SCARCE!! `ANGOLA OPERASIE SAVANNAH 1975-1976` BY PROFESSOR SJ DU TOIT SPIES

SCARCE!! "ANGOLA OPERASIE SAVANNAH 1975-1976" BY PROFESSOR SJ DU TOIT SPIES, FIRST EDITION, 1989, HARDCOVER, COMPLETE INTACT DUSTJACKET, IN EXCELLENT CONDITION

Operation Savannah was the South African Defence Force's 19751976 covert intervention in the Angolan War of Independence, and the subsequent Angolan Civil War.The withdrawal of the Portuguese from Angola in 1974 left a power vacuum which was filled by three Angolan forces: MPLA, FNLA and UNITA. South African forces, in an attempt to secure the northern border of (then) SWA pushed deep into Angola in 1975. Operation Savannah lasted until March 1976, when SA forces had to withdraw. During Operation Savannah, SA soldiers had heavy censorship imposed on them and local SA newspapers were not allowed to carry detailed reports of the fighting, although international papers did. Savannah convinced the Botha government of the need to improve SA armaments and ushered in a period of intense military growth. This enabled the SADF to fight longer and more intense battles in Southern Angola in 1978 (operations Reindeer, Revenge & Sceptic) and during the 1980's. It also taught the SADF hierarchy not to trust the politicians who they felt had bowed to international pressure. Savannah was controversial in SA (35 SADF soldiers were killed) and in an attempt to allay fears, the Defence Force commissioned two histories via the shadowy Brigadier Willem Otto, head of the Military Information Bureau, of which this is one.

Book has numerous black and white photographs and a pull out map is provided in the rear of the book.