Al J. Venter - Angolan War of Liberation

AAA

anti-aircraft artillery

Avtomat Kalashnikova 7.62mm assault rifle

protected village

armoured personnel carrier

Africans overseas who had assimilated sufficiently to earn full Portuguese citizenship rights

BMP-2

Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty , Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle

BRDM

Boyevaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozomaya Mashina , 4x4 (converting to 8x8) amphibious combat reconnaissance patrol vehicle

BTR

Bronetransportyor , armoured transporter, 8x8 armoured personnel carrier

CAS sorties

close air support sorties

chefe do poste

local Portuguese administrator

Central Intelligence Agency (US)

counterinsurgency

DGS

(Portuguese) Direcao General de Segurana , General Security Directorate

DShK

Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny , Soviet 12.7mm heavy antiaircraft machine gun

Fusil Automatique Lger (light automatic rifle), a self-loading, selective-fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal (FN).

FALA

UNITAs military wing

Fora Aerea Portuguesa , Portuguese Air Force also PAF

Front for the Liberation of Cabinda

Frente Nacional de Libertao de Angola , National Front for the Liberation of Angola

7.62mm battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish. Adapted by the Portuguese armed forces

general-purpose machine gun

Govrno Revolucionrio de Angola no Exlo, Revolutionary Government of Angola in Exile

Grupos Especiais

Portuguese Army Special Force units

Grupos Especiais

Pra-Quedistas

Paratrooper Special Groups (volunteer black soldiers with parachute training)

IFV

infantry fighting vehicle

Soviet 122mm multiple rocket launcher

KGB

Komitet gosudarstevennoy bezopasnosti , (Soviet) Committee for State Security.

KIA

killed in action

LZ

landing zone

MAG

Mitrailleuse dAppui Gnral , Belgian FN 7.62mm general-purpose machine gun

man-portable air defence system (like the Soviet Strela)

ultramarinas

Portuguese overseas provinces

Maschinengewehr 42, a general-purpose machine gun, originally German and much favoured by Portuguese ground troops in all three African theatres of war

Movimento Popular de Libertcao de Angola , Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola

Organization of African Unity, today African Union

Portuguese Air Force also FAP

Automitrailleuse lgre , light 4x4 armoured car, developed by South Africa into the Eland

Engin Blind de Reconnaissance , French-built, light 8x8 armoured vehicle

Angolan Communist Party

Polcia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado , International Police for the Defence of the State (Lisbons equivalent of the secret police)

POM-Z

Soviet anti-personnel stake-mounted fragmentation mine, much used in Africa

Soviet-made 7.62mm light machine gun

rocket propelled grenade, either RPG-2 (used by guerrillas in Portuguese African conflicts), or latterly, RPG-7 with additional variations

Soviet-made 7.62mm light machine gun

South African Air Force

surface-to-air missile, SA-6, SA-8 et al

SAP

South African Police

Societe Nouvelle des Etablissements Edgar Brandt 37mm Matra unguided air-to-ground rocket

T-34 and T-55/T-54

Soviet tanks supplied to Angola and Mozambique

Soviet anti-tank mines used by liberation groups

Tropas Especiais

Special Troops, commonly known by the acronym TEs, which came into effect when a UPA/FNLA guerrilla defected to the Portuguese with 1,200 of his men

Unio Nacional Para a Independncia Total de Angola , National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola

Unio dos Populaces de Angola, Patriotic Union of Angola