Look, I'm a white South African and an Afrikaner as well (probably one of the most hated nations on earth at one stage) and even I don't quite understand the mentality of the South Africans (the Rhodesians were slightly different but the influences were the same) during that time! Granted I'm...
Just a quick note on the Biafran war. South Africa did send military advisors to Biafra at the behest of a number of black African states. This was more to do with Vorster's policy of looking for African allies than anything else. The Rhodesians were also indirectly involved through Jack Malloch...
There's no doubt the South Africans learnt a lot from the Rhodesians. In fact to some extent the South Africans used the Rhodesians as guinea pigs for their weaponry. (After reading this thread I've done some more reading and perhaps the amount of support given by SA to Rhodesia is...
Go for it! I'm very interested in African history since the end of WWII and from the extensive reading I’ve done I can see that the number of "what if" questions are astounding. There was a constant struggle between pro-western and pro-communist African states and political groupings. The...
Vorster was completely dominated by his Chief of Police, Hendrik Van Der Bergh who was an old friend and confidant. Van Der Bergh in an effort to elevate his own importance constantly undermined the military. (In fact the first South Africans to serve covertly in Rhodesia was a police...
Good idea. South Africa was helping the Rhodesians on a covert basis. South African special forces operators were serving secretely in the SAS and were rotated backwards and forwards between SA and Rhodesia by SAAF C-130's. Supply of arms as you mentioned also took place. It is doubtful whether...
The Rhodesian army was indeed very small but unlike neighbouring South Africa they had no pretentions of fighting a conventional war. They knew they would have to fight a counter-insurgency war and their army was perfectly tailored to that role. Thanks to this focus on COIN and their...
From a political point of view I agree that Portuguese recognition of UDI could have created a ripple effect and led to other countries recognising Rhodesia. However, this is unlikely as the only other country friendly towards Rhodesia, South Africa, would never have followed suit. SA prime...