm AA Gun



The Cuban/FAPLA army is almost complete. I have to paint some mortars, URAL trucks, a couple of helicopters and MiG 21 (although I'll probably leave the air support until after I've completed the FNLA/UNITA/SADF ground forces). UNITA and FNLA infantry are just about finished- the big job is going to be the SADF vehicles and infantry together with some trucks and Landrovers that will be also used by UNITA and FNLA. I have another couple of weeks off work so should be able make a dent in that lot...we'll see.

Progress Report

The South Africans arrived last week courtesy of Peter Pig. Great service - I only ordered thm what seems like a few days ago - and lovely figures and models.

So, I now have my Cuban/UNITA/FAPLA/SWAPO infantry to finish (and after a marathon session yesterday these are coming along nicely - pictures to follow) as well as tanks, APCs, technicals, a couple of helicopters (Mi 24 and Mi 17) and a MiG 21 as well as the South Africans. My forthcoming month off is going to be busy.

I've been thinking about terrain and have decided that whilst my miniature world maker river and roads will suffice I'm going to get new hills, trees and buildings as well as a new basecloth for this project. The thinking at present is 'teddy bear fur' in a light beige or sandy colour for the basecloth: three of Battlefront's desert hills, one extra large and two large; and about a dozen or so buildings from Peter Pig & Timecast. For the vegetation I'll use Irishserb's technique of model railway trees and lichen.

I hope to be able to play my first game by mid February.

Up to know events in War for Slow Readers hae mirrored what actually happened. That will change soon. Once the South African 2nd Infantry Division crosses the border to secure the  Ruacana-Calueque hydro-electric scheme and the US begins to send money and arms to back UNITA then the Cuban response may or may not follow history's script.

FNLA on the rampage...

A number of counterfactuals are possible:

• A stronger or weaker Cuban intervention than what actually occured
• UNITA and or the FNLA capture Luanda in late 1975 or early 1976
• South Africa intervenes more decisively
• The Soviets airlift Cuban troops en mass and provide naval and air support on a large scale
• The US and British, through mercenary troops and covert assistance to UNITA and the FNLA, shore up the South African position far more than they really did.

And that only takes us to March 1976!

There are the fascists Helmut!

As the war unfolds we may get an SAS raid on Luanda airport to destroy Soviet spy planes shadowing the Royal Navy Task Force heading for the Falklands; East German Kommandoes and Soviet Spetsnatz being deployed along and across the Namibian border; and Cuban mechanized troops taking on the SADF in support of SWAPO.

Soviet Tupolov Luanda 1982

The 80s are going to be very interesting in Angola...

Angolan Blitzkrieg

I bought a copy of Strategy & Tactics Magazine # 235 a couple of months ago when I was embarking on this project.

This edition features two games under the title 'Cold War Battles': the first is Budapest 1956 and the second, Angolan Blitzkrieg 1987,is the one I'm interested in.

The latter features Cuban and South African forces battling it out in Southern Angola in 1987-88. These battles, centred around the town of Cuito Cunavale, are the subject of much controversy. There are almost completely contradictoy accounts of events, depending on the political sympathies of the writers, in much of the literature. Both sides claim victory in what was the biggest battle in Africa since World War II.

There is something of an industry that seeks to claim victory for South Africa in both the published literature and on the web. The theme seems to be that the South Africans were the military victors and these accounts often quote, in great detail, realtive casualty figures and equipment losses to demonstrate this. The debates in internet foums are often not very fertile: when the view that the South Africans 'won' is challenged it is often rubbished by veterans who quickly use the 'you weren't there so so you can't know' argument. Joseph Miranda, the designer of this game and the author of a very useful article in the magazine, appears to sympathise with the view the South Africans were the 'victors'.

I'm not so sure. After Cuito Cunavale the South Africans withdrew from Angola and shortly after that aparheid collapsed. In purely military terms, the South Africans may have inflicted more casualties on their communist opponents, but the fact remains that the political victory went to the Cubans and the MPLA. Whilst I accept Mandela's rhetoric, that Cuito Cunavale was the death knell of apartheid because black Cuban and Angolan troops fought the white South Africans to a standstill, may be exaggerated, I believe there is enough truth in it to merit giving it some weight. After all, war is a political phenomena.



Close up of a game in progress

The game is very useful for 'War for Slow Readers', if only for the orders of battle, map and the detailed article in the accompanying magazine. I've played a couple of turns and fiddled around with the counters and it's given me plenty of ideas for scenarios and back stories for my campaign. Particularly intriguing are some of the unit counters featured: a Soviet Communications Unit, East German Special Forces (the 'Angola Kommando'), South African Paras and Special Forces as well as UNITA and FAPLA guerillas.

I've yet to come across any evidence that East Germany sent anything other than advisors and aircrew to Angola but the prospect of painting up a company of the Angola Kommando and deploying them in Soviet built helicopters is tempting...

Havana, June 1975

‘So Comrade Major, The Chief has read your report. The situation in Angola looks bleak. Our friends are concerned they may not have the muscle to stop Roberto and Savimba. What do you think we should do?’

‘Comrade General, with respect, I’ve given my recommendations in the report, as has Major Perez…’

‘Yes Comrade, we’ve read it and we appreciate what’s on paper and… as one Comrade to another…I’d like to hear what you really think…it won’t go on record, I assure you…’

‘Comrade General, if I can be frank…the report outlines the risks of us supplying the MPLA with the amount of support they are asking for, particularly in light of our previous experiences in Africa….’

‘Is there an alternative?’

‘I think we could adopt a minimalist strategy, limited support and using specialists to train MPLA cadre. I suggest enough to establish four camps…in three months they could be turning out enough trained men to alter the balance. Drip feed weapons and equipment…I’m sure our comrades in Moscow would help with the latter…we can provide the expertise, the Soviets have the money and hardware.’

‘Have you worked up any notes on this?’

‘Perez and I have a file Comrade General’

‘Good. I like it. I think The Chief will like it. I want a proposal on my desk first thing tomorrow’

‘Yes Comrade.’

‘And Major?’

‘Comrade General?’

‘Well done…’

Alvor Agreement, Lisbon, January 1975, and Subsequent Events

Leftist military officers overthrew the Portugese Government in the Carnation Revolution on April 25, 1974, The MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA each negotiated peace agreements with the transitional Portuguese government and began to fight each other for control of Luanda and the country. Holden Roberto, Agostinho Neto, and Jonas Savimbi met in Bukavu, Zaire in July and agreed to negotiate with the Portuguese as one political entity. They met again in Mombasa, Kenya on January 5, 1975 and agreed to stop fighting each other, further outlining constitutional negotiations with the Portuguese. They met for a third time in Alvor, Portugal from January 10-15 and signed what became known as the Alvor Agreement.

The agreement did not establish a mechanism to verify the number of troops that could be maintained by each political group. All three parties soon had forces greater in number than the Portuguese, endangering the colonial power's ability to keep the peace. Factional fighting renewed, reaching new heights as foreign supplies of arms increased. In February the Cuban government warned the Eastern Bloc the Alvor Agreement would not succeed. By spring the African National Congress and SWAPO were echoing Cuba's warning.

Leaders of the Organization of African Unity organized a peace conference moderated by Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta with the three leaders in Nakuru, Kenya in June. The Angolan leaders issued the Nakuru Declaration on June 21, agreeing to abide by the provisions of the Alvor Agreement while acknowledging a mutual lack of trust led to violence. Many analysts have criticized the transitional government in Portugal for the violence that followed the Alvor Agreement in terms of a lack of concern about internal Angolan security and favoritism towards the MPLA. High Commissioner Coutinho, one of the seven leaders of the National Salvation Junta, openly distributed ex-Portuguese arms and military equipment to MPLA forces at the expense of the other competing parties.



Admiral Coutinho, centre, with Agostinho Neto of the MPLA, left, and Joans Savimbi of UNITA, right.


Edward Mulcahy, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the US State Department, told Tom Killoran, the U.S. Consul General in Angola, to congratulate the PMC rather than the FNLA and UNITA on their own and Coutinho for Portugal's "untiring and protracted efforts" at a peace agreement. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger considered any government involving the pro-Soviet, Communist MPLA, to be unacceptable and President Gerald Ford oversaw heightened aid to the FNLA

In July the MPLA violently forced the FNLA out of Luanda and UNITA  withdrew to its stronghold in the south and declared war. By August the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Cabina and Luanda. South Africa intervened on October 23, sending 1,500 to 2,000 troops from Namibia into southern Angola.

Angola in 1975: Some Basic Facts

Angola's borders in 1975 were the same as today. It had, and has, an area of  481,321 square miles (1,246,620 km²). It was, and is, comparable in size to Mali and is nearly twice the size of the US state of Texas, or five times the area of the United Kingdom.


In 1970, when the last official census was completed the population was 5.8 million. By 1975 it was estimated at 6.5 million. 


Angola was bordered by Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, Zaire to the north-east, and the South Atlantic to the west. The exclave of Cabinda also bordered the Congo to the north. Angola's capital, Luanda, lies on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country.


Crudely, the country can be divided into a coastal plain 60-100 km wide, a hilly and mountainous belt and a high plateau.

 The climate is Angola's average temperature on the coast is 60 °F (16 °C) in the winter and 70 °F (21 °C) in the summer. It has two seasons; dry season (May to October) and hot rainy season (November to April). The vegetation is largely savannah with belts of tropical rain forest near major waterways. 

The factions that fought the colonial war against the Portuguese, and each other, had their bases in different geographical regions. The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) were strongest in the north and had troops in neighbouring Zaire, as it was in 1975. The Marxist MPLA, or People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola's, core support came from the the Mbundu ethnic group as well the educated intelligentsia in Luanda, and other urban centres, as well as Angolan activists in Portugal. The party had formal links with Soviet and East European Communist parties. UNITA, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, was founded in 1966. UNITA was led by Jonas Savimbi after he broke with the FNLA.  UNITA's leadership was drawn largely from the Ovimbundu in the Central Southern region.

Storm Clouds

February 1975

 

“Peele’s source in Luanda finally came up with something on the Cubans”

“Anything of substance Neil?”

“Hard to say Sir, a Major Perez and a Major Cadelo spent the last couple of months over there on a ‘fact finding mission’, they met with Neto, who apparently asked for the world, but we know nothing of the response from Havana”

“Is Neto’s star on the rise?”

“The MPLA seem to be gaining ground but it’s hard to tell. The Portuguese are trying to broker a deal between the factions but I suspect they will cut and run eventually. The Chinese dabbled with the FNLA but they’ve pulled out. The Cousins are spending a bit on Roberto and his merry men though”

‘’Hmm…and Savimbi?”

“Unsure Sir, UNITA are very quiet. There’s some indication that Pretoria are taking an interest there.”

“Do the Cousins know that?”

“Highly unlikely Sir, should we tell Ross?”

“Over lunch Neil, over lunch”

August 1974

‘…the next item gentlemen, is Angola…the Cousins tell us Havana has sent two representatives of the DGI to Luanda…they want to know if our people know anything about this…Harry?’

‘Peele may be able to tell us something, he had a source in Luanda, at least he did until there was a rush on flowers in Lisbon’

‘Find out what you can. Next…there is a delicate matter in Cyprus I believe Anthony?’

January 1975 The White House

'Gentlemen, this is a map of Africa and here is Angola. Now, in Angola we have three factions. There's the MPLA, they're the bad guys. The FNLA, they're the good guys and there's UNITA and Jonas Savimbi we don't know too well'