African Wars reenactment and impressions

These are the items I used to do the impression "Portuguese hunter on operation - 1964 (1)".

What I used was:
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat cap
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat jacket
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat trousers
- Portuguese Army m/964 lizard combat net
- Portuguese Army M/940-63 steel helmet
- Portuguese Army canvas boots
- Portuguese Army M/943-44 webbing consisting of magazine pouches, cross straps, combat belt and haversack
- Pattern 1903 canteen
- FMP G3 battle rifle

Nice impression - must take a lot of attention to detail and research to get all the kit right.

Thanks!

Portuguese soldier - 1975 (1)

After the Carnation Revolution the military situation in the colonies started to worsen very quickly. One of the more important reasons behind the coup was the motivation to end the war in Africa so the new authorities had a very low motivation in pursuing the military operations.

The soldiers knew that the peace was being negotiated and that the colonies were to be granted full independence so entire units simply refused to go on ops and anarchy, violence and crime spread in territories that were previously pacified or that had never seen war actions.

During 1975 the political and military situation in Mainland Portugal was getting closer to an open civil war between the extreme left and communist forces on one side and the moderate left that won the first elections and their center and right wing allies.

In the colonies some soldiers sided with one of the warring factions, some became mercenaries, others volunteers in foreign forces and others simply tried their best to return to Portugal.

This impression depicts the "typical" look of the post-revolution Portuguese soldier, hair and beard became grown, equipment more scarce and in most cases the troops were demoralized.

Many local soldiers of both colonist or native background simply joined the FNLA, UNITA, MPLA or SADF forces depending of their political feelings or just a matter of where they were at the time. Most soldiers from Mainland Portugal simply returned home but some stayed behind to fight as mercenaries and volunteers.

The uniform is the standard lizard m/964 with jacket, trousers and combat cap. The equipment carried is just an M64 combat belt with magazine pouches and canteen. The weapon is an FMP G3 of Portuguese make.

Kit list:
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat cap
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat jacket
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat trousers
- Portuguese Army canvas boots
- Portuguese Army M64 webbing consisting of magazine pouches (early model), canteen (early model) and combat belt (early model)
- Portuguese Army M64 trousers belt
- FMP G3 m/961 battle rifle (airsoft JG T3K3)

Growing your tactical-beard, nice!

Thats because he's man enough to grow a beard.

Before continuing with more impressions and loadouts I'm posting this mosaic that depicts the evolution of the Portuguese Army soldier from 1964 until 1975. This is the result of many years collecting the items and working in the impressions.



From left to right:
- Portuguese hunter on operation - 1964
- Portuguese Hunter on long patrol - late 60's
- Portuguese hunter on short patrol - Late 60's (1)
- Portuguese Army soldier in escort duty - Early 70's
- Portuguese soldier - 1975

Rhodesian SAS trooper - 70's (1)

The Rhodesian Special Air Service was founded in 1961 and after 1963 the squadron had to be rebuilt since many of its members departed after the break up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland.

The Rhodesian SAS participated in many cross-border operations, namely operation Dingo, in which a lot of guerrilla bases were taken and destroyed, enemies killed and large quantities of materiel captured.

This impression was based on pictures of Rhodesian SAS troopers using these items. Large quantities of SADF webbing was sent to Rhodesia as aid and also some Portuguese uniform pieces were used. It makes a lot of sense since after 1975 the Mozambican forces and also ZANU used a lot of Portuguese items and the SAS needed to dress like their foes in many operations.

British items of the same design as Rhodesian ones were used due to the rarity of the original ones like the PT shorts oor the bush hat.

The weapon carried is an SLR L1A1, to be more correct the weapon should have wood furniture for a 60's impression and should have been replaced by an FN FAL or South African R1 for later years.

kit list:
- British Army khaki bush hat
- British green net-scarf
- Portuguese Army m/964 lizard combat shirt
- British Army green PT shorts
- British Army green socks
- Portuguese Armed Forces canvas boots
- South African P61 harness
- South African P61 poncho carrier
- South African P61 magazine pouch
- South African P61 radio carrier
- South African P61-64 combat belt
- South African P61-64 water bottle and pouch
- British Pattern 44 water bottle and pouch
- SLR L1A1 rifle (replacing the FN FAL)

Pretty good! But ditch the socks, from what I have heard and read from veterans, none of them wore socks because of the stickers that would work their way into the boots.

Rhodesian trooper - 70's (1)

Rhodesia declared its independence from the United Kingdom as its Unilateral Declaration of Independence was made in the 11th November 1965.

The country was not recognized by the United Nations and was subjected to sanctions and an embargo by the United Kingdom, at the same time ZANU and ZAPU had taken arms in 1964 and started the Bush War.

This impression was based on pictures of Rhodesian troopers using these items. Large quantities of SADF webbing was sent to Rhodesia as aid and also some

The webbing kit used was assembled with South African P61 and P61-64 items and also a British P44 canteen, these models were all used in Rhodesian at the time.

A reproduction Rhodesian cap and an original Rhodesian long sleeved shirt were used as base elements for creating the distintly Rhodesian impression.

Portuguese Army canvas boots were used since some were used in the cross border raids since these were widely used by ZANU and FRELIMO fighters.

British green PT shorts were used to replace the original Rhodesian shorts of the same design due to the later's rarity.

The weapon carried is an SLR L1A1, to be more correct the weapon should have wood furniture for a 60's impression and should have been replaced by an FN FAL or South African R1 for later years.

Kit list:
- Rhodesian reproduction cap
- Rhodesian long sleeved shirt
- British Army green PT shorts
- Portuguese Armed Forces canvas boots
- South African P61 harness
- South African P61 poncho carrier
- South African P61 magazine pouch
- South African P61 radio carrier
- South African P61-64 combat belt
- South African P61-64 water bottle and pouch
- British Pattern 44 water bottle and pouch
- SLR L1A1 rifle (replacing the FN FAL)

Excellent! Now the only thing both you and I need is a good tan!

That will be solved this month

Today I received a pair of trousers but still need to get the black boots and the leather boots for more impressions.

Leather Rhodesian boots are hard to find. As far as I am aware, only the INTAF used black boots. You should do fine with the canvas, though. Or maybe get the Suede "Veldshoen", they sell surplus British ones that are almost exactly the same.

I am using Czechoslovak vz. 62 brown leather double buckle boots to stand in for Rhodesian. They are geting scarce but you can still get pair in reasonable size for 30-40 € if you are lucky.





These are not mine. You can see mine in my reenactment topic here on forum. The liner is removable.

I was thinking of getting a pair of French rangers and dye it brown, I was also thinking of getting a pair of Portuguese m/967 combat boots and cut is by one eyelet shorter and dye it brown for making a SADF boots replica.

These are the items I used to do the impression "Rhodesian trooper - 70's (1)".

What I used was:
- Rhodesian reproduction cap
- Rhodesian long sleeved shirt
- British Army green PT shorts
- Portuguese Armed Forces canvas boots
- South African P61 harness
- South African P61 poncho carrier
- South African P61 magazine pouch
- South African P61 radio carrier
- South African P61-64 combat belt
- South African P61-64 water bottle and pouch
- British Pattern 44 water bottle and pouch
- SLR L1A1 rifle (replacing the FN FAL)

BSAP support unit also wore black boots and unit nickname was "blackboots"

Camonut314 wrote:Leather Rhodesian boots are hard to find. As far as I am aware, only the INTAF used black boots. You should do fine with the canvas, though. Or maybe get the Suede "Veldshoen", they sell surplus British ones that are almost exactly the same.

Rhodesian trooper - 70's (2)

Rhodesia declared its independence from the United Kingdom as its Unilateral Declaration of Independence was made in the 11th November 1965.

The country was not recognized by the United Nations and was subjected to sanctions and an embargo by the United Kingdom, at the same time ZANU and ZAPU had taken arms in 1964 and started the Bush War.

This impression was based on pictures of Rhodesian troopers using these items in the early 70's. Large quantities of SADF webbing was sent to Rhodesia as aid and also some

When Rhodesian camouflage items were introduced jackets and trousers were made first and the camouflage shirts were only made later. During hot weather the jackets were rarely used and the older green shirts were used with the camouflaged trousers for greater comfort, these were to be replaced by camouflage shirts later in the war.

The webbing kit used was assembled with South African P61 and P61-64 items and also a British P44 canteen, these models were all used in Rhodesian at the time.

A reproduction Rhodesian cap and an original Rhodesian long sleeved shirt were used as base elements for creating the distintly Rhodesian impression.

Portuguese Army canvas boots were used since some were used in the cross border raids since these were widely used by ZANU and FRELIMO fighters.

Original Rhodesian trousers were used in this impression, due to the lack of a proper Rhodesian green shirt a Canadian one of similar cut and style was used, the main difference is that the Rhodesian shirt had scalloped pockets at this time.

The weapon carried is an SLR L1A1, to be more correct the weapon should have wood furniture for a 60's impression and should have been replaced by an FN FAL or South African R1 for later years.

Kit list:
- Rhodesian reproduction cap
- Canadian long sleeved green shirt
- Rhodesian camouflage trousers
- Portuguese Armed Forces canvas boots
- South African P61 harness
- South African P61 poncho carrier
- South African P61 magazine pouch
- South African P61 radio carrier
- South African P61-64 combat belt
- South African P61-64 water bottle and pouch
- British Pattern 44 water bottle and pouch
- SLR L1A1 rifle (replacing the FN FAL

Once again, nicely done! You even have a tactical-beard going!

Thanks zvez for the correction, sometime my mind filters out info like that if it is not focused on my impression.

White FNLA mercenary - 1976 (1)

When the Bicesse peace agreements between Portugal and its former enemies (FNLA, MPLA and UNITA) in Angola started to crumble the in-fight inside Angola started to become an open civil war.

As time progressed and the date for independence was near the control for Luanda was becoming more important since the party that controlled the capital had more chances of being recognized as the legitimate government of Angola.

FNLA and UNITA cooperated and managed to gain important foreign aid such as CIA support and South African and Zairian troops on the ground when they launched their offensives to take Luanda.

FNLA boosted their offensive power by enrolling many Portuguese comandos as volunteers and also by hiring mercenaries abroad. These combatants fighting abilities varied a lot, the FNLA comandos were mostly former Portuguese Army Comandos with a lot of combat experience and commanded by very competent officers that had years of fighting guerrillas both in Angola and Mozambique. The Portuguese mercenaries were mostly former soldiers and had also a lot of combat experience, the other mercenaries ranged from seasoned soldiers to mere adventurers with no combat experience and their combat record varied a lot.

When MPLA started to receive massive Cuban aid the FNLA offensive was stopped near Luanda and their forces started retreating until they were expelled from Angola. The mercenary troops were unable to stop the Cubans and only the Comandos maintained a good combat record in spite of being to few to stop the MPLA offensive.

This impression depicts a white FNLA mercenary of Portuguese origin, many colonists sided with FNLA in the hope they could stay in an independent Angola without loosing their businesses or lands. Being a colonist that previously served in the Army the uniform, equipment and weapon are of Portuguese origin.

This type of light equipment was the norm for organizations like the OPVDCA (Provincial Volunteer Organization and Civil Defense of Angola) that superseded the volunteer militias to which many of the colonists and civil servants belonged to before the independence.

The uniform used is the nº3 work uniform mostly used for work but also used as a combat uniform by the militias. The webbing is composed just of combat belt, magazine pouches and a canteen, one old large pack is also carried, the weapon carried is the FMP G3. The hair and beard are worn long as it is depicted in many pictures and footage of this era.

Kit list:
- Portuguese Army m/964 work cap
- Portuguese Army m/964 work jacket
- Portuguese Army m/964 work trousers
- Portuguese Army canvas boots
- Portuguese Army M64 webbing consisting of canteen (early model), combat belt (later model) and two double magazine pouches (early model) and one M/943-44 large pack with a sling
- FMP G3 battle rifle

Portuguese Army Special Operations NCO - Early 70's (1)

When the Ultramar started in 1961 the Portuguese Army had just started to have counter insurgency courses, these had started in 1960 in the light of French experience in Algeria.

These courses led to the creation of the Special Hunter Companies starting in 1960 and specialized in counter insurgency and counter guerrilla warfare, these were the first Army units to be issued with camouflaged uniforms and automatic rifles.

In 1963 these companies were discontinued since all troops mobilized to Africa now had counter insurgency training but the special operation courses were still being run better qualify officers and NCOs with special attention to special operations. These officers were supposed to train and motivate their men during their deployment and command intervention forces in the field as opposed to the majority of the other officers that had more garrison and population support duties in their assigned area.

With time the special operation officers and NCOs started to command more militias and para-military units like the GEs, these groups were mainly composed of black Africans and conducted offensive operations like raiding enemie bases, doing pseudo-ops, serve as trackers or even small scale cross-border raids. These small groups usually had 1 officer, one seargent and 27 soldiers.

This impression depicts a Portuguese Special Operations NCO assigned to a Special Group (GE) during a coup de main. Despite the GEs being issued with an all black combat uniform many times they used the standard lizard uniform in the bush or jungle environment.

The rucksack has been ditched for better mobility and a camouflaged balaclava is used for better concealment, an extra magazine pouch is carried than the regulation for more firepower and also two grenades in the grenade pouch. The back magazine pouches are carried upside down (as show in many pictorial evidence) for rapid magazine extraction during the predictable firefight.

A pair of Portuguese Air Force boots are worn instead of the issued Army m/967 ones since these are better made and many officers and NCOs with several commissions in Africa acquired better footwear, sometimes even acquiring custom made boots.

The weapon carried is the standard Portuguese Army FMP G3 with seven magazines giving a total of 140 ready to use rounds instead of the regular 100 rounds, two offensive grenades are also carried in its pouch.

Kit list:
- Portuguese Army lizard wool balaclava
- Portuguese Army m/964 lizard combat jacket
- Portuguese Army m/964 lizard combat trousers
- Portuguese Air Force leather combat boots
- Portuguese Army M64 webbing consisting of magazine pouches (early model), grenade pouch, canteen (early model) and combat belt (early model)
- FMP G3 battle rifle

very nice!! Pedro are there any english language books that you know of on wars in Mocambique and Angola?

I just read this book on Angola and it is a good one:
https://www.amazon.com/Portugals-War-Angola-van-Waals/dp/1869193512

I am also interested in acquiring these books about units and tactics but I did not have it yet:
https://www.amazon.com/Flechas-Insurgent-Hunting-Eastern-Angola/dp/1909384631/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194385&sr=1-1&keywords=the+flechas

https://www.amazon.com/Counterinsurgency-Africa-Portuguese-1961-74-Military/dp/1907677739/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Waters-Africa-Portuguese-1961-1974/dp/1908916567/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Flight-Plan-Africa-Counterinsurgency-Wolverhampton/dp/1909982067/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-4

https://www.amazon.com/Counterinsurgency-Africa-Portuguese-1961-1974-Contributions/dp/0313301891/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-5

Thanks Pedro!

PedroPato wrote:I just read this book on Angola and it is a good one:
https://www.amazon.com/Portugals-War-Angola-van-Waals/dp/1869193512

I am also interested in acquiring these books about units and tactics but I did not have it yet:
https://www.amazon.com/Flechas-Insurgent-Hunting-Eastern-Angola/dp/1909384631/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194385&sr=1-1&keywords=the+flechas

https://www.amazon.com/Counterinsurgency-Africa-Portuguese-1961-74-Military/dp/1907677739/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Brown-Waters-Africa-Portuguese-1961-1974/dp/1908916567/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Flight-Plan-Africa-Counterinsurgency-Wolverhampton/dp/1909982067/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-4

https://www.amazon.com/Counterinsurgency-Africa-Portuguese-1961-1974-Contributions/dp/0313301891/ref=la_B001HD44KQ_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476194425&sr=1-5

Portuguese Special Marine - Early 70's (2)

The Portuguese Marines were a force with a long tradition dating back to the sixteen century. In the late 50's the marines sent officers and NCO's to the United Kingdom to make the Royal Marines Commando course.

These men formed the basis for the new special marines course that began in the early 60's. The special marines were sent in detachments to Africa for counter insurgency missions during the Ultramar War, specially to operate near rivers and lakes.

From the late 60's to early 70's the Special Marines Detachments (DFE's, "Destacamentos de Fuzileiros Especiais) became present in all fronts, from the rivers of Guinea-Bissau, to the rivers and east of Angola, to even Niassa lake in Mozambique.

The Special Marines participated in many operations acting as a special force and also in small scale cross-border operations. A very different case was the Operation Mar Verde in which large numbers of Marines and Comandos among other forces raided Conacri, the capital of Guinea, rescuing Portuguese prisoners, destroying naval craft and airplanes on ground but failing to overthrow Sekou Thouré (President of Guinea) and kill or capture Amílcar Cabral (Secretary-general of PAIGC, guerrilla movement from Portuguese Guinea-Bissau).

By the early 70's the Special Marines were using the Portuguese ECN webbing, itself a variant of the British Pattern 58 previously in use and modified to better suit the combat experience in Africa. The major modifications were the simplification of the belt and harness making it more comfortable to use, the adoption of two-cell dedicated magazine pouches and grenade pouch and the use of more robust and root proof material.

The uniform used was the Navy Lizard, this uniform had the same cut and style of the Paratroopers m/966 uniform but in a similar pattern to the Army lizard but more greenish and darker to be better suited to the river environments where the Special Marines operated.

This impression depicts a Special Marine in a covert operation, typically small scale cross border operations to kill infiltrating guerrillas and destroy depots in the other side of international rivers. For this purpose the wool balaclava and gloves are used to camouflage and conceal the identity of the user.

No pack is carried but a poncho/half tent is carried, and all necessary kit is carried in the kidney pouches and dedicated pouches. Landing boots are used for this kind of violent and quick action.

Kit list:
- Portuguese marines wool balaclava
- Portuguese marines wool gloves
- Portuguese marines lizard combat uniform (Portuguese Navy model)
- Portuguese marines landing boots
- Portuguese poncho/half tent (same model as the Army m/961)
- Portuguese ECN webbing set
- Portuguese ECN trousers belt
- FMP G3 battle rifle

These are the items I used to do the impression "Portuguese soldier - 1975 (1)".

What I used was:
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat cap
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat jacket
- Portuguese Army m/964 combat trousers
- Portuguese Army canvas boots
- Portuguese Army M64 webbing consisting of magazine pouches (early model), canteen (early model) and combat belt (early model)
- Portuguese Army M64 trousers belt
- FMP G3 m/961 battle rifle (airsoft JG T3K3)