Ambush Alley's 'Bush Wars'.

[Arlequín]

José,

Welcome to LAF! Thanks for your response, it was very kind and as they say, kindness generates kindness. I'm curious to know what sources you used in writing the chapter on the Colonial War. You can write the names of the books?

We have this itty bitty rule about posting in inglesa*.  


*¿Eu sei, eu sei, mas o que você pode fazer?

[carlos marighela]

Thankee kindly brother Jim.

[Conquistador]

We have this itty bitty rule about posting in inglesa*.  


*¿Eu sei, eu sei, mas o que você pode fazer?

Well, yes.  Although free machine translation (as much as it loses so much of the meaning in the context,) gives - usually - the essence of the meaning.

But rules are  rules.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Arlequín]

Translators do make life easier, but imagine if everyone posted in their own language and maybe you had to click to translate, at best, say every other post? Especially as you say, the spirit of the post is often lost in literal translation... take abraço for example.


I'm invariably amazed on here at the skill of some people whose first language isn't English and by the same token grateful of the lack of ridicule when I'm forced to communicate in anything but...

[Faustnik]

Lads,

First thanks for the warm welcome

Now about some bibliography on the Portuguese Colonial Wars, and filling a missing area, were we go…

In 2000 Aniceto AFONSO and Carlos de Matos GOMES published the first non-official History of the Colonial Wars, published in Portuguese, by Editorial Notícias, by now a hard to get publication – and heavy, being around 3 Kg - which includes official reports, veterans accounts and modeling aspects.

Until them you could only rely on the «Livro Branco da Guerra Colonial» produced by the Portuguese GHQ.

In 2008 and 2009 GOMES & AFONSO published another’s series of booklets «Os Anos da Guerra Colonial»

Each related to a year of the conflict, and mostly with veterans accounts, even having some pictorial reconstructions of some battles & Operations, similar to the ones from Osprey. Unfortunately only in Portuguese and by now only available on second hand bookstores or EBay.


Another source of info are….. the veterans themselves, mostly using their sons (some of them wargamers) or by direct contact (I’m a former servicemen from an Armoured unit, so it helps), sadly most of their info will be lost soon, if not published.

While I know that some 10 years ago, a well known portuguese reporter, manage to put on tape more than two hundred hours of veterans accounts, these were never made public, sadly an important info in all aspects of the war.
For the hardware, I’m most oblige to my former commander and military mentor Fernando Salgueiro Maia, which wrote the first and only history of the Portuguese Armoured Forces and their equipment, sadly never published.

Hope this was of some help, any more questions just ask, I will make my best to answer them

Jose “Faustnik” Ventura

[Predatorpt]

José

The second series of books - «Os Anos da Guerra Colonial» - has been compiled in one book and it's still available:

http://www.fnac.pt/Os-Anos-da-Guerra-Colonial-1961-1975-Aniceto-Afonso/a329754?PID=5&Mn=-1&Ra=-1&To=0&Nu=2&Fr=0

44€ for more than 800 pages is still a good deal.

[carlos marighela]

José,

You served under the legendary Salgueiro Maia? I'm most impressed, he's something of a hero to me.

I have some of those titles. Ancieto and Gomes' title is a goldmine. I've said it before on an earlier thread but this really is the best single volumne item for the gamer. If you look closely at that one the TO&Es  and OBs for the PAIGC, Frelimo and MPLA are all laid out in the book and they seem to be confoirmed by other sources. I'm mildly surprised they didn't make it into Bush Wars but perhaps that was an editing choice. It's also still in print I oredreda copy from Portugal and it travelled to the other side of the world with a postage tab of only 12 euro. I suspect a mistake ws made somewhere.

[Faustnik]

José,

You served under the legendary Salgueiro Maia? I'm most impressed, he's something of a hero to me.

A good commander and excellent instructor (in 1978) - I've tried to introduce  him to wargaming, but to him the roll of dices weren't a easily accepted concept.

A+

Faustnik