Flechas were a force unique to the conflicts of southern Africa. A flecha could smell the enemy and his weapons and read the bush in ways that no others could. He would sleep with one ear to the ground and the other to the atmosphere and would be awakened by an enemy walking a mile away. This account traces the development of the Flechas, an array of highly effective elite and specialized troops In 1961, Portugal found itself fighting a war to retain its colonial possessions and preserve the remnants of its empire. It was almost completely unprepared to do so, and this was particularly evident in its ability to project power and to control the vast colonial spaces in Africa.
