One hardly sees Hollywood movies with cold war plots in locations as obscure as Angola and South West Africa/Namibia, but yet the cold war's tentacles reached as far as Southern Africa.
Its likely to have heard about the Cuban missile crisis, but who has heard of Cubans troops and Soviet Union advisers operating in the Angolan Bush.
It's a long and interesting story that has its roots to way back in colonial times, but one can still find remnants of it in various museums or in the bush where viscous battles were fought.
The South Africa Border War war was mostly fought on the ground but its interesting to start the story off in the air.
South Africa deployed a number of aircraft and the Angolans had the Angolan Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis Lofting-1 supplied by the Soviet Union via Cuba, shown below in combat colours.
This particular one is one that crash landed in Northern South West Africa on 14 December 1988, after the pilot got lost and ran out of fuel.
The undercarriage was restored and it is housed at Swartkop Air Force Base near Pretoria.
The FAPA/DAA fought several battles with South African Air Force aircraft in November 1981, October 1982, and twice in September 1987.
Both the MiG-21MF and the MiG-21bis were deployed almost exclusively in the fighter/bomber role.
As interceptors they were somewhat unsuccessful due to their inability to detect low-flying South African aircraft. On November 6, 1981, a Mirage F1CZ achieved South Africa's first confirmed air-to-air kill since the Korean War when it destroyed Cuban Lieutenant Danacio Valdez's MiG-21MF with 30mm cannon fire.
On 5 October 1982, Mirages escorting an English Electric Canberra on routine reconnaissance over Cahama were engaged by at least two MiG-21bis. A South African radar operator picked up the attacking MiGs and was able to alert the Mirage pilots in advance, instructing them to change course immediately. As they jettisoned their auxiliary tanks, however, they were pinpointed by the Cubans, who opened pursuit.
In a vicious dogfight, SAAF Major Johann Rankin closed range and maneuvered into the MiGs' rear cones. From there, one of his two R.550 Magic missiles impacted directly behind the lead MiG and forced it down. The second aircraft, piloted by a Lieutenant Raciel Marrero Rodriguez, could not detect the Mirage's proximity until it had entered his turn radius and was perforated by Rankin's autocannon. This damaged MiG-21 landed safely at Lubango.
The Mirage F1CZ with the kill also at Swartkop Air Force Base.
@gavvet thanks for the story! I did service at the 250 Air Defence Artillery Group and served on the ZU 23 mm canons and Hilda missle system. Our targets included the Migs you referred to!
You could probably tell some stories then?
Many, really many will see how I can put them together and maybe do a post or two! I have some photos of or deployment in the then South West Africa!
let me know when they go up
Will do so!
Pakistan was the main battleground from the USA side, they used Pakistan and Afghanistan as proxies in the cold war, and we are paying the price still in Pakistan for those wrong doings of America @gavvet
ZU do you mean Soviet ZSU 23x4?
That is the one yes! It was a Russian canon that South Africa got hold of
There are so many thing here in the west we do not hear about, its that most of the time the news is just a giant smoke screen to cover up what is really happening in the world. Thanks for the informative post, keep up the good work!
The US was involved too - for oil - surprise, surprise.... but more on that later.
Oh I am sure we were, we seem to have our hands in everything........
son of a South African mother and British father, co-founded a private military firm that fought on the government sides against rebels in Angola and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.
Chester Crocker, an american diplomatic who negotiated the peace in Angola in 1988,talks about Cuito Cuanavale, nice share!
The whole war pivoted around Cuito Cuanavale... but more on that later.
Are you speaking of Executive Outcomes perhaps?
Ok...waiting on more later
This is fascinating! Thank you for sharing. There are so many hero's in our history all over the planet. I love that you are bringing some of their stories to the forefront! It is a dream of mine to be able to sit in the room with so many war veterans who have endless stories to share. They have so much courageand wisdom to share with us.
This post received a 2.7% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @britt.the.ish! For more information, click here!
"Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.’" love this btw
Glad you do.
Very interesting story. I was not aware of any of this, despite the face that I live din South Africa for a large portion of my life.
The goings on, on the border were always hushed up.
My SA friend who was in the SA Navy has told me many stories that were quite horrifying about this untold war.
Combat was fierce at times during major offensives, which gratefully, were cut short by the rainy season. No armor could move when the rains started in Angola.
Usually, "The victors write the history books"
I wonder why this part of history was lost?
It was a stalemate...
This is interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Border_War
You have opened up a new piece of history for me. (I'm sure, reading a couple of articles is only scratching the surface - but it's a start)
Thank you.
This is really interesting. It sucks that places like Africa are forgotten about during conflicts and especially the Cold War. One of the most interesting wars. It is similar to how many doesn't hear about the Asian fronts in the World Wars
Not Hollywood mass appeal material I guess
That is so very true. Why is it that the WW2 battles in Western Europe are more famous than ones in Asia. General Douglas MacArthur had to fight island by island from Australia to Japan. Across the the vast pacific Ocean with fierce Japanese resistance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur#World_War_II
While his former desk clerk, Eisenhower, had to jump over a puddle (English Channel) , help the French free their country and wait for the Russian to take Berlin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower#In_service_of_generals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower#Liberation_of_France_and_victory_in_Europe
Thanks for the story, it is sad that the stories we hear in the western world are so selective. You learned this story in the musea?
I was drafted, along with all white South African males until about 1991
You must have a lot more stories to tell... I can relate, because my dad was in the Zimbabwean liberation war and he always tells me stories that nobody else knows. I have tremendous respect for veterans.
can this apply real bullets??
...and real missiles and bombs.
Thanks for posting this
This was seriously interesting. You're right most people don't know about this. Thanks for sharing! Oh and just read your profil description thingy. "Doubters don't achieve", that shook something inside of me.
Every country that has a sophisticated combat tool is very useful as a means of protecting its country but unfortunately what we are witnessing now, every attacker who uses his victims plane is even more civilians, children, women and parents than targeted enemies. Let alone use high explosive power missiles. A great post to remember the wartime that happened in the country.
We never hear about these things in history books, media, documentaries, thanks for sharing !!
wow,tnx for this story
The global world has turned out to be more violent than advance. The advancement has unfortunately come at the hands of WARS and KILLINGS.
Wonder when we all will be witnessing GLOBAL PEACE and GLOBAL HARMONY.
Great step forward raising ur voice to the FORGOTTEN LANDS.
Great post 👍🏻
We will witness global peace and harmony when Jesus returns.....not before.
i love it @gavvet i always follow ur post ^_^
Great Photograph @gavvet. awesome
Thanks for sharing!
Damn, I would love to see it live and make some drawing studies with it. I feel I need to make an illustration with aircrafts now :C
I dont know much about the coldwar history , but after reading your post , it surely seems interesting . With all the jet fighters and veterans that sacrificed their lives for the country. Without them , our country will still be at war.
How are you? Gavvet.
I am a translator into Korean.
I'll keep translating your articles to Korean for my Korean community.
Thanks always.
Thanks for sharing!
I found this part most interesting as I am from South Africa
Thanks, great post I enjoyed the read!
Great photo
wow he even has his name on the plane? major johann!
i love it.
thank you
nice post.
Thanks for the story, it is sad that the stories we hear in the western world are so selective. You learned this story in the musea?
thanks for sharing this important piece!
new follower + upvoted + resteemed
As Africans, we are now used to how the western reports news about our continent: only worst things are promoted, and the best history is always ignored.
Good post. Meaningful. going to read further. Such textbooks are not read! Thank you! Love airplanes.
Thanks, I learned something new today
Thank you!
Hikaye çok ilginç ve neredeyse unutulmuş durumda, tekrar hatırlattığınız için teşekkürler.
Love the post @gavvet. A good friend of mine has just joined steemit, you may know him. Find him at @albatross13
hanks for the story
Interesting post!
Very nice article, bringing back some memories!!
Jy moet skryf boet!
omg that's real?
i thought action figure..
realy missile??
@gavvet: Thank you so much for this one and i never thought US was directly involved in this .
Thank you for this @gavvet. We are so self centred in our bubble that a lot of the time we forget history gets made all over the world, not just in our little part of the world.
Of course, the powers that claim to represent us get involved in all these conflicts, but we don't get to hear about them until so much later or through a rose tinted lens.
Cheers
Don't forget this announcement: http://bit.ly/1e1EYJv
Stories like these remind me of how much remains 'unseen' for the public. Often things are being forgotten. Lately I read that in 2011 a famine killed 260,000 Somalians in Africa. It's something I often end up talking about when having a deep conversation about how the media is so biased and tells you what they want to tell you. I mean 2011 isn't too long ago? A quarter million.... Anyways, thanks for sharing this story :-)
Hi brother @gavvet , I hope you are well and the whole family
I am very sorry when I hear about wars and about the anger between man and the brotherly man, and how much we ask why we do not live in peace
Why do not we think about building this land on which we live? Why do we come to the manufacture of the bomb and the manufacture of nuclear bombs and missiles? I used to ask many of us here in this land so that we can live in paradise so that we can ask many questions. And found many innocent people, such as what is happening in Syria, Iraq and many more ...
Today man laughs at himself when he talks about the building of this earth and what man has done by a lot of destruction
I am very sad when I hear that many of the countries are fighting those who dwell on their side of this land for all human beings
I know that my comment is outside the post but I apologize for that and I love to write what is in my heart thank you brother and friend @gavvet
Great informative eye opener, same way how biafran war in Nigeria is always forgoten and ignored, which U.S has a hand in it too and also for oil..
Thanks for enlightening me about the African war. I had no idea. That's amazing that the first plane in the photo survived the crash!
lets make that movie!