Boys at War – Paul Els

Diary of SA’s Operation Savannah 1975 – 1976

A5, 309p.

Following the Korean War, the next armed conflict to involve South African military forces was against Soviet, Cuban and Angolan forces – the SADF’s Operation Savannah in Angola. This resulted from the communist-inspired coup d’état in Portugal and the Soviet Union’s attempt, using Cuban surrogate forces, to annex Angola and to threaten South Africa’s national security. Teenaged boys doing their national service played a major role in this conflict. They and their young commanders, emerging victorious from the many engagements, became the core of South Africa’s formidable fighting force of the future.