In order to restore the antique 1942 Humber armored vehicle and have it ready for the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, professionals have been stitching together over 1,000 components.
Jose Afonso de Oliveira, a retired psychologist, 73, told AFP, “It’s moving to see the vehicle I was in on that day again… I knew after that, Portugal would never be the same again.”
He was in charge of the group inside this British-made car when it joined the armored columns that advanced into the Portuguese capital on April 25, 1974, with the goal of toppling a 48-year-old dictatorship.
“I was ignorant of this. One of the approximately 5,000 men who participated in the coup, the former second lieutenant recounted, “I could have been arrested, but the regime was already on its last legs.”
A few days before to the anniversary, he went to a workshop where a few of enthusiasts had been working for the last two years to restore armored cars that were involved in the incident.
Antonio Carvalho, a 41-year-old engineer who has contributed to the project in his own time, described it as “a real jigsaw puzzle.”
The Humber is still unfinished at this point; components are stored within this military storage outside of Lisbon, ready to be put back together.
rebuilding a revolution
“We’re fortunate to have had assistance from an Englishman who sent us rare parts and manuals via the Portuguese embassy in London,” the history enthusiast, who belongs to the Portuguese Association of Antique Military Vehicles, said.
The Humber will be one of around 15 cars participating in a historic reproduction of the columns that drove into Lisbon under the command of one of the revolution’s heroes, Captain Jose Salgueiro Maia, who passed away in 1992, as part of the official commemorations, which get underway on Thursday.
A duplicate of the Portuguese-built Chaimite armored vehicle, dubbed “Bula,” which once transported ousted prime minister Marcelo Caetano—who had seized power from his predecessor, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, some years prior—is also housed inside the storehouse.
Having served in Portugal’s colonial wars in Africa from 1961 to 1974, these military transport trucks have come to represent the almost bloodless rebellion.
The red carnation served as another important emblem. Red carnations, which were in full bloom at that time of year, were given to the troops, who put them in the muzzles of their rifles and so gave the revolution its name.
Those who were there at the moment feel that things may have gone quite differently looking back.
One of the soldiers accompanying Salgueiro Maia, Jose Climaco, 75, remarked, “Anything could have gone wrong,” as they left the Santarem barracks, some 60 miles (or 100 kilometers) north of Lisbon.
He told AFP, “We didn’t meet a single obstacle on the way,” recounting the day he spent isolated from the outside world in a run-down armored truck due to a malfunctioning radio.
“People desired a new beginning.”
After they reached the capital, they stumbled with a regime-aligned military force, which heightened tensions.
Another rebel fighter, Antonio Goncalves, 74, stated, “They very nearly shot at us.”
“We were instructed to fire back if needed,” he added, but the troops they were up against ultimately put down their weapons.
The column made its way to the barracks where Caetano and a few of his ministers had sought sanctuary after making a halt at Praca do Comercio, a large area with views of the River Tagus.
The troops proceeded and encircled the barracks with the intention of starting negotiations with the regime’s delegates, accompanied by thousands of supporters.
“Everyone was quite tense. According to Eduardo Gageiro, a news photographer who photographed the historic event for a Portuguese magazine, “people clearly wanted to make a fresh start.”
“We were instructed to smash through the barracks door,” Climaco said, and after that, “we fired a few warning shots” to get the government members to give up.
“After a long time, the door was eventually opened,” and Caetano and his ministers were driven to a barracks located in the northern part of the city by the armored vehicle “Bula.”