JJ's on Tour - Portugal 2025, Lisbon, Part 3, Museu do Combatente, the Monument to Overseas Combatants and Fort of Bom Sucesso

Continuing my series of posts looking at Carolyn's and my recent visit to Portugal last month, and following on from the previous two looking at other sites in historic Lisbon, see link below, I thought I would conclude our time in the Portuguese capital with our visit to the museum at the Fort of Bom Sucesso (Good Success as a literal translation in English), that included the evening ceremony in front of the Monument to Overseas Combatants, that added a certain poignancy to the day.

JJ's on Tour - Portugal 2025, Lisbon Part Two

As seen in the previous two posts, the waterfront area along from Belém to the harbour area in front of the oldest surviving part of the city, the Alfama is rich with history and plenty to see and visit for those of us who take an interest in such matters.

JJ's on Tour - Portugal 2025, Lisbon Part One

Whilst in Belém we walked a little further along the waterfront to the eighteenth century Fort of Bom Sucesso started in 1780 under the direction of General Guilherme de Vallerée, and on the basis of an inscription over the main entrance, it appears that the fort was completed in 1802.

In 1808, during the occupation of Lisbon by French forces commanded by General Jean-Andoche Junot, the fort was connected to the Belém Tower by an artillery battery, known as the left flank battery, and this was extended in 1815.

By 1836 the fort was in ruins and it was effectively abandoned until 1870, when it underwent extensive modernization between 1870 and 1874, after which it received two Krupp 28 cm Haubitze L/12 howitzers, later replaced with five 120mm Schneider pieces, and became one of a number of forts, known as the Campo Entrincheirado (Entrenched Field) of Lisbon, that formed a defensive perimeter following the boundaries of Lisbon at the time.

This wall mural depicts the original layout of Fort Bom, dated 1799, showing eleven gun positions facing seaward and a V-shaped landward defensive bastion to the rear.

On the 18th of May, 1925, an attempt was made to attack the fort during one of the three failed coup attempts of that year and from 1961 to 1975 the fort served as the headquarters of the Military Postal Service. 

One of the 'Barron Plan' coastal battery positions seen here in Fort Bom mounting twin 57mm guns

In 1938, the Portuguese leader, António de Oliveira Salazar requested the British War Office to develop a project to defend the capital of Portugal which had always been vulnerable to attacks from the sea, as evidenced by the several other older forts mentioned in my other posts going back to the fourteenth century.

The strategy first developed before WWII by a certain British general named Barron began with the identification of vulnerable points in the Lisbon and Setúbal areas, based on the assumption that enemy vessels would comply with the rules set out in the Washington Naval Treaty, that limited the range of naval guns to 20 miles, and later revised in the light of pre-war developments by the Axis and later Allied navies 

In 1943, Portugal implicitly ended its neutrality in World War II by transferring the Lajes airfield on Terceira Island in the Azores to the United Kingdom for use by US and UK planes to search for German submarines, and in exchange, one of Portugal's demands was that the Barron Plan be implemented. 

However, the first artillery battery was not finished until 1948 and it took a further ten years for all to be completed, and with a high level of secrecy about the plan and its implementation it was not until the second decade of the 21st century that information about it was declassified, even though the RAC (Coastal Artillery Regiment) was disbanded in 1998, by which time only two of the batteries remained active.

Fort Bom was one of the eight batteries under the Barron Plan for the defence of Lisbon and Setúbal, with two Vickers 5.6cm guns, protecting planned minefields and two antisubmarine booms across the Tagus.

Two replica 6-inch mortars based on Portuguese army models from 1801 and 1813 served as a reminder of the sort of weapons that existed when Fort Bom Sucesso was first conceived.

On January 13th, 1999, the fort was officially handed over to the Portuguese League of Combatants, which manages the museum, and offers a permanent exhibition indoors, as well as three external areas with equipment related to the various branches of the Armed Forces, that includes a permanent exhibition covering World War I, the colonial campaigns (known in Portugal as the overseas campaigns), and peace missions.

A snapshot of the Portuguese colonial war in its African territories in 1970
Portuguese-held (green), disputed (yellow) and rebel-held areas (red) in Portuguese-Guinea and other colonies in 1970, before the Portuguese military operations known as Gordian Knot Operation (Mozambique), Operation Green Sea (Guinea) and Frente Leste (Angola).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_Colonial_War#/media/File:Portugal_Colonial_War_1970.jpg

The collection of weapons and equipment is a diverse one reflecting the Portuguese collective memory of its involvement in conflicts during the twentieth century to more recent peace keeping duties, but in particular the Colonial Wars in India and Africa from 1961 to 1974, that in the African possessions would result in some 29,000 Portuguese casualties, including just short of 9,000 deaths and a further estimated 40-46,000 guerrilla fighters from Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, apart from the estimated civilian casualties of somewhere between 70-110,000 deaths.

Some of the equipment was instantly recognisable, whilst others less so, and with only a broad familiarity with this period of Cold War Portuguese history, I decided to take the time to educate myself a little further.
 

105-mm OTO Melara Mod 56 Light Gun.

The OTO Melara 105 mm Mod 56 began life in the 1950s to meet the requirement for a modern light-weight howitzer that could be used by the Italian Army's Alpini brigades mountain artillery regiments.

The Argentinians used OTO Melara's during the Falklands War but were outranged by the British L118 105mm light guns, but they still accounted for a considerable share of British casualties in that war.

The Humber Mk IV armoured car

The Humber Mk IV armed with a 37 mm gun was the most produced variant of the Humber armoured car.

After India's independence from the British Empire in August 1947, Portugal continued to hold a handful of enclaves on the Indian subcontinent

Humber armoured cars were employed during the Indian invasion of Goa in December 1961 equipping the four reconnaissance squadrons of the Portuguese garrison in Goa. 

Location of the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu in India
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa#/media/File:IN-GDD.svg

The Portuguese Humbers engaged the invading Indian forces in the brief fights that occurred in the border villages of Doromagogo, Malinguém and Polem, and in the break through the Indian troops surrounding the Portuguese forces in Mapusa.

The Bravia Chaimite V200 seen here is an armoured vehicle with all wheel drive axles built by the Portuguese company Bravia and used by the Portuguese Army in the Portuguese colonial wars in Angola, Mozambique and Portuguese Guinea, from 1967 to 1974 when it ended. 

Bravia Chaimite V200

The Chaimite was gradually phased out of Portuguese Army service since 2008 and replaced by the Austrian Pandur II 8x8 APC, though the last operational Chaimite armoured cars were only retired in 2016.

In 1934, the Italian firm of Ansaldo produced a new mountain howitzer design, the Obice da 75/18 modello 34, designed by Lt. Colonel Sergio Berlese who served in the Italian artillery. The modello 34 could be broken down into eight loads for transport. The modello 35 did not break down into smaller loads, being the field howitzer version and had a split, rather than box, trail.

Obice da 75/18 modello 35 Howitzer

The Italians sold the modello 35 abroad in order to obtain foreign currency, and in 1940 a sizable batch were sold to Portugal.

An Italian Obice da 75/18 in action.

The Ordnance QF 6-pounder first saw action in May 1942 at the Battle of Gazala making an immediate impact on the battlefield as it was able to penetrate any enemy tank then in service, and in the most celebrated action, the 6-pounder guns of 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade (together with part of 239 Anti-Tank Battery Royal Artillery under command), destroyed more than 15 Axis tanks in the action at Outpost Snipe during the Second Battle of El Alamein.

One of three Ordnance QF (Quick Firing) 6-pounder Anti-tank Gun on display

The 150-mm Krupp German naval gun that was used as secondary armament on pre-dreadnought battleships, protected cruisers and armoured cruisers of the Imperial German Navy in World War I, and was also used as a coast-defence gun during World Wars I and II.

German 150-mm Krupp Naval Gun (Serial Nr. 12), 1899, on a Naval mounting.

A similar weapon in use on SMS Wolf during the First World War

This gun fired a 97-pound shell to a range of 20,000 yards or about 11.3 miles.

The massive searchlight on display below brought back fond memories of my visit to East Point Gun Battery in Darwin Australia, used to support the guns defending the antisubmarine boom and harbour minefields, and no doubt similarly intended when Fort Bom was part of the Lisbon defences.

There was no sign to indicate precisely what sort of torpedo, pictured below was, but its diminutive size, suggested to me a very early type, such as the British designed 'Whitehead'.

The Whitehead torpedo was the first self-propelled or "locomotive" torpedo ever developed, and was perfected in 1866 by British engineer Robert Whitehead from a rough design conceived by Giovanni Luppis of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in Fiume.  

Whitehead torpedo mechanism

Many naval services procured the Whitehead torpedo during the 1870s, including the US Navy, and this early torpedo proved itself in combat during the Russo-Turkish War when, on 16th January 1878, the Ottoman ship Intibah was sunk by Russian torpedo boats carrying Whiteheads.

Argentinian sailors with a Whitehead torpedo, Fiume, Austria, 1888.

The last known operational use of a Whitehead torpedo was during the Battle of Drøbak Sound on 9th April 1940, when two torpedoes were fired from a torpedo battery in the Oslofjord at the German cruiser Blücher finishing the ship off after it had been severely damaged by cannon fire from Oscarsborg.

The German cruiser Blücher listing heavily to port after being hit by cannon fire and torpedoes from the Norwegian coastal fortress Oscarsborg, and sinking a short time later after being finished off with Whitehead torpedoes.

Below is a 650-pound AZ electrically initiated contact sea mine, which would have contained just over 280 pounds of explosive charge, seen here with its anchoring base that extended the mine on a 770 foot cable

Below is an example of the Soltam M-65 120 mm mortar developed by the Finnish company Tampella in 1953, and in the 1960s produced under license by Soltam Systems of Israel. The mortar system comes in two versions, a standard mortar and a long-range version, and is light enough to be transported by helicopter sling load, dropped by parachute or carried in an APC such as the M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier, whilst also able to be towed as a normal artillery piece or even manhandled if necessary.

120-mm Soltam M-65 mortar

The Russian heavy machine-gun seen below was developed in the Soviet Union in 1929 following the requirement for a heavy machine gun similar to the M2 Browning, with DShK's name being derived from its original designer, Vasily Degtyaryov, and Georgi Shpagin.

Soviet Degtayrev 12.7-mm machine-gun with shield.

The DShK is a belt-fed machine gun firing the 12.7×108mm cartridge, and uses a butterfly trigger, firing at 600 rounds per minute, with an effective range of 1.5 miles and can penetrate up to 20 mm of armour up to a range of 550 yards.

The M55 Quad-mount .50 caliber towed Anti-aircraft gun system, was a development of the successful US M45 Quad-mount .50 caliber AA-gun used in WWII mounted on either the M16 Gun carriage halftrack or the M51 Gun Carriage but when later mounted on the M20 trailer was redesignated M55.

The M20 Trailer, left, and M16 Gun Carriage, right

The M55 received a new, more powerful generator in the 1960s and served through the Vietnam War, usually mounted in the back of an M35 2.5 ton or M54 5-ton gun trucks.

Twenty-five countries operated the M55, including Portugal where it was referred to as the Metralhadora Quádrupla AA 12,7 mm m/953.

M55 Quad-mount .50 caliber towed Anti-aircraft gun system

The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (Quick-Firing) was a common, versatile 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick for the Royal Navy, and later exported to allied countries.

A trawler's gun crew manning the 12-pounder 12 hundredweight Mk V gun on the focsle - IWM.

In British service "12-pounder" was the rounded value of the projectile weight, and "12 cwt (hundredweight)" was the weight of the barrel and breech, to differentiate it from other "12-pounder" guns.

QF 12-pounder 12-cwt Naval Gun

I'm not exactly sure of the history of the naval gun pictured below, other than the 101, possibly referring to its caliber, likely 4-inch or 101.6mm and with this example looking very similar to the HA (High Angle) British 4-inch guns seen pictured in 1940 aboard HMAS Sydney.

4-inch guns on HMAS Sydney, looking of similar size and configuration to the TFS 101 seen below.

Naval Gun, TFS, 101, MARCA MA, 1952

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I, and which were widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II.

20-mm Oerlikon Anti-aircraft Machine-gun Mk. II

NRP Cuanza on patrol off Madiera

This particular example was mounted on the Portuguese patrol vessel, NRP Cuanza, commissioned into the Portuguese fleet on the 4th June 1970, the fifth in the ten ship Cacine class, and broken up on November 15th 2018.

NRP Alvares Cabral, F331

The example below was once carried aboard the Portuguese frigate NRP Alvares Cabral, one of three Vasco de Gama class frigates, a German MEKO 200 design, operated by Portugal, and having recently been part of a 125 million euros modernisation programme in order to be able to use the ships in scenarios of high intensity combat, due to be completed in 2027.

Both the Cuanza and Alvares Cabral saw extensive service operating off the African coast during the Colonial Wars.

Another 20-mm Oerlikon Anti-aircraft Machine-gun from the Alvares Cabral together with an anchor from a Cacine Class Patrol Boat.

Below is an example of the OGFE Zebra III inflatable used by the Portuguese Marines in many of their operations off Angola, Guinea and Mozambique, capable of carrying eight personal and their equipment.

The anchor seen in the picture above and the ships propellor below are both from unnamed Cacine class patrol boats, sister ships to the Cuanza seen above, she being the last of the class to be broken up in 2018.

Cacine class propellor

Below is a British made Thornycroft Mk II Depth Charge thrower used by the Portuguese Navy.

Thornycroft thrower on HMCS Sauenay on 30 October 1941. Library and Archives Canada

Development of this thrower started in 1916 and saw general service issue by August of 1917. Nominal range of 40 yards (27 m) when using the Type D depth charge, and was rated at throwing a depth charge some 40 yards with a 2-pdr propellant but with later models such as this capable somewhere between 50 to 60 yards.

Thornycroft Mk II Depth Charge thrower

The LARC-V (Lighter Amphibious Re-Supply Cargo) is an American-built amphibious cargo vehicle originally intended to move supplies from ship to shore. Capable of 30mph on land and 9.5mph on water, some 968s were built with most being used by the US military. 

LARC-V (Lighter Amphibious Re-Supply Cargo) of the Portuguese Marine Corps

Argentine marines used the LARC-V during the invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982, whilst the type also served in Australia, Germany, Iceland, the Philippines, Portugal and Singapore. This example served with the Portuguese Marine Corps.

Five Argentinian LARC's, off loaded and taking a break during the invasion of the Falkland Islands 1982.

Another Soviet Degtyarev 12.7-mm machine-gun, this one minus the shield.

The M2 mortar was a 60 millimetre weapon used by U.S. forces in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War for light infantry support.

The Portuguese also used the weapon during the Colonial Wars as a platoon support weapon capable of throwing its bomb some 2000 yards at seventy degrees with a boosting charge for good measure and having a minimum range of 200 yards for close in support.

60-mm M-2 m/52 Light Infantry Mortar

Between 1889 and 1908, the Portuguese Army adopted some of the technical and scientific innovations that were happening elsewhere in Europe. One of the most important aspects was related to the renewal of weapons through four government programmes. One of those programmes focused specifically on artillery, resulting in the acquisition of the Schneider-Canet 7.5 cm (TR) piece, which was considered revolutionary for that time.

Of French origin, the Portuguese government bought this piece in 1904 to equip the Field Artillery and replace their equipment, then the A.E 8 cm (MP) m/74 and A.E. 9 cm (MK) m/78 in the Light Field Regiments.

7.5-cm Schneider-Canet Model 1917 Field Gun, 15 to 20 shots a minute, Range 6,560 Yards, and a crew of six.

It was a quick-firing piece that presented a hydraulic system (hydro-pneumatic), and was so effective that the crew did not need to aim again after each shot. Also, this piece had a Nordenfelt interrupted screw breech that could be opened to extract the shell with one simple movement. At the same time the gas residue effect caused by the previous shot helped to expel the projectile. This shooting system allowed a rate of fire of about fifteen shots a minute, a rate that was increased to twenty shots in later models. 

Portuguese artillery in France 1914-18

During WWI, Schneider supplied the same model (7.5 cm T.R. m/1917) to equip the artillery batteries group of the Divisional Artillery of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, who joined the battle on 9th April 1918.

The B.E.M. 7-cm m/882 Mountain Gun was the first type of breech-loading mountain gun that included a Krupp steel shutter and movable breech, imported from Germany, and was the first to be manufactured using the improved bronze casting method, a system developed at the Army Arsenal in 1882.

B.E.M. 7-cm m/882 Mountain Gun

Mounted on a light mountain carriage, it fired ordinary explosive shells of about 9-pounds and shrapnel shells of about 10-pounds. This gun equipped several units on the continent and in the African campaigns, where it replaced the B.E.M. 8cm piece.

Portuguese troops in Africa with their 7cm m/882 Mountain Guns

A similar Krupp developed breech loading mountain gun of this era was the 7cm M.75 used by the Austro-Hungarian army in WWI, and also used the Krupp horizontal sliding block breech for loading separate charges and projectiles.

The Krupp designed M 75's breech block.

The M.75 is recorded as firing a slightly lighter shell than this Portuguese gun, at just under 7-pounds.

A Polish Legion M.75 7cm mountain gun in action

An issue with the M.75 was that due to its low profile, its breech could recoil into the ground so its angle of elevation was restricted which was a significant handicap for a mountain gun which needed high angles of elevation.

The Truck, Utility, ¼-Ton, 4×4, or simply M151 was the successor to the Korean War M38 and M38A1 Jeep Light Utility Vehicles, having an integrated body design which offered a little more space than prior jeeps, and featured all-around independent suspension with coil springs.

First put into service in the early 1960s, the M151 played an active part in US military operations well into the 1980s, when it was phased out in favour of the HMMWV. Despite its official replacement, the M151 has some distinct advantages over its much larger and heavier successor, like being small enough to fit inside a CH-53 heavy transport helicopter.

Ford M151A2 Mutt (Jeep) and trailer

Various models of the M151 have seen successful military service in 15 different NATO countries including Portugal and M151s were sold to many countries, including Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom and non-NATO countries like Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, the Philippines, and Pakistan. 

Representative of the three M5A1 Stuarts that were sent to support the Portuguese troops in Angola, this Normandy veteran, one of the 90 such tanks, disbanded from the Canadian forces in 1956 and sent to Portugal, a founding member of NATO, stands as a memorial to their unique service and the only Portuguese tank type to have ever seen combat.

M5A1 Stuart light tank

The Portuguese army used three M5A1 Stuart light tanks in Angola during the Portuguese Colonial War, primarily as convoy escort vehicles. These tanks, ME-07-70, ME-08-77, and ME-08-89, were recalled into service in 1967 after being stored at DGEM. 

They were repaired and upgraded at the General Engineering and Materiel Workshops in Belém before being shipped to Africa in September 1967.

M4A1 Stuart ' LUCAS' on operations in Angola

There is a very interesting video by Rita Sobral explaining in wonderful English the history of these tanks, link below, and in it she explains that although understood by the Portuguese troops that these tanks were obsolete for the time, they performed excellently in the conditions experienced in Angola, with their small guns and narrow but tall profile making them a very handy armoured vehicle on the narrow roads and tracks, but high enough to see over the long elephant grass, in case of ambush.

Of course the M5 was a veteran of service in Africa, first issued to British troops in North Africa in 1941, and also used against the Japanese in Burma and New Guinea by British/Indian and Australian  troops in 1943/44 in a rather asymmetrical conflict similar to Angola with the Japanese lacking in capable armour or much anti-tank capability, and it was interesting to note that the Portuguese crews loved their Stuarts, coming up with their own term of endearment similarly to British crews in North Africa, renaming their Stuart's 'Honey's', in compliment to their speed, reliability and punch.
 

The American Hamilton Standard Propeller seen below is from a PV2 Harpoon aircraft, based on the Lockheed Ventura PV-1, and delivered to the Portuguese No. 61 Squadron in 1954, at Air Base 6, Montijo, destined for anti-submarine warfare, and later, more of these aircraft were received to equip No. 62 Squadron.

The arrival of the Lockheed P2 V-5 Neptune in 1960 allowed the PV2 Harpoon to be diverted from the anti-submarine warfare role, to be used in ground attack missions in the African theatre of operations.

Portuguese PV2 - HARPOON Anti-submarine aircraft based in Portugal from 1954 and from which a Hamilton Standard propellor stands in the museum commemorating their service.

The Portuguese Air Force (PoAF) has operated Sud Aviation Alouette III light utility helicopters since 1963, when the Portuguese government originally purchased 142 helicopters to replace the Sud Aviation Alouette II and for use in the roles of tactical transport, medical evacuation, and flight training, and with several being adopted for combat air support.

Aerospatiale SE.3160 Alouette III, Serial No. 9304

Portugal became the first country to use the Alouette III in combat during the Overseas War, and allocated a serial number from one of three sets: 9251 to 9316, 9332 to 9401, and 9412 to 9417, and they were operated extensively by the Portuguese Air Force in the Portuguese overseas territories until the end of the war and the subsequent withdrawal of all Portuguese troops from Africa in 1974 and 1975.

Portuguese paratroopers jump from an Alouette III helicopter in an air-mobile assault in Angola, in the early stages of the Overseas Wars

The use of the Alouette III in air assaults revealed early on the need for fire support during the deployment of the ground forces, with air crews using their personal assault rifles, which were considered to be ineffective.

In 1964 the units in Angola modified some Alouette III helicopters with a wider side door and installed a pair of M2 Browning machine guns in the rear capable of being fired from the left side door. After initial operational testing these modified aircraft, nicknamed Falcão (Falcon), started being used in the protection and support of the non-armed Alouette IIIs, nicknamed Cotovia (Lark).

Two years later, in 1966, the Air Force adopted a permanent solution for their armed Alouette III: a special version with a single MG 151 20 mm autocannon, a weapon used in WWII by the Luftwaffe to arm its fighters, the Me-109 and FW-190, in this case, mounted in the rear in order to fire from the left side door. The MG 151 showed to be ideal since it suffered from less recoil than the M2 Browning machine guns and, as such, caused less vibrations on the aircraft. This version of the Alouette III was designated heli-canhão (heli-cannon) and gained the nickname lobo mau (big bad wolf), after the 122 Squadron's nickname for flight no. 2 which operated them in Angola.

Portuguese MG 151 gunship conversion. These were called “lobo mau” (“bad wolf”) in Africa.

Portuguese air assault operations were executed by a group of five to six transport helicopters and a group of one or two helicopter gunships, which made the final approach to the target area at low altitude and by taking advantage of the terrain and vegetation as cover. Each transport helicopter, later nicknamed canibais (cannibals), would usually carry five paratroopers (then part of the Air Force) or Portuguese Army Commandos. The practice was for the canibais to approach the landing zone and launch its troops while hovering two or three meters from the ground, instead of landing, by having them jump out of the helicopter.

As the war progressed, and as enemy forces were equipped with improved anti-aircraft weapons, the Alouette III was used in combat search and rescue of downed Portuguese pilots, and in 1973, the pilot of a shot down Fiat G.91 in Guinea was rescued by four Alouette III gunships as he was surrounded by enemy troops.

During the war, from 1963 to 1974, a total of 30 Alouette III were destroyed, resulting in the loss of 30 crew members and 10 passengers.

The Fiat G-91 was the winner of a competition organized by NATO for the purchase of a light tactical fighter aircraft, with good overall performance and good manoeuvrability, capable of taking off or landing on semi-prepared fields with low maintenance costs.

Fiat G91/R3 cockpit

From 1961, Portugal became involved in fighting against nationalist movements in its African overseas territories, and had deployed a detachment of F-86 Sabres to Portuguese Guinea in August 1961, prior to the outbreak of major fighting, but was forced to withdraw the jet fighters back to Europe owing to pressure from the United States and the United Nations, who imposed an arms embargo. This left a gap in air cover for Portugal's African colonies, both in the close air support role, and in the air defence role.

In 1965, as the scale of fighting increased, Portugal attempted to purchase 100 surplus Canadian built Sabre Mk 6s from West Germany, but instead, it was offered 40 G.91R/4s, which had originally been built for Greece and Turkey and which differed from the rest of the Luftwaffe G.91s sufficiently to create maintenance problems in exchange for allowing Germany to build and use an airbase at Beja in Portugal for training.

They were delivered to Africa, in Guinea (Squadron 121 Tigers), in Angola and Mozambique (Squadron 502, Jaguars and Squadron 702, Scorpions). 

G.91s arrived in Portuguese Guinea in 1966, equipping Esquadra 121 Tigres based at Bissau, and being used for reconnaissance and close support with rockets, napalm and bombs against PAIGC rebels. When the PAIGC started to be supplied with Soviet-made Strela 2 (NATO designation SA-7 Grail) MANPADS in early 1973, these immediately became a threat to Portuguese air superiority. 

On 25th March 1973, and 28th March, two FAP G.91s were shot down by missiles within three days, with a further two lost to conventional ground fire later in the year. (By comparison, only two G.91s had been lost in Guinea from 1966 to 1973.) A final G.91 was lost to a missile on 31 January 1974.

Aircraft operating in Africa were camouflaged with an anti-radiation matte green paint (FS 34102), from 1973, to cope with the threat of ground-to-air missiles. Due to exposure to the environment, this colour could have other shades (FS 34128 or FS 34227). The size of the insignia and numbers has been reduced.

G.91s deployed to Mozambique at the end of 1968, equipping Esquadra 502 Jaguares initially at Beira, later moving to Nacala, with a second squadron Esquadra 702 Escorpiões (Scorpions) forming in September 1970 at Tete, flying against FRELIMO forces, who also received Strelas in 1973, although unlike elsewhere, the Portuguese in Mozambique did not lose any aircraft to missiles with Chinese support, even if it forced Portuguese pilots to change their tactics.

In 1975 they returned home and were decommissioned from service in 1993.

As mentioned in the introduction to this post the Museu do Combatente has several indoor exhibitions to compliment their outdoor ones, and one display looking at the history of the Portuguese army caught my eye, with a fine example of the early line infantry uniform from the Napoleonic War and the country's alliance with Great Britain to expel and eventually defeat the armies of Napoleon, compared and contrasted with a more modern day appearance, and I know  which I prefer.

An 1808 style Portuguese Line Infantry tunic complete with Barretina shako, suitably set against General Robert Craufurd inspiring British and Portuguese troops of the famous Light Division at the Battle of Bussaco, which I visited back in 2019.
JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Bussaco

As we prepared to leave the museum and head back to our apartment to refresh and get ready for dinner, a bugle echoing across the walls of the fort summoned the attention of those visitors like us still taking in the exhibits.

The Monument to Overseas Combatants in Lisbon, Portugal, is a significant landmark dedicated to soldiers who died during the Overseas War (1961-1974) and is positioned close to the landward wall of the fort .

After seeing the exhibits in the museum commemorating the history of Portugal's painful withdrawal from its colonial possessions, a not totally unfamiliar story in the UK, it seemed very fitting to watch the evening ceremony by an honour guard as the respects were paid to the fallen.

A moving end to our day and a very suitable conclusion to this series of posts looking at the history we discovered in Lisbon during our stay.

In the next post I will pick up where I left off as Carolyn and I caught the train to Porto to begin the next stage of of our winter-sun break to Portugal.

As always more anon 

JJ