Front line states

Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau won their independence from Portugal in 1975 after a protracted guerrilla war. This badge was produced by the Mozambique Angola and Guine Information Centre (MAGIC), set up as the Mozambique and Guine Information Centre in August 1975. MAGIC published a bi-monthly magazine about developments in the former Portuguese colonies and recruited volunteers to work in Mozambique.

In October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola in an attempt to stop the MPLA forming a government. The AAM campaigned for the British government to put pressure on South Africa to withdraw. AAM supporters picketed a meeting addressed by South African Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller at Chatham House on 18 November 1975.

Early in October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola in an attempt to stop the MPLA forming a government. The AAM campaigned for the British government to put pressure on South Africa to withdraw. AAM supporters picketed a meeting addressed by South African Foreign Minister Hilgard Muller at Chatham House on 18 November 1975.

This leaflet was circulated early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. The AAM collaborated with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee to distribute thousands of leaflets and held a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. It asked the British Foreign Secretary to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.

The AAM joined with the newly formed Angola Solidarity Committee early in 1976 to alert the British public to South Africa’s invasion of Angola. It pressured the British government to support action against South Africa at the UN Security Council and to recognise the People’s Republic of Angola declared by the MPLA in 1975. This leaflet publicised a torchlight vigil outside the South African Embassy on 11 February. South African troops withdrew on 27 March, but the invasion was the first of many attacks on Angola in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early in October 1975, South African troops mounted a full-scale invasion of Angola and in February 1976 the South African Defence Minister admitted there were still 5,000 troops inside the country. Anti-apartheid protesters picketed the South African Embassy on 11 February 1976 to highlight South Africa’s aggression against the new MPLA government.

Angolan women’s leaders Maria Mambo and Ruth Neto spoke at this meeting in London on 11 November 1976. The meeting was chaired by British trade unionist Terry Marsden. Polly Gaster, the former Secretary of the Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guiné, appealed for material support for Angola and Mozambique to help them fight attacks by South Africa and the Rhodesian white minority regime.

Led by Jonas Savimbi, UNITA waged civil war in Angola from 1976 to 2002. With South African funding the organisation mounted a public relations operation in Britain and other Western countries. This leaflet accused Savimbi of being a South African surrogate and of helping the apartheid government block talks on Namibian independence.