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Operation Winter (South Africa)
Operation Winter was an initiative undertaken by the South African Defence Force (SADF) to recruit white members of the former Rhodesian Security Forces in 1980 after that country transitioned to majority rule as Zimbabwe. It contributed to large numbers of Rhodesian veterans moving to South Africa. History South Africa was one of the few countries to provide support for Rhodesia following the white minority government's illegal Unilateral Declaration of Independence in November 1965. During the Rhodesian Bush War the South African government funded much of Rhodesia's counter-insurgency effort and sent thousands of SADF and South African Police personnel to fight with the Rhodesian forces. Ahead of the transition to black majority rule in what was to become Zimbabwe, the SADF initiated a program to recruit mainly white members of the Rhodesian counter-insurgency units that was designated Operation Winter. This was led by Major General Fritz Loots, the commander of the South Af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Border War
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angola from 26 August 1966 to 21 March 1990. It was fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), an armed wing of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). The South African Border War resulted in some of the largest battles on the African continent since World War II and was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War. Following several years of unsuccessful petitioning through the United Nations and the International Court of Justice for Namibian independence from South Africa, SWAPO formed the PLAN in 1962 with material assistance from the Soviet Union, China, and sympathetic African states such as Tanzania, Ghana, and Algeria. Fighting broke out between PLAN and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. It was mainly responsible for infiltrating the black majority population of Rhodesia and collecting intelligence on insurgents so that they could be attacked by regular elements of the security forces. The unit did this by forming small teams that posed as insurgents and usually included captured insurgents. Over time, the Selous Scouts increasingly attacked insurgents themselves and operated in the countries that neighboured Rhodesia. The unit developed a reputation for brutality, and was responsible for attacking and killing civilians. The Selous Scouts were also involved in the Rhodesian chemical and biological weapons program and used poisons and biological agents in some of its operations. The methods used by the unit led to the deaths of large numbers of insurgents but were counter-productive a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military History Of Zimbabwe
The military history of Zimbabwe chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers invasions of native peoples of Africa (Shona people, Shona and Matabele people, Ndebele), encroachment by Europeans (Portuguese people, Portuguese, Boer and British people, British settlers), and civil conflict. Early history San and invasion by ironworking cultures Stone Age evidence indicates that the San people, now living mostly in the Kalahari Desert, are the ancestors of this region's original inhabitants, almost 3,000 years ago. There are also remnants of several ironworking cultures dating back to AD 300. Little is known of the early ironworkers, but it is believed that they put pressure on the San and gradually took over the land. Shona rule Around the 8th and 9th centuries the Bantu-speaking Shona people, Shona (Gokomere, Sotho-Tswana and related tribes) arrived from the north and both the San and the early ironworkers were d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Truth And Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. The TRC was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful. The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation was established in 2000 as the successor organisation of the TRC. Creation and mandate The TRC was set up in terms of the ''Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act'', No. 34 of 1995, and was based in Cape Town. The hearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan area in 2019. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan province, which also incorporates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau at an elevation of above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category. The city was founded in 1890 by the Pioneer Column, a small military force of the British South Africa Company, and named Fort Salisbury after the UK Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. Company administrators demarcated the city and ran it until Southern Rhodesia achieved responsible government in 1923. Salisbury was thereafter the seat of the Southern Rhodesian (later Rhodesian) government and, between 1953 and 1963, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Project Coast
Project Coast was a 1980s top-secret chemical and biological weapons (CBW) program instituted by the apartheid-era government of South Africa. Project Coast was the successor to a limited postwar CBW program, which mainly produced the lethal agents CX powder and mustard gas; as well as non-lethal tear gas for riot control purposes. The program was headed by Wouter Basson, a cardiologist who was the personal physician of South African Prime Minister P. W. Botha. History From 1975 onwards, the South African Defence Force (SADF) found itself embroiled in conventional battles in Angola as a result of the South African Border War. The perception that its enemies had access to battlefield chemical and biological weapons led South Africa to begin expanding its own program, initially as a defensive measure and by carrying out research on vaccines. As the years went on, research was carried out on offensive uses of the newly found capability. Finally, in 1981, President P. W. Botha ordere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodesia And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
Although many other countries have possessed chemical and biological weapons programs, Rhodesia was one of the few countries known to have used chemical and biological agents. Rhodesian CBW use took place toward the end of Rhodesia's protracted struggle against a growing African nationalist insurgency in the late 1970s. The genesis of the Rhodesian CBW effort emerged as a result of a deteriorating security situation that developed following Mozambique's independence from Portuguese colonial rule. In April 1980, the former colony became the independent country of Zimbabwe. Origins The project was the brainchild of Professor Robert Symington, who headed the clinical program at the University of Rhodesia's medical school ( Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine). He reportedly Jim Parker, "Assignment Selous Scouts: The Inside Story of a Rhodesian Special Branch Officer". Johannesburg, South Africa: Galago Press, 2006 put forward the idea to the Minister of Defence P. K. van der Byl, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koevoet
Koevoet (, meaning '' crowbar'', also known as Operation K or SWAPOL-COIN) was the counterinsurgency branch of the South West African Police (SWAPOL). Its formations included white South African police officers, usually seconded from the South African Security Branch or Special Task Force, and black volunteers from Ovamboland. Koevoet was patterned after the Selous Scouts, a multiracial Rhodesian military unit which specialised in counter-insurgency operations. Its title was an allusion to the metaphor of "prying" insurgents from the civilian population. Koevoet was active during the South African Border War between 1979 and 1989, during which it carried out hundreds of search and destroy operations against the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN). Koevoet's methods were controversial, and the unit was accused of committing numerous atrocities against civilians. Over the course of the war, it killed or captured 3,225 insurgents and participated in 1,615 individual engagem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South West African Police
The South West African Police (SWAPOL) was the national police force of South West Africa (now Namibia), responsible for law enforcement and public safety in South West Africa when the territory was administered by South Africa. It was organised and structured both as a paramilitary force and as a civil police force. History SWAPOL was established following World War I, when the South African government assumed administration of South West Africa under the terms of a League of Nations mandate. Between 1915 and 1919, public security and law enforcement were entrusted to the South African military police. On December 31, 1939, the rule of law returned to South West Africa when SWAPOL was founded as the territory's first civilian law enforcement agency. An investigation department was established in 1920. SWAPOL was disbanded in 1939, and its local units absorbed into the South African Police (SAP). The SAP responsible for the territory from 1939 to 1981. Until 1981 it was a Provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
32 Battalion (South Africa)
32 Battalion (sometimes nicknamed '' Buffalo Battalion'', ''Three-two battalion'' or pt, Os Terríveis for ''The Terrible Ones'') was a light infantry battalion of the South African Army founded in 1975, composed of black and white commissioned and enlisted personnel. It was disbanded on 26 March 1993. History Military refugees After the victory of the ''Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola'' (MPLA) in the Angolan War of Independence in 1975, many troops of its main rival, the ''Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola'' (National Liberation Front of Angola, FNLA), found refuge in the then South African-controlled South West Africa. Formation of Bravo Group From these troops, Colonel Jan Breytenbach together with Commandant Sybie van der Spuy formed a unit that was initially known as Bravo Group but later renamed 32 Battalion. Initially, Bravo Group consisted of two infantry companies, a mortar platoon, an anti-tank section and a machine gun platoon, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhodesian Special Air Service
The Rhodesian Special Air Service or Rhodesian SAS was a Rhodesian special forces unit. It comprised: *C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment (Malayan Emergency (1951–1953) *"C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service (1961–1978) *1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment (1978–1980) C Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment was formed during the Malayan Emergency by volunteers from Rhodesia. It was disbanded in 1953 and became the nucleus of "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service, operational from 1961. In June 1978 "C" Squadron (Rhodesian) Special Air Service became 1 (Rhodesian) Special Air Service Regiment until Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980. Formation During the Malayan Emergency, Malayan campaign (1951–1953), a group of men from Southern Rhodesia volunteered to go to Federation of Malaya, Malaya and were initially known as "The Far East Volunteer Group" later to become the Malayan Scouts. While in Malaya, they became "C" Squadron (Malayan Scouts) of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Loots
Major General Frederich ('Fritz') Wilhelm Loots (19172008) was a general in the South African Defence Force (SADF). He was founder of the South African Special Forces and their first commanding officer. Early life and education Born in Britstown on 26 April 1917, Loots was educated at Theron High School. After high school in 1936, he joined the Special Service Battalion, a unit formed to train young men in military and work skills during the depression. Career In 1939, he joined the Union Defence Force in the Infantry Corps and served in World War II. By 1947 he held the rank of Warrant Officer and in 1951 he was commissioned as an officer. He held various positions as a Staff Officer in the SADF before becoming Officer Commanding the Army Gymnasium from 1959 to 1963. In 1963, he was appointed to command '' South West Africa Command'' until 1964. By 1965 he was a Senior Staff Officer at Military Intelligence and then the Director of Military Intelligence from 1966 until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
