Portuguese militaria from the African Colonial Wars

Some of my Portuguese insignia, some are newer than the colonial conflicts but a fair majority I think would be from that era ...



I have a fair idea of the ID of most of the badges thanks to the book, 'Portuguese Elite Unit Insignia 1951 - Present' by Harry Pugh & Robert Bragg. The only exception is the 'Mozambique-SAfrique' one - I'd love to know the story behind this one!



Close-up of the mysterious 'South African' badge:



I bought these unidentified magazine pouches off the net some years ago. They were not specifically described as 'Portuguese' but I thought they looked close enough that they .. just .. might .. be .....?

Can anyone here confirm or deny that assumption??



Postscipt: Since been identified on another forum as being Dutch.

My Portuguese uniform pieces:

Lots of cool stuff here, especially the uniforms! The fading on the one smock is pretty neat.

Hello,
Do you have a source for helmet covers? I am searching for a Portuguese PASGT pattern camo cover in the dpm stlye camo. I need a large size if you can help.
Thanks,
Scott

@ Camo_fiend - Thanks mate! The smock is not so much faded but a lighter colouration to start off with.

@ Helm40 - There's an eBay seller by the nick of 'portugaltotal' - suggest you try him!

That's a very nice para-quesdistas smock you've got there..

Thanks,
I have talked to Portugaltotal before and he has not been able to help.
Thanks, Again,
Scott

I can get you a helmet cover. Unfortunately they're hard to get, even in Portugal, and rather expensive. PM me if interested.

Just in ... Portuguese airborne beret. During the colonial wars the paratroopers wore a green beret and they went to maroon sometime after.





Also, update on the 'Mozambique/Safrique' badge in the first post of this thread - this belonged to a civilian safari company operating in Mozambique prior to the Portuguese pull-out.

The Portuguese paratroopers never wore a red beret. They always wore green. The native troops trained as paratroopers (The GEP) during the colonial war did wear a red beret, but not with that badge.

Gubbio wrote:The Portuguese paratroopers never wore a red beret. They always wore green. The native troops trained as paratroopers (The GEP) during the colonial war did wear a red beret, but not with that badge.

I stand corrected - it was the Portuguese Commandoes who changed their beret colour from chestnut brown to red after the colonial conflicts. It remains an enigma as it certainly does look like the badge belongs there .... perhaps a paraquedista attached to the commandoes or vice versa *shrug* From an ex-Spanish NCO that I currently serve with, I understand that soldiers can be 'bartered' off to different units!

Really nice berets Gubbio - good to see some of your stuff! I have the chestnut brown and yellow (GEP?) one with red and green ties at the rear, unfortunately the 'leather' rim has become sticky and started to perish with both of these. With my red beret above, is the internal tag one you are familiar with? Do ALL Portuguese berets have the red and green ties at the rear?

Thanks. I suppose anything's possible, but it would strike me as odd that a comando, who are fiercely proud of their berets, would adorn one with the air force insignia. But then again, there was a period when the situation with the airborne and the comandos was in flux, when the former had been transferred to the army and the latter had been disbanded, and both had been combined in a newly created light infantry, quick reaction unit (the BAI, or "Independent Airborne Brigade"). But since this was an army unit, it doesn't explain the air force insignia, unless it was from a soldier who had earned both his comando and his parachute qualifications and decided to create this hybrid head cover. Still, it's quite bizarre, and definitely not regulation. My guess is that it was put together by someone who was just playing around. To answer your question, the yellow beret was for the GE (Grupos Especiais, which translates roughly to "special groups"), which were composed mostly of native troops and used in counterinsurgency operations in Africa. The GEP (Grupos Especiais Páraquedistas, or "special parachute groups") wore the red beret. There was also a camouflage beret, now quite scarce, which was used mostly by the 3rd Comandos Company and by the "Flechas," native counterinsurgency troops operated by the Portuguese secret police of the time, the PIDE/DGS. (There is a well-known photo of Daniel Roxo wearing a camouflage beret, though it's unclear whether it's from one of the aforementioned units or a separate creation.) Confusingly, I have a yellow beret with the red and green ties and a couple others with black ties, both of them with the OGFE (government uniform factory) label inside. One of my yellow berets with black ties was brought back from Africa by someone who was there during that period (it includes the original insignia), so maybe the black ties were more standard. Then again, it's possible both were used interchangeably. All the Portuguese military berets I own (and these include all the berets except the camouflage one, that is, red, green, yellow, white, light blue, dark blue, ranger green and the already-mentioned brown and yellow berets) sport black ties, except for, as noted, the brown beret with red and green ties and a black cavalry beret, which has red and yellow ties (and I already mentioned the one yellow beret with red and green ties). As far as the label inside your beret, it's hard to see, but it appears to indicate a commercial supplier of military goods based in the northern city of Porto (or Oporto, as it's sometimes spelled in English). There aren't that many such suppliers around, so the beret's approximate age might be deduced from a closer reading of the label.

filupe wrote:Just in ... Portuguese airborne beret. During the colonial wars the paratroopers wore a green beret and they went to maroon sometime after.





Also, update on the 'Mozambique/Safrique' badge in the first post of this thread - this belonged to a civilian safari company operating in Mozambique prior to the Portuguese pull-out.

This one is probably a dub.

It could be a GEP-Grupo Especial Paraquedista (Paratrooper Special Group) as they used "grenat" (pinkish red) berets but the insignia is all wrong!!
Should be like the one below on the left



The two black straps on the back are status of elite unit opposite to the green/red of the infantry and artillery and the red/yellow of the cavalry.


So what you have there is a legitime beret and insignia from two different units

Best regards

.

Really good photos, Danilo, both the Brazilian and Portuguese ones. Thanks for sharing. The last one was probably taken during the period immediately after the revolution of 1974, when grooming standards for the military were somewhat lax...

Absolutely great photos! Those remind me about an insignia I have. Just a question.

This insignia/badge is supposed to be Para's Companhia de Pessoal. Seems to be old and the quality is slightly clumsy. Big item (5,1 cm of height). I think not a fake or repro etc. It just looks quite old. What bothers me, is that the chute is not as it is in other Companhia de Pessoal- badges I've seen. In my badge the chute is in "straight up" -position. Maybe a variation? Then, the Portuguese language is a bit hard to me. What really means Companhia de Pessoal in english? Pessoal = personnel, but that does not tell much to me.

Companhia de Pessoal is the logistic company of the Regimento de Paraquedistas (Parachute Regiment) created in 1961.

This insignia:
The parachute - refers to the type of troop
The gladio - refers to a special unit
The grenade and crossed quils - refers to administration and supply service

Best regards

.

Muito Obrigado, Albano,

Thanks for an exhaustive reply-info. Logistics is easier to translate/understand in Finnish language.

I like the badge's design. Heavy old style item made of bronze & hot enamel.

Thanks,

Shotgee

You're welcome. Glad to be of service

You have there a very fine and almost rare piece of militaria if regarding that unit's "crachá" (how we call does insignias here in Portugal) was issued in low quantities (a logistic company have always few personnel being company in name sometimes it's only a platton sized)

A bit of trivia:
That unit changed to another designation since paratroopers were attached to army out from the air force (i believe it was earlier than this cant be sure) and is now called CCS - Companhia de Comando e Serviços and theres one for each paratrooper battalion and all battalion wear the battallion insignia)

Shotgee wrote:
...
I like the badge's design. Heavy old style item made of bronze & hot enamel.
...

As they are still today. Hard, thick and durable. It's a piety that PT military don't make other things like that anymore

Best regards

.

Albano,

Thanks a lot for the additional info. Yes, too many badges & insignia's nowadays are very simple and almost dull. Besides, too easy to make repro's of those.

Best...

Shotgee

Albano,

I'm boiling in a deep confusion-soup again ( as usually ). This time with my Mocidade para-brevets.
I don't find any info why six different types of qualification brevets?

What are brevets 1 - 2 - 3 qualifications? ( how many jumps, or some other levels )

Descriptions in Portuguese on the other three brevets A, B and C goes as below:

A = Abertura Automatica ( automatic opening? )

B = Abertura Manual ( manual opening / free fall? )

C = Mestre de Salto ( master / instructor? )

Attached enlargened photos of the whole serie ( wing spans are 75 mm and heights 43 mm ).

One photo is of reverse. All are same: safety pin & numbers-letters attached with brass nut.

I thank in advance for your help, sir.

Shotgee

Hi Shotgee

Unfortunatly this time i can't be of any help. It's first time i saw any of those brevet's. Didn't even know they existed either. As the Mocidade Portuguesa is some sort of tabu here people don't show often those kind of stuff. But i can see what i can find about it. I'll take the matter on hands after vacations period.

Best regards

.

Hi Albano,

Thank You, sir. I know the topic is difficult. Before I managed to get a full serie, I had seen only single brevets for sale-trade every now and then.

Notice that the photo is taken by me and of my serie. Not stolen from the net.

Sorry for a radio-silence. I've been lately quite often on the road & out of town.

All The Best...

Shotgee