African troops in Macau

A couple of photos of colonial garrison troops in Portuguese Macau

https://i.servimg.com/u/f82/12/22/09/10/49mac310.jpg
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https://i.servimg.com/u/f82/12/22/09/10/49mac410.jpg
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Thanks for publishing those pictures Sean. The Portuguese colonial forces seem to have a low profile by comparison with those of other Imperial nations and it is always interesting to see photographs of them.

It seems to have been Portuguese practice to garrison some of their smaller eastern possessions with companhias indigenas from Angola or Mozambique - presumably on the premise that black African troops would have no local ties or sympathies in the event of trouble. The French did the same with their tirailleurs Senegalais and the British with Indian regiments. At various times Portuguese African troops were located in Goa and now it seems Macau as well. The sentry here has the crossed cannon of an artillery unit under the battery number on his cofia (fez). His uniform was essentially unchanged from the 1930s until 1967. The woman's clothing would (I think) put the date of the photographs at about 1960. The following year the wars of liberation broke out in both Angola and Mozambique and the Portuguese would have needed their loyal colonial troops back in Africa.

Yes Sean, nice clear photographs showing the pocket style and leather pouches, she’s probably telling him his numbers cockeyed.
regards
WF

Thank you for the comments.
What I find particularly interesting is the rifle, a British Lee Enfield Mk.III

Sean wrote:Thank you for the comments.
What I find particularly interesting is the rifle, a British Lee Enfield Mk.III

Especially considering that the Mauser Kar98 was their standard service rifle before they adopted the Heckler & Koch G3 in the early 1960s.

ChrisF202 wrote:

Sean wrote:Thank you for the comments.
What I find particularly interesting is the rifle, a British Lee Enfield Mk.III

Especially considering that the Mauser Kar98 was their standard service rifle before they adopted the Heckler & Koch G3 in the early 1960s.

The Lee-Enfield is probably one of those that was supplied to the Portuguese Expeditionary Force that was sent to France during WWI. The Portuguese were given the British rifles in order to simplify ammunition resupply. The same thing happened during the Korean War with the smaller UN troop contingents that were sent to Korea, i.e., the Dutch, Greeks, Turks, etc, who were given US combat uniforms, helmets, weapons, and equipment.