Talk:Operation Moduler

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Military history: African C‑class

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Africa: Angola / South Africa / Military history Low‑importance

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G6

This article lists the G5 and G6. I'm not aware that the G6 was deployed during Moduler. Can anyone confirm/cite references? --Magicmike 02:01, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It was 3 "pre-production" G6's that were sent in quite a hurry. They wanted to send a full troop of 4 units (half a battery) but only 3 were ready. South African Military History Society - Journal- SOUTH AFRICA'S MODERN LONG TOM Roger 12:33, 23 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Many Western Sources (Kissinger, Stockwell, Gleisejes, and cuban sources, assert that the Angolan government FAPLA advance was against Cuban advice, and they refused to participate in it. Cuban regular troops remained in Angola, but elsewhere, until the SADF reached Cuito Cuanavale itself. I deleted the word Cuban in several places.

The Olifant tanks did not participate in battle at the Lomba river, they only joined after this battle. The only armor involved were 61 Mech Battalion which had no tanks deployed. They had one company of 90mm ratels and two companies of infantry vehicles (20mm). None of the guns were stabilized and could only be shot from a standing position. The recovery of tanks mentioned occurred in November and were unrelated to the battle at lomba river(Oct 3). —Preceding unsigned comment added by PragmaticGert (talk • contribs) 12:07, 4 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Name

Many reliable sources state that this operation's official name was "Moduler" and they usually also comment on the odd spelling. I propose this page should be moved to Operation Moduler. Roger (talk) 17:43, 5 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No objections so I'm going ahead with the move. Roger (talk) 09:27, 16 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Spelling again

(This conversation started at User talk:Dodger67#Operation Modulêr) Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:33, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The correct spelling of Operation Modulêr is Modulêr. not Moduler, or Modular. It is an Afrikaans word which has the circumflex or "kappie" on the e. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Garrethe (talk • contribs) 15:23, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

We use the spelling found in reliable English sources such as a variety of books by people such as Heitman, Steenkamp, etc. See WP:TITLE. Most of those sources specifically mention the unusual spelling, saying that it should have been "Modular" but because of the spelling error made by whoever officially registered the name, it is officially recorded as "Moduler". See the first footnote in - this professional academic history journal article - it is a mistake to name it "Modulêr" or "Modular". Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 15:38, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, Heitman, Steenkamp, Bidgland refer to as Modular, in their works that I have. Short of getting hold of the original SADF briefing docs, which will be in Afrikaans and therefore use the circumflex. The TRC document (http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/report/finalreport/Volume%202.pdf) discussing SADF cross border operations refers to Modulêr by the way. I'll see if I can somehow get hold of the original SADF documents, the problem is that people are using a word spelt in another language incorrectly, often seen in German with umlauts as well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Garrethe (talk • contribs) 16:10, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The original name was not in Afrikaans to begin with - the whole series of ops during that period "Moduler, Hooper and Packer" all have English names - "Modulêr" is actually a translation of the original. Have you read the source I have linked in my above post? (BTW We should discuss this on the article talk page so that other people can also participate. I'm going to move this conversation there. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:21, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Heitman, Helmoed-Römer (1990). War in Angola : the final South African phase (1st ed. ed.). Gibraltar: Ashanti Pub. ISBN 0620143703. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help), arguable the most comprehensive and authorotative book about the event, uses "Moduler". Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 17:03, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Chief of the SADF, Jannie Geldenhuys in his book "At the Front: A General's Account Of South Africa's Border War. Jonathan Ball Publishers SA (Sep 1 2008)" only refers to it as Operation Modulêr. I quote (Kindle location 4869):

"We called it Operation Modulêr, which then became Operation Hooper and finally Operation Packer. In fact, however these names were misleading, because they did not in the least signify strategic or tactical phases of the 1987-1988 fighting. They were allocated merely to indicate three main periods in which units and personnel were mobilised for operational duty and then demobilised again. Some of them were involved only in the first part (Modulêr), others only in the second (Operation Hooper) and so on. Other than that, the code names had no significance.

In Edward George's book, The Cuban Intervention in Angola, 1965-1991, an academic textbook, which is extensively sourced, uses the Operation Moduler as the spelling choice. In my copy of the Afrikaans edition of General Jannie Geldenhuys, Ons was daar. Wenners van die Oorlog om Suider-Afrika. a collection of recollections refers to the Operation as Moduler. Have seen no use of the "Modulêr" in other source material that I have, including some listed already. User:Conlinp (talk) 4 May 2013

Major update of the article

I have updated the article that I hope reflects a more detailed account of the original one, of the efforts of the soldiers of the Angolan and South African forces. It gives, as close as possible, a day by day account of one of the largest post WW2 military operations in Southern Africa. What is required is replications of the battle maps of the first and final phases of the operation and hopefully that is something I can master in the next couple of months. I was unable to add part of the original infobox to the general map. Thanks.Conlinp (talk) 05:29, 11 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]