Book Review of
Showdown in Western Sahara
Africa @ War 44 Series
Vol. 2: Air Warfare Over the Last
African Colony, 1975-1991
Authors: Tom Cooper, Albert Grandolini
& Adrien Fontanellaz
Helion & Company
ISBN: 978-1-91-286629-8
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $29.95
Publication date: February 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-91-286629-8
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $29.95
Publication date: February 20, 2020
HISTORY:
The former colony of Spanish Sahara saw frequent outbursts of tribal and ethnic rebellions while ruled by the colonial authorities in the late 19th and through the early 20th Century.
Its vastness and distances essentially dictated the application of air power in response. While most of these events attracted net to no attention in the English-language media, the large-scale operations of the Spanish colonial authorities of the late 1950s became notable at least for the final combat deployment of the famous Messerschmitt Bf-109.
Following the Spanish withdrawal from the Spanish Sahara in 1975, a major war erupted as Sahrawi nationalists – organized by the POLISARIO front – engaged in guerrilla warfare against Moroccan armed forces deployed to secure the northern part of the country, and Mauritania force deployed to the south.
Characteristically for this period, POLISARIO insurgency was often misinterpreted in the West as “Soviet-influenced”, although the rebels never adapted any related frameworks for their operations and tactics, such as those of Mao Zedong. On the contrary, while Algeria at least tolerated their bases on its soil, it was Libya that provided most of the support for the insurgency, eventually enabling it to defeat the Mauritanian military, slightly over a year later.
Combined with PLISARIO’s raids deep into Mauritania, this prompted France to launch a limited military intervention in support. While tactically successful, this proved insufficient: Mauritania withdrew in 1979 after signing a peace treaty.
Morocco continued fighting a series of bitter campaign through 1979 and 1980, until rising costs and casualties prompted its government into developing an entirely new strategy. Construction of extensive earthen fortifications eventually slowed the war down to one of low intensity, only sporadically interrupted by insurgent attempts to achieve at least local successes.
With both sides realizing that no solution through an armed conflict was possible, a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1991. However, this conflict still remains unresolved, it merely shifted to civilian resistance.
Warfare in Western Sahara has in many way become exemplary for modern-day counter-insurgency efforts in Africa and elsewhere. This conflict has been falsely declared as a part of some larger, external conflict – the Cold War; in regards of the concept of an insurgency applying motorized forces to deliver often spectacular “hit and run” attacks and in regards of a conventional military reacting with a combination of earth berms and air power.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Company is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 88 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color photo of 2 Morrocan F-5A jet fighters flying over mountainous terrain. One is being in-air refueled.
The book contains 129 black and white photos/ills, 8 maps, 23 color profiles, 7 data tables.
Weapons, aircraft and vehicles used by the combatants are shown in the photos as well as the troops.
The color profiles include: 2 profiles of Land Rover vehicles. One mounts a Soviet made 14,5mm twin-barrel machine gun and the other one mounts a 106mm recoilless rifle.
A Willys jeep mounted with a BGM-71 TOW ATGM missile launcher.
A Mercedes UNIMOG mounted with a Soviet made 14.5mm twin-barrel machine gun.
A VAB/VMO nicknamed Toucan truck mounted with a 20mm cannon.
All of the above named vehicles were with the Moroccan Army.
An Austrian-made SK-105 light tank equipped with a 105mm high-velocity rifled gun of the Moroccan Army.
A Soviet-made 9K31 (ZRK-BD “Strela-1” (NATO code name Gaskin) with the Sahrawi Popular Liberation Army.
A Soviet-made SAM-system 2K12 Kvadrat (NATO code name Gainful) tank with the Sahrawi Popular Liberation Army.
A U.S. built T-6 with the Moroccan Air Force.
A ex-West German Fouga CM.170R Magister jet trainer with the Moroccan Air Force.
A BN-2A-21 bomber with the Mauritanian Air Force.
2 profiles of F-5As with the Moroccan Air Force.
A C-130H Hercules transport with the Moroccan Air Force
A Italian-built Augusta Bell 205A helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
A SA.342L “Gazelle” helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Aerospatiale SA-330B “Puma” helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
Three profiles of Moroccan F-1 “Mirages” with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Fairchild OV-10A with the Moroccan Air Force.
A F-5E with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Boeing 707-320C transport with the Moroccan Air Force.
This book will be of interest to both modelers and historians alike. Recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The former colony of Spanish Sahara saw frequent outbursts of tribal and ethnic rebellions while ruled by the colonial authorities in the late 19th and through the early 20th Century.
Its vastness and distances essentially dictated the application of air power in response. While most of these events attracted net to no attention in the English-language media, the large-scale operations of the Spanish colonial authorities of the late 1950s became notable at least for the final combat deployment of the famous Messerschmitt Bf-109.
Following the Spanish withdrawal from the Spanish Sahara in 1975, a major war erupted as Sahrawi nationalists – organized by the POLISARIO front – engaged in guerrilla warfare against Moroccan armed forces deployed to secure the northern part of the country, and Mauritania force deployed to the south.
Characteristically for this period, POLISARIO insurgency was often misinterpreted in the West as “Soviet-influenced”, although the rebels never adapted any related frameworks for their operations and tactics, such as those of Mao Zedong. On the contrary, while Algeria at least tolerated their bases on its soil, it was Libya that provided most of the support for the insurgency, eventually enabling it to defeat the Mauritanian military, slightly over a year later.
Combined with PLISARIO’s raids deep into Mauritania, this prompted France to launch a limited military intervention in support. While tactically successful, this proved insufficient: Mauritania withdrew in 1979 after signing a peace treaty.
Morocco continued fighting a series of bitter campaign through 1979 and 1980, until rising costs and casualties prompted its government into developing an entirely new strategy. Construction of extensive earthen fortifications eventually slowed the war down to one of low intensity, only sporadically interrupted by insurgent attempts to achieve at least local successes.
With both sides realizing that no solution through an armed conflict was possible, a cease-fire agreement was signed in 1991. However, this conflict still remains unresolved, it merely shifted to civilian resistance.
Warfare in Western Sahara has in many way become exemplary for modern-day counter-insurgency efforts in Africa and elsewhere. This conflict has been falsely declared as a part of some larger, external conflict – the Cold War; in regards of the concept of an insurgency applying motorized forces to deliver often spectacular “hit and run” attacks and in regards of a conventional military reacting with a combination of earth berms and air power.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Company is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 88 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color photo of 2 Morrocan F-5A jet fighters flying over mountainous terrain. One is being in-air refueled.
The book contains 129 black and white photos/ills, 8 maps, 23 color profiles, 7 data tables.
Weapons, aircraft and vehicles used by the combatants are shown in the photos as well as the troops.
The color profiles include: 2 profiles of Land Rover vehicles. One mounts a Soviet made 14,5mm twin-barrel machine gun and the other one mounts a 106mm recoilless rifle.
A Willys jeep mounted with a BGM-71 TOW ATGM missile launcher.
A Mercedes UNIMOG mounted with a Soviet made 14.5mm twin-barrel machine gun.
A VAB/VMO nicknamed Toucan truck mounted with a 20mm cannon.
All of the above named vehicles were with the Moroccan Army.
An Austrian-made SK-105 light tank equipped with a 105mm high-velocity rifled gun of the Moroccan Army.
A Soviet-made 9K31 (ZRK-BD “Strela-1” (NATO code name Gaskin) with the Sahrawi Popular Liberation Army.
A Soviet-made SAM-system 2K12 Kvadrat (NATO code name Gainful) tank with the Sahrawi Popular Liberation Army.
A U.S. built T-6 with the Moroccan Air Force.
A ex-West German Fouga CM.170R Magister jet trainer with the Moroccan Air Force.
A BN-2A-21 bomber with the Mauritanian Air Force.
2 profiles of F-5As with the Moroccan Air Force.
A C-130H Hercules transport with the Moroccan Air Force
A Italian-built Augusta Bell 205A helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
A SA.342L “Gazelle” helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Aerospatiale SA-330B “Puma” helicopter with the Moroccan Air Force.
Three profiles of Moroccan F-1 “Mirages” with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Fairchild OV-10A with the Moroccan Air Force.
A F-5E with the Moroccan Air Force.
A Boeing 707-320C transport with the Moroccan Air Force.
This book will be of interest to both modelers and historians alike. Recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at: