Jan J. Safarik: Air Aces Home Page

SWEDEN

Nigerian Civil War

Air-to-Ground Victories

Date	Unit	Aircraft	Pilot	Place	Victim	Result	Country
22.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	Port Harcourt airf.	MiG-17F NAF620	dam./dest.	NAF
22.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	Port Harcourt airf.	MiG-17F	dam./dest.	NAF
22.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	Port Harcourt airf.	Il-28	dam./dest.	NAF
25.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(**)	Benin City airf.	MiG-17F	dam./dest.	NAF
25.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(**)	Benin City airf.	Il-28⁽⁺⁾	dam./dest.	NAF
26.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	Haglund, G.	Enugu airfield	MiG-17F	destroyed	NAF
26.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	Lang, M.	Enugu airfield	MiG-17F	destroyed	NAF
26.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	Enugu airfield	MiG-17F	dam./dest.	NAF
26.5.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	Enugu airfield	Il-28⁽⁺⁺⁾	dam./dest.	NAF
8.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	helicopter airf.	helicopter	destroyed	NAF
8.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	helicopter airf.	helicopter	destroyed	NAF
8.1969	MFI Sq.	MFI-9	unknown^(*)	helicopter airf.	helicopter	destroyed	NAF

Statistics from the first 29 attacks (5 abandonded for different reasons) May-Aug:

432 rockets fired, more than 50% hitting targets. No own aircraft or pilots lost.

	Destroyed	damaged
MiG-17	3	2
Il-28	1
Canberra	1	1
Intruder	1
2 eng.transport		1
Helicopters	2	1
Trucks	7
Radar	1
ATC tower	1	1
Terminal bldgs		2
Power plant	1
Amm. storage	1
Headquarters		3
AAA	2
Oil pump station	1

Enemy losses: 300 men at airports, 200 men at the front

Source: Haglund, Gunnar: Gerillapilot i Biafra, Allt om hobby AB, Stockholm, 1988.

Comments:

^(*):		Carl-Gustaf Ericsson von Rosen (Sw), Gunnar Haglund (Sw), Martin Lang (Sw), Willy Murray-Bruce (Biaf), Augustus Opke (Biaf).
^(**):		Carl-Gustaf Ericsson von Rosen (Sw), Gunnar Haglund (Sw), Martin Lang (Sw), Augustus Opke (Biaf).
⁽⁺⁾:		In fact Douglas DC-4.
⁽⁺⁺⁾:		In fact Douglas RB-26P Invader destroyed in 1967.
BAF:		Biafran Air Force.
NAF:		Nigerian Air Force.

Malmö MFI-9B Trainer

Mikojan-Gurjevič MiG-17F Fresco

Iljušin Il-28 Beagle

Sources & Literature

Researcher Håkan Gustavsson.
Berns, Lennart: Děti z Biafry… Air Force o pěti letadlech, in Revi, No. 2, 1994.
Haglund, Gunnar: Gerillapilot i Biafra, Allt om hobby AB, Stockholm, 1988.
Petz, Daniel: MFI-9, trpaslík mezi bitevníky, in Historie a plastikové modelářství, No. 10, 1993.
Šafařík, Jan: Létající hrabě Carl-Gustav Ericsson von Rosen, in Hobby Historie, č.4, 2010.
Жирохов, Михаил - Моногону, Обунигве: Прощай, Биафра! Воздушная война в Нигерии в 1967-70 гг., Авиамастер, № 4, 2002.
"Biafran Babies", A Noble Swede: From Relief to Raid, http://www.kwenu.com/biafra/biafran_babies.htm.
Cooper, Tom: Civil War in Nigeria (Biafra), 1967-1970, Air Combat Information Group, http://s188567700.online.de/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid=47.
Gustavsson , Håkan: Biplane Fighter Aces from the Second World War, http://www.dalnet.se/~surfcity/index.html.
Housworth, Gordon: Asymmetrical air force symmetries: Biafra Babies and Air Tigers, part II, http://spaces.icgpartners.com/index2.asp?NGuid=DA8D6DADD9DD4F59AED1AD1F66DA147B.
Operation Biafra Babies, The Swedish military aviation page, http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/biafra.htm.
Runarsson, Kristjan: Fleas versus Falcons over Biafra, Short history and assessment of the MFI-9B "MiniCOIN" in Biafran air force service, Part I, The Pogrom, War & Starvation, http://thepogrom-war-starvation.blogspot.com/2007/06/fleas-versus-falcons-over4-biafra.html.