Twenty years after the end of World War II, almost all the countries of the African continent became independent, except for a few minor Spanish possessions on the west coast and the large Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. However, achieving independence did not bring peace and stability to African soil. Revolutions, local separatism and inter-tribal strife kept the "black continent" in constant tension. Almost no state has escaped internal and external conflicts. But the largest, brutal and bloodiest civil war in Nigeria was.
The British colony of Nigeria in 1960 received the status of a federal republic within the British Commonwealth of Nations. At that moment, the country was a collection of several tribal territories, “in the spirit of the times”, renamed into provinces. The richest in fertile lands and mineral resources (primarily oil) was the Eastern province, inhabited by the Igbo tribe. Power in the country has traditionally belonged to people from the northwestern Yuruba (Yoruba) tribe. The contradictions were aggravated by the religious problem, since the Igbo professed Christianity, and the Yuruba and the large northern Hausa people who supported them were adherents of Islam.
On January 15, 1966, a group of young Igbo officers organized a military coup, briefly seizing power in the country. Yuruba and Hausa responded with pogroms and bloody massacres, the victims of which were several thousand people, mainly from the Igbo tribe. Other nationalities and a significant part of the army also did not support the putschists, as a result of which a counter-coup took place on July 29, which brought to power the Muslim Colonel Yakubu Govon of the small northern tribe of Angas.
Haricourt airfield in May 1967, shortly before its capture by the Biafrian rebels
One of the Heeler UH-12E helicopters captured by the Biafrians in Harikort
Biafrian Air Force Invaders. The vehicles belong to different modifications, moreover, both are reconnaissance: above - RB-26P, below - B-26R
The Biafrian Dove was used to patrol the coast until it was incapacitated by colliding with a car while taxiing.
Right - German mercenary "Hank Warton" (Heinrich Wartski) in Biafra
The new authorities were unable to establish control over the situation. Riots and inter-tribal massacres continued, engulfing new areas of Nigeria. They acquired an especially wide scale in September 1966.
By the beginning of 1967, the Governor of the Eastern Province, Colonel Chukvuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, decided to secede from the Nigerian federation and form his own independent state called Biafra. The majority of the province's population, frightened by the wave of pogroms, welcomed this decision. The seizure of federal property began in Biafra. In response, President Gowon imposed a naval blockade on the region.
The formal reason for the proclamation of independence was the decree of May 27, 1967, according to which the division of the country into four provinces was abolished, and instead of them 12 states were introduced. Accordingly, the posts of governors were also abolished. Ojukwu's reaction was immediate. On May 30, the Eastern Province was declared the sovereign Republic of Biafra.
President Gowon, of course, could not accept the loss of the richest region in the country. On June 6, he ordered the suppression of the rebellion and announced mobilization in the northern and western Muslim states. In Biafra, covert mobilization began even before the declaration of independence. Troops from both sides began to pull up to the Niger River, which turned into a line of armed confrontation.
Consider what constituted the air forces of the warring parties.
The Nigerian Air Force emerged as a separate branch of the armed forces in August 1963 with technical support from Italy, India and West Germany. They were based on 20 single-engine multipurpose aircraft "Dornier" Do.27, 14 training "Piaggio" P.149D and 10 transport "Nord" 2501 "Noratlas". By the beginning of 1967 several more helicopters of various types and two jet training aircraft "Jet Provost" were acquired. The pilots were trained in Germany and Canada. In June 1967, the military mobilized six Nigerian Airways DC-3 passenger and transport vehicles, and a year later five more such vehicles were purchased.
At the very least, the Nigerian army was provided with transport aviation, but with the beginning of the civil war, two important problems arose before it - the acquisition of combat aircraft and the replacement of pilots - most of them immigrants from the Igbo tribe who fled to Biafra and stood under the Ojukwu banner.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that a number of Western countries (including France, Spain and Portugal), in one form or another, secretly supported the separatists. The United States declared its non-intervention and imposed an arms embargo on both belligerent parties. But to the aid of the leadership of Nigeria came "brothers in faith" - the Islamic countries of North Africa.
Ojukwu also had a small air force by June 1967. The HS.125 Hauker-Siddly passenger ship was owned by the Eastern Provincial Government since its incorporation into Nigeria. He was considered the personal "board" of the governor, and later - the president. On April 23 (that is, even before the official declaration of independence) in the future capital of Biafra, Enugu, the passenger liner Fokker F.27 Friendship from Nigerian Airways was seized. Local craftsmen converted this plane into an improvised bomber.
In addition, at the very beginning of the conflict at Haricourt airport, several civilian aircraft and helicopters were “mobilized” (more precisely, captured), including four Heeler UH-12E light helicopters, two Vigeon helicopters and one twin-engine passenger transport. aircraft "Dove" owned by various firms and individuals. At the head of the aviation of Biafra was Colonel (later - General) Godwin Ezelio.
In the meantime, events developed incrementally. On July 6, federal forces launched an offensive from the north towards Enugu. The operation, dubbed Unicord, was planned as a short police action. The commander of the government army, Colonel (later - Brigadier General) Hassan Katsine, said optimistically that the mutiny would be over "within 48 hours." However, he underestimated the strength of the rebels. The attackers immediately ran into a tough defense and the fighting took on a protracted, stubborn character.
The real shock for the soldiers of the federal army was the aerial bombardment of the positions of the 21st Infantry Battalion by the B-26 Invader aircraft with the Biafra insignia. The history of the appearance of this aircraft among the rebels deserves a separate story. Previously, "Invader" belonged to the French Air Force, participated in the Algerian campaign, and then was decommissioned as obsolete and disarmed. In June 1967, it was acquired by the Belgian arms dealer Pierre Laurey, who flew the bomber to Lisbon and resold it there to some Frenchman.
From there, the car with a fake American registration number and without a certificate of airworthiness flew to Dakar, then to Abidjan and finally, on June 27, reached the capital of Biafra, Enugu. We describe in such detail the "odyssey" of the ancient bomber, because it eloquently testifies to the winding paths the Biafrians had to replenish their arsenals by.
In Enugu, the plane was again equipped with bomb throwers. The pilot's place was taken by a "veteran" of mercenaries, a native of Poland, Jan Zumbach, known from the Congolese campaign of 1960-63. In Biafra, he appeared under the pseudonym John Brown, taking on the name of a famous American rebel. Soon, for his desperate bravery, his colleagues nicknamed him "kamikaze" (one of the articles says that "Invader" was piloted by a Jewish pilot from Israel named Johnny, although it may be the same person).
One of the two Biafrian Invaders - RB-26P. Enugu airfield, August 1967
Two MiG-17Fs of the Nigerian Air Force with different variants of tail numbers (above - painted with a brush without a stencil) and identification marks
In Nigeria, Zumbah made his debut on July 10, dropping bombs on the federal airfield in Makurdi. Several transport aircraft were damaged, according to his report. Until mid-September, when the aged Invader was completely out of combat due to breakdowns, the desperate Pole regularly bombed government troops. From time to time, he made long-distance raids on the cities of Makurdi and Kaduna, where the federal airfields and supply bases were located. On July 12, DC-3, confiscated by the rebels from the Bristouses Company, began to support him. July 26, 1967 "Invader" and "Dakota" dropped bombs on the frigate "Nigeria", blocking the city of Haricourt from the sea. Nothing is known about the results of the raid, but, judging by the ongoing blockade, it was not possible to hit the target.
Swedish pilots in Biafra at their planes
Nigerian MiG-17F, Harikort airfield, 1969
Suspension under the wing of the Militrainer of the 68-mm MATRA NAR block, Gabon, April 1969. The aircraft has not yet been repainted in military camouflage.
Il-28 of the Nigerian Air Force, Makurdi airfield, 1968
Helicopter Vigeon, previously captured by the Biafrians in Harikort and recaptured by Nigerian federal forces
Of course, the pair of "ersatz-bombers" could not have any real influence on the course of the war. In July-August, the columns of the Nigerian army, overcoming stubborn resistance, continued their offensive on Enugu, simultaneously capturing the cities of Ogodja and Nsukka.
Soon the Biafran Air Force was replenished with another "rarity" - the B-25 Mitchell bomber. According to some reports, it was piloted by a German mercenary, a former Luftwaffe pilot, a certain "Fred Herz" (mercenaries usually used pseudonyms, and therefore this and subsequent names are taken in quotation marks). Another source indicates that the Mitchell was flown by a pilot from Cuban emigrants who settled in Miami, and the crew included two more Americans and a Portuguese. The aircraft was based in Harikort, almost nothing is known about its combat use. In May 1968, he was captured at the airfield by federal troops that entered the city.
In early August, another B-26 appeared in Biafra, also acquired through the intermediary of the already mentioned Belgian Pierre Laurey. It was flown by the French mercenary "Jean Bonnet" and the German "Hank Warton" (aka Heinrich Wartski). On August 12, already two "Invaders" bombed the positions of government forces on the west bank of the Niger. This was preceded by the beginning of a powerful rebel counterstrike in the direction of the capital of Nigeria, Lagos.
On August 9, a mobile brigade of the Biafra army of 3,000 people, with the support of artillery and armored vehicles, crossed to the western coast of the Niger, starting the so-called "north-west campaign". At first, the offensive developed successfully. The Biafrians entered the territory of the Midwest state, almost without meeting organized resistance, since the federal troops stationed there consisted largely of immigrants from the Igbo tribe. Some units simply fled or went over to the side of the rebels. The state capital, Benin City, surrendered without a fight just ten hours after the operation began.
But after a few days, the victorious march of the Biafrians was stopped near the city of Are. Having carried out general mobilization in the densely populated capital region, the military leadership of Nigeria gained a significant numerical superiority over the enemy. By the beginning of September, two divisions of government forces were already operating against one brigade and several separate battalions of rebels on the western front. This allowed the feds to launch a counteroffensive and drive the enemy back to the city of Benin City. On September 22, the city was taken by storm, after which the Biafrians hastily retreated to the east coast of the Niger. The "North-West Campaign" ended at the same line where it began.
In an effort to tip the scales, the rebels launched regular air raids on the Nigerian capital in September. The mercenaries who piloted the Biafrian vehicles risked almost nothing. The anti-aircraft artillery of the government forces consisted of several guns from the Second World War, and there was no fighter aircraft at all. The only thing to be feared was the failure of worn-out equipment.
But the damage from these raids, in which a couple of Invaders, a passenger Fokker and a Dakota dropped homemade bombs from pipe scraps, was negligible. The calculation for a psychological effect also did not come true. If the first raids caused panic among the population, then the townspeople soon got used to it and the next bombing only intensified the hatred of the rebels.
The "air offensive" on the capital ended on the night of October 6-7, when the Fokker exploded directly over Lagos. Here is what AI Romanov, the then ambassador of the USSR in Nigeria, writes in his memoirs: “In the morning there was a terrible explosion, we jumped out of bed, jumped out into the street. Only the noise of the engines was heard, but where the dropped bomb exploded is impossible to establish. Then the roar of the plane intensified, followed by a new bomb explosion. A few minutes later the explosions were repeated. And suddenly, apparently, somewhere on Victoria Island, a powerful explosion occurred, a bright flame lit up the night before dawn … and everything was quiet.
Five minutes later, the phone rings, and the embassy attendant in an excited voice announced that the embassy building had been bombed. Two hours later, they learned that it was not a bomb explosion, but something else: a separatist plane exploded in the air almost above the embassy building, and a powerful blast wave caused great damage to the building."
At the site of the crash of the plane's wreckage, 12 corpses were found, including four bodies of white mercenaries - crew members of the exploded plane. Later it turned out that the pilot of the "bomber" was a certain "Jacques Langhihaum", who had previously safely survived an emergency landing in Enugu with a cargo of contraband weapons. But this time he was out of luck. The Fokker was most likely killed by an accidental explosion aboard an improvised bomb. There is also a version according to which the plane was shot down by air defense fire, but it seems very unlikely (Romanov, by the way, does not write anything in his memoirs about anti-aircraft guns).
Meanwhile, in the north, government troops, overcoming stubborn resistance, approached the capital of Biafra, Enugu. On October 4, the city was taken. At the airfield, the rebels abandoned the faulty Invader, which became the Feds' first aviation trophy. With the loss of Enugu, Ojukwu declared the small town of Umuahiya as its temporary capital.
On 18 October, after intense shelling from warships, six battalions of marines landed at the port of Calabar, which was defended by one rebel battalion and poorly armed civilian militia. At the same time, the 8th battalion of the government infantry approached the city from the north. The resistance of the Biafrians caught between two fires was broken, and the largest seaport in southern Nigeria came under the control of government forces.
And a few days earlier, another Nigerian amphibious assault took over the oil fields on Bonnie Island, 30 kilometers from Harikort. As a result, Biafra lost its main source of foreign exchange earnings.
The rebels tried to recapture Bonnie. The only remaining "Invader" bombed the positions of the Nigerian paratroopers daily, inflicting tangible losses on them. However, despite this, the feds staunchly defended themselves, repulsing all counterattacks. The rebel command desperately ordered the pilot to bomb the oil storage tanks, hoping that a massive fire would force the paratroopers to evacuate. But that didn't help either. In the hellish heat and thick smoke, the Nigerians continued to stubbornly defend themselves. The battle for Bonnie soon ended. The island with the blazing ruins of the oil fields was left to the feds.
Militrainers from the Biafra Babies assault squadron, Orlu airfield, May 1969
T-6G Harvard of the Biafrian Air Force, Uga airfield, October 1969
By December 1967, government forces had won a number of important victories, but it was clear to everyone that there was still a long way to go before the rebellion was finally suppressed. Instead of a lightning-fast "police action", it turned out to be a grueling protracted war. And for the war, a large number of weapons and military equipment were required.
The main problem of the federal air force in the first months of the conflict was the complete absence of a strike component. Of course, the Nigerians could go the “poor road” and turn their Noratlases, Dakotas and Dorniers into homemade bombers. But the command considered this path irrational and ineffective. We decided to resort to foreign purchases. The only Western country that provided diplomatic and moral support to the central government of Nigeria was Great Britain. But the British refused to ask the Nigerians to sell their combat aircraft. The only thing they managed to acquire in Albion were nine Westland Wyrluind II helicopters (an English licensed copy of the American Sikorsky S-55 helicopter).
Commander of the Portuguese mercenaries Arthur Alvis Pereira in the cockpit of one of the Biafrian "Harvards"
At the end of the war, "Harvards", which became trophies of government troops, "lived out their days" on the outskirts of the airport in Lagos
Portuguese mercenary pilot Gil Pinto de Sousa captured by the Nigerians
Then the authorities of Lagos turned to the USSR. The Soviet leadership, apparently hoping over time to convince the Nigerians "to follow the path of socialism," reacted very favorably to the proposal. In the fall of 1967, Nigerian Foreign Minister Edwin Ogbu arrived in Moscow and agreed to purchase 27 MiG-17F fighters, 20 MiG-15UTI combat training aircraft and six Il-28 bombers. At the same time, Moscow gave the go-ahead for the sale of 26 L-29 Dolphin trainer aircraft by Czechoslovakia. The Nigerians paid for the planes with large shipments of cocoa beans, providing Soviet children with chocolate for a long time.
In October 1967, North Nigerian Kano Airport was closed to civil flights. An-12 began to arrive here from the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia through Egypt and Algeria with disassembled MiGs and Dolphins in the cargo compartments. In total, 12 transport workers took part in the operation to deliver the aircraft. In Kano, fighters assembled and flew around. Ilyushin's bombers arrived from Egypt on their own.
Here, in Kano, a repair base and a flight training center were organized. But training local personnel would take too long. Therefore, for a start, they decided to resort to the services of Arab "volunteers" and European mercenaries. Egypt, which possessed a large number of pilots who knew how to pilot Soviet aircraft, did not hesitate to send some of them on a "Nigerian business trip." By the way, on the other side of the front line were the then sworn enemies of the Egyptians - the army of Biafra was trained by Israeli military advisers.
The Western press in those days claimed that, in addition to the Egyptians and Nigerians, Czechoslovak, East German and even Soviet pilots were fighting on MiGs in Biafra. The Nigerian government categorically denied this, and the Soviet did not even consider it necessary to comment. Be that as it may, there is still no evidence for such statements.
Meanwhile, the Nigerians did not hide the fact that some combat vehicles are piloted by mercenaries from Western countries, in particular from Great Britain. Her Majesty's government "turned a blind eye" to a certain John Peters, who previously headed one of the mercenary teams in the Congo, who in 1967 launched a vigorous recruitment of pilots for the Nigerian Air Force in England. Each of them was promised a thousand pounds a month. Thus, many "adventurers" from England, Australia and South Africa signed up for the Nigerian aviation.
The French, however, completely sided with Ojukwu. Large consignments of French arms and ammunition were transferred to Biafra via an "air bridge" from Liberville, Sao Tome and Abidjan. Even such types of weapons as Panar cannon armored vehicles and 155-millimeter howitzers came from France to the unrecognized republic.
The Biafrians also tried to acquire combat aircraft in France. The choice fell on the “Fugue” CM.170 “Magister”, which has already shown itself more than once in local conflicts. In May 1968, five of these machines were purchased through a dummy Austrian company and disassembled, with undocked wings, were sent by air to Portugal, and from there to Biafra. But during an intermediate landing in Bissau (Portuguese Guinea) one of the transport Super Constellations, carrying the wings of the Magisters, crashed and burned. The incident was suspected of sabotage, but it is unlikely that the special services of Nigeria would be able to "pull off" such a serious action. Fuselages without wings, which became unnecessary, were left to rot on the edge of one of the Portuguese airfields.
In November 1967, the Nigerian strike aircraft entered the battle. True, as targets it was more often assigned not to the military objects of the rebels, but to the rear cities and towns. The feds hoped in this way to destroy the infrastructure of the rebels, undermine their economy and sow panic among the population. But, as with the bombing of Lagos, the result did not live up to expectations, although there were much more casualties and destruction.
Nigerian Il-28
On December 21, Ily bombed the large industrial and commercial city of Aba. Many houses were destroyed, including two schools, and 15 civilians were killed. The bombing of Aba continued until the city was occupied by federal troops in September 1968. Particularly intense were the raids on April 23-25, vividly described by the English journalist for the Sunday Times, William Norris: “I saw something that was impossible to look at. I saw the corpses of children, riddled with shrapnel, old people and pregnant women, torn to pieces by aerial bombs. All this was done by Russian jet bombers belonging to the Nigerian federal government! Norris, however, did not mention that not only Arabs and Nigerians, but also his compatriots were sitting in the cockpits of these same bombers …
In addition to Aba, the cities of Onich, Umuakhia, Oguta, Uyo and others were attacked. In total, according to the most conservative estimates, at least 2,000 people died in these raids. The Nigerian government was bombarded with accusations of inhumane warfare. One exalted American even burnt himself in protest in front of the UN building. Nigerian President Yakubu Gowon said that the rebels allegedly "are hiding behind the civilian population and in these cases it is very difficult to avoid unnecessary casualties." However, the photographs of the murdered children outweighed any arguments. In the end, the Nigerians, in order to maintain international prestige, were forced to abandon the use of the Il-28 and the bombing of civilian targets.
In January 1968, government forces launched an offensive from Calabar towards Haricourt. For almost four months, the rebels managed to hold back the onslaught, but on May 17 the city fell. Biafra lost its last seaport and a major airfield. In Haricorte, the Nigerians captured all of the enemy's "bomber aircraft" - "Mitchell", "Invader" and "Dakota". However, due to breakdowns and a lack of spare parts, none of these machines could take off for a long time.
In the fight against the government air force, the rebels could rely only on anti-aircraft artillery. They concentrated almost all their anti-aircraft guns around the Uli and Avgu airfields, realizing that with the loss of access to the sea, the connection of Biafra with the outside world depends on these runways.
The vital importance of foreign supplies to Biafra was also determined by the fact that famine began in the province due to the war and the naval blockade. In those days, the news programs of many European TV channels opened with reports of emaciated Igbo babies and other horrors of war. And this was not pure propaganda. In 1968, death from starvation became common in the most recently richest region of Nigeria.
It got to the point that US presidential candidate Richard Nixon in his speech during the election campaign said: “What is happening in Nigeria is genocide, and hunger is a cruel killer. Now is not the time to follow all kinds of rules, use regular channels, or stick to diplomatic protocol. Even in the most just wars, the destruction of an entire people is an immoral goal. It cannot be justified. You can't put up with him."
This performance, although not prompting the US government to diplomatic recognition of the rebellious republic, but the four "Super Constellations" with American crews began, without the consent of the Nigerian authorities, the delivery of food and medicine to Biafra.
At the same time, the collection of humanitarian aid for the Biafrians began around the world. Since the fall of 1968, tens of tons of cargo have been airlifted daily to the rebels on airplanes leased by various charitable organizations. Often, weapons were delivered along with the "humanitarian aid". In response, the federal command issued a mandatory search order for all aircraft crossing the country's borders and said it would shoot down any aircraft if it did not land for such a search. For several months, the Nigerians could not realize their threat, although illegal flights to Biafra continued. This continued until March 21, 1969, when the pilot of one of the MiG-17s intercepted a DC-3, the crew of which did not respond to radio calls and tried to avoid the pursuit at low level. The Nigerian was about to give a warning burst, but suddenly "Dakota" caught on the treetops and fell to the ground. The ownership of this car, which fell and burned in the jungle, remained unclear.
Despite the death of the "no-man's" DC-3, the air bridge continued to gain momentum. The planes to Biafra were flown by the International Red Cross (ICC), the World Council of Churches and many other organizations. The Swiss Red Cross leased two DC-6As from Balair, the ICC leased four C-97s from the same firm, the French Red Cross leased a DC-4, and the Swedish Red Cross leased a Hercules formerly owned by the Air Force. The West German government used the conflict as a testing ground for the third prototype of the newest C-160 Transall transport aircraft. German pilots, flying from Dahomey, made 198 flights to the war zone.
In the spring of 1969, the Biafrians made another attempt to turn the tide of events. By that time, the morale of the government troops, tired of the long war, was greatly shaken. Desertion and self-mutilation sharply increased, with which they had to fight with radical means, right up to execution on the spot. Taking advantage of this, the rebels launched a counterstrike in March and surrounded the 16th brigade of the Nigerian army in the newly occupied city of Owerri. Attempts to unblock the encircled were unsuccessful. The command was forced to organize the supply of the brigade by air. The situation was complicated by the fact that the entire territory inside the "cauldron" was under fire and it was not possible to provide takeoff and landing of heavy aircraft. They had to drop cargo by parachute, but at the same time a significant part of them was lost or fell into the hands of the rebels. In addition, on approaching Owerri, the transport workers came under fire from all types of weapons. Often from such raids, they brought holes and wounded crew members.
Six weeks later, the besieged still managed, breaking up into small groups, to "infiltrate" the encirclement and retreat to Harikort. The rebels again took possession of Owerri. This, albeit incomplete, success made the Biafrians believe in themselves again. And soon another event occurred, which gave the rebels hope for a favorable outcome of the war. The Swedish Count Karl Gustav von Rosen arrived in the republic.
Count Karl Gustav von Rosen
He was a very remarkable person - a brave man, a pilot "from God" and an adventurer in the original sense of the word. Back in the mid-1930s, he flew as part of the Red Cross mission in Ethiopia during the Italian aggression against that country. Then, in 1939, after the outbreak of the Winter War between the USSR and Finland, von Rosen volunteered for the Finnish army. At the end of World War II, he became the organizer of the revived Ethiopian Air Force. And now the 60-year-old count decided to “shake off the old days” and signed up as a simple pilot in the airline “Transeir” in order to make risky flights to besieged Biafra.
But von Rosen would not be himself if he was satisfied with only this - he wanted to fight. The Count directly approached the rebel leader Ojukwu with a proposal to organize an assault squadron in Biafra. The idea was as follows - he hires Swedish pilots and buys from Sweden (of course, with Biafrian money) several light training aircraft "Malmö" MFI-9B "Militrainer". The choice of these training machines was far from random: in this way the count was going to bypass the embargo on the supply of weapons to Biafra. At the same time, he knew very well that the MFI-9B, despite its small size (span - 7, 43, length - 5, 45 m), was originally adapted for hanging two blocks of 68 mm MATRA NAP, which makes it almost a toy the airplane seems to be a good percussion machine.
The idea was reacted positively, and von Rosen energetically took a hit. Already in April 1969, through several front companies, he purchased and delivered five Malmös to Gabon. It should be noted that the government of Gabon was very active in supporting the rebels: for example, the transport aircraft of the Gabonese Air Force airlifted weapons and military equipment purchased by Ojukwu in "third countries".
Four "wild geese" from Sweden arrived with von Rosen: Gunnar Haglund, Martin Lang, Sigvard Thorsten Nielsen and Bengst Weitz. The work on assembling and re-equipping the "Militrainers" immediately began to boil (in Africa, the plane received another nickname "Minikon" - a distorted English MiniCOIN, a derivative of COIN - anti-partisan.
The aircraft were equipped with separately purchased NAR units and electrical equipment for launching missiles. The cockpits were equipped with sights from the outdated Swedish SAAB J-22 fighters, bought somewhere on the cheap. To increase the flight range, additional fuel tanks were installed instead of the co-pilots' seats.
The work was completed with dignity by applying combat camouflage. There was no special aviation paint at hand, so the planes were painted with two shades of green automobile enamel found at the nearest car service station. Painted with a brush without stencils, so each plane was a unique example of painting art.
Later we bought four more Minikons. They were no longer repainted, leaving civil designations (M-14, M-41, M-47 and M-74), and were not equipped with additional gas tanks, since they were intended for training Biafrian pilots. Thus, the total number of "Minikons" in the Biafran Air Force was nine machines.
In mid-May, five aircraft were flown to the Orel airfield not far from the front line. The first rebel combat squadron, under the command of von Rosen, received the unofficial nickname "Biafran babies" ("Babies of Biafra") for the small size of its vehicles. Her baptism of fire took place on May 22, when all five attacked the airport in Harikort. According to the mercenaries, the result was that three Nigerian aircraft were disabled and "large numbers" of manpower were destroyed. The Nigerians responded by saying that the wing of one MiG-17 was damaged during the raid and several barrels of gasoline were blown up.
In the raid, the Swedes used the tactics of approaching the target at an ultra-low (2-5 meters) height, which made it very difficult to conduct anti-aircraft fire. The missiles were launched from horizontal flight. From takeoff to the moment of the attack, the pilots observed radio silence. The Swedes were not at all afraid of antiaircraft guns, especially since, according to the memoirs of General Obasanjo, already familiar to us, for the entire southeastern section of the front from the Niger River to Kalabar (which is almost 200 kilometers), the federals had only two old Oerlikons. Small arms fire posed a much more serious threat. Often "Minikons" returned from the battle with bullet shots, and one of the cars once counted 12 holes. However, none of the bullets hit vital parts of the plane.
Benin City Airport was attacked on May 24. Here, according to the mercenaries, they managed to destroy the MiG-17 and damage the Il-28. In fact, a Pan African passenger Douglas DC-4 was destroyed. The missile hit the nose of the plane.
On May 26, the Swedes attacked the airfield at Enugu. The data on the results of the raid, again, are very contradictory. The pilots claimed that the IL-28 was badly damaged or destroyed in the parking lot, and the Nigerian authorities said that in fact the former Biafrian Invader, captured in a defective state back in 1967 and since then peacefully at the edge of the airfield, was finally finished off. …
On May 28, the Swedes “visited” a power plant in Ugeli, which supplied electricity to the entire southeastern part of Nigeria. It is impossible to miss on such a large target, and the station was put out of action for almost six months.
After that, the feds' patience ran out. Almost the entire Nigerian aviation was reoriented to search and destroy the malicious Minicons. Several dozen bombing strikes were carried out on the supposed locations of the "cornmen". Especially hit the largest rebel airbase in Uli. On June 2, missiles from the MiG-17 destroyed the DC-6 transport ship there. But the Nigerian pilots never found the real airfield of the "babies of Biafra".
Meanwhile, the first attacks of the Minikons caused a violent reaction in the international media. The fact that mercenaries from Sweden were successfully fighting in Nigeria were trumpeted by newspapers around the world. The Swedish Foreign Ministry, not at all interested in such "advertising", insistently demanded that its citizens return to their homeland (especially since officially all of them, except for von Rosen, were on the staff of the Air Force, and in Biafra they "spent their holidays"). On May 30, another "farewell" military raid dedicated to the 2nd anniversary of Biafra's independence, law-abiding Swedes began to pack their bags.
For Biafra, this was a serious blow, since by that time, only three local pilots had learned to fly on the Minikons, and none of them had experience in combat firing.
On June 5, 1969, the Nigerian Air Force won the first and only air victory to date by shooting down a DC-7 transport Douglas belonging to the Swedish Red Cross. Perhaps this reflected a desire to take revenge on the Swedes for the actions of their mercenaries in Biafra. According to the official version, this was the case. Captain GBadamo-si King flew in a MiG-17F in search of the "rebel plane", roughly knowing the direction of flight of the airliner, its speed and time of departure from Sao Tome. When the fuel was already running low, the pilot found the target. The Douglas pilot did not obey the order to sit down for search in Calabar or Harcourt, and the Nigerian shot him down.
All on board the aircraft were killed - American pilot David Brown and three crew members - Swedes. The Nigerians subsequently announced that a weapon had been found among the wreckage of the airliner. The Swedes protested, claiming that there were no military cargo on board, but, as you know, the winners are not judged …
After this incident, the Biafrians began to look for the possibility of purchasing fighters to accompany the transport "boards" they needed so much. A way out appeared to be found after the acquisition of two Meteor NF.11 fighters through the Templewood Aviation front company in the UK. However, they never got to Biafra. One "Meteor" disappeared without a trace during the flight from Bordeaux to Bissau, and the second fell into the water on November 10 due to lack of fuel near Cape Verde. A mercenary pilot, Dutch by nationality, escaped. This story had its continuation: four employees of "Templewood Aviation" in April 1970 were arrested by the British authorities and convicted of arms smuggling.
Meanwhile, the government army, having gathered strength, again went on the offensive. The territory of Biafra was slowly but steadily shrinking. On June 16, 1969, the Avgu airfield was captured. The Biafrians have only one paved runway suitable for takeoff and landing of heavy aircraft. The Uli-Ihalia section of the federal highway, also known as Annabel Airport, has become a symbol of Biafra's independence and, at the same time, the main target for government forces. Everyone understood that if Uli fell, then without outside help, the rebels would not hold out for long.
The Federal Air Force "hunt" for foreign airliners, which, despite all prohibitions, continued to arrive at Annabelle, did not stop until the very end of the war. Here is a "chronicle of the achievements" of Nigerian pilots in this matter. In July 1969 missiles from the MiG-17F destroyed the transport C-54 Skymaster in the parking lot. On November 2, another transport aircraft, DC-6, was covered with bombs, and on December 17 the transport-passenger "Super Constellation" was also killed under bombs.
In total, during the two years of the existence of the "Biafran air bridge", 5,513 flights were made to the territory of the unrecognized republic and 61,000 tons of various cargoes were delivered. Six or seven planes crashed in accidents and disasters, and five more were destroyed by the Nigerians.
In July, von Rosen returned to Biafra with another Swedish pilot, but they no longer participated in combat missions, focusing on training local personnel. By the end of the war, they had managed to prepare nine Africans for flights on the Minicons. Two of them were killed in action, and one later became the chief pilot of Nigerian Airways. At the end of the war, the famous German mercenary Fred Herz also flew on one of the Minikons.
In August, the Biafrians launched an operation to disrupt Nigeria's oil exports by destroying the infrastructure of the oil industry. The most famous raid of the five "Minikons" on the oil pumping station of the "Gulf Oil" campaign and the helipad of the Federal Air Force at the mouth of the river Escravos.
During the raid, a pumping station was disabled, an oil storage facility was smashed and three helicopters were damaged. In addition, attacks were made on oil barges and oil pumping stations in Ugeli, Kwala, Kokori and Harikorte. But by and large, all these "pin pricks" could not seriously affect the oil business of the Nigerian authorities, which provided them with the means to continue the war.
The official Biafran summary of the first 29 sorties made on the Minikons by African and Swedish pilots from May 22 to the end of August 1969 has been preserved. It follows that the "babies of Biafra" fired 432 missiles at the enemy, destroying three MiG-17Fs (one more damaged), one Il-28, one twin-engine transport aircraft, one "Intruder", one "Canberra" (in Nigeria they are not was, - author's note), two helicopters (one damaged), two anti-aircraft guns, seven trucks, one radar, one command post and more than 500 enemy soldiers and officers. From a long list of “destroyed” aircraft, it is possible to confirm with confidence only the long-decommissioned “Intruder” and the transport aircraft, though not two, but four-engine.
The Biafra Babies suffered their first casualties on 28 November when, during an attack on federal positions near the village of Obiofu, west of Owerri, one of the Minikons was shot down by machine gun fire. Pilot Alex Abgafuna was killed. The next month, the feds still managed to "figure out" the landing site of the "babies." During the MiG raid on the Orel airfield, a successfully dropped bomb destroyed two MFI-9Bs and damaged another, but it was nevertheless managed to be repaired.
The fourth "Minikon" died on January 4, 1970. In another attack, which, as always, was carried out at low level, the pilot Ibi Brown crashed into a tree. The last combat "Minikon" left by the rebels was captured by government troops after the surrender of Biafra. The fuselage of this aircraft is now on display at the Nigerian National War Museum. Also, the Nigerians got two unarmed training MFI-9B. Their further fate is unknown.
Let's go back, however, a little back. In July 1969, the Biafrian Air Force received a significant replenishment. The Portuguese “friends of Biafra” managed to buy 12 T-6G Harvard (Texan) multipurpose aircraft from France. These reliable, unpretentious and, importantly, cheap combat training vehicles were actively used in almost all partisan and anti-partisan wars in Africa in the 1960s. For $ 3,000 a month, Portuguese mercenary pilots Arthur Alvis Pereira, Gil Pinto de Sauza, Jose Eduardo Peralto and Armando Cro Bras expressed their desire to fly them.
In September, the first four Harvards arrived in Abidjan. On the last leg to Biafra, one of the Portuguese was unlucky. Gil Pinto de Sousa went off course and mistakenly sat in Nigerian-controlled territory. The pilot was captured and remained in prison until the end of the war. His photographs were used by the Nigerians for propaganda purposes, as further evidence that the Biafrian Air Force was using the services of mercenaries.
The remaining three vehicles reached their destination safely. In Biafra, they were equipped with underwing containers with four MAC 52 machine guns and universal pylons for hanging two 50-kilogram bombs or blocks of 68-mm SNEB NARs. A rather intricate camouflage was applied to the planes, but they did not bother to draw identification marks. The Uga field airfield was chosen as the base for the Harvards (after the feds bombed the Orel airfield, the surviving Minikons flew there).
In October, the rest of the planes were brought to Biafra, and the three Portuguese were joined by two more - Jose Manuel Ferreira and Jose da Cunha Pinatelli.
From the "Harvards" formed an assault squadron, led by Arthur Alvis Pereira. In addition to the Portuguese, several local pilots also entered it. In early October, the squadron went into action. Due to the increased anti-aircraft defense of government forces and air patrols of MiGs, the Harvards decided to use it only at night and at dusk. Squadron commander Pereira made the first sortie, as it should be. The gunner on his plane was local mechanic Johnny Chuko. Pereira dropped bombs on Nigerian barracks in Onicha.
Subsequently, the mercenaries bombed the federals in Onich, Harikurt, Aba, Kalabar and other settlements. Landing lights were sometimes used to illuminate targets. The most famous was the raid of the four "Harvards" on the Haricourt airfield on November 10, where the Portuguese managed to destroy the terminal building, destroy the DC-4 transport aircraft, and also seriously damage the MiG-17 and L-29. In this raid, the MiG-17, which was on duty over the airfield, tried to shoot down Pereira's car, but the Nigerian pilot missed, and when he re-entered, he could not find the enemy again. It is curious that the African press wrote that the attacks on Harikurt and Calabar were carried out by … Thunderbolts.
Despite the fact that most of the flights were carried out at night, losses could not be avoided. Pilot Pinatelli did not return to the airfield in December. What happened to him remained unclear, whether he came under fire from anti-aircraft guns, or worn out equipment let down, or he himself made a fatal mistake. In favor of the latest version, by the way, says that the Portuguese, in order to "relieve stress", actively leaned on the local moonshine "hoo-hoo".
One Harvard was destroyed on the ground. Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of a retired Egyptian pilot, Major General Nabil Shahri, who flew over Biafra in a MiG-17:
“During my mission to Nigeria, I flew many reconnaissance and strike missions. I remembered one flight very well. During the raid, I found a camouflage plane on the runway. Despite the powerful fire from the ground, I shot him from the side cannons. I think it was one of Count Rosen's planes that caused the Nigerians a lot of trouble. Nabil Shahri's mistake is not surprising: not only he, but also the command of the Nigerian army in those days believed that all mercenary pilots in Biafra obey Count von Rosen, whose name was known on both sides of the front line.
But the main enemy of the Portuguese squadron was not MiGs, not anti-aircraft guns of the federal troops, but banal breakdowns and a lack of spare parts. For some time, it was possible to maintain part of the aircraft in a combat-ready state by disassembling the rest into parts, but this "reserve" gradually dried up. As a result, by the beginning of 1970, only one Harvard could take off. On January 13, having learned on the radio about the surrender of Biafra, Arthur Alves Pereira flew on it to Gabon.
The fall of Biafra was preceded by a large-scale offensive by the government army under the command of General Obasanjo. The operation began on December 22, 1969. Its goal was to cut the territory under the control of the rebels with two counter attacks from the north and south, and capture the temporary capital of Biafra, Umuahia. The operation involved troops with a total number of 180 thousand people with heavy artillery, aviation and armored cars.
To parry the blow, the unrecognized republic no longer had either the strength or the means. By that time, the army of Biafra consisted of about 70 thousand hungry and ragged fighters, whose daily diet consisted of a piece of boiled pumpkin.
On the very first day, the federals broke through the front, and on December 25, the northern and southern groups united in the Umuahia area. Soon the city was taken. The territory of the rebels was cut in two. After that, it became clear to everyone that the days of Biafra were numbered.
For the final defeat of the rebels, Obasanjo undertook another, the last operation in the war, code-named "Tailwind". On January 7, 1970, the Nigerian army attacked Uli from the southeast. On January 9, the Annabel airstrip was within the reach of 122mm guns recently received by the Nigerians from the Soviet Union. This was the last day of the existence of the "Biafran air bridge". And the next morning, jubilant Nigerian soldiers were already dancing on the airfield.
On the night of January 10-11, President Ojukwu, with his family and several members of the Biafran government, fled the country on a Super Constellation plane, which, by some miracle, managed to take off from the highway in the Orel region in pitch darkness. At 6 am on January 11, the plane landed at a military airfield in Abidjan.
On January 12, General Philip Efiong, who took over as interim leader of Biafra, signed an act of unconditional surrender of his republic.
The civil war is over. According to various estimates, from 700 thousand to two million people died in it, most of whom were the inhabitants of Biafra, who died of hunger and disease.
We have already examined the losses of aviation in Biafra in detail in the article. The issue of losses to the Federal Air Force is more complex. It was not possible to find any lists and figures on this score. Officially, the Nigerian Air Force recognized only one Dolphin, shot down by anti-aircraft fire in 1968. Meanwhile, the Biafrians claimed that only in the area of the Uli airfield, their air defense shot down 11 Nigerian fighters and bombers. Analyzing various data, most authors are inclined to believe that the Nigerians have lost about two dozen combat and combat training aircraft, most of which crashed in accidents. The commander of the federal aviation, Colonel Shittu Aleo, who crashed during a training flight on the L-29, also became a victim of the plane crash.
In conclusion, we will briefly talk about the further destinies of some of the heroes of our article. Biafra winner General Obasanjo was elected President of Nigeria in 1999 and recently paid an official visit to Russia and met with President Putin.
Separatist leader Ojukwu lived in exile until 1982, then was pardoned by the Nigerian authorities, returned to his homeland and even joined the ruling National Party.
The Biafran Air Commander, Godwin Ezelio, fled to the Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire) and from there to Angola, where he organized a small private airline.
Count Karl-Gustav von Rosen returned to Sweden, but soon his restless nature showed itself again. Upon learning of the start of the Ethiopian-Somali war, he flew to Ethiopia on a Swedish Red Cross mission. In 1977, the count was killed in the city of God by Somali commandos.
