The provincial organization of volunteers and civil defence ( Portuguese: ''organização provincial de voluntários e defesa civil'') or OPVDC was a former

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

type force in each of the Portuguese Overseas provinces. There were three such organizations raised by the Portuguese Government in their overseas provinces of Portuguese Angola, Portuguese Mozambique and

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

. The OPVDC had the tasks of auxiliary internal security force and

civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...

organization, under the authority of the governor of the province. The OPVDC of Angola and Mozambique were engaged in the

Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War ( pt, Guerra Colonial Portuguesa), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambican War of Independence, ...

as auxiliary forces of the

Portuguese Armed Forces The Portuguese Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air F ...

. In the Portuguese Overseas, the OPVDC were the correspondent of the Portuguese Legion in the European Portugal.

Angola

Provincial Organization of Volunteers of Civil Defence of Angola (OPVDCA) - mainly urban militia, consisting mainly of white settlers. The OPVDCA was formed by officers of the asset or the reserve of the Armed Forces, but was dependent on the Civil Administration, and its maximum in the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of the province. The function of OPVDCA was essentially in defence of people, lines of communications and sensitive installations. Members of OPVDCA volunteers were civilians who had their professions, serving in the organization part-time. Initially the OPVDCA was constituted only by white settlers, but later it became increasingly multi-racial. At its peak the OPVDCA reached more than 40,000 staff.

Mozambique

Organização Provincial de Voluntários de Defesa Civil de Moçambique (OPVDCM) - (Provincial Organization of Volunteers of Civil Defence of Mozambique) (OPVDCM)

References

* ABBOT, Peter, RODRIGUES, Manuel, VOLSTAD, Ronald, ''Modern African Wars (2) - Angola and Mozambique 1961-74'', Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1988 * RODRIGUES, Manuel A. Ribeiro, SANTOS, Carlos Alberto, ''Campanhas Ultramarinas 1961-1974 - Exército (1)'', Lisbon: Destarte, 2000

Angola

Mozambique

References

See also