The SAAF Forum

Hi,

living in Germany I just started to get into SA Army pre 1994. IT's hard to find the right books here. I like to know more about the dress code of the army during bush war.
Correct field dress, shoulder flashes, qualification badges, etc. ...

It would be great if someone could point me to the right book, magazine or webpage.

Thx a lot.

ProSpectre

http://Www.sadf.info has a wealth of photos of that era and also some badges.
Think it will help you.

Hallo ProSpectre

My I ask why the interest in something so far away from Germany and it's thoughts?
DDR connection?

Grusse

I was born in the DDR but I was only 10 when the Bush War ended.

My wifes grandmother had family relations to SWA. So I came to SA. And I can't deny that I'm pretty impressed of the SADF and their fight against communism.

Lets say I'm not the biggest fan of communism. One reason could be the fact that I lived in a small village right next to a Sovjet base with a huge training area. So sovjet tanks and MIGs were a normal part in my life. And there convoys (especially during nights) were pretty annoying.

Regards.

ProSpectre

Is there a map where I can see all the bases the SADF used during the border war in SWA. And which bases were used in Rhodesia?

In 1996 I met a very distant relative for the first time, he was in the upper ranks in the NVA.
At one point out of the blue, he turned and looked at me very hard. After a while, he said, "South African army, very very good", and he moved on.

Edited to correct spelling.

Now that's something to wonder over

NVA = DDR Army?

North Vietnamese Army is the only NVA I know of. But that's going back.

NVA = national volks armee =DDR army

NVA is not just the army, it is the entire military of the DDR. Land, sea and air.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_People%27s_Army

If I recall correctly, the DDR police were being equipped like an army, with tanks etc, effectively creating an army under the guise of the police.
So the Western powers decided not to beat around the bush like the Russians and created the West Germany military. The Russians blamed the West and the East German police that was equipped like an army got re-branded.

The other thing I recall visiting West Berlin which contained the French, British, American sectors, those were the armies that occupied West Berlin, no Bundeswehr. Nor did the locals have to serve the Bundeswehr like in West Germany.
East Berlin on the other hand was occupied by the NVA.
I also recall seeing Soviet officers driving around in their jeeps in West Berlin, some agreement that they could see what the enemy was up to. I often wondered what they thought about the standards in the West, VW's / BMW's vs Trabants in the East etc.

I also heard about Russian men trying to marry East German women when the border opened up so they did not have to go back to Russia.

ProSpectre, you are more than welcome to provide input or correct me if I have something wrong, no offence will be taken.

Sounds right. The former allies USA, France, Britain and Russia could visit East and West Berlin as they like in their Jeeps to have a look at there former friends and what they are doin.

There were a lot of young russian soldiers that fled before the iron curtain fell. Most of them got caught, terribly beaten and some of them killed.

And yes some of them tried to marry a young east german lady to stay in Germany.

Most of them were poor little bastards brought from Siberia to do their service in the DDR. If you know a lil bit about the economic difference between East and West Germany you maybe can imagine what the difference between DDR and Siberia must have been.

They just don't wanted to go back.

Doin your service in the NVA was a tough time for the most men in East Germany. At least would my father told me.

I did my service in the Bundeswehr in the late 90's as gunner on a Leopard 2 A4. My company leader was a former NVA captain. He was a tough bastard and our time there was hard but fair. Learned a lot and found good friends.

My 2 cents.

For me West German / West Berlin, economically was like back home in the white mans world if I can put it that way.
I hated it going threw the East, it looked like a dreary, morbid life. But then if you don't know any better, perhaps it is not that bad. What the East Germans thought when they saw Westerners with their cars use to make me wonder. Even a crappy Ford Escort was a luxury car next to a Traby.
I can't guess life in Siberia, I have seen movies, which are nothing to go by.

Must been quite something for a NVA member to end up in the Bundeswehr.