From Fledgling to Eagle: The South African Air Force During the Border War
by Brig.-Gen. Dick Lord ( SAAF )( South African Defence Force ( SADF ) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia ( PLAN ) ---)
Lord, Dick ( Richard Stanley / Brigadier-General ); Foreword By Colonel Jan Breytenbach
Published by 30 Degrees South Publishers, 2008, hardcover, illustrated, index, 528 pages, condition: as new.
'From Fledgling to Eagle' chronicles the evolution of the SAAF in the 'Border War' that raged in Angola and South West Africa (Namibia) from 1966 to 1989, covering all the major South African Defence Force (SADF) operations from Ongulumbashe to the 'April Fool's Day war' in 1989. Dick Lord, who writes in a 'from the cockpit' style, has drawn on his own first-hand operational reports and diaries, incorporating anecdotes from dozens of aviators from a wide variety of squadrons - Buccaneers, Canberras, Mirages, Impapas, Bosboks, C-160s and 130s and helicopters. He also expands on the close relationship the SAAF had with the ground troops in a variety of operations - such units as the Parabats, Recces and Koevoet.
However, Lord studies the broader ramifications of the conflict in that it was not a simple black-white war. Angola was really just a sideshow for the Soviets who wanted to bleed the SAAF in a war of attrition before attempting total domination of South Africa - their ultimate goal. Although he gives credit to the enemy when they put up a stiff fight, he clearly outlines the overwhelming South African successes and dispels, in accurate detail, all enemy claims by giving an accurate account of each battle.
Superb overview of the air war against SWAPO terrorists and FAPLA/Cuban Communist invaders in Southwest Africa and Angola.
Gives both a lot of easily accessible technical explanations as well as a lot of human stories of the Bush War
