Angola September 1975

Dear Jose,

Thank you for the postcard and telephone call.

Your Mother is delighted you are coming home.

Stay safe my son, we are all looking forward to seeing you soon.

Your Father,

Christiano.

Somewhere in Southern Angola September 1975

'Rhino, this is Streetgang, radio check- over'

'Steetgang, this is Rhino, copy- over'

Progress Report

Over the last couple of weeks I've completed all the Cuban/FAPLA infantry together with Mortars, Command and Recoiless Rifles. I've also painted all the South African infantry and started on the armoured support and soft skins.

I need to finish off the lattter and make some headway with the South African heavy weapons and paint up some odds and ends like 32 Battalion/Potuguese mercenaries.

Pictures to follwo in a couple of days.

August 1975 Moscow

'Castro wants us to do what?'

'Provide airlift facilities for 450 Special Forces troops to fly from Havana to Luanda Comrade General'

'The Central Committee will have a fit - they're obsessed with detente. Why now? What's the hurry?'


'The Cubans allege the South African move into Angola won't stop at the Cunene river, they believe South Africa is getting covert assistance from the Americans. They also believe the CIA has sent money and weapons to UNITA and the FNLA'

'And what's the MPLA doing?'

'They are holding the cities, Comrade General but appear to be losing ground in the south. The northern border is under the control of FNLA troops. There are unconfirmed rumours that Mobutu has sent a couple of battalions to the border with the Cabinda exclave.'

'Can Neto hang on?'

'We don't know Comrade General. He may be exaggerating his difficulties...'

'And Castro wants to play at being his saviour...using our planes...eh?'

'Quite possibly Comrade General'

'Recommendation to Central Committee Anatoly, refuse the Cuban request. If Castro wants to go on a crusade in Africa he can get there by himself.'

'Yes Comrade General'

August 1975 Havana

From: Dirección de Inteligencia
To: MININT

1. MPLA sources report elements of SADF 2nd Infantry Division have crossed Angola-Namibia border near the Cunene River HEP Project STOP

2. SWAPO sources  have confirmed South African troops are in the area STOP

3. Moscow reports their sources in Lisbon have reported Portugese Government is about to lodge formal diplomatic protest STOP

ENDS

Good Resources...with a Caveat

Came across this whilst browsing a couple of days ago:

http://www.mercenary-wars.net/angola/main-index.html

It's a really valuable site with orginal documents, links to some great video footage and documentaries and lots of other good source material.

It comes with a health warning however. There's plenty of material on the web that is partisan and this site is no exception - it's sympathies are right wing and anti communist. That said, the links to BBC documentaries, National Security Council minutes and Cuban Government papers mean the reader can ignore the commentary and go straight to the original material. And it's great to have the links in one handy place.

Another handy site is http://www.warinangola.com/ - it's stuffed with a wealth of information. Sadly, the bias of the publishers is strongly pro South Africa/UNITA. Reading some of the commentary is creepy, it reminds me of those interviews and books written by Nazi generals who rewrote the history of the war on the Eastern Front but couldn't avoid the glaring fact they lost.

That said there is much on both these sites that we can use for The War for Slow Readers as the events of 1975-89 unfold in our alternative history.

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.