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Much has been written about the South African Border war which is also known as the Namibian War of Independence. While the fighting was ostensibly about Namibia, most of the significant battles were fought inside Namibia’s northern neighbour, Angola. South Africa’s 23 year border war has been almost forgotten as the Cold War ebbed away and bygones were swept under the political carpet. South African politicians, particularly the ANC and the National Party, decided during negotiations to end years of conflict that the Truth and Reconciliation commission would focus on the internal struggle inside South Africa. For most conscripts in the South African Defence Force, the SADF, they completed matric and then were drafted into the military. For SWAPO or UNITA or the MPLA army FAPLA it was a similar experience but defined largely by a political awakening and usually linked to information spread through villages and in towns. This was a young person’s war which most wars are – after all the most disposable members of society are its young men. Nor was it simply a war between white and black. IT was more a conflict on the ground between red and green. Communism and Capitalism. The other reality was despite being a low-key war, it was high intensity and at times featured unconventional warfare as well as conventional. SADF soldiers would often fight on foot, walking patrols, contacts would take place between these troops and SWAPO. There were many conventional battles involving motorised heavy vehicles, tanks, artillery, air bombardments and mechanised units rolling into attack each other. The combatants included Russians, American former Vietnam vets, Cubans, East Germans and Portuguese.
- 142 - Episode 113 - More details about the fierce fighting when PLAN invaded Namibia in April 1989
This is episode 113, we’re wrapping up the series with the final days of South West Africa as the country became Namibia. I’ll talk about the SADF’s departure later in this episode. First we need to go over the events in early April 1989 that almost put paid to the peace agreement. As you heard last week, SWAPO leader Sam Nujoma had ordered his military wing, PLAN to invade Namibia starting on April 1st. We’ve spent time hearing about the diplomatic fallout — now for some details about what happened on the ground. Constable Sakkie Jooste for example, group leader of Koevoets Zulu Five Juliet, who was based on high ground overlooking the Kunene River — a hotspot for SWAPO crossings west of Ruacana. There had been no reports of anything untoward overnight, but that was not surprising because the night had been dark, no moonlight. Excellent for anyone moving around and at first light Jooste’s radio crackled with the report that spoor of about 50 insurgents had been found. Jooste thought they were mistaken, and went to check the signs himself. IT was true, so he reported this to Ruacana police control. The war was supposed to be over, so he didn’t want to make himself look foolish, he didn’t want to appear jittery. Just in case, he called his men together and headed off to track the spoor about 15 km west of Ruacana. It was clear a large number of insurgents had crossed, map reference VL0873, Chevron boots, SWAPO, and some barefoot. Oshakati was contacted, General Dreyer was in command, and Inspector Nick Peens who was commander of Kaokaland police radio’d Jooste back. Mobile Air operations head Captain Keith Fryer was called in, to request a bosbok spotter plane to be despatched to Opuwo so Peens could go see for himself what was going on. He also asked Fryer to organise a few Alouette gunships. “Why should I put gunships on standby?” Asked Fryer, “There’s been no infiltration..” “But there has,” answered police comms control room sergeant Rassie Ras. Then at 08h05 another unit Zulu Hotel commanded by Constable Danie Fourie reported they’d found tracks of insurgents near the others. Most of Zulu’s team, inlcuding /yankee, Hotel, Oscar, were on their way to chase the insurgents while one of the team members radio’d back “April fool, April Foo, the whole lot of us…” He was cut short by Warrant Officer Fanna du Rand On the mountain, Koevoet commanders said a small war had broken out. SWAPO was firing downhill and missing, while the police fired back. The insurgents fled, heading towards the northern slope of the hill, and were spotted by the Captain Slade. Still the police on board didn’t open fire. What was going on? SWAPO was supposed to be moving north inside Angola, towards bases where the UN would be counting them and disarming the fighters. Instead, here they were inside Namibia, shooting at the security forces.
Mon, 10 Jul 2023 - 24min - 141 - Episode 112 - SWAPO's Sam Nujoma pulls a fast one and UNTAG struggles to cope
So here we are, the sound of peace settled over Ovamboland, it was the end of 1988. The South Africans were actually in a much better position than it appeared. Yes, they were losing Namibia, and were going to also lose their vital strategic port of Walvis Bay. Still, UNITA was left out of the discussion, they would continue to fight against the Angolan MPLA. In 1978 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution SR 435/78 — and from then on Pretoria led the UN on a merry dance by increasing it’s military involvement in Angola, not decreasing. The United States joined the South Africans in calling for the Cuban withdrawal from the country to be part of any future negotiations. This had eventually led to the dramatic signing on the 22nd December 1988 of the implementation of SR 435/78 with a period of transition set down to begin on April 1st 1989. Elections would be held in Namibia by November 1989, and by mid-1990 Namibia would be independent. But from earlier, by early August 1988, the South Africans had begun a process of withdrawing its troops from southern Angola. On 30 August 1988, the last of the South African troops crossed a temporary steel bridge into SWA/Namibia watched by the world's media and the Joint Monitoring Commission, 36 hours early than the planned time. A convoy of fifty vehicles with around thousand soldiers crossed over singing battle songs. After officers of the three countries walked across the bridge, the South African sappers begun to dismantle the temporary steel bridge. There was a prickly round of discussions about the United Nations Transition Assistance Group or UNTAG. The role of the UN was reduced in early 1989 when the Security Council decided to cut the military component of UNTAG from 7500 to 4650. Originally the permanent members wanted to cut this still further, but the non-aligned movement, the Organisation of African Unity, the Namibian Council of Churches and most Nordic countries were opposed to further cuts - they were really worried about the South Africans. Hundreds of SWAPO guerrillas suddenly began streaming across the border on the 1st April 1989 in large groups of fifty or more. The flood was picked up by elements of the SWATF and police, and alerted the South Africans. Pretoria was stung into action, and shouted foul as the aggrieved party, calling for the UN to deal with what they saw as an obvious attempt by SWAPO to take advantage of their pullout. UNTAG was enjoying demonstrations and celebrations throughout Namibia, when the Administrator-General told the Special Representative that further armed SWAPO personnel had crossed the border and firefights and contacts were occurring on a broad front throughout the Ovambo area of northern Namibia. A series of similar reports came in during the first and second indicating military action and casualties on a scale not seen for many years in the Namibian conflict.
Mon, 03 Jul 2023 - 23min - 140 - Episode 111 - Two Scorpions in a bottle and peace after 23 years
This is episode 111, in cricket the number is known as Nelson, it’s unlucky for the batting side, and players are expected to stand on one leg as the bowler launches his ball. It’s perhaps symbolic that we get to episode 111 at precisely the moment that the South Africans agree to peace after 23 years of fighting over South West Africa. Within a few months the country will officially be known as Namibia, and soon all SADF troops will have been withdrawn. I was working as a journalist starting in 1987 and had the honour to attend the tripartite signing ceremony in Brazzaville in the Congo, an experience that was strange, weird, otherworldly. The Cubans, South Africans and Angolans signed the Accord, observed by the Americans and the Russians, afterwards everyone drank vodka and mampoer The Russians brought the Vodka, and threw away the bottle caps, the South Africans brought the Mampoer and did the same. Chester Crocker had managed the impossible, but as he told people afterwards, the Cubans and the South Africans were like two scorpions in a bottle — both sides circling each other but not prepared to strike the killer blow. More about this peace in a moment, but first the fallout from the terrible MiG-23 attack on Calueque Dam that killed 11 8SAI troops on 27th June 1988. We ended last episode hearing how the MiGs had easily overcome the South African anti-aircraft defences, and damaged the Calueque Dam wall, hitting it with six 250 kilogramme bombs. As the recriminations and finger pointing followed the blowing up of the Buffel near the dam that led to the deaths of so many young South Africans, Commandant Mike Muller of 61 Mech had a challenge. His tanks and Ratels were stuck on the north side of the Kunene River, the earth ramp that had been built up to the Dam wall to allow the tanks to cross had been destroyed. But just before midnight on Monday June 27 1988, Muller was ordered to withdraw all his forces from Angola. Commandant Jan Hougaard was also ordered to pull all his 32 Battalion units back to South West. That was a surprise. Suddenly, it was over. This 23 year war that had started in Ovamboland, ended with the announcement that a peace agreement had been signed. Sixteen days later on an island in New York harbour, South Africa, Angola and Cuba agreed on the terms of peace, with both the Cubans and the South Africans withdrawing troops from the region.
Mon, 26 Jun 2023 - 27min - 139 - Episode 110 - Cuban MiG-23s bomb Calueque Dam and 11 SADF troops pay the price
When we left off last episode, the Cubans and Angolans were gearing up to face another invasion by 61 Mech and 4SAI, Operation Excite as it was to become known. But for once, the Cubans had decided that they’d seize the initiative and were about to launch a two pronged assault towards the South Africans from Xangongo. Just a quick recap, 61 Mech had arrived in the eastern theatre with a tank squadron, four more motorised infantry companies from 32 Battalion, including their anti-tank troop in four Ratel 90s and four more ZT3s, 3 motorised companies from 101 Battalion in Casspirs, one motorised company each from 1 parachute, 202 and 701 Battalions who were in Buffels. The SADF artillery support was also significant, a battery each of G-5s, G-2s, Valkiri rocket launchers and 120mm mortars. This was task force Zulu under command of Colonel Michael Delport. The South Africans had built an approach ramp up to Calueque Dam which allowed the Olifants and the Ratels to cross over for the invasion. Ostensibly the plan was to flush out the SAM-6 missile stations which were based around Techipa then hit them with artillery, but also to push the Cubans back from the dam which provided water and power to Ovamboland. It was a key point in the war. On the 23 June 1988, reconnaissance units reported a heavy Cuban artillery bombardment ahead of the dust cloud, it appeared an attack force was heading south and was eventually spotted on the 24th by members of 32 Battalion. Reccies also spotted Cuban columns moving southwards from Techipa towards Calueque, with this stop-start advance the technique preferred by the Russians. Bombard, move, dig in, bombard, move, dig in. There appeared to be a two-pronged assault under way. It was to be a furious battle, one which ended when MiG-23s bombed Calueque Dam, killing 11 8SAI soldiers - the worst single incident for the SADF in the entire 23 year war.
Mon, 19 Jun 2023 - 21min - 138 - Episode 109 - A Bosbok survives a missile near miss as both the SADF and the Cubans gear up
We left off last week hearing that the Cuban 50th Division had been moved towards the SWA Border, a clear message to Pretoria that Fidel Castro was no longer going to tolerate the losses that he and FAPLA had endured in southern Angola. All this as the South Africans, Cubans, Angolans, Americans and Russians were negotiating the future of Namibia. Time was running out. And in particular for a small group of men, a platoon if you like, that was going to take the brunt of a MiG bombing raid close to the Calueque Dam, just across the cutline. ‘Sent to deal with this threat was Commandant Jan Hougaard who by how had discovered that the biggest threat seemed to lie around the small town of Techipa around 50kilometers inside Angola. Besides thousands of Cuban soldiers, it had also begun to spout radio antennas and what appeared to be anti-aircraft positions. Because the South Africans were stretched so thinly, the SADF top brass could only send 500 soldiers for a planned assault on the town, all 32 Battalion men. Then the idea was a second conventional force would be setup and moved to Ruacana for a much larger incursion. On the 30 May and 1 June, operational instructions for Operation Hilti were released to the officers who’d be planning South Africa’s invasion. The op was to be enamed Operation Prone later - development of a conventional and counterinsurgency plan for north-west South-West Africa and south-western Angola. The instructions called for a sub-phase called Operation Excite to regain military control of south-west Angola by August 1988.
Sun, 11 Jun 2023 - 21min - 137 - Episode 108 - Cubans start heading towards Calueque Dam and another South African POW
This is episode 108, it’s the 23rd June 1988 and the south Africans, Cubans, Angolans, Americans and Russians had gathered in Cairo for negotiations over the future of Namibia and the Cubans were seething. American Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker opened up the meeting by presenting the Cubans and Angolans with Pretoria’s comprehensive proposals. The South Africans made themselves scarce during the presentation, Defence minister Magnus Malan and Foreign Minister Pik Botha were joined by chief of the Defence Force Jannie Geldenhuys as they headed off to the British Commonwealth War Cemetery at Heliopolis to lay a wreath to the fallen South Africans. They had flowers from home, so took a bowl of Proteas from the first class lounge of the Boeing 747 that had brought the delegation to Cairo. Then they headed back to the Hyatt el Salaam hotel, site of the conference. The Cuban delegation led by Jorge Kaspaars Risquet was infuriated by Pretoria’s suggestion that Havana move its soldiers out of southern Angola in seven months. They were even further incensed by the suggestion that UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi be brought into a transition government within six weeks. Risquet said if this was the case, then the system of apartheid had to be added to the agenda and negotiated at the same time. Pik Botha, never one to stand back, suggested that Risquet’s own Cuban government be also placed on the agenda for its human right abuses, and Chester Crocker like all good referees, called an early break so that all sides could calm down. No-one mingled that night. The South Africans were now convinced that their rooms were bugged so they marched off to the bottom of the garden and huddled behind a giant colourful umbrella. Meanwhile, Crocker met with the Russian representative Vladilen Vlasev summoned the Cubans and the Angolans to a late night chat behind their own colourful umbrella in a separate corner of the Cairo Hyatt garden. Miraculously, the Russian intervention led to the Cubans and Angolans managing to find a few common ideas with the South Africans, although they still differed on virtually every point. Still, the talks hadn’t completely broken down and all sides agreed to take the documents home with them to try and find a way to get a consensus before the next meeting. Less than a month later, on 4th May, a Cuban company attacked a members of 101 Battalion inside southern Angola. The battalion was reconnoitring territory 50 kilometers inside Angola near the Cunene River and was ambushed by a Cuban platoon. Lance Corporal Hendrik Jacobus Venter was killed and Private Johan Papenfus was lsited missing. This had hardly happened to the South Africans in 23 years of fighting, things were changing. Papenfus was duly wheeled out in Havana, a prisoner of war, now being treated for serious wounds to his leg.
Mon, 05 Jun 2023 - 20min - 136 - Episode 107 – Reagan, Gorbachev, Ulysses the Bull, Fidel Castro: Diplomacy Breaks Out
Operation Hooper had ended in failure for the SADF and back in Pretoria, it was time to reassess the political and military situation. What had been achieved after 23 years of war - fighting ostensibly to stop SWAPO from seizing control of Namibia but really a war to buffer the apartheid state from the sweeping post-colonial independence movements. This was no longer possible in 1988 because the Cold War was rapidly coming to an end. The Soviet Union experiment in communism has failed as an experiment, ironically it was failing at precisely the moment that the whites-only lunacy in South Africa was failing. These two countries, Russia and South Africa, shared a common dawn. It was a moment that was to change both, and to alter world history. While Russia and South Africa were indulging in this long term military dance across southern Africa, the Americans and the Cubans hadn’t been far away. Perhaps its more accurate to say that both Havana and Washington had been directly involved in these distant wars, both had ideological reasons to send their advisors and troops, their operators and specialists into the region. Propaganda and hoopla replaced a proper analysis. On the Cuban and Angolan side, they trumpeted what they called a great victory at Cuito Cuanavale. The only problem was there was never a battle of Cuito Cuanavale. It wasn’t like Stalingrad, fighting in the streets. But it was like the Battle of Moscow in the Second World War. There the Germans never reached the city, fighting for months outside the western edges, never defeating the Russians. The battles around Cuito Cuanavale were a bit like this. Now that the fighting had subsided, both sides licked their wounds. Behind the scenes, however, diplomacy was the real game. The soviet Union’s deputy Foreign Minister Anatoly Adamishin had been meeting both Cuban and Angolan leaders and pressurising them to talk peace. The USSR was bankrupt and could no longer send men and weapons to their satellite states.
Sun, 28 May 2023 - 21min - 135 - Episode 106 – Operation Packer/Tumpo 3 and Castro’s obsession
More than two decades of conflict in Ovamboland and southern Angola had worn down South African military domination - tactical superiority was no longer certain. The initial approach which had been innovative and inspirational, fast, seat of the pants and smart, had slumped into attritional raging bull blow for blow brutality. It was March 1988, time for one last push by the SADF against their FAPLA enemy and their Cuban and Russian allies. As you heard last episode, Commandant Gerhard Louw and most experienced officers of the Border War thought the overall plan to attack the Tumpo Triangle for the third time was a bad idea. Jan Breytenbach called it truly misguided. Cuban president Fidel Castro had made it very clear that he wanted the East bank of the Cuito River held at all costs. As long as the Cubans, Angolans and Russians held the bridgehead, it meant the SADF could not attack the town directly. Not that this was the South African’s aim - at least not their official aim. The plan was merely to seize the east bank, cross over to the West side, blow up the bridge which would put an end to FAPLAs assaults on the UNITA held towns of Mavinga and Jamba. However, the Angolans thought that Cuito Cuanavale was the main target and so did many South African troops fighting against FAPLA. I mean, there was the strategic town right in front of them, do you seriously think that had the Angolan army broken and run, that the SADF would have stopped across the Cuito River? So with that small diversion as a way of introduction, we rejoin Commandant Gerhard Louw and his ou-manne. IT’s Four pm on Tuesday 22nd March 1988, and the attackers were heading towards FAPLAs well defended positions on the east bank of the Cuito River 32 Battalion and Groot Karoo Regiment troops were joined by UNITAs 4th Regular Battalion on the western slope of the Chambinga High ground sweeping the area and trying to blunt any FAPLA reconnaissance from moving east of the Amhara Lipanda flatlands. UNITA spent a lot of time lifting mines, but it wasn’t enough, more than 15 000 landmines awaited the SADF and this was going to lead to a lot of trouble for the Olifant tanks. Laid in layers, the Cubans had doubled up the fields of death by laying anti-tank mines along with 130mm shells, when these detonated, the effect would be biblical.
Tue, 23 May 2023 - 20min - 134 - Episode 105 – Citizen Force ou-manne train for the third Battle of Tumpo while Russians drink rice-vodka to forget
The Third Battle of the Tumpo Triangle was about to begin - the date - 23rd March 1988. The weary 61 Mechanised battalion had withdrawn, the men exhausted after 4 months of shifting about and fighting FAPLA, while their equipment was in worse shape. By 13th March the tattered 20 Brigade of which 61 Mech was part had arrived back at Rundu across the Kunene River and for the third and final attack on the Triangle, Pat McLoughlin had returned command to Colonel Paul Fouche. IF you remember last episode, he’d been sent back to the Republic to try and drum up another Brigade which he’d found difficult. So he’d turned to the ou-manne - the campers or the Citizen Force as it was known. Fresh troops were brought in from South Africa, mostly from 82 Mechanised Brigade and this would be the first time since 1984 that the Citizen Force would furnish most of the troops of the upcoming Operation Packer. When you hear the makeshift formation you’ll understand that this operation was not going to be easy for any commander, however motivated the men were. The reality was these were soldiers who were part-timers, they may have been excellent as National Servicemen, but now they were back in civvie street, mentally they had to now contend with wives and children far away, they were accountants and teachers. Helping Fouche put together a viable force was commandant Gerhard Louw, the tank and armoured car instructor at the South African Battle School based at Lohatla in the northern Cape. The haphazard nature of Pretoria’s tactical planning and strategic understanding of how the fight a mobile war with tanks and infantry in thick bush was going to upend another group of tough South African soldiers. The Generals who were now interfering in all decisions, along with Cabinet members, were a hindrance to the officers on the ground, at least according to their accounts. The West Bank of the Cuito River was bristling with artillery of all kinds, massed in places to provide truly phenomenal fire-power. There were batteries of the D-30 122mm guns, M-46 or 130mm heavy artillery, BM-21 122mm rockets, and BM-14 140mm multiple rocket launchers. Protecting these from the Recces and SADF forward Artillery observers, A battalion of 36 Brigade was stationed between the Cuito and Cuanavale Rivers to protect the Angolan artillery from the Recces and SADF forward Artillery observers, while another battalion from 36 Brigade had moved west of the Cuito River. Russian advisors were making a big difference by now, along with the Cubans. They were adding a great deal of skill to FAPLAs basic fighting capacity. They’d shown the Angolans how to survive being hit by an anti-tank mine by leaving the hatches of their armoured personnel carriers open. Battening down the hatches meant that the blast wave inside the vehicle had no-where to go and flattened those inside. “If you leave it open, you might get away with concussion and perhaps some shrapnel wounds…” wrote translator Igor Zhdarkin. They had taken to brewing rice vodka and the Russians said afterwards they’d listen to the Voice of Moscow, Voice of America, BBC and the South African Broadcasting Corporation - the SABC. They spent a lot of time drinking, as Russian advisor Vyacheslav Barabulya explains in the book Bush War published in 2007. They were experiencing daily bombardments by the SADF artillery and said that they’d managed to tap into the almost 100 percent proof alcohol used in the Pechora anti-aircraft system.
Tue, 16 May 2023 - 21min - 133 - Episode 104 – The SAAF raids Lubango and a tired 61 Mech launches the Battle of Tumpo II
Last episode we heard about the failed first battle of the Tumpo Triangle, officially known as Tumpo one which took place on February 25th 1988. You know that things aren’t going well when battles are numbered, and there would be three attempts at overrunning FAPLA in its defensive positions east of the Cuito River, outside Cuito Cuanavale. Still, some good news had filtered in a few days after the audacious attack on SWAPO facilities in Lubango. This was a town that lies nearly 300 kilometers north of the cutline, in the Angolan highlands, a jump off point for FAPLA as it sent its soldiers into the fighting in the south east, along the South West African border. A bomb had exploded at Oshikati First National Bank in Ovamboland on the 19th February, killing 20 people, wounding six. The South Africans wanted revenge, and decided to target SWAPOS training base at Lubango. Planning for the raid began immediately after the blast, and continued all the way through until the next morning, led by Colonel John Church of the SA Air Force. The Mirages were refuelled while the men were briefed, and at 08h00 they took off from Ondangwa, heading north west towards Lubango. Major Norman Minne led this attack flying F1AZ 218. It had the most accurate navigation system, errors were less than a mile at way points. As they flew low level from the southeast, the compact warning receiver or CRWS began picking up signals from the Soviet Barlock search radar - they had been spotted. Minne descended lower and lower, only a few feet off the deck by this stage, but his navigation system was spot on so he folded his map confident he’d find the target. Back on the eastern front, outside Cuito Cuanavale, Colonel Pat McLoughlin had decided to launch the next assault on the Tumpo Triangle at night. Unlike the first attempt to take Tumpo, this time 61 Mech’s Mike Muller planned to use the northern route through the Chambinga high Ground, then down the tricky Heartbreak hill steep drop into the Anhara Lipanda - and then to charge directly at FAPLA positions. The night of February 29th was chosen, with the battle set to continue into Tuesday 1st March if necessary. While the final plans were being checked and double checked, on the other side of the River, the Cubans had sent combat engineers to re-mine the route in the north, and these men ran into a reconnaissance patrol - either it was the South Africans or UNITA. The SADF didn’t report this anywhere, so it was probably UNITA. Their patrol apparently turned and fled into the darkness, and FAPLA engineers laid another 150 mines - there were now 15 000 in total across this part of eastern Cuito Cuanavale. But now the Angolans were almost certain the next attack was going to come from the north East. The SADF did not know that the Angolans knew with almost 100 certainty the direction of the next South African attack.
Sun, 07 May 2023 - 21min - 132 - Episode 103 – The First Battle of Tumpo Triangle where 61 Mech faced a fierce FAPLA bombardment
It was D-Day for the next attack across the open ground east of the Tumpo Triangle, just outside Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola. The town was now regarded as a moral prerequisite rather than strategic necessity, Luanda’s position here was no surrender, while in Pretoria, the political leadership knew that they could not take the town. This would have prompted an escalation which the National Party could not afford at this moment in their history. The South African economy was weakening, and the public support for this long war in Angola had ebbed significantly. As you’ve heard, the Cubans and Angolans with the Russian advisors were dug in and ready to the east of Cuito Cuanavale, dozens of tanks, thousands of men, covered by Su-22 and MiG fighter jets and ground support aircraft, M-46 heavy artillery ranged and ready, the terrifying Zu-23 anti-aircraft guns horizontal, ready to pound the Ratels. Mike Muller’s 61 Mech was going to launch itself into this flatland on 25th February 1988, a direct assault on a heavily fortified position with fewer men. Not what the military handbook says - as we all know. If you do not have the element of surprise, then you need 3 to 1 odds in your favour, however poorly trained you believe the other side may be. The Angolans by now were not as poorly trained as the SADF liked to think. FAPLA been fighting the South Africans since 1975 and had learned a great deal over the past 13 years.
Mon, 01 May 2023 - 24min - 131 - Episode 102 – 32 Battalion strikes Menongue Airfield and a Mirage is shot down
The South Africans were attacking FAPLA’s 59 Brigade, but had run into an ambush - Cubans operating Soviet tanks had laid up waiting for 4SAI to cut across their hull down positions. These were the T55s of the 3rd Battalion — the commanders and the gunners were Cuban, while the drivers were Angolan. As the SADF had found out earlier on the 14th February 1988, Cubans were also operating as spotters. Mike Muller of 61 Mech was now trying to capture a Cuban, but the last he’d seen had been shot down right in front of him, while trying to surrender, by UNITA troops who’s blood was up. When we left off last, it was afternoon - and the SADF had just won a victory over 59 Brigade and 3rd Battalion - the Angolans and their Cuban allies were in full retreat towards the Tumpo Triangle, that y junction in the road south east of Cuito Cuanavale, and just north of the Tumpo River. This retreat was a rout in many ways, with FAPLA officers only managing to halt the retreating 59th Brigade 120 kilometers north east of Cuito Cuanavale. 21 and 25 Brigades were also pulling back along with the 3rd tank Battalion. They left behind 14 destroyed T55s, eight armoured cars, one BM-21 Stalin Organ, one mobile radar guided SAM13 missile system, and seven ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns. 400 FAPLA were dead, hundreds more wounded so far on the battle on Valentines’ Day. Meanwhile, what was called a sideshow had been underway far to the north west of this battle ground. To coincide with the big attack by 4SAI and 61 Mech against 59 Brigade on Sunday 14 February 1988, Deon Ferreira wanted 32 Battalion to strike the Menongue Airbase. This was to hamper the Angolans as they dispatched their attack helicopters and ground support MiGs - and the plans had been under way since the 6th February . It may have been a sideshow, but it was extremely daring - a one-off event in the entire Border War in terms of its conventional style plan. The idea was to launch from a small stream called the Cuma, which was 20 kilometers south east of Menongue. One Friday 19th February, four Mirage F1AZs took off from Grootfontein in Northern SWA, their target was a FAPLA convoy expected to pass through Cuartir, 40 kilometers east of Menongue. The last plane out that day was flown by Major Ed Every, known to all at the base as Never Ready because he often forgot things - like his gloves, maps, or flight documents - but on this day he forgot nothing.
Sun, 23 Apr 2023 - 22min - 130 - Episode 101 – The Valentines Day assault on 59 Brigade and a Cuban tank ambush
It’s the second week of January 1988 and FAPLAs 21st, 59th and 25th Brigades had taken up the front line in what was to be a three layered defenses ahead of the Tumpo Triangle, where two roads joined just north of the Tumpo River. That was aeast of Cuito Cuanavale. Behind these three Brigades, 16th and 66th hunkered down in expectation of an SADF follow up attack which had started ended on the 14th January. The third Angolan line of defence was just west of the Cuito River, manned by the 13th Brigade joined by a Cuban battalion. By now FAPLA was communicating by fixed telephone line, going back to an earlier technology which made it much more difficult for the South Africans to intercept their messages. From the beginning of January 1988 to the end of March, the SADF was going to make six frontal attacks on these well-entrenched FAPLA positions and now the Generals in Pretoria were almost literally breathing down the necks of the tactical commanders. 61 Mech, 4SAI and UNITA had been repulsed after taking ground, the South African troops disgusted as they watched the land they’d fought to seize being retaken by Angolan units around the Chambinga High Ground. The haphazard nature of the SADF’s attack - part of Operation Hooper - was caused by the territory and by a confused series of orders. I recently attended talks at Voortrekkehoogte by high ranking generals of this period, they defended their decisions and made some pointed comments about false information, but I’m afraid to say that the facts speak for themselves. Let’s go over a few of these and consider for yourself what was going on in these final days of South Africa’s Border War. After the attack on 21 Brigade some of the Recce observation teams were moved to positions between the Cuito and Cuanavale Rivers, well behind enemy lines, north of Cuito Cuanavale. From here, the observers could see the airfield and the Cuito Bridge. The main danger for these specialists were the crocodiles, the Cuanavale River teemed with them, but after some scouring of the banks, one team led by Justin Vermaak spotted two Makoros, or canoes made from a hollowed tree trunk, and crossed over after dark. They were prepping for the next major assault which SADF HQ had indicated was supposed to take place by end January, but ended up starting almost a month after their first assault on 21st Brigade. One of the strategic weaknesses plaguing the SADF now was the slow response and planning, logistics was a big problem here hundreds of kilometers away from their bases at Rundu and Oshikati. Eventually Vermaak and his OP team found an excellent spot behind some of FAPLAs brigades, and watched 21 Brigade reorganised, digging their trenches in the same area that 4SAI had freed only a few days before. The Recces were also in a good spot to warn their 20 Brigade HQ back in Rundu when they spotted MiGs, being behind enemy lines. That would buy the South Africans a couple of minutes. They were also being warned 200km further west, teams of Recces under Johnny de Gouveia and Buks van den Burg were watching Menongue airport spotting the MiGs and choppers taking off heading towards Cuito Cuanavale. Pretoria was dithering. They eventually decided on January 25th that the rearming and new plans were ready and the nest target was not 21 Brigade, it was 59th. 61 Mech lieutenant Clive Holt explained how they all knew that 59 Brigade was the key to the FAPLA defences. FAPLAs 3 Tank Battalion was waiting in support, so this was not going to be easy. Because 59th Brigade was FAPLAs strongest, the aim was to hit them until they collapsed, then 21 and 25 Brigades would fall back towards the town - hopefully without much fight left.
Sun, 16 Apr 2023 - 22min - 129 - Episode 100 – FAPLA pushed from their positions along the Chambinga High Ground on Friday 13th
D-Day for the renewed attack on FAPLA’s 21 Brigade was reset from January 5th to January 13th 1988 - a Friday, for those who suffered from triskaidekaphobia - a fear of Friday the 13th, it merely served to increase their worries. 4 SAI was now being led by Commandant Jan Malan who replaced Leon Marais, 61 Mech was under temporary command of Koos Liebenberg who’d relieved Mike Muller who had headed home for a six week break to move his home from Pretoria to Tsumeb. UNITAs 3rd Regular Battalion was under command of former Portuguese army’s General Demostenes Chilingutila - who was the rebel movements Chief of Staff and had decided to come and get more directly involved. 4 SAI and UNITA were going in from the east of the Cuatir River source, using the Chambinga High Ground while 61 Mech would squeeze through between 21 Brigade and 59 Brigades, then take up position on the heavily forested hillside. As you’ll hear, this became known as 61 Koppie and is one of those hills that appears to be a merely pimple on the landscape but one that turns into a major strategic position. The Koppie protruted just west of the Chambinga high ground, east of the Cuanavale River. The koppie was 3 kilometers south of 21 Brigade’s perimeter and north of the Dala River source, it was hemmed on three sides by rivers, and to the East lay the Chambinga thickets on the high ground. There are many small rivers that rise around the high ground east or south of Cuito and the Dala was one of these. The landscape was going to feature as a kind of 3rd force in the upcoming battles, as had happened previously in the SADFs attempts at dislodging FAPLA from East of the Cuanavale and Chambinga rivers. 4SAI began it approach just after midday on the 13th, after the Mobile Rocket Launchers and G5s had softened up the two outposts - more than 300 rounds were pumped towards these FAPLA troops who numbered around 800. The SA artillery continued with 81mm and 120mm mortars, as the SA Air Force flew in, their incendiary bombs setting fire to the forest around FAPLAs position.
Tue, 11 Apr 2023 - 22min - 128 - Episode 99 – The SAAF tests a top secret weapon while new recruits come to terms with giant moths and skulking MiGs
We’re approaching the date of Operation Hooper, but first a bit of bad news for the SADF regarding disease. The heavy rains through November and December of 1987 had created a perfect breeding ground for the flies and mosquitoes that carried hepatitis and malaria. This was impacting the morale let alone the operational capacity of the army. The replacement troopies were on their way by the 19th November but they had to receive additional training on the border before they were let loose on FAPLA. FAPLA too was rearming itself, and new recruits were also arriving at 21 Brigade and other units stationed around Cuito Cuanavale. There was a real expectation building on both sides that something significant was going to happen over the next few months. This kind of war couldn’t continue, it had mutated from a low intensity guerrilla war ostensibly fought though Ovamboland to a conventional war fought exclusively in southern Angola. The troops arriving to replace die the national servicemen had no idea what they were in for. This was an old trick of the SADF, most of these men only realised they were going into Angola once they were inside the country. The law stated that they had to volunteer to fight outside the country, but the SADF top brass had got around this by asking if the men were prepared to volunteer once they had crossed the border. Had these troops not "volunteered", they would have left their brothers to fight with fewer hands. So it was a contorted and rather malicious psychological trick these blokes played on the minds of these youngsters - most of them 18 or 19 years old. AS the SADF prepared for Operation Hooper, the SA Air Force was testing a new top secret weapon system on the Buccaneer S Mk 50, known as the H2, built by Kentron, a subsidiary of Armscor. It was a 460 kilogram pre-fragmented, folding winged glide-bomb, controlled by a TV link between the bomb and the aircraft. It was a simple form of missile, with a guidance unit in its nose with its own power generator, driven by a small impeller at the back of the bomb. An impeller is something like the rotating component of a centrifugal pump. A comms pod was carried under the opposite wing of the Buccaneer which setup the TV link - and the weapon could controlled after launch by its parent aircraft.
Sun, 02 Apr 2023 - 22min - 127 - Episode 98 – Hougaard goes marauding and a Russian commander dies as an ammunition bunker explodes
When we left off last episode it was the end of Operation Moduler, and Cuban Leader Fidel Castro had begun to consider a negotiated solution to the Namibian and Angolan war. There was a side-show planned before the next major op in Angola. The SADF top brass had finally decided to try and cut off the logistics route west of Cuito Cuanavale through to Menongue. This was also a period in the war where the generals began to get more and more involved in the tactical decisions. Some of the upcoming battles were going to involve the SADF forces creeping ahead, similar to the fighting in World War One. FAPLA had not folded and run, commanders on the ground said that the enemy had often fought with a degree of determination that drew grudging respect from the South Africans. It’s time to consider Jan Hougaard’s Marauders and an approach that perhaps in hindsight, was about two months too late but better late than never. The commandant had been sent back to Rundu in late October to put together a secret mission to head west of Cuito Cuanavale, where the road runs east west but the rivers run north south. That means there’s quite a few points that are strategic because they’re bridges or drifts, at least five places where a motivated and well structured team of saboteurs or attackers could cause mayhem. Convoys of vehicles were arriving in Cuito virtually daily, some with 300 or more trucks, tankers and support machines, bringing supplies and equipment. Each convoy that made the trip safely from Menongue 200 km to the west was greeted by cheers, and each was a knife in the back of the SADF morale. He had to begin destabilising FAPLAs routes by early December, so he turned to 120 men from 101 Battalion made up of soldiers from Ovamboland. The mobile rocket Launcher battery was shifted from Hartslief to Hougaard. He scouted around Fort Buffalo, 32 Battalion’s headquarters, and managed to pull together a special support company with 81mm mortars, jeep mounted 106 mm anti-tank guns and Milan anti-tank missiles. The Angolans had been forced to recruit more troops and rush them south, many had not been trained properly and the calibre of fighting man on FAPLAs side had dropped. But offsetting this was a far cleverer approach to fighting the South Africans. FAPLA had already shown some steel in previous confrontations, they had deployed their mechanised units in a more mobile fashion, moving them around the battlefield. The Cubans and Russian advisors were more hands on as well.
Sun, 26 Mar 2023 - 20min - 126 - Episode 97 – Castro starts to talk peace but along the Cuito River all hell rains down
We’re wrapping up Operation Moduler this episode and throwing forward to the next assault on Cuito Cuanavale which was to fixate the South African political leadership at a time when the Cold War was melting away. This was to have a direct effect on the satellite wars such as those in Angola. Assessing this stage of the conflict it all appeared to be in South Africa’s favour - on the surface. Combat Groups Alpha, Bravo and Charlie had fought running battles against FAPLAs 21/25 Brigade, 66 Brigade and 59th Brigade for weeks pushing them back to close to where they’d started the own Operation October. Instead of overcoming UNITA at Mavinga and taking their HQ at Jumba, FAPLA had been defeated. Between July and 18th November 1987 FAPLA had lost 1 059 dead, more than 2000 wounded, 61 tanks were blown up along with 84 armoured cars and 20 artillery pieces. Some have suggested that if 4SAI and the tank squadron of 12 Olifants from the start of Moduler, they would have overrun the Angolans with ease. That is I’m afraid, an incorrect assessment for two main reasons. The first was the SA Air Force did not control the air war. The Angolans did. And anyone who understands modern warfare knows that those who control the air, particularly these days of missiles and drones, controls the battle. Russia has failed to take complete control of the airspace over Ukraine since their invasion in February 2022 - and has paid the price for that failure. Unlike the UN and American force that overran Iraq in Desert Storm after decimating and completely destroying the Iraqi air Force and bludeoning it’s anti-aircraft system into dust. The war was lost from then on for Saddam Hussein whatever his Revolutionary Guard thought. Secondly, the SADF was attacking entrenched defensive positions without the advantage of the element of surprise and numerically weaker. Tactical college interns at military school will tell you that’s not a blueprint for success. Even if 4SAI and the tanks had arrived earlier, they would still have had to face MiGs that were spending more time over the ground forces than the Mirages. Perhaps the SADF would have managed to overcome FAPLAs 21 and 25 Brigade, but then they would face four more Brigades. Two east of Cuito and two others in reserve. And if you check the facts, 59 Brigade fought well and in fact, deflected an Olifant attack on the days before 16th November 1987. By now Cuba's Fidel Castro had lost over 10 000 and some say closer to 20 000 troops as casualties of this never ending war across the Atlantic from his small island nation. Initially, he had supported the war, sending his men and women in to fight. It’s not well known, but Cuban women for example made up most of the anti-aircraft battery crews around some of the towns of Angola. He began to think about negotiating a solution rather than fighting to the death against the SADF, and sent his diplomats to the United Nations along with Angolan MPLA officials to contact the South African mission in New York. Castro was wanting out of Angola.
Sun, 19 Mar 2023 - 23min - 125 - Episode 96 – The Chambinga Gallop and the end of Operation Moduler
FAPLAs 21 and 25 Brigades were manoeuvring around the western edge of the 1370 meter high Viposto high ground which lay south of the Hube and Chambinga Rivers before dawn on the 16th November 1987- and those rivers flowed in an almost direct east to west direction. That meant the Angolan Brigades were now squeezed between the high ground and the river, heading towards the Hube’s source. Their plan was to circle around the east side of the source, then head back westerly along the right bank of the river, eventually reaching the strategic Chambinga River bridge - and then escaping back towards Cuito Cuanavale. At 06h00 the 21 and 25 Brigades were refuelling before the next quick push for the headwaters of the Hube, with the Russian advisors team leader Lieutenant colonel Anatoly Artiomenko standing on the top of his troop carrier. The SADF’s Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Battle groups were thundering north, trying to cut them off on the east side - the right - of the Viposto high ground. During the night of the 15th, SADF Recces and spotters were on the move ahead of the advancing Battle Groups and despite the Angolans determination to co-ordinate their next moves, the next few hours were going to be grim. And Battle Group Charlie wasn’t hard to spot - FAPLA recon teams heard them miles away because the commander Leon Marais had decided to breach a large minefield using the Ploffadder explosives - fired from a rocket they landed on the minefield in a long strand, detonating loudly and also detonating mines. They did not always work and this time, they worked well enough to signal Charlie’s presence to advancing FAPLA Brigades. Because both sides had driven into the same area at night, the South Africans had further compounded their own lack of quick quiet action by firing mortar shell illuminating flares before dawn. They gave their positions away in both cases long before FAPLA actually spotted their forward Ratels and Buffels. The South Africans were also traveling very slowly as the commanders fretted about the exact location of the minefields, even despite having maps they’d seized in the attacks on the 16 Brigade two weeks earlier. Lieutenant Koos Breytenbach was the SADF forward artillery observer at strategic Bridge and he became known as the Murderer of the Chambinga after what happened next. He was extremely accurate in his distance measurements and timing, bringing down constant G-5 shells, rockets and 120mm mortars on the Angolans crossing the bridge. **This episode has been re-edited to include comments from Paul Gladwin who kindly provided a more accurate rendition of a casevac that led to an Honoris Crux for Sergeant Labuschagne.
Sun, 12 Mar 2023 - 24min - 124 - Episode 95 – 21/25 Brigade makes a dash for the Chambinga Bridge amidst heroics by 32's Van Zyl
We’re into the final phase of Operation Moduler in November 1987, and the SADF was lining up FAPLAs 16 Brigade after giving them a bloody nose on the 9th. Combat Group Bravo was going to draw FAPLAs attention between the Mianei and Vimpula Rivers, south east of Cuito Cuanavale, but that was a diversion. 59 Brigade was based here, and moving slowly in a northerly direction to support 16 Brigade almost due east of the town. The are a series of short rivers that rise to the north, east and south of Cuito Cuanavale, most flow west and join the Quito River - and it was along these rivers that most of the next phase of Operation Modular would be fought. The Recces spotted T54/55 tanks heading towards the source of the Hube River and the South African commander Commandant Deon Ferreira was weighing up neutralising these heavy weapons before continuing with the attack on 16h Brigade. The South Africans were still not fully aware of what 59 Brigade was doing, although they had a better idea about 16 Brigade. During the night of the 10th, the SADF pulled of a switcheroo, moving Combat Group Alpha to the south of 16th Brigade, combat Group Charlie was now slightly north. Early on the morning of the 11th, Combat Group Alpha was in position and began to fire their Ratel 90 guns along with the Ratel 81 mortars towards FAPLA trenches. The G-5s also began to pepper 16 Brigade along with the Multiple Rocket launchers, the Valkiris. ON the same day, the Angolans were celebrating their independence but as the Russian advisors met with their African colleagues for muted festivities, Mirages flew overhead, and began to bomb the Angolan positions. “Something quite unimaginable is happening now …” wrote Russian translator Igor Zhdarkin, “The Angolan troops are almost completely demoralised the brigades are on average at 45 percent strength. For every 10 or 15 shells launched by the enemy the Angolans are able to send only one…” The SADFs rate of fire was wearing FAPLA down while the Recces and artillery spotters were passing on information constantly and then picked up 59th Brigade’s shifting position. The Russians reported that the Angolans had spotted what they called “their buffalo” - that was 32 Battalion and the advisors reported that “the Angolans fear the South Africans like fire…”. As both sides picked up their pieces, an incredible casualty evacuation was about to take place. 32's Piet Van Zyl realised that one of the Battalion’s troops was missing - and was told that the infantryman was last seen lying dead in a FAPLA trench 800m away.
Sun, 05 Mar 2023 - 24min - 123 - Episode 94 – South African and Russian tanks go toe-to-toe at the Chambinga river in southern Angola
It’s early morning November 9th 1987 and the SADF was advancing towards FAPLAs 16th Brigade based at the source of the Chambinga River. The Angolan brigade had received orders to shift eastwards, and the units were about to move when the SADF launched their attack. The first sign of the impending assault was an artillery bombardment and SAAF bombing raid on the eve of the assault. Commandant Deon Ferreira was OC of Task Force 10 as it was known although the main battle plans had been drawn up by Roland de Vries, his 2 IC. It was a plan that was based on the principles of fluid operations, with the South African mobility exploited to the full. De Vries had also decided that one of the main aims was to destabilise the enemies logistics and communications, disrupting their plans and likely counter attack. Robbie Hartslief’s Combat Group Bravo unleashed on 59th Brigade to the south, creating a diversion. But when his units overran the position, the south African commander was surprised to find the brigade’s positions were empty, it had already withdrawn north towards the 16th Brigade. The Angolans counter attacked with tanks, and Bravo retreated, Hartslief’s actions had confused the enemy and he didn’t want to continue a needless fight against FAPLA which was using heavy weapons, including the T54 and 55s. The Soviet advisors thought they had won a victory and began exchanging congratulations. Little did they know that the main SADF assault was going to take place further north close to the source of the Chambinga River. That’s where Commandant Deon MArais led Combat Group Charlie towards 16th Brigade, although the going was slow, hampered by the thick bush around the river. By 06h57 on the morning of 9th November, Recces posted near the 16th Brigade radio to say that could hear FAPLAs tank engines start up - moments later a G-5 bombardment hit one of FAPLAs ammunition dumps, which exploded. Marais’ Charlie Group approached in close formation, with 4 SAIs two mechanised infantry companies of Ratel 20s on both sides in the front, and an armoured car squadron of Ratel 90s as well as a platoon of 32 Battalion troops between them. Piet van Zyl’s company of 32 infantrymen were all black, led by four white officers. “We moved 30 km west from the lagoon, riding on Ratels,” said van Zyl quoted by author Fred Bridgeland. “We passed the tank squadron and its support Ratels under the command of major Andre Retief of 4SAI, That man really knew how to look after his troops…” Retief had brought a refrigerated canteen truck all the way from South Africa, and van Zyl organised a raid on the truck when 4SAI was looking the other way - liberating two cases of ice cold beer. “Man that was nectar from heaven” said van Zyl. The Angolans still believed that the SADF was attacking 59 Brigade further south, but that all changed just after 7.30 when 16 Brigade comms reports that South African tanks appeared to be about to overrun their positions.
Sun, 26 Feb 2023 - 21min - 122 - Episode 93 – Russians claim chemical weapon attack as the SADF pounds FAPLA
Colonel Deon Ferreira was putting the final touches together for the next phase of Operation Moduler, in late October 1987. The South Africans had reorganised themselves into three combat groups for the upcoming push against FAPLA north of the Lomba River. Combat Group Alpha was initially led by Kobus Smit of 61 Mech, but he was about to be rotated out to be replaced by Commandant Mike Muller, it was basically 61 Mech minus a mechanised infantry group, Combat Group Bravo led by Robbie Hartslief, two motorised infantry companies from 32 Battalion and 101 Battalion each, as well as 32s anti-tank squadron and support company, with a mechanised infantry company seconded from 61 Mech. Combat Group Charlie was headed up by Leon Marais and comprised of 4SAI infantry, a tank squadron of Olifants, plus a motorised company from 32 Battalion. Along side these was 20 Artillery regiment under Colonel Jean Lausberg. Sierra Battery retained their G-5 Guns and turned their 120mm mortars over to Romeo battery. So this regiment had two G-5 batteries, one Valkiri MRL Battery, along with a 120mm mortar battery and a troop of G-6s. That meant there were 3000 South African soldiers in this brigade - and no reinforcements. The artillery was going to be based south east of the Mianei river, which itself is south east of Cuito Cuanavale. From now on Cuito Cuanavale would be in range, along with its crucial airstrip. But the Angolans had withdrawn their MiGs and attack helicopters from the town, aware that the SADF long-range G-5s and G-6 could strike their expensive machines. Colonel Ferreira based himself at the tactical HQ near Mavinga leaving Roland de Vries back in Rundu to draw up the main plan for the assault on Cuito Cuanavale. After a day or so, De Vries and Colonel Fred Oelschig and Jean Lausberg flew to Mavinga to discuss the plan with UNITAs Jonas Savimbi. FAPLAs forces were arraigned in an arc mainly to the south east of Cuito Cuanavale. 16 Brigade was at the source of the Chambinga River - the furthest north of the Angolan brigades, while 66 Brigade was close to the main road bridge over the river. This was one of the key points that the SAAF had been hitting, it was the only route FAPLA Brigades further south could use to escape. 59 Brigade was below the 16th Brigade, while to their west, at the confluence of the Cuito and Mianei Rivers, an infantry battalion of the 66 Brigade was waiting. Nearby was an infantry battalion of the 25th Brigade, at the source of the Mianei River. Further towards the Cuito River, 21 Brigade based behind the 25th Brigade, and 21 was also arraigned along the Mianei River. Then the Russians claimed the SADF fired chemical weapons...
Sun, 19 Feb 2023 - 20min - 121 - Episode 92 – An indebted Pretoria fixates on Cuito Cuanavale
At the beginning of October 1987 One Recce moved into the southern Angolan region replacing Five Recce and by the time the SADF top brass had decided the final course of action, a group of 30 Recces flew by C-130 from Durban Air Force base to Rundu It was at Rundu where a critically important meeting had taken place on the 15th October when Army Chief General Kat Liebenberg had arrived to attend a briefing by staff officers. They had developed two alternatives. Either prevent FAPLA from withdrawing over the Chambinga River towards Cuito Cuanavale until the SADF reinforcements showed up in early November and destroy them. Not much chance of that succeeding, the South Africans were too thin on the ground. Option two was really an extension of option one - the first part of the plan was the same, to trap FAPLA, but then to send 4SAI and the tank squadron west of the Cuito River and take the town of Cuito Cuanavale from the north west. Outflank FAPLAs Brigades in other words and hit their rear. The SADF Battle Group would then advance north and destroy the FAPLA Brigades based east of Cuito Cuanavale - the 16th, 59th, 21st and 25th. Liebenberg preferred option two and that was why the Recces were flying in from Durban. There is an excellent book called “Bush War, the road to Cuito Cuanavale” edited by Gennady Shubin and Andrei Tokarev, all about Soviet Soldiers accounts of the Angolan War. I’m using these accounts in the next few podcasts because they are unfettered diary entries which offset some of the more prosaic commentary by both sides. They were excellent observers of warfare, monitoring the SADF and FAPLA as well as SWAPO. This book is full of illuminating descriptions of what went on in FAPLAs trenches between 1987 and 1989. So, on the 15th October, some of these Russians had taken up their new positions north east of Cuito alongside FAPLAs 21 Brigade which had been so badly mauled trying to cross the Lomba River bridge.
Sun, 12 Feb 2023 - 21min - 120 - Episode 91 – Russians on the Lomba and the Olifant Battle Tank
FAPLA had taken a battering at the Battle of the Lomba River on 3rd October 1987 - the SADF had crushed 47 Brigade, and they had also dealt t21 Brigade a serious blow earlier as you’ve heard. Operation Modular had led to a mauling - and the Angolans began withdrawing northwards. The South Africans had been victorious despite being hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, the Ratels had somehow defeated the T54s and T55s. The cabinet was delighted back in Pretoria - but now faced a serious question that had not been fully addressed before the Lomba bloodletting. Now what? FAPLA was withdrawing but they weren’t defeated. Furthermore, FAPLA’s logistic centre at Cuito Cuanavale was untouched and operating. The bridge the Recces had destroyed was up and running once more. IT was almost immediately that folks like the chief of the SADF Jannie Geldenhuys knew consolidation of the gains was crucial, along with preventing the enemy from regrouping. By now, the political leadership had decided that they’d throw everything they could at this invasion into Angola - they’d gone too far to pull back. They’d grabbed a Tiger by the tail, and couldn’t let go. For the Angolans, it was a bitter defeat, and the end of FAPLAs Operation Saludando a Octobre, Salute to October, their grand offensive of four main Brigades which were supposed to seize Mavinga from UNITA then push on to UNITAS HQ at Jamba - and destroy the rebel movement once and for all. Not this time. Russian advisors who were part of the FAPLA Brigades on the Lomba, and based in Cuito, confirmed just how badly the Angolan army had been mauled. Igor Anatoliyevich Zhdarkin was on the ground in Cuito when the battered 21st and 47th Brigades staggered back into the town. “There on the Lomba, misfortune had befallen them…” he wrote in his journal “…They had been battered with shells from the rapid firing guns of the South Africans.” On the ground, 20 SA Brigade was joined by 4 SAI Battalion, a fully mechanised unit with extra G-5 batteries, four self propelled G6 guns - although one broke down and most important, a squadron of 13 Olifant tanks. Because these were to play such a significant role in the upcoming battles, I’ll spend a few minutes talking about their production.
Mon, 06 Feb 2023 - 25min - 119 - Episode 90 – FAPLAs 47th Brigade shattered as Operation Moduler continues
One of the most crucial periods of the Border War was under way - although military strategists didn’t realise this until a little later. It was imperative for FAPLA to take Mavinga, this would have pushed the South Africans much further south - and factored into Luanda’s plan along with the Cubans to begin building longer runways for bombers and fighter aircraft to take control of southern Angola. I’ll get to some of the Russians views as we go - they were aware of this ultimate plan to set up a possible jump off point to invade Ovamboland should this war continue interminably. While Moscows original strategy was to avoid this kind of incursion, by 1987 the Soviet Union was under huge pressure economically and really wanted the War of independence in Namibia to end asap. FAPLAs 21st Brigade had been stopped twice from crossing the Lomba River, this was very important and had a bearing on the rest of the Battle which lasted almost three months in total. An entry in 20 SA Brigade’s war diary for the 29th September contains three phases for the upcoming offensive - One that the enemy must be prevented from taking Mavinga, two that the SADF would conduct operations north of the Lomba river - in other words they should chase FAPLAs 4 main brigades, the 21st, 16th, 47 and 59th and third the advance on Cuito Cuanavale. That order was rescinded on 1st October and 47 Brigade was told to finish building a temporary TMM bridge over the Lomba, then to withdraw to the north and join up with other FAPLA forces. Back at SADF Mavinga HQ, Commandant Deon Ferreira was receiving radio intercept updates - they were listening in to FAPLAs calls. It so happened that FAPLA using their Russian, Cuban and East German comms experts, had also broken UNITAs code by now and were doing the same. Early on Saturday 3rd October, Combat Group Alpha began advancing from the east to the west, following the wide Lomba Flood plain. There were three lines of 61 Mech’s armoured car squadron leading this assault - all from Charlie Squadron with 12 Ratel 90s. Behind them was UNITA in a light infantry screen, and their task was to winkle out enemy units that would be hit by the South African infantry. After this group passed, then the armoured cars of Alpha company mechanised infantry, supported by 81mm and 60mm mortars. 32 Battalion’s Golf company would mop up after the battle. To the south, or the left, Combat Group Charlie would shadow Alpha as they headed west, with a force of 61 MEchs Bravo Company, 8 Ratel 90s which were going to focus on the tanks. They were a reserve force in the main, to cover Alpha Group from a counter attack by 47 Brigade from their main defensive position a few kilometers further south east. Another company of UNITA troops was assigned to track Bravo on their left - shadowing the shadow group so to speak. The only problem with this plan was 47 Brigade was not where the South Africans thought they were. Everyone thought the bulk of 47 had remained behind to the south, that they hadn’t moved up to the TMM bridges. Everyone was wrong.
Sun, 29 Jan 2023 - 22min - 118 - Episode 89 – Mirages, MiGs, missiles & the Lomba River tango to the death
We heard last episode how Operation Modular had begun, and how FAPLAs 21st Brigade had been stopped from crossing the Lomba River by Major Hannes Nortmann and his squadron of Ratels using the experimental ZRT3 rockets in early September 1987. This was happening along a river where the approaches were a mix of tropical grasslands and riverine bush that was almost impenetrable. Despite a raid by MiGs which bombarded the area shortly afterward the failed ground assault by the 21st Brigade, the SADF had managed to drive back FAPLAs attempt at reaching the south bank of the Lomba. But a bigger challenge lay west, where FAPLAs 47th Brigade had managed to circumvent the river and the wetlands, and had turned to eastwards face Mavinga, and the SADF. The date was September 11 1987. South Africa’s artillery kept up constant fire towards the retreating 21st Brigade and FAPLAs commander could be heard on radio ordering a general withdrawal - along with phrases like annihilation when he referred to his condition of his men. The SADF artillery had managed to hold up 47 Brigade after they’d wheeled east from their southwards march. FAPLA then sent a vanguard of PT-76 amphibious light tanks forward in a reconnaissance mission, while half a dozen T54/55s hung around between this advance recon party and their brigade headquarters further west. This was learning on the job stuff - as the battle developed inside this dense bush, Ratels began to out turn the T54/55s. The tactic deployed was jaw dropping - the Ratel would turn past the tanks but too close for proper firing, then turn and attack them from the rear. The T54/55s rear armour was 20mm thick, whereas it was more like 80mm at the front, that’s almost a meter of iron and the 90mm canon could not penetrate. FAPLA also began to turn leading to a kind of heavy metal pirouette between these two major tools of war - the Ratel and the T54/55, a kind of terrible battle tango to the death. Jan Breytenbach called this the dance of death. The SAAF had conducted their first sortie at 05h45 - opening their air offensive with a combined air strike against 47 Brigade’s presumed position - dropping 100 mark 82 pre-fragmentation devices. These are a hefty 250kg each and were modified American Mark 82 bombs. The casing had been altered to allow larger-diameter ball-bearings to be squeezed in, and these balls could penetrate lightly armoured personnel carriers. Commandant Johan Rankin led one of these attacks, and he was weary because by now reconnaissance and drone flights had picked out Russian SA6 and SA8 missiles in the area. Despite this, Rankin hurtled in for the vergooi, the far throw technique bomb run, low level, rise to release the ordinance, sink back to low level and the bomb arcs across the sky like deadly sine wave. After the release, the Mirages would pull a 130 degree bank dropping down to low level to avoid missiles. Rankin duly released his bombs and rolled back towards ground, then heard on his radio that a number of the missiles were heading his way. IT was only a few days before this operation that the SA Air force pilots were going to receive a clear indication that the Angolan Air Force had changed their modus operandi, they were both hunting each other. A few days before this assault, SA AF Commandant Carlo Gagiano and Captain Anton van Rensburg had found themselves in a dogfight against two MiGs in their Mirages.
Mon, 23 Jan 2023 - 23min - 117 - Episode 88 – Operation Moduler begins with T54/55s taking on Ratels at the Lomba
The first phase of Operation Modular has begun. 32 Battalion, the Recces and UNITA are facing 8 FAPLA Brigades in southern Angola, four of these have advanced towards Mavinga. As you hear last episode, FAPLas 21 and 47 Brigade of about 3000 men were on their way to the Lomba River, north west of Mavinga. Chief of the Army Lieutenant General Kat Liebenberg had written in his report before August 1987 that a physical attack on Menongue by the SADF would probably solve the problem of the FAPLA attack. But he also wrote that because of the SA Army’s manpower shortage, this was not feasible. To buttress Unita then, the initial group of 80 special force soldiers had been deployed along with anti-tank weapons to form tank hunting teams. This largely failed because the Angolans always deployed company’s of men as screens around their precious tanks. Colonel Jock Harris who was OC of 32 Battalion was writing furious notes about what he called the foolish proposals being adopted by Defence force top brass. At one minute to midnight on 19th August, the SADF began fighting back with heavier stuff - firing a ripple of 96 Valkiri rockets at the FAPLA forces who were occupying a place called the Catado Woods. 32 Battalion’s Harris had seen enough of this war, along with Jan Breytenbach who was now advising UNITA, to know a full-scale mechanised assault by an enemy when he saw one. After the slow going of early August, FAPLA suddenly surged and the lead elements reached the Lomba River in early September. The scene was set for the Operation Modular showdown.
Sun, 15 Jan 2023 - 23min - 116 - Episode 87 –Crocodiles attack Recces and the Lomba River heavy metal clash looms
The SADF was now facing a crisis as the MPLA government in Angola was growing increasingly determined to crush UNITA in the south east. The Apartheid government was also facing an internal uprising and new organisations had been developed to deal with these. In this episode we hear about Colonel Piet Muller who commanded Sector 20 in SWA. He had considered the threat posed by FAPLA which was now attacking UNITA head-on at Mavinga and the Angolan rebel movement led by Jonas Savimbi was wilting. Muller had a plan involving a Brigade-sized force and a three pronged attack. First he thought that FAPLA should be hit behind the lines so to speak, by ignoring their advance east of the Cuito River and focus on the West, hitting the Cubans and Russian support at Menongue. That would halt the supply of heavy weapons streaming eastwards. This implied something else. Quito Cuanavale needed to be attacked and subdued, even further north west because it was the fulcrum, a point through which everything heading towards UNITA was now moving. It was a strategic target that was also juicy. And third, was to create some kind of direct head-on clash further east of the Quito River at some point after the supply lines had bee cut, which would give the Angolans a bloody nose. Colonel Jock Harris who commanded 32 Battalion thought this an excellent idea. It conformed to SADF tactical doctrine, using the mechanised brigades, punching first, using the troops directly to take on the Cubans and FAPLA driving their armoured vehicles and tanks towards UNITA forces. We are moving inexorably towards the battle for Quito Cuanavale, and this period has been debated particularly hotly by military historians so I’m going to tread very carefully indeed. I also have some excellent source material from the Russians - so unlike some of the other battles, I’ll be able to tell you what was going on day to day from both sides. One of the Russians is Vyacheslave Aleksandrovich Mityaev, who was in Angola between 1986 and 1989, advising FAPLA reconnaissance units. He was stationed in the 6th Military district in Manongue and Quito Cuanavale and had a great deal of experience facing 32 Battalion, the Recces and 61 Mech.
Sun, 08 Jan 2023 - 24min - 115 - Episode 86 – The SAAF harried in Angola and Soviets import arms from Afghanistan
We are traveling with 5 Recce and they are planning to attack the SWAPO base that was discovered by some systematic sleuthing by Koos Stadler and Jose da Costa as you heard last episode. The base was north of Tethamutete, east of the Cubango River - and from Menongue, heavily armed, a few hundred SWAPO cadres, perhaps as many as 350 were training at what was the Eastern Front HQ. The troops gathered around for the intelligence briefing by Dave Drew before James Hills explained how the attack would unfold. A mortar platoon and two stopper groups, 51 and 53 Commando were ordered to take up their positions north of the base, led by Koos Stadler. They were to approach the base using the same route that the main force would use early the next day. A few kilometres from the target, they left the mortar platoon which setup near the track that ran east to west through the base. Commando 53 then moved directly north of the base, ready to confront any SWAPO attempting to escape north as the stopper group. Stadler headed off west of the target with 51 Commando, also following the track. These two groups formed a significant threat to any SWAPO fleeing in their direction. Just before first light, a company from 101 Battalion, soldiers from 2 Recce reserves, along with the regimental HQ and 51 Commando would assault the base led by Jose da Costa. As this attacking force arrived at the river the mortars would open fire. They took off at dusk, the trucks dropping the troops around 20 km from the target, they covered the remaining ten kilometres on foot and eventually stopped at the east west track. By 0200 they were at the forming up point, the mortar platoon was ready. Starting in January of 1987, the SA Intelligence became aware of a major Soviet airlift of heavy weapons and military supplies from Tashkent north of the Black Sea and from Moscow, all the way to Luanda the Angolan Capital. The Soviets were withdrawing this equipment from Afghanistan where they’d been roundly defeated by the Taliban with American backing. The new equipment arriving in Angola was the latest Russian material, BTR-60 APCs, BRDMS-2 ARVs, BMP-1 IFVs, all were heading south. Heavy transport aircraft were now flying into Menongue daily, carrying food, ammunition, troops. More than 400 trucks were counted traveling back and forth between central Angola and Menongue.
Mon, 02 Jan 2023 - 20min - 114 - Episode 85 – Small teams missions behind enemy lines and the courage of 7 Med
We’ve heard about the 1 Recce and 4 Recce and the covert war throughout this series, and at times, I’ve included the voices or the individual stories where possible. Unfortunately there is just not enough space and time to include everyone’s personal views or their memories. However, in this episode, I’m going to concentrate on two specific Special Forces members because they epitomize two different aspects of the South Africans who were involved in this 23 year war. The first instance is one that is chilling and horrific, where MPLA soldiers let their base instincts take over and when they realized they weren’t getting what they wanted, lead to the execution of 7 Medical Battalion corporal, Bruce Fidler (Feed-luh) in September 1985. The other illuminates the visceral and tractical elements of operating in an African bush scenario behind enemy lines with join Koos Stadler a year later in late 1986 as he collected reconnaissance information as an operator. First, Bruce Fidler. His story exemplifies courage and has a more recent resonance because the unit he fought in, the 7th Medical Battalion, was involved in the infamous attack on South African paratroopers in the Central African Republic town of Bangui, in 2013. For those who don’t know this story, just a quick reminder. The SANDF was involved in peacekeeping operations in central Africa – and 200 paratroopers were surrounded in Bangui by at least 3 000 rebels. In a two-day battle, thirteen SANDF parabats died, but remarkably they are thought to have killed up to 800 rebels – all this without artillery, armour or air support. Afterwards, Corporal Mandla Maxwell Ngobese of the 7 Med was awarded the SANDF's Leopard Decorations – and like his predecessor Bruce Fidler, his was a case of extreme courage under fire. Changing gear and moving forward to where we left off last episode, on 25th October 1986 the whole of 5 Recce had been congregated in Oshivelo training area just north east of Etosha Pan. Having spent time in the bush there myself, it is like any other part of Ovamboland, hot, flat, full of thorn bushes and snakes where the dust hangs in the air at dusk and coats your equipment – jamming automatic rifles and sticking in your throat. This is just across the red line area, which divides the farmlands to the south – including the triangle of death - from the operational area in the north closer to the cutline. The Recces were training for something called Operation Colosseum which was a planned attack deep into Angola on SWAPO HQ in the Eastenr Front. I’m using Koos Stadler’s excellent book called Recce, Small Team Missions behind enemy lines as reference along with other source material for this episode.
Sun, 25 Dec 2022 - 23min - 113 - Episode 84 - FAPLA renew their offensive against UNITA at Mavinga
It’s early 1986 and the SADF had learned a great deal through 1985, particularly what FAPLA were up to. In the time of the Joint Commission you heard about, both sides were actively collecting intelligence about each other - their operating procedure, their weaknesses and their strengths. After years of strategy and diplomacy, the protagenists in this war had moved firmly from attacking the opponents strategy and diplomacy as the first phase to a new phase where victory apparently lay in only one outcome - destroying the enemy’s army. More material, more heavy weapons, actions and reactions. Things were becoming more bitter, and the South African government was up against the wall. They had decided to take a few leaves out of the books of dictatorships like General Galtieri’s Argentina and developed death squads and torturers comprised of police and civilians. They were known as the Civil Cooperation Bureau and some would join SADF Special Force Operations from the end of 1985. As you’re going to hear, the professional soldiers in the Recces and 32 Battalion regarded these civilians and police as amateurs in the art of war. Particularly as the ANC’s MK were now targeting white civilians for special attention. The PAC were also changing their targets. In October 1985 a chicken farm near Bushbuck Ridge in the eastern Transvaal, today’s Mpumalanga, was attacked by men armed with AK47s. Landmines were being laid by the dozen inside South Africa. In December a bakkie carrying families was traveling on the Farm Chatsworth, 45 km west of Messina, when it hit a landmine. Six died, four children and two adults, two children and three adults were injured. A farmer and his wife were shot dead in a night of attacks outside Uitenhague in the Eastern Cape. The PACs armed wing APLA claimed responsibility. But first, back to the ground war in the western theatre, Angola. FAPLA supported by the Russians and Cubans, began their annual attack on UNITA in early 1986 and South African special forces were on the ground working with the rebel movement monitoring and sabotaging. One of the Recces was Koos Stadler, who’s book on Small Team missions behind enemy lines is an exceptional document. It was first published in 2016 and for training and operational insights, it’s first class. In the western Theatre, 32 Battalion launched Operation Gomma on 18th March 1986, where four reconnaissance teams were sent to gather information about the bridge at Cuito Cuanavale and the surrounding area.
Sun, 18 Dec 2022 - 19min - 112 - Episode 83 – The most ambitious Op involving SADF special Forces hits Namibe
By January 1986 internal unrest in South Africa that had started in 1984 was in full swing – with the security forces hard pressed to cope. The SA Police were largely responsible for dealing with the ANC and PAC internally, although the SADF was going to get much more involved later. The unrest would barely calm down before the SADF was involved in a much bigger war in southern Angola, while special ops were increasing against the ANC MK targets in countries other than Angola during this period. The South African military establishment had drawn clear lines between what they regarded as terror activities and politically motivated unrest that was violent. This is an important distinction and had a bearing on how they’d conduct some of their external attacks on ANC cadres. Terror was defined by the SADF as actions conducted by infiltrators who committed political murders, lay mines on roads, and blew up substations and other infrastructure. Unrest was burning down schools and government buildings, barricading streets, large groups of people on streets who’d attack others, sometimes including the terrifying necklace killing technique which was a car tire filled with fuel thrown around the neck of a victim. IN Ovamboland, SWAPOs armed wing PLAN stepped up attacks on administrative officials. IN March 1986 South African President PW Botha proposed in parliament that Resolution 435 be implemented by August, but wanted the Cubans to withdraw from Angola first. In fact, the opposite was going on as we know. Back in Angola, Russian general Konstantin Kurochkin who was a veteran of Moscow’s failed push into Afghanistan had instituted his own set of changes. We heard about some last episode, the improved Russian weapon systems, new aircraft, artillery, anti-aircraft and missile systems. As these built up, the SADF began to focus its attention on FAPLAs logistics and weak points. One of these was the port of Namibe in southern Angola. It lay almost directly due west of the Mavinga and Cuito Cuanavale towns. So the Recces were ordered to Namibe and Lobito to try and find out what kind of equipment was being collected, and to report back on any possible targets. After a thorough debriefing, it was decided that an attack on Namibe was feasible. There were vessels in the harbour that could be mined, this would kill two birds with one stone. If the Recces could sink a number of these ships, then the quayside would be virtually unusable. They’d also go after the fuel depot. Eventually, in May 1986, the SADF gave the warning order for Operation Drosdy planning to go ahead. Pretoria had given up on the latest round of negotiations.
Sun, 11 Dec 2022 - 24min - 111 - Episode 82 – More Russian choppers down and 32 learns how to use SATNAV
It’s September 1985, and the SA Air Force and ground forces have already shot down two Russian helicopters and an Antonov transport plane. That was an attempt at slowing down an MPLA ground assault using it’s PLAN troops against UNITA at Mavinga. If you remember, this was the Angolans Operation Second Congress. On the 29th September, 32 Battalion ground team near Cuito Cuanavale radio’d the SA Air Force operations of a helicopter formation that had just taken off, bound for the battle zone around Mavinga. This was a mixed formation, two Mi-8/17 transport choppers escorted by Mi-25 gunships. The Impalas were scrambled and headed at low altitude to the targets which were picked up along the Lomba River. The Russian helicopters were flying at 3000 feet AGL, and the Mi-8/17 formation was in a trailing echelon about 1000 meters apart. About a kilometer back, the two Mi-25s were flying in support and were also at 3000 feet. The first pair of Impalas launched their attack, and then the second with devastating consequences for the chopper pilots and crew. All four were shot down. A third pair of Impalas who were monitoring watched as two MiG-23 fighter jets approached at 200 feel AGL, then swept their wings back, accelerated and climbed out of sight. They preferred to avoid dogfighting the South Africans. ON first December 1985 operational order number 1/12/85 required 32 Battalion to inflict maximum damage on FAPLA personnel and equipment in the 3rd and 6th military regions by sustained bombardment. Easier said than done. The main targets were Cuito Caunavale and the airstrip at Menongue. There were also specific instructions to target the FAPLA force as soon as it began moving towards Jamba using the all-important Multiple Rocket Launchers or MRLs. 32 was warned not to let these fall into enemy hands. Colonel Eddie Viljoen commanded this part of the operation targeting Menongue, both the MRL troop along with Charlie Company, while Captain Daan van der Merwe led an MRL troop and Golf Company as they attacked Cuito Cuanavale. Ten years earlier 32 had deployed around Menongue during operation Savannah, now they were going back. On the 15 December four MRLs were flown to Rundu from Waterkloof Air Force Base and everything was set to roll on Christmas eve.
Sun, 04 Dec 2022 - 20min - 110 - Episode 81 – The MPLA attacks UNITA and the SAAF shoots down Russian choppers
By mid-1985 air traffic between Lubango on the Atlantic coast and Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola had grown exponentially. Since the railway line running east had been rendered useless by UNITA, the MPLA was relying heavily on transport planes to get their logistics to the front. Daily flights of the Soviet Antonovs could be seen carrying troops and material to Menongue in support of the MPLA’s war effort. This turned into a veritable flood of planes by late August when the MPLA launched their offensive against UNITA. As you heard last episode, the Russians and Cubans had tired of being forced into defensive positions by the South Africans and UNITA and had decided to launch a two pronged as part of Operation Second Congress. The initial thrust began to the east into the Cazombo salient, while a second thrust turned south east. The SA Air Force was then called in to help ferry UNITA troops as well as their own material in something that the South Africans called Operation Magneto. SA Air Force Mobile Air Operations Teams or MOATs were based at Cago Couthino and Cazombo and they guided the Hercules and Pumas in at night. That was to avoid being shot down by the MiGs which operated only during the day. It was thought that the final phase of the battle for South Africa had begun, at least that’s how the hawks inside cabinet regarded this part of the Border War. The Recces moved into Angola in support of UNITA and their mission was to shoot down Antonov and other MPLA transport aircraft using captured Russian SA-9 missile systems. The Angolans were flying aggressive missions daily, resupplying FAPLA on the ground and conducting casevacs. The Mi-25 gunship helicopters, provided flushing fire, air-to-ground support, firing their 57mm rockets at possible UNITA targets, and sometimes, using their cannons. Watching these flights were the Recces and members of 32 Battalion seconded to UNITA. The SADF was monitoring the Angolan army radio and picked up that many of the helicopter flights were used to ferry the all-important Soviet and Cuban advisors around the battle zones. The Angolan push called Second Congress now presented an opportunity for some score settling – Pretoria had always regarded the Soviet presence as a perversion, warning the Russians that playing around in South Africa’s back yard would have consquences.
Sun, 27 Nov 2022 - 18min - 109 - Episode 80 – An SA Navy sub damaged at the end of the failed Cabinda raid
We’re picking up where we left off in Episode 79 with Captain Wynana Du Toit captured, two Recces dead, and six others hiding in a coastal thicket surrounded by FAPLA intent on capturing or killing them. Operation Argon in 1985 was one part of a two-punch with the plan to send nine operators were heading to oil storage tanks at Cabinda enclave – they’d been dropped off by a submarine but had ended up at the wrong lay-up position. Their tracks were spotted, then a South African hat was found on the trail and that was the clincher. In the follow up firefight, du Toit had been captured after Corporal van Breda and Liebenberg had been hit and killed. Two others, Captain Nel and Corporal Hough were wounded and lying alongside four other operators inside the thicket – it was late afternoon on the 21st May 2985. Desultory fire was aimed at the thicket, but the six survivors did not shoot back. They were running out of ammunition and were waiting for the final assault on their position. Later during the hurried extraction the submarine was waiting on the surface, an unusual tactic in this particularly dangerous area. By 0400 on the morning of the 23rd the Barracuda’s rendesvouzed with the sub again, with the sub pointing out to sea. That was just in case of attack. And they were lucky the Captain had ordered this position because moments later, the Stead saw lights of a ship approaching from the south east. His periscope radar detector indicated a vessel was indeed heading their way. Stead wasn’t sure they’d been spotted, but the detector revealed that this ship was steaming directly towards them.
Sun, 20 Nov 2022 - 20min - 108 - Episode 79 – A shootout on a Cabinda beach and the capture of Cpt Wynand du Toit
Last episode we covered one of 32 Battalion’s darkest days, the mauling they received at the hands of SWAPO on 11th February 1985, where Charlie Company walked straight into one of the better prepared SWAPO bases after taking what some say was a short cut. The death toll on the South African side was heavy, 13 soldiers from 32 Battalion’s Charlie company died either during the firefight or of their wounds later, 15 SWAPO were also killed. 32 survivors described what happened that day as a massacre as Charlie Company stumbled upon 100 SWAPO soldiers in trenches who were armed with 82mm mortars and machine guns and proceeded to mow down the soldiers of probably the best known SADF battalion. Thus, Operation Forte came to a bitter end, the Battalion had been operating deep inside Angola in support of UNITA but by the end of May 1985, 32 withdrew from Angola. The Joint Monitoring Commission came to an end at the same time. Normal service resumed as they say. With the JMC done and dusted, the covert war increased in intensity to a full-scaled mechanized war on both sides. In a few months, FAPLA and the Cubans were to launch an attack on UNITA in the south east of the country. But first, 4 Recce found itself embroiled in their next Operation. This was an ambitious project and took the special forces way beyond their normal stomping ground. They were heading to Cabinda Province far to the north, the province that produces most of Angola’s oil and gas. It’s an enclave inside the DRC, alongside the Congo River. Operation Argon in May 1985 would leave two Recces dead, one captured, and the South African government in a diplomatic pickle. Four Recce were once again the go-to organization seeing that they had already been successful in blowing up a pipeline in Cabinda in June 1984. Captain Wynand du Toit was to be Mission Commander, and Captain Krubert Nel was his 2 IC. I’m going to mention the others involved because this is one of the most viscious face to face fights involving the Recces of the entire war. Staff Sergeant Amilear Queiroz and Maddies Adam were joined by Corporals Michael Hough, Gert Engelbrecht, Toby Tablai, Rowland Liebenberg and Louis van Breda. The medical support were going to be very busy indeed -and it was fortunate for those who were going to return injured that two doctors were on board the sub, with Doctor Deon Erasmus and Frans Verster who were both qualified operators as well as surgeons part of this mission
Sun, 13 Nov 2022 - 23min - 107 - Episode 78 – Operation “foreskin” and 32 runs into a SWAPO firestorm
We’re traveling with 32 Battalion’s Echo and Golf companies which had entered Angola and were deployed in pseudo-operations – something called Operation Forte was on the go in 1984. When we left off, the convoy of vehicles had headed directly north and were heading towards Savate about 50km into Angola. Colonel Eddie Viljoen led this unusual operation. It was early September 1984 and after crossing the cutline, the convoy stopped north of Katwitwi on the road to Savate. At first light the following day, Sergeant Nortje climbed aboard a Buffel with 4 soldiers and drove off to a UNITA base 15 kilometers away to pick up a guide. But UNITA gave the sergeant a less than cordial welcome. They were detained as UNITA guards could not believe that they weren’t FAPLA because the South Africans had arrived from the north. In early November the leader group was summoned to Eddie Viljoen’s tent. The time had come he said, to be circumcised. And just to show true leadership, Viljoen said he’d go under the knife first. A special Forces doctor Lieutenant Piet Coetzee was to carry out the surgery – the first on a South African soldier almost 200 kilometers inside enemy territory. On the 11th February, a platoon from 32’s Charlie Company was involved in a routine patrol near the Bale River when things went very badly wrong. The company had been warned to make a detour around the area where Echo company had been hit by rocket fire, but the platoon leadership decided to take a short cut. They marched straight into one of the better protected SWAPO bases on the entire cutline. And they were hopelessly outnumbered.
Sun, 06 Nov 2022 - 19min - 106 - Episode 77 – The Recces blow up locomotives and 32 Battalion dresses like UNITA
By the second half of 1984 the Joint Monitoring Commission was virtually on its last legs and the SADF Special Forces were involved in a number of missions both by sea and across the cutline. The first we’re going to hear about was an the audacious plan to blow up Angolan railway rolling stock, including locomotives at the shunting yard at Lobito in Benguela province on the Atlantic Coast north of the Catumbela Estuary. If you travel there now it’s a beautiful beach, palm trees sway on the breeze, small fishing boats come and go and the sea is a azure turquoise. Forty years ago it was a crucial hub in the MPLAs infrastructure. After 1974 diesel-electric locomotives were used to ferry heavy weapons and material between Lobito and Huambo to the east on the main route towards Zambia and southern Congo. By 1984 this railway line had been out of operation for at least six years because of UNITAs sabotage, but the movement of war material between Lobito and Huambo was important to FAPLA. Twenty two of the locomotives were GE U20Cs from the United States, and in 1983, another 12 had made there way there from Brazil. Because the South African Railways used the same locomotives, it meant the Recces could practice on the same machines. Back in South Africa, the ANCs unofficial internal ally the United Democratic Front had been formed, and protests in the country’s black townships had exploded in violence. PW Botha’s government was now convinced that only a military option could save the country from the ANC, and the security forces were expanding their power. They also feared that if Namibia achieved independence, SWAPO would support the ANC from next door. It was at this time that 32 Company received an interesting set of orders. The JMC initiative I’ve covered was floundering and it was evident that SWAPO was capitalizing on the agreement negotiated by Pretoria and Luanda to infiltrate what was supposed to be a Free Zone in southern Angola – free of armed insurgents. As there was no obvious way to deal with this openly, Pretoria launched a series of clandestine steps to stop SWAPO from re-establishing themselves in FAPLAs areas. This meant 32 Battalion would now dress and operate like UNITA, under a new banner called 154 Battalion. Major Jan Hougaard who was 2 IC in 32 was tasked along with Commandant Johan Schutte of Military Intelligence to setup this new initiative.
Sun, 30 Oct 2022 - 19min - 105 - Episode 76 – Turned SWAPO cadres, Recce pseudo-operations & Soviet air strategy
It’s 1984 and the special forces have been busy as you heard in the last episode. The waterborne operations were on the go, but so too were ops into southern Angola with 32 Battalion changing its colours so to speak. They began to patrol the area dressed in SWAPO uniforms, so much for the SADF’s promise to adhere to the terms of a Joint Monitoring Commission where they’d promised to pull all their forces out of the region. It became a game of cat and mouse between the SADF and FAPLA about who’d be tripped up in the lying game first. The special Forces were increasing what were known as pseudo operations – which the Selous Scots had used to great effect during the Rhodesian Bush War, or the Zimbabwean War for independence depending on your political position. A large number of the Scouts had made their way south to join the SADF and were now integrated in different units. By August 1984 SWAPO had declared the far east of Ovamboland as a liberated area, with the cadres roaming around the bush and villages freely, visiting kraals and receiving food and support from the locals. They also collected intelligence from the villagers, and the SADF’s hearts and minds campaign which elements of 32 had tried so hard to initiate had failed. The Recces had a new role to play here. The vegetation in this part of the border is extremely dense, with large thickets of acacia thorn trees, and the going was hard. The sand is soft in most places along the rivers, but this also made it far easier to track SWAPO when they crossed the cutline. But what’s good for the goose is good for the gander – SWAPO could also track the special forces. Further west, the SADF had setup a special forces area in Ondangwa called Fort Rev, where the pseudo-operations concept was being fully exploited. It was a secret base alongside Ondangwa Air Force Base, and was full of ex-SWAPO soldiers. These men were known as masters of the bush, despite what the SADF soldier thought about them. The Recces had a completely different view of their enemy and were now working with dozens of SWAPO who’d switched sides. These men knew the area intimately and could speak the local dialects. They were smuggled in an out of this secret base for obvious reasons. By September 1984 and the Soviets had just taken over command in Angola from the Cubans, shocked into action by FAPLAs defeat during Operation Askari. The Soviets wanted to start a series of large-scaled offensives with all the firepower at their disposal to crush UNITA in the east. The Cubans preferred the Chinese way, the Vietkong way, to adopt a classic counterinsurgency approach. The Russians began to taunt the Cubans for failing to stand up and fight, always darting about, and avoiding full-scale clashes with the South Africans. Moscow was going to deploy their new air support systems in two phases. Firstly they would support the MPLA more closely, perhaps even using ground support, and second, they would increase air support in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mocambique.
Sun, 23 Oct 2022 - 18min - 104 - Episode 75 – Russian OSA2 missile boats targeted in 1984’s Operation Nobilis
This is episode 75 and we’re covering events in 1984 where various issues had arisen. The South Africans and the Angolans had been jointly patrolling southern Angola in what was supposed to be the preamble to peace in Namibia. But the Joint Monitoring process had failed by July 1984 with SWAPO continuing to occupy the southern region of Angola, and the South Africans continuing to supply UNITA. This JMC process was always doomed some say, but at the start there were signs that FAPLA and the SADF could work together. Unfortunately for the many hundreds who were still to die, that good faith faded away rapidly and there was no chance of a proper cease fire. While the JMC continued operating in name, on the ground things were going from bad to worse. Eventually the whole exercise would be terminated in mid-1985, but before we get there it’s important to focus on special operations of 1984. You heard how the SADF special forces, specifically the Recces, had been tasked with disrupting Angolan maritime resources and last episode we covered what happened during Operation Bouganvilia earlier in 1984. The next op was called Nobilis where seaborne operators were going to try and and blow up the ASO 2 Missile boats the Angolan navy had secured from the Russians. Earlier in the war, the SA Navy was somewhat scathing of the Angolan capacity, but everything changed when the OSA 2 missile boats arrived in 1982. They added a new and more deadly dimension to Luanda’s capacity. By late 1983 there were six of these vessels deployed to ports like Soyo, Lobito and Mocamedes and Luanda. Eventually, 4 Recce was given the project to sink three OSA missile boats inside Luanda harbour during the dark moon period at the end of July 1984. It was important to allow UNITA to claim the attack, so the mines were going to be attached to these ships at only 1 to 1.5 meters below the surface. The South Africans used sophisticated underwater breathing systems allowing them to approach much deeper, so they hoped the shallow attachment of the mines would convince the Russians and the Angolans that it was the rebel movement and not the SA special Forces.
Sun, 16 Oct 2022 - 20min - 103 - Episode 74 – FAPLA/SADF joint patrols hit a wobble & Recce Op Bouganvilia
We just finished hearing about Operation Askari, and a quick note. I said that the Eland armoured would no longer be used for cross -border operations after Askari, but that’s incorrect. A listener who was on board an Eland much later in 1987 explained how he was part of an operation called Firewood, where the Eland was used to head across the cutline once more. Apologies for that, and thanks Ian for the correction. FAPLA and the SADF were conducting patrols together as part of the Joint Monitoring Commission or JMC setup after the signing of the Lusaka Agreement in February 1984 – a precursor to a full cease fire. The reality was neither the South Africans nor the Angolans were going to adhere to the agreement terms Pretoria continued to support UNITA, while FAPLA after an intial period of seemingly trying to impose discipline on SWAPO, gave up and allowed their PLAN fighters to continue infiltrating Ovambao. SWAPO mortared the JMC joint patrols a number of times and firefights had developed through March so I’m sure some of the Angolan soldiers were feeling just a tad schizophrenic. Still, the main JMC officials – both the South Africans and the Angolans – gave the impression to each that they were attempting to make this whole cease-fire known as the Lusaka Agreement work. While the SADF and FAPLA were trying to find themselves, the Recces hadn’t stopped special operations. In early 1984 and despite discussing land-based cease-fires, the SADF continued to focus on seaborne ops. Their specops operators, the Special Forces were instructed to investigate the destruction of the main water plant supplying the Angolan capital Luanda. This facility was on the south bank of the Bengo River at Quifangonda - Operation Bouganvilia was born.
Sun, 09 Oct 2022 - 20min - 102 - Episode 73 – A 1984 cease-fire as the SADF and FAPLA conduct joint patrols
Operation Askari has ended but not the recriminations. While on the surface the SADF gave off a great deal of positive propaganda, the loss of 21 men and equipment including three Ratels, and the haphazard manner in which the planning had taken place, was a sign that all was not well. The morale of the Citizen Force units was unacceptable said the permanent force officers – and they were right. 61 Mech operation archives have a document which named Battle Group Delta otherwise known as Victor as “the worst battle group in 82 Mechanised Brigade”. The armoured squadron had performed well, but in the eyes of seasoned officers, the rest of the personnel had not. And yet, we also know that the planning for Askari did not follow the comprehensive blueprints of previous ops - battle group Victor had been sent into Cuvelai understrength – sent into a well defended position without superior firepower and without the element of surprise. Pretoria had rushed in where angels feared to tread. Despite the debriefings which were not a happy process for the SADF, there was a silver lining. The Angolans were now in a spot of bother. SWAPOs campaigns into Ovamboland had prompted the SADF invasion, now FAPLAs units needed to recover from the battering they’d taken over the past two months. Cassinga was now the southern point of SWAPO action, and the political commissars were negative about trying to head into Ovamboland for the usual summer invasion. International pressure was also being increased on both the Angolans and the South Africans. By 1984 the American domestic backing for the concept of Constructive Engagement of Pretoria was waning. It is rather ironic then, that at this precise moment, the Angolan government was also pressurizing SWAPO to find a solution. In December 1983 South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, offering to withdraw all troops from Angola for 30 days.
Sun, 02 Oct 2022 - 22min - 101 - Episode 72 – Cuvelai III: A Ratel destroyed by a T54 and an Impala narrow escape
The Battle of Cuvelai two was a blood letting of note, with FAPLAs 11th Brigade now bottled up in the town, with the SADF Task Force Victor and X-Ray on their doorstep. 32 Battalion had pulled off a bloodless takeover of Techumutete during the last days of 1983, which at the time was regarded as a momentous achievement. However, they’d also doomed some of the Angolans and South Africans because one of the key aims outlined by General Greyling before the start of Operation Askari was to try and force FAPLA units to retreat to take control of the towns like Cuvelai and Cahama. By shutting off their escape route out of Cuvelai, the South Africans had actually created a situation where the Angolans now were going to fight to the death. The premise back at Oshakati was that the Angolans would shatter and run when the mechanized battalions rolled up to their front door but as you know by now, that plan had backfired. The more experienced soldiers fighting in Cuvelai on the SADF side were also extremely upset about the rather haphazard approach to intelligence gathering and tactics. This was now a conventional battle, no longer the flashy fast moving mobile surprise attacks that the SADF had honed – this was bludgeoning frontal assaults. It was on the 3rd January 1984 that one of the hidden SA-9 Strela missiles hit the tail of an Impala jet flown by Captain Joe van den Berg, the senior pilot from Ondangwa. His target had been the Firecan radar-guided 57mm AAA site east of Cuvelai, but during the pull-out after bomb release, he spotted the missile approaching. I explained that the SA-9 was unusual in that it could fire on approaching aircraft, and this missile blew up behind and under the tail section, completely removing the starboard tailplane and elevator.
Sun, 25 Sep 2022 - 21min - 100 - Episode 71 – The Battle of Cuvelai II: Bundu-bashing into Soviet T54/55s
It’s the first days of January 1984 and Operation Askari has hit a few hiccups. Task Force Victor failed to take Cuvelai in the first Battle for the town at the end of December as you heard last episode and Combat Team one had been mauled. Both Combat Team 1 and 2 retreated two kilometers north west of the town then turned and headed south west where they bivouacked about 17 kilometers away from the Cuvelai, deciding what to do next. Some members of the Task Force began to talk about heading back to the border, and if their vehicles ran out of fuel, they openly spoke about abandoning them and walking to the cutline. At least one Captain involved in this discussion decided to ignore his NCOs comments according to veterans of the battle. The muddled manner in which the first attack on Cuvelai had been carried out was plain for all to see. Some later suggested the thick vegetation had created navigational challenges, which was true. No officer in his right mind at this point would have accepted a renewed attack along the same route – FAPLA was ready and waiting and this would have been a silly tactic. Unfortunately, this muddling was going to continue through into the Battle for Cuvelai part II. After regrouping, SADF headquarters had radio’d Task Force Victor commander Piet Greyling and told him to turn his men around and renew the assault. He had other ideas. Many of the troops had been mentally battered and some point blank refused. The SADF was an organization that in some ways reflected the style of warfare conducted by the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War. When ordered to press home a full frontal attack against a heavily armed enemy in an entrenched and well defended position, they refused, it’s better to live to fight another day they said, like their ancestors. Just because the politicians were in a rush to show some kind of advantage over the Angolans, it didn’t mean having to throw your life away they said. Greyling was in an invidious position. The intelligence he’d received concerning the first attack was substandard to put it mildly. Recces had not realized how many T54/55s tanks ha been sent to the border, and the South Africans had miscalculated when it came to attacking positions protected by the feared 23mm and 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns. At this point the SADF needed a scape goat so General Georg Meiring relieved Greyling of his command and sent him home. Commandant Ep Van Lill was sent to replace Greyling and Sector 10 commander and Operation Askari OC Brigadier Joep Joubert and General Georg Meiring who was Chief of SWA Territorial Force both briefed Van Lill before he flew in to join Task Force Victor. But he did have some good news, Combat Group Delta was going to detach from 61 Mechanised Battalion and join Task Force Victor.
Sun, 18 Sep 2022 - 22min - 99 - Episode 70 – Operation Askari missteps at Cahama and Cuvelai
It’s operation Askari, and 61 Mech’s has fulfilled the first part of the plan, driving FAPLA out of Quiteve and now were approaching Cahama, which is 96 kilometers north west of Xangongo. This was going to be a tough nut to crack. FAPLAs second Brigade was ensconced in strongly fortified positions to the north and south of the town. The defenders had become used to SADF and SA Air Force attacks, if you remember during Operation Protea the Air Force had hammered radar installations at Cahama and the Recces spent a lot of time around the little town. So after years of battering, defences had been beefed up, bunkers were deeper, heavier weapons abounded. Busy in the air through most of November and December 1983 was the SA Air Force’s Garrha Remote Piloted Vehicle, or drone, and it had discovered the location of enemy SA8 missile systems. The photographs were blurry, but the location was clear. They were in positions around the town. Brigadier Joop Joubert who commanded all SADF forces during Askari expected these defenders to wilt as the pressure rose through December and into January 1984 – he just needed time to do – and time was not on his side. However, in what turned out to be a jaw-dropping miscommunication, the planners forgot to inform the Air Force about Combat Team Delta Foxtrot, which was about 45km south west of Caiundo on the western bank of the Cubango River. That was about 130km east of the main target of Cuvelai, and even in a Puma or a Mirage, that’s a long way to go to offer support. On the 23rd of December and about 2 kilometers west of Cahama, the SA Air Force drone was damaged by shrapnel from an SA-8 ground to air missile. The operators managed to keep the RPV in the air and it headed back to Xangongo where it landed safely.
Sun, 11 Sep 2022 - 24min - 98 - Episode 69 – Operation Askari begins with a reconnaissance drone
By November 1983 the SADF was prepping for the significant operation called Askari, and the Air Force was playing its part. The original plan was for the op to start on the 9th November but political negotiations had led to a postponement to the 9th December. Meanwhile, the SA Air Force had sent up their remotely piloted vehicle or RPV– in Xangongo under Major Jinx Botes. The aim was to monitor the Cahama area initially as part of a sub-Askari operation called Fox . The RPV was code-named Gharra and was trying to detect the location of SA-8 missile systems sent to the South by the Angolans – courtesy of the Russians. It proved a rather hit and miss process, these were early days in the use of what we now know as drones. Time to take a closer look at Operation Askari which was broken into four phases. First, the Special Forces would recce deep into Angola, then the SA Air Force would bomb the Typhoon and Volcano base near Lubango. Phase 2 would see offensive reconnaissance around Cahama, Mulondo and Cuvelai and the SADF estimated this could take as long as two months, starting at least a week after phase 1 had kicked off. The main aim was to cut off SWAPO and FAPLAs communication and logistics lines, and to demoralize the SWAPO sections leading to their withdrawal north. However, the SADF missed a crucial bit of information when assessing their options in phase two – they presumed both FAPLA and SWAPO morale was low, but that was not the case. It was higher than it had been for years. SWAPO’s PLAN armed wing had been withdrawn into Angola for retraining. And These fighters were briefed about the new heavy weapons sent by the Russian sponsors - including T54/55 tanks – as well as the new missile systems. Demoralizing them this time was not going to be as easy as in 1981. Phase three which was to begin after the invasion was to reinforce the gaps supposedly created by Askari west of the Cunene River, through Quiteve, Mupa, Vinticette and then to Ionde. The last phase was to reinforce the empty bases once SWAPO and FAPLA left, and thus stop this year’s incursions into SWA.
Mon, 05 Sep 2022 - 17min - 97 - Episode 68 – UNITA overruns Cangamba with SAAF help but Russia gets proactive
By April 1983, SADF intelligence picked up that SWAPO had begun improving its military position in Angola and that their armed wing PLAN had managed a major incursion into Ovamboland. Then things went very quiet and intelligence reports suggested there seemed to be a link between SWAPOs special Unit being withdrawn, the signs of a large incursion into SWA which was to follow in 1984. At the same time, the SADF Chief of Staff Operations in Pretoria noted that the build-up going on across the border was biggest ever and had ordered a series of counter measures including Operation Meebos which we heard about last episode. While the politicians fretted about the global impact, on the ground top SADF officers were calling for another urgent invasion of Angola. As the discussions raged, it was clear that something needed to be done and that something would lead to one of the most significant actions of the Border War called Operation Askari. This was going to be different from previous conventional ops, because this time FAPLA, the Cubans and SWAPO were going to be respond more aggressively than during previous ops. And the SADF would face two far more serious challenges, the Soviet T54/55 tank and new radar controlled missile systems. The SADF and Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA had planned an operation together to destroy FAPLA headquarters in Cangamba – a small town in central Angola. UNITA’s initial assaults had been repulsed and they asked for assistance in overcoming a strong FAPLA contingent in the town. Unfortunately, there was a big problem following this success. The Angolans called on the Soviets to step up their weapon deliveries including the all-important T54/55s, and the Cubans increased the number of troops in Angola by 5 000 bringing the total number to 25000.
Sun, 28 Aug 2022 - 19min - 96 - Episode 67–A rifle grenade in a ribcage, an Ionde minefield mishap and a Dragon
By now, 32 Battalion had setup their HQ at Ongiva airport, a few kilometers outside the town, and 40 kilometers north of the cutline. But the Battalion was going to move their mobile Task force HQ further into Angola to Ionde as you’re going to hear and the signs were all there for what would become a pivotal year in the Border War. It was during this period that SWAPO would be driven out of much of the area north of the cutline, which would have political ramifications for both SWAPO and the South Africans. This area stretching from the Calueque dam and Xangongo in the west to just south of Cuvelai and Vinticente in the north - then to Ionde in the east was secured by the SADF. 32 Battalion was going to concentrate its operations mainly in the north, around Mupa and Cuvelai. By now, 1 Parachute battalion was also established at Xangongo about 130km north of the cutline. If you recall, there was a friendly fire incident in 1982 where members of 32 Battalion and 1 Parachute clashed so from now on these two specialist units were assigned to specific areas that never overlapped. Despite controlling Ongiva, SWAPO continued to raid around the town. On December 4th 1982 a SWAPO stick attacked a small village south of Xangongo and killed one civilian, wounding four. Another civilian was shot in Ongiva in another raid by SWAPO, then on the 11th and 12th December two more contacts were reported nearby. Further to the east, UNITA had taken control of most of southern Angola stretching from the Kavango then almost to the . By January 1983 SWAPO had increased pressure further south, bypassing 32 Battalion and 1 Parachute and swinging around into South West Africa. Fourteen separate SWAPOs PLAN platoons of around 50 men each entered Ovamboland and Kavango by February of 1983 Then on the 4th February a larger battle took place between platoon 3 Alpha company and 40 SWAPO guerillas, at least six enemy were killed and four captured, but 32 sustained four casualties including a bizarre incident where Lance-Corporal Mario Oliviera turned into a living bomb. Ongiva had become a kind of symbol of South Africa’s ability to take control of a foreign country’s territory. At the same time, 32 Battalion’s core officer component was concerned that they were not as effective now that there was such a large volume of SADF around the southern Angolan town. Captain Willem Ratte who commanded 32s Recce wing eventually had enough and wrote a report about this. He had begun to eye Ionde as a possible new base for the specialist battalion and said so in a report entitled Viability study for the mobile task force at 32 Battalion HQ, Ionde. While all of this was going on, the SA Air Force was planning a new weapons platform. A 20mm cannon was installed on a Dakota DC-3.
Mon, 22 Aug 2022 - 22min - 95 - Episode 66 – Another MiG shot down and Russian VIPs arrive
We heard last episode about Operation Meebos and the shooting down of a Puma with the loss of 15 men. The SADF was now determined to follow-up the company of SWAPO who’d been based near the Mui river and who’s Anti-aircraft guns had delivered such a potent message. The Alouette gunships were circling the area on that day in August, 1982, and they reported the location of a SWAPO section about 10 kilometers away from the smouldering Puma. This was probably 30km north of Cuvelai along the Calonga River and an Alouette gunship under the command of legendary pilot Neall Ellis and the two gunships came under fire immediately by SWAPO firing what 61 Mechs Commandant Roland de Vries believes were SAM-7s. Moments later he enemy started firing with small arms, RPG-7 rockets and 14,5mm anti-aircraft guns. Ellis realised that this wasn’t the same section as others reported in the area about two kilometers away. The target was spread out but there was only one escape from the SADF on the ground, which was a fording site over the Calonga River. 48 men from 32 Battalion’s Delta Company were joined by a company from 61 Mech in Ratels and they were ordered to attack a SWAPO section. There were no Puma’s available, they were heading to the Helicopter Administration Area from Ondangwa. So Operation Meebos ended formally on August 27th, and the SADF claimed 345 SWAPO dead, but lost 29 of their own, while the shooting down of the Puma was one of the largest single incident deaths for the SADF in the entire Border War. Earlier in May 1982 one of the most important Russians to fight in Angola had arrived to advise the MPLA government in Luanda. Lieutenant General Konstantin Kurochkin was formally known as the Chief Military Advisory to the Angolan government and was a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war. He was also described as the most outstanding Soviet officer to serve in Angola, and followed Lieutenant General Georgy Petrovsky into the position.
Sun, 14 Aug 2022 - 18min - 94 - Episode 65 – Ops Meebos where SWAPO AA fire downs a Puma
We’re back in 1982 after a hiatus covering the seaborne operations and an update from the SA Air Force which had had a busy May as you heard in Episode 64. Things on the ground in SWA showed that SWAPO was almost fully recovered from the hammering they took during Operation Protea – their own Operation had killed three farmers and 8 security force personnel. 32 Battalion continued to carry out a number of projects – and in particular the long-term Operation Spiderweb hearts and minds initiative in the Kavango which I spoke about last episode. A number of other ops were planned to take place back to back and code named Operation Meebos which had actually started in March, aimed at the area around Xangona-Humbe-Ongiva. The aim of Operation Meebos was to keep FAPLA out of the two main southern Angolan towns Xangongo and Ongiva which had been seized during Operation Protea– in an area the Angolans called the Fifty Military Region. It’s ironic that the biggest loss in the upcoming op was actually caused by a SWAPO team armed with AA guns.
Sun, 07 Aug 2022 - 20min - 93 - Episode 64 – Another Maputo raid and Hearts and Minds in the Kavango
It’s 1980 and in February Robert Mugabe’s ZANU movement was about to win the first Zimbabwean election - managing to scape a small majority – they won 57 seats out of 100. Not exactly a landslide then. In April, Mugabe would officially be declared prime minister and the country would become independent from the United Kingdom. ON the 1st April, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference was setup with Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe signing up. South Africa was the noticeable absentee because the main reason for the SADCC was to wean the other southern African states off South Africa’s economy. Zimbabwe immediately felt the pain – South Africa stopped exporting fertilizer within a few months, then they cancelled a trade agreement with the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Harare turned to Mozambique, and in particular, the Beira corridor, Zimbabwe began exporting and importing products via this vital route which terminated in Beira. There was also that all important oil pipeline which had been closed through the Bush War which was going to be reopened. Before all of this started, planning of another type was under way. The Recces and the Rhodesian SAS wanted one more opportunity to attack Robert Mugabe who was living in Maputo. Speaking of time and money – the far eastern area of Ovamboland had experienced some peace and quiet for some time and by 1981 the Kavango farming area of Mangeti was clean – it had avoided the insurgency that had characterized the central region. That was due to a number of factors, not least was a highly successful hearts and minds campaign launched by Willem Ratte of 32 Battalion’s reconnaissance wing. Always highly situationally aware, Ratte had noticed that SWAPO tended to use the Nkongo route, around 60 kilometers west of Omauni, as their main infiltration path.
Fri, 29 Jul 2022 - 21min - 92 - Episode 63 – 4 Recce and the Rhodesian SAS target Beira fuel depot and port in a series of raids
WE pick up the seaborne operations story in early 1979, and much of this episode is based on the book Iron Fist from the Sea by ex-Recce Douw Steyn and his navy colleague, Arne Soderlund. By 1979 the writing was on the wall for Rhodesia, if not before. The shock wave that had rattled Salisbury in 1975 as Portugal pulled out of Mozambique weakened the state, after this all it had was South Africa as an ally – and the Nationalist government in Pretoria wanted Ian Smiths’ government to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Bush war. This was so that South Africa’s détente attempts with the rest of Africa would be given a shot in the arm. The reality was post-colonial African government’s wanted nothing to do with Pretoria, except for outliers such as Zambia. It’s president Kenneth Kaunda had held secret talks with the apartheid government, with other countries such as Botswana and Tanzania involved. Up to 1975, 80 percent of Rhodesia’s foreign trade had been exported and imported via Mozambique, now they had to send and receive all goods via Durban. A leftist Mozambique was a haven for Rhodesian guerillas and a barrier to trade. Needless to say, the upcoming attack on the fuel depot in Beira was very much part of Salisbury’s attempt at undermining the FRELIMO government in Maputo. The SADF involvement was a critical balancing act, and was obviously top secret. While Pretoria publicly met and negotiated with some frontline states, behind the scenes they were hard at work blowing up Mozambique’s infrastructure.
Mon, 18 Jul 2022 - 23min - 91 - Episode 62 – Rhodesian SAS and the Recces plan an assassination attempt on Robert Mugabe codenamed “Lark”
I’m spending some time focusing on seaborne operations and the Recces – most of their ops were top secret and some are mind-boggling. Like the attempt at assassinating ZANU leader Robert Mugabe in Maputo for example. For some time the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation or CIO had kept Mugabe under close scrutiny in Maputo. The Rhodesian bush War had become a bitter struggle and civilians were the main targets by 1978. Joint operations involving the South Africans and the Rhodesians were taking place while the political arrangement between the two countries was cool, to put it mildly. Negotiations were taking place for a peaceful solution to the Bush war and at that stage Robert Mugabe was not part of any negotiated settlement. Things changed later although he was always a reluctant participator in any peace talks. As a Marxist, he preferred the bullet to the ballot box. Word filtered out that the Josiah Tongogara the commander of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union military wing, Zanla, was more moderate – and may be coaxed to peace talks if Mugabe could somehow be removed from the picture. Things did not go according to plan as you'll hear.
Tue, 05 Jul 2022 - 21min - 90 - Episode 61 – The Recces first Seaborne Operations and how the British High Commissioner’s Rolls Royce was blown up
Much of this week’s episode has been culled from a fantastic book called Iron Fist from the Sea, top secrete Seaborne Recce Operations 1978-1988 by Arne Soderlund and Douw Steyn. The South African Navy’s reach in those years included all the way up to Cabinda in northern Angola on the west coast, to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on the East. These days we’re lucky if the patrols can stretch along our own border let alone further afield, but that’s a topic for another time. The first Seaborne operations carried out by the SADF was in 1972, when it targeted Mozambique resistance movement FRELIMOs training camp in Dar es Salaam, which is over 1500 nauticul miles from Durban, just out of interest. Tanzania’s president Julius Nyerere had offered FRELIMO support and the South Africans responded to a request by the Portuguese government to plan a clandestine operation. This was to support a Tanzanian foreign Minister called Oscar Kambona who’d fallen out of favour with Nyerere. They wanted to destabilise Tanzania and blame the violence on Nyerere, the targets low-value and injuries to citizens would be avoided. Eventually they decided that target would be a high value one – called the port of Dar es Salaam – which means “harbour of peace..”.
Fri, 24 Jun 2022 - 20min - 89 - Episode 60 – Tsumeb farmers suffer repeated blows as SWAPOs Operation Typhoon sows destruction in the Triangle of Death
We left off last episode with SWAPOs Operation Typhoon under way inside the Triangle of Death, that area between Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein. Forty two members of this operation had hidden at Effense Chana and taken out a Ratel, three were killed by Alouette gunships in the follow up action, but the others got away, heading northwards to safety in Angola. Eleven members of the security forces were dead, about a dozen injured. This was not a normal SWAPO assault on the farming area, it was a concerted and well planned operation, the tactics had altered. There were still 105 other SWAPO guerrilla’s on the move in the Triangle or nearby and 61 Mech trackers were trying to pick up their trail before they did even more damage. Joining them were a vengeful group of farmers from the Triangle, including the man we met last week, Kaalvoet Izak, who writer Deon Lamprecht describes as die vegtende Boere van Tsumeb – the fighting farmers of Tsumeb. Others were Dave Keyser and Reinhard Friederich, and in her farm house at Koedoesvlei, Tantie Pompie who’s husband Daantjie had died during the Effense Chana ambush. AT 61 Mech HQ, Roland de Vries was determined to stop SWAPO, and headed to Tsumeb aerodrome two days after the ambush to meet reinforcements being flown in. Captain Jan Malan and his Alpha company were back in the field. You can say it’s a bit like falling off a horse – his company had seen the Ratel destroyed, their men killed, but he and his men had to get back on the horse immediately – no sitting around at 61 Mech HQ – Tsintsabis, drowning their sorrows. SWAPO wasn’t hanging around either. Two days after their successful ambush, they shot and killed a farm worker just north of Tsintsabis, toying with the security forces – here we are, they seemed to be saying, come and get us. Then a short while later Rifleman JDG du Toit died in a contact with SWAPO in the same area.
Sun, 12 Jun 2022 - 21min - 88 - Episode 59 – A SWAPO ambush leaves 11 dead as a Ratel is blown up at Effense Chana
In Episode 58 we heard how two SWAPO platoon had created an obvious trail near Tsumeb, it was bait for a trap they were planning – an ambush that would surprise the trailing 61 Mech follow up. This was a change in tactics by the SWAPOs commander Danger Ashapalo who’d sent 150 men to attack the white farming areas in the Triangle of Death. The South Africans were aware of a series of tracks – this had been a large group of SWAPO and couldn’t be missed. What they had no idea about was that their enemy had decided that in this case, they wouldn’t run but stand and fight. On the evening of April 14th 1982, 61 Mech had been enjoying entertainment laid on at Tsumeb town hall when word came of the large number of tracks discovered near the border with Angola. And it appeared the enemy was heading their way. Less than 90 minutes later, these troops suddenly were in the bush trying to make contact with two SWAPO platoons nearby. There were two Alouette gunships and two Puma’s ready to fly over the area at first light on the 15th, and it wasn’t clear at this stage how fast SWAPO was moving. Of course, they weren’t moving fast at all, and had moved and stopped exactly where they were going to lay their trap. Alongside Effense Chana, west of Tsumeb, on the Bravo area cutline. Tantie Pompie van der Westhuizen, the civilian farmer’s wife who was so critically important in the relaying of information in the Triangle, was up and about in her kitchen at Koedoesvlei farm. 61 Mech commander Roland de Vries radiod her asking for assistance from her husband Daantjie who knew the area so well. SWAPOs platoons under their commanders Kayofa and Kalulu had ordered their men to dig in behind thick bush, on the western side of a large open area – Effense Chana.
Thu, 02 Jun 2022 - 19min - 87 - Episode 58 – SWAPOs “Danger” Ashipala switches tactics as he dispatches 150 men to the Triangle of Death
As you heard last episode, groups of SWAPO insurgents were about to head southwards from various points north of Etosha Pan – aiming at the farming area in the Triangle of Death, Tsumeb and Oshakati. As Napoleon Bonaparte said – you must not fight too often with one enemy or you will teach him all your art of war. By now, SWAPO and the SADF had fought each other since 1966, and both sides had learned from the other. Because of this, April of 1982 would turn into a bloodbath in the Triangle of Death. The impetus started far away, in Lubango inside Angola. That’s the town with a statue of Christ that replicates the famous Rio statue, just a little smaller. It rises 30 meters into the air, arms wide, welcoming visitors. It was under the shadow of the statue, more than 700 kilometers from Tsumeb and the Triangle of death that plans were afoot. Twelve kilometers outside Lubango is a town called Humpata that the SADF who were part of Operation Savannah knew well. And further south of this lay the SWAPO base called Volcano. By the early 1980s, SWAPO had setup a major training base 30 kilometers south of Lubango and named it Volcano. And it was here in 1982 that a specialized unit was being trained, and the unit was called Typhoon. Like the trekkers, they’d be heading south soon, and the name Typhoon was apt as you’re going to hear. Their aim was to infiltrate south of Ovamboland and to attack farms around Tsumeb and OTavi and Grootfontein – the Triangle. Leading this group was a man who’d been fighting against the SADF constantly since the late 1970s, Ruben Danger Ashipala. HE was a flamboyant character and those who fought him called him tactically brilliant. Of all the commanders facing the SADF over the years, Russian, Cuban, Angolan, East European, he was probably the most accomplished at the art of war.
Thu, 26 May 2022 - 19min - 86 - Episode 57 – Operation Super: The incredible 1982 Battle of Cambeno Valley, SWAPO’s Point Zero
As you heard last episode, from February 1982 SWAPO activity had increased in the normally quiet western sector of Angola north of Kaokaland. Remember the Red Cross flight which had been tracked by a SWAPO unit in that area at a place they called Point Zero. It was decided that this unit had to be confronted as quickly as possible as it threatened to bring the war to an area that had been virtually untouched by the mines and violence of Ovamboland. Two days later, the SADF comops unit was monitoring a SWAPO unit which had headquarters close to Cahama and the unit was ordered to meet their chief of staff from Lubango at Iona on 22nd February. Intelligence sources inside Angola said PLANs defence secretary, Peter Nanyemba, was taking a personal interest in Point Zero. That confirmed suspicions about how important SWAPO thought that this base was. Sector 10 HQ was worried about these new moves by SWAPO, it appeared to be establishing itself in Kaokaland and Damaraland. But where was Point Zero? It was time to deploy a ten-man team from 5 Reconnaisance Regiment to investigate the situation. Eventually after a number of contacts, they captured 6 POWs who told them that there were about 200 SWAPO at a base ten kilometers south of Iona in a place called the Cambena Valley. It was just across the border, west of Ruacana, north of the heart of Kaokoland. There was no time to waste. The soldiers at the base must have been aware already that the SADF had been active nearby so things had to move fast. This would turn into Operation Super
Wed, 18 May 2022 - 20min - 85 - Episode 56 – SWAPO takes aim at the Kaokoland and 32 Battalion hit by SAAF friendly fire
December 1981 brought the usual debriefings and analysis about how the border war was progressing, particularly after a year that saw such highs and lows for the SADF. However, before the end of the year, The SADF ordered another small operation called Vlinder to hit the area near Evale over the cutline. In one of the final acts of the year, troops were in contact with SWAPO armed with SA-7 missiles and RPGs near the town. One of the SADF troops was hit by shrapnel from an 82mm mortar and was in a serious condition. He needed to be casevaced out. Lieutenant Arthur Walker led a two-ship Alouette formation to the scene and provided top cover for Lieutenant Serge Bovey who was to carry out the pickup. Walker was going to earn another Honoris Crux as he heroically landed to save his colleagues. So, the new year, 1982, began with the enemy demonstrating an aggressive intent – and some bad news for the SA Air Force which was going to get worse before the month was out. Politically this was also the year that the country was supposed to march towards independence, and its name would be changed to South West Africa/Namibia, or SWA/NAMIBIA.
Tue, 10 May 2022 - 21min - 84 - Episode 55 – Operation Daisy where a Mirage shoots down a MiG in a first for the SAAF since the Korean War
The sound of gunfire from Operation Protea and the SADF were already planning their next invasion of Angola. The intelligence gathered during Protea was going to lead to the second 1981 op, which was launched in November 1981 targeting Ionde initially, 120km inside Angola, then onwards to Bambi and Chetequera, much deeper inside Angola. But first, the air Force was going to get busy. The aircraft used were extensive, 15 Impalas, 9 Pumas, 2 Super Frelons and 10 Alouettes for Army support, 4 DC3 Dakotas, six C-130s and C160s and 1 DC4 as air transport and supply and 9 Bosboks for navigation and reconnaissance support. Two Mirage IIIs would also be deployed for photo-recon missions, 20 Mirage F1s for Air superiority and 3 Buccanners as backup if enemy airfields needed to be bombed. The Mirages were going to face MiGs for the first time in direct air to air combat and as you’re going to hear, things didn’t end well for one MiG in particular. Colonel Ollie Holmes was commanding officer of the air force contingent at Oshakati and the idea was to setup a forward HQ position at Ionde Airfield once it had been secured. 32 Battalion was sent in to protect the tactical headquarters and to patrol the supply routes for the main mechanized force, while Recce teams led by The Assault force would be headed up by 61 Mechanised Battalion and include elements from 201, 1 Parachute Battalion and 5 Reconnaisance Regiment. But there was one incident that rippled across the region which took place on November 6th and this involved a Mirage and a MiG. After years of warfare, finally the Angolan Air Force decided it was going to become aggressive. This would lead to the first downing of an enemy plane by the SAAF since the Korean War.
Fri, 29 Apr 2022 - 22min - 83 - Episode 54 – Operation Protea wraps up but the Russians and Cubans want revenge
Operation Protea was had wrapped up by 2nd September 1981 – Battle Group 10 had reverted to being 61 Mech, while Battle Group 20 was disbanded. As the SADF began to debrief, it was clear that this operation had been a tactical success, and operationally there was much to satisfy the purists who’d dreamed up the new mobile warfare doctrine. The final figure once all the counting was complete was 831 enemy killed, 25 taken prisoner whereas the SADF lost 10 men and 64 wounded. Around 4000 tonnes of military hardware was captured. So it all appeared a major victory for South Africans, except for one infinitely more important area. Strategy. FAPLA was now going to go on the offensive against the SADF whereas before they were responding mainly to UNITA further east. Much more important was the future role of the Cubans and the Russians. Partly because of the embarrassingly high number of casualties from both nations during Protea, Moscow could no longer tip-toe around the fact that it was fighting directly alongside the Angolans. The Cubans were now flying MiGs whereas previously mostly East Germans had been roped in to work with the Angolan Air Force. The Russians were on the ground in Ongiva, and died there. So, what of the future? Well, the documents captured during the operation were going to be very useful in the next few months. It was learned that SWAPOs main command and logistics bases were at Bambi and Chitequera east of Cassinga and Techamutete. This meant another quick raid was being planned to push further north. Operation Daisy would see a much smaller battle group heading 300 kilometers inside Angola, the furthest the SADF would ever advance after Savannah.
Tue, 19 Apr 2022 - 20min - 82 - Episode 53 – Soviet officers die and one is captured at Ongiva as Operation Protea enters DDay+5.
Operation Protea has entered its fifth day and the town of Ongiva had been bombed by the Air Force, and bombarded by artillery. Battle Group 10 had managed to sort out the area immediately west of the town, now 20 and 30 were going to bypass the town between the airport and the CBD, and strike at targets from the north West. 30 was heading directly for the airport which was going to prove a difficult target. This aerial assault was in support of the ground assault you heard about last episode, Task Force Alpha was well on its way to seizing Ongiva. Given how stiff the FAPLA resistance had been in places, surely they’d fight for their town with even more gusto? IT was an uneasy night and I must admit I didn’t sleep a wink. We were all in foxholes taking turns to guard the battle group – every bush or movement kept us on our toes. The sense of smell and hearing becomes crucial in these hours, and we sniffed the air like foxes. If anyone had tried to light a cigarette they would have been shot on the spot – and not even by the officers. Thirteen Russians died on the 28th August, one was captured – all had tried to escape using the convoy instead of surreptitiously departing which was the worst way to try and leave a town that had been attacked by conventional forces. Three of the Russians were Lieutenant Colonels, three were majors, one was a captain, another senior lieutenant, and a sergeant major. All the others were civilians and according to documents on their bodies, were advisors to both PLAN and FAPLA. There was a political commissar and a translator amongst these unfortunate souls.
Wed, 06 Apr 2022 - 27min - 81 - Episode 52 - Operation Protea D+1, Xangongo falls and the attention shifts to Ongiva
As we heard last episode, By 6pm on the 24th August 1981, Battle Group 20 was in control of its objectives, having destroyed at least four tanks and capturing vehicles, guns and ammunition. The fort and water tower, key targets in the town, were eventually reached and taken. The bridge was reached by the combat teams by 17h30 and was immediately prepared with demolition charges by the engineers. It was found later that FAPLA and PLAN officer and their Soviet advisors had hurriedly fled the town while the FAPLA and SWAPO soldiers held their positions and fought furiously. And so the sun had set on a long day’s fighting, but Battle Group 20s rest was going to be interrupted in the early hours of the morning. I was part of that group dug in overlooking the river alongside a road out of Xangongo. Before dawn, we began to hear the sound of tanks approaching, the first sound you hear is the deep bellow of the powerful engine, then the squeaking of the tracks. There were T34’s approaching. Little did we know that there was another incident that took place in the north when a convoy tried to leave Xangongo and drove into Captain Jan Hougaard’s combat team ambushed the troop carriers. Now it was onwards to Ongiva and the commanders once again caucused in the main HQ tent that night. This was going to be another tough nut to crack. The town was defended by two battalions protected by 23mm AA guns, a tank squadron of T34s, as well as an armoured car company with BTR-23s and an artillery battery with both 82m and 76mm field guns. Dippenaars 20 Battle Group was going to spearhead the attack, assaulting from the northwest. He’d then hold the areas taken an allow Serfontein to continue phase two of the attack – swinging past 20 alongside and also striking from the north west.
Tue, 29 Mar 2022 - 23min - 80 - Episode 51 – Xangongo the target as Operation Protea begins and the story of a freak smoke rocket shot
The air strikes on the targets for Operation Protea have ended, and now the mechanised units will begin their move on the targets, Xangongo and Peu Peu. 32 Battalion has already cleared the bunkers and trench positions in the north of Xangongo as you heard last episode. Attacking westward on the northern flank of Battle Group 20 was 40 under command of Commandant Deon Ferreira. They were to fight through the most northern FAPLA defences at Xangongo and capture the old Portuguese Fort overlooking the river. This fort was situated on high ground with an excellent view of the critical bridge across the Cunene River and the main road leading from Humbe into Xangongo. Whomever held this fort could influence the course of the battle with direct fire weapons, small arms and short range mortars. The high grounds at the fort and to the south of the main road, adjacent to the river, were important tactical features either for defence or attack. This included a high-rise water tower just to the south of the main road next to the river which was an excellent observation post to the west and over the town. The South Africans left it standing because they were going to use it. This high rising stretch of ground adjacent to the Cunene river formed the most western edge of the Xangongo defences. Later on Battle Group 10 would use the river and the high ground in combination for the defence of Xangongo once it was taken. The small town of Peu-Peu 10kilometers to the north also nestled alongside the Cunene River and Battle Group 30 was due for a stiff fight there. Back in Xangongo, as the mechanised units moved forward, machine-gun and AK47 fire increased until suddenly the chatter of a single Soviet 23mm anti-aircraft gun stopped the Battle Group dead in its tracks. This weapon was extremely effective in the hands of a trained crew – and that’s what faced the SADF at this moment.
Mon, 21 Mar 2022 - 18min - 79 - Episode 50 – Operation Protea begins and Xangongo and Peu Peu targeted but FAPLA’s 19th Brigade awaits
Last episode we heard how the South Africans had travelled overnight to reach the first target planned for Operation Protea, Xangongo. So we’ll return to the next moves later in this podcast, but we need to delve into what had happened in the air war first. There was an interesting moment – and a first for the Air Force on 20th August 1981. That was four days before the attack proper. Pilot Rynier Keet was strapped into the cockpit of a Mirage III at Ondangwa runway – the wingman of a section led by Commandant Mac van der Merwe. They were standby for a ground attack and had their underwing rocket pods attached which mean the Mirage’s were totally unsuitable for any air defence activity. At about 09h45 South Africa radar picked up fast-jet traffic on the Angoland side of the border heading straight for Ondangwa. It looked like an Angolan Air Force attack of some sort. The Mirage pair scrambled and were given an interception vector. The high-speed Mirages closed in on the Angolans head-to-head. As they approached 40 nautical miles to impact the South Africans were about to jettison their rocket pods to reduce drag and improve their chances against the MiGs when suddenly, the Angolan’s turned 180 degrees. Waiting for the SADF and deployed around Xangongo was FAPLA’s 19th Brigade. The brigade headquarters and two infantry companies were actually with an anti-aircraft battalion at Peu-Peu with the infantry basically protection companies as well as a mobile reserve for the brigade. The major strategic objective was the bridge over the Cunene River – the Xangongo Bridge – and there were two infantry battalions and a company of Military police guarding that structure. A tank company of ten T-34/85 tanks were also available to serve as a mobile reserve along with an armoured car company of ten more BTR troop carriers. There were two anti-tank battalions and an artillery company waiting for the SADF.
Mon, 14 Mar 2022 - 18min - 78 - Episode 49 – SWAPO uses FAPLA as a defensive screen in southern Angola and the plans are laid for Operation Protea
It’s the first half of 1981 and more hit and run raids were being carried out by SWAPO – particularly around Okalonga and Mahanene. Some of the frustrations concerning the quality of intel were proving difficult to explain away by the SADF. The early months of 1981 were characterized by a series of operations inside Angola of various sizes. 32 Battalion and 1 Parachute Battalion were busy most of the time, and it was apparent that FAPLA was growing increasingly aggressive. The Angolan Air Force too was showing signs of life – and the training was improving. In mid August more contacts took place near Chiede – but each firefight led to SWAPO beating a hasty retreat in the direction of the nearest FAPLA base. And thus the move to Operation Protea which would turn into the largest ground assault by South Africans of the entire Border War. The cooperation between SWAPO and FAPLA had to be broken. Both used the same logistics routes so the SADF needed to destroy the communication lines across the Cunene River. To do that Major General Lloyd approached Constand Viljoen and suggested a large force be sent into Angola to destroy the combined FAPLA/SWAPO strongpoints at Xangongo, Mongua and Ongiva.
Sun, 06 Mar 2022 - 22min - 77 - Episode 48 – Russian specialists set up anti-aircraft missiles and Special Forces ops accelerate across the cutline
The Russians were increasing their support for the MPLA in Luanda and one of those who arrived was Vladimir Vasilievich Kostrachenkov. He helped establish the Pechora Anti-Aircraft system between 1979 and 1981 in the south of Angola and published some of his thoughts in a book called Bush War, the Road to Cuito Cuanavale. While most of this book is about the major battles that took place later around Cuito, Kostrachenkov’s explanation of what happened in the south in the very 80s is important for us at this juncture. It was his second tour of duty of Angola – his first was as a translator in 1976 and he witnessed the civil war break out between the FNLA, the MPLA and UNITA. He was based in Carmona, northern Angola, and was translating for a team of Russian advisors. He survived numerous FNLA attacks and explains how all attempts at sealing the border with the Congo failed. The FNLA fighters used dugout canoes and small light boats to move in complete silence along the many tributaries of the Congo River and could infiltrate up to 300 kilometers into Angola. They were supported by what he calls “…their fellow tribesmen…” who were scattered all over the region – and he knew then that the struggle inside the country was going to be a long drawn out affair.
Sun, 27 Feb 2022 - 23min - 76 - Episode 47 – 32 Battalion’s Colonel Ferreira hauled over the coals for attacking FAPLA and Impala’s drop napalm
We heard about Ops Smokeshell over the past few episodes, the next major incursion into Angola will be Operation Protea. There’s quite a bit to cover before then. Ops Sceptic and particularly the battle for the SWAPO complex code-named Smokeshell had been a valuable learning curve for the SADF. At the same time, a new round of political negotiations were under way in June 1980, and General Magnus Malan had been appointed Minister of Defence in October. General Viljoen was now chief of the Defence Force and Lt General Jannie Geldenhuys took over as chief of the army in November. Taking a closer look at the attempt at restarting negotiations - when it came to the Namibian settlement talks, Foreign Affairs Minister Pik Botha had offered to reduce operational bases in the proposed DMZ from 40 to 20 on certain conditions. The diplomatic shouting match had barely died down before the SADF launched another invasion into Angola called Operation Klipklop. This began at dawn on the 30th July 1980 when SADF forces launched an attack on a SWAPO logistics base near Chitado, which was only 5 kilometers from the cutline and around 35 kilometers east of Ruacana. in Ovamboland, 32 Battalion was planning a special event. By mid-January 1981 Colonel Deon Ferreira was ordered to take personal command of further deployment inside Angola to find this missing SWAPO HQ. That would lead to something known as Ops Klipklop.
Sun, 20 Feb 2022 - 21min - 75 - Episode 46 – The attack on Smokeshell leaves 17 dead – the largest SADF loss in a single day’s combat since 1945
This is episode 46 and its June 10th 1980 and Commandant Dippenaar’s Combat Group 61, that huge convoy of 151 vehicles, had drawn up to the East of the main target of Operation Sceptic. That was a group of more than a dozen facilities grouped together and the codenamed Smokeshell. Last episode we heard how Dippenaar had broken up his assault force into six combined armed combat teams for the coming attack. 1,2 and 3 were to launch directly from the east to the west, while teams 4 and 5 were deployed as stopper groups on the Western Side. Teams 1 and 3 moved in first just after 13h00 hours and they found that the defenders in the north had disappeared. They came to the erroneous conclusion that SWAPO had fled instead of wanting to fight. In a moment Team 2 were going to find the assault a different kettle of fish entirely. OR perhaps a can of worms is the better analogy. Team 1 wondered off track and ended up north of their target – 800m to be exact, whereas Team 3 were right on their selected facility but it was empty of PLAN troops who had withdrawn so quickly, they left several anti-aircraft guns behind. This further reinforced the perception that SWAPO had run away. Team 1 eventually located their target which was deserted and made sure the trenches and bunkers to the north were empty, then regrouped. Some of the fleeing SWAPO fighters were spotted and a firefight broke out, six SWAPO were killed. Meanwhile Team 2 which was led by Captain Louis Harmse and comprised of B Company of mechanized infantry, supported by Ratel 90s and mortars were heading directly towards the main southern end of this network of bases at Smokeshell. We’ll hear a lot more about Captain Harmse in coming episodes – unfortunately he was to join his father in the pantheon of those who were to give their lives fighting for their beliefs.
Sun, 13 Feb 2022 - 23min - 74 - Episode 45 – The SAAF begins flying Impala’s at night and Operation Sceptic aka Smokeshell begins
This is episode 45 and its 1980. Everything will accelerate from now on – as wars generally do when neither side has complete control over the battlefield. And one of the biggest events over the Border War was about to take place – Operation Sceptic or Smokeshell as most call it. SWAPO by now had pulled back from the shallow areas – those parts of southern Angola closest to the cutline – the border with South West Africa. They moved deeper into Angola, northwards which meant that any future operation would have further to go. The pattern of rainy season cross border incursions was now under way as SWAPO’s armed wing PLAN used the thicker vegetation and numerous water holes. Not to mention the increased problems for the SA Air Force with thunderstorms and more weather around making air support more problematic. It was also more difficult to locate their bases inside Angola. The SADF began focusing its powerful conventional cross-border operations during winter when it was dry. Remember southern Africa is a summer rainfall area – for my global audience. The dry winters made it was easier for heavy vehicles to travel about, and during the winter PLAN would gather in their main bases to debrief and retrain for the following summer. The South Africans were making new plans with a strategic purpose to attack SWAPO and destroy its image as a war-winning movement. That of course was supposed to show South West Africans they shouldn’t depend on SWAPO when the country became an independent Namibia.
Sun, 13 Feb 2022 - 20min - 73 - Episode 44 – The Recces kayak to Savate as 32 Battalion preps for Operation Sceptic aka Smokeshell
This is episode 44 – it’s the run up to Operation Sceptic in 1980 – or what many folks call Ops Smokeshell. That’s because the main target – Chifufua was code-named Smokeshell or QFL depending on what report you read, but there were other targets too. Before that operation there were a few other incidents across the fighting front. One involved a formation of Impala’s armed with rockets that ended up strafing what they thought was a SWAPO position in Ovamboland – however when they were debriefed, it was clear that they’d entered into Angolan territory and shot up an unknown location inside the territory. Then in 1980 UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi decided his men would capture the towns and hold them. So on 14th April UNITA took Cuangar on the Cubango River – literally on the border. This marked the beginning of a new phase in UNITAs strategy where they planned to hold the entire southern Angolan region if possible. Savimbi approached the SADF and asked for assistance in attacking Savate to drive FAPLA further north west. It was one of their main bases 75 kilometers inside Angola. As you’re going to hear, the South Africans were led to believe it was lightly defended - but that was totally incorrect.
Sun, 30 Jan 2022 - 24min - 72 - Episode 43 – Sonja Dressel shoots up a PLAN platoon and political change sweeps southern Africa
This is episode 43 and we’re into 1980. Last episode we met Tannie Pompie van der Westhuysen and touched on a growing sign of PLAN action through late 1979. 1980 was going to be a momentous year in Border War history and from now on, the combat ramps up along with the casualties on all sites. Up until now the SADF had been winging it – using a pastiche of military techniques backed up by a somewhat haphazard political agenda. To outsiders it appeared that the National Party was organised and focused but the real situation was far more chaotic. Then PW Botha took over from BJ Vorster and the hawks in the party won out in 1980. Not that Vorster appeared soft and gentle to outsiders, but in terms of the overall political strategy he’d been advocating a negotiated settlement from the immediate position while Botha preferred a future negotiated settlement from a future position of military strength. So in February 1980 in the Triangle of Death, that zone between Grootfontein, Tsumeb and Otavi, the farmers were gearing up for what was going to be an escalation of the war. There were few incidents again for a week, then on 22nd February the Dressel family were up and about in the morning aware that something was amiss. First their dogs began barking constantly, then they tried the landline, but the telephone was dead. Sonja Dressel was about to turn into a hero.
Sat, 22 Jan 2022 - 24min - 71 - Episode 42 – The Triangle of Death in 1979 and an introduction to Tannie Pompie
This is episode 42 – it’s 1979 and all hell is breaking loose as the Rhodesian Bush war reaches it apogee and SWAPO increases its incursions into OVamboland and into the Death triangle further south. In this episode we’ll meet an extraordinary woman called Tannie Pompie, real name Pompie van der Westhuizen. She has been lauded and memorialised by retired members of the SADF for good reason. It’s not every day that civilians play such a crucial role in communications in the midst of a war and Tannie Pompie was one of those indefatigable figures that history produces every now and then. By February 1979 SWAPO incursions became known as the Winter Games in a kind of counter-intuitive symbolic phraseology because these were now taking place mainly in summer. But it was during the rainy season – so the Winter Games as they were known accelerated starting at this point. The Triangle of death lay between Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein. The triangle starts around 80 kilometers south east of Etosha Pan, and is well watered making the bush thick and extremely useful as cover if you’re planning attacks on farms – which was precisely what SWAPO was doing. The people of the Triangle of Death farmed a variety of crops. The Roodts on the farm Wildernis for example produced watermelons, others farmed cattle and some had game parks. These are large farms for the most part, isolated and exposed. So on May 8th 1979 Willem and Lena Roodt loaded their bakkie full of watermelons and headed off to Tsumeb. They left Granny and two youngsters behind, their son who was three and their daughter who was slightly older. The old lady and the children would not survive the day.
Fri, 14 Jan 2022 - 23min - 70 - Episode 41 – A Rhodesian Airlines Viscount downed at Kariba and an old Zambian man stares down the SADF
This is episode 41 and we’re dealing with events in 1979. One of these as you’re about to hear involve a Rhodesian Airlines Vickers Viscount that was shot down – and the SAAF was involved in the response. That was to target a ZIPRA base in eastern Angola. While the new year of 1979 began relatively peacefully, that changed in February when 250 SWAPO soldiers crossed the cutline into South West Africa. The summer rains had been good – and then on the 13th February a blinding rainstorm saw insurgents attacking Nkongo Base which was 15 kilometers from the border. However the assault was a glancing blow and SWAPO melted away almost immediately. The rain cut visibility and washed away their tracks so follow up operations were further hampered. But they’d be back as you’re going to hear. PW Botha was the new hawkish Prime Minister who took over from BJ Vorster who was presumed too soft by the militarising National Party. Pretoria was bristling for a fight and SWAPO’s cross border attack led to a few diplomatic messages being exchanged while in the background, Botha’s government was preparing for another invasion of southern Angola. The situation in Rhodesia was approaching resolution in 1979 as Ian Smith accepted the idea of Majority rule for the first time, and he also accepted the concept of a transitional administration being set up. The ferocity of the conflict there, the pure blooded viciousness had shaken those covering the war as journalists. Nuns were raped and bayoneted to death along with children, civilians were caught in the middle of the struggle. The South Africans like the Rhodesians sought revenge because the commander of the Air Rhodesia flight 827 Viscount was former SA Air Force pilot, Jan Andre du Plessis. And now a retaliation strike on a ZIPRA camp near Luso in eastern Angola was planned.
Thu, 06 Jan 2022 - 22min - 69 - Episode 40 – 61 Mechanised Battalion special edition with former commander Roland de Vries
This is episode 40 and it’s a special edition focusing on one of the most successful military organisations in African military history. That’s the 61 Mechanised Battalion Group which first saw action during Operation Reindeer as Battle Group Juliet which was targeting SWAPOs western front at Chetequera. As you know from previous episodes, one of the takeaways from the entire operation was the need to establish a permanent conventional mechanised combat unit inside the Operational Area. By January 1979 61 Mechanised Battalion was formally named and established at Otavi before moving to Tsumeb in April 1979. It was eventually settled at Omuthiya just north of Etosha Pan while the HQ remained at Tsumeb. Joining me for parts of this episode is the former commander and founder, Roland de Vries. A big thank you to him for spending time with me outlining the rationale for the creation of a multi-service brigade.
Thu, 23 Dec 2021 - 22min - 68 - Episode 39 – Both the SADF and SWAPO reorganise and 61 Mech is born
This is episode 39 and SWAPO has just mortared Katimo Mulilo as revenge for the airborne assault on Cassinga. Ten SADF troops died in the bombardment as you’ve heard – a single Redeye rocket accounted for the deaths as the men huddled in a prefabricated building in the early hours of 23rd August 1978. Combat Team Bravo had set off about an hour after the bombing of Katima and as we’ve heard, found that SWAPO had retreated from their forward bases. However Combat Team Alpha was going to find things a little hotter. They set out at dawn on the 24th and crossed the cutline at 07h05 and half an hour later caught up with SWAPOs rearguard. Fire was exchanged without any losses and then just before 8am the Combat Team ran into an ambush. A high volume of small arms fire was let loose in Alpha’s direction and they returned fire, killing five SWAPO troops but around 50 others made off into the bush. Just after 8am, Alpha discovered a SWAPO base but it had been hastily evacuated. Helicopter support was called in and at 09h25 another group of SWAPO was discovered a short distance away – six more were killed in that sharp exchange. In October 1978 General Constand Viljoen appointed the first commander of a permanent mechanised warfare unit in the operational area and of course, Commandant Johann or Dippies Dippenaar was the man to lead it. And so 61 mechanised battalion group came into being on January 1st 1979 consisting of two mechanised infantry companies in Ratel 20s, an armoured car troop in Eland90s – later they’d be traveling in the powerful Ratel 90s. Also embedded – a 140mm G-2 battery from 4 artillery field regiment, a support company and a combat engineer troop from 16 Maintenance Unit. Later on a tank squadron was also added – but that’s for later. SWAPO and PLANs deployment also shifted at this time. The headquarters of SWAPOs armed force was at Lubango – the town we heard about during Operation Savannah.
Mon, 13 Dec 2021 - 19min - 67 - Episode 38 – 32 Battalion ends Ops Reindeer then SWAPO attacks Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi
This is episode 38 and its time to scrutinise the fall-out from Operation Reindeer, particularly the attack on Cassinga – during 1978. As you heard last episode, the SADF regarded the invasion of Angola as a success – however as we know, war is politics by other means and in this – the South African state had failed. It would also lead to SWAPO’s Operation Revenge which would kill far more SADF troops than the airborne assault at Cassinga. The strategic plan of Operation Reindeer was to weaken SWAPO at the point the united Nations had demanded elections. They idea was to show how militarily weak SWAPO was – but this strategy backfired spectacularly. Instead, it strengthened SWAPOs position internationally. Attacking a town without any warning was always going to cause civilian casualties and therefore, bad PR. It was seen as not only unethical, it was criminal. SWAPO meanwhile was planning revenge already and their response would kill more than three times more South Africans than Operation Reindeer. This took place at Katima Mulilo, the unofficial capital of the Eastern Caprivi, which had been a quiet zone for years as we’ve heard. What would happen next took everyone by surprise – except for SWAPO and those in the know inside Zambia.
Wed, 01 Dec 2021 - 23min - 66 - Episode 37 – A Cuban counter-attack causes chaos at the Cassinga LZ and Pretoria’s political strategy backfires
This is episode 37 and we’re dealing with a Cuban counter-attack targeting the South African paratroopers still being airlifted out of Cassinga. It was the afternoon of 4th May 1978 and more than half the paratroopers had still not been evacuated from the landing Zone to the east of the shattered town. Jan Breytenbach had requested urgent close air support and had also ordered the helicopters at Whisky Three which was the Helicopter Administration area 35km east of Cassinga to return and extract his trapped paratroopers. But the Cuban armour was almost on top of them and there was no sign of any aircraft. Breytenbach withdraw into the surrounding bush and try to get to an emergency LZ setup as you heard last episode. In the meantime some eyewitnesses claim that General Viljoen, concerned now about the very real possibility of being captured, removed his badges of rank and his beret and hid them under a stone. He’d flown in on one of the first evacuation choppers and decided to remain very much against Defence Force operating procedure. The commanding officer of the entire Army should not place himself directly in harms way – even if he was trying to show that he was a courageous as the rest. And yet the MPLA and SWAPO had actually won a major victory at Cassinga. Pretoria’s political strategy had failed miserably with SWAPO about to gain a vast amount of credibility. It so happened that the World Conference for the Eradication of Racism and Racial Descrimination was about to take place in Basle, Switzerland between 18 and 21st May. SWAPO Secretary for Information and Publicity Peter Katjavivi was a speaker there and he denied the presence of any military installations or PLAN combatants at Cassinga saying it was a refugee camp.
Sun, 21 Nov 2021 - 23min - 65 - Episode 36 – Paratroopers in Cassinga face off against T34s as the Cubans infiltrate the battle zone
This is episode 36 and we’re at the tail end of Operation Reindeer – and we kick off this episode by viewing the SADF attack on Cassinga alongside Captain Joseph Kobo of the ANCs armed wing, Mkhonto we sizwe – the spear of the nation. On May 4th 1978 - the day of the airborne assault on Cassinga 250 kilometers into Angola, Captain Kobo was travelling back to the town having picked up provisions and was part of a convoy of vehicles. It was Ascension day. Kobo’s convoy was speeding towards Cassinga and he was in a confident mood. The convoy had radio’d ahead hours before and everyone was looking forward to an upcoming celebration. This wasn’t Ascencion day, it was the fall of France’s military stronghold at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam to Viet Minh General Giap in May 1954. MK along with SWAPO and Fapla were going to celebrate the French defeat – it was a symbolic victory that also had led to the American’s involvement in Vietnam. And here in Africa, the guerrilla movements were fighting to overthrow their colonial masters so naturally they viewed the fall of Dien Bien Phu as a shining example of how to go about crushing western armies. In Cassinga, the paratroopers were being airlifted out of the town to the HAA protected by the rearguard. The Cubans had arrived from Techemutete with their armoured personnel carriers and half a dozen T34s and as you heard last episode, were about to drive straight into a strafing and an ambush. There were about 100 Cubans and FAPLA troops in this column from the south which was trying to break up the organised air lift out. Unfortunately for them, they drove into Pierre Peter’s anti-tank platoon. Earlier the South African’s in this platoon had watched the first wave of paratroopers take off and were apprehensive.
Tue, 09 Nov 2021 - 21min - 64 - Episode 35 – Cassinga finally surrenders but the Cubans in Techamutete mobilise their T34s
This is episode 35 and we swing further north to pick up the story in Cassinga. Last episode I ended with the Battle Group Julient attacks on Chetequera to the south which was an overland assault using Ratels, Buffel troops carriers and Eland-90s. In Cassinga, the South African paratroopers had been dropped in by air and were on their way to finishing their task of overrunning SWAPOs base when they had stalled – Alpha Company was held up by an extremely motivated group of SWAPO figthters deployed at their Anti-aircraft battery which included a heavy 14.5mm gun amongst other automatic weapons. Bravo company were busy sweeping the area which was a women’s barracks near the hospital that for some reason the paratroopers referred to as the prostitutes area. I supposed it was because they weren’t use to women soldiers. So Snipers had pinned down Bravo company and they’d also been fired on an 82mm recoilless gun. After managing to silence both the snipers and the 82mm, Bravo Company commando Hugo Murray led his men north into Cassinga and it was apparent that the SWAPO fighters were now squeezed into the central and northern areas of the base. So SWAPO was fighting hard – they were trapped but they were not going to go quietly. These men and women also knew about the Cubans to the south – surely if they held off long enough their cavalry would save them.
Sun, 31 Oct 2021 - 28min - 63 - Episode 34 – The SADF begin to take casualties as they attack Chetequera where hyaenas and jackals would feast
This is episode 34 and the SADF are inside Angola – it’s the 4th May 1978 and Operation Reindeer is under way – it’s the joint attacks on Cassing and Chetequera. As we heard last episode, both assaults are not going according to plan. We ended episode 33 alongside Battle Group Juliet as it began to move into Chetequera, one of SWAPOs main base networks just over the cutline or border. Juliet had arrived at its attack position north of the base and first managed to bypass a thick field of Mahangu – a type of corn, then were faced with thick bush and trees as they moved southwards towards the settlement. They had taken heavy fire so far and things were not going to improve. According to the initial plan, Major Van Zyl and his mechanised company burst past the kraal lying north east of Chetequera and headed straight for the base. Remember van Zyl could only see 4 of his 14 Ratels the bush, grass and trees were so thick. For a moment he wondered if he should dismount his infantry who were on board the Buffel troops carriers then thought better of it. Speed was of the utmost importance now and that would mean slowing down. As his mechanised units moved into the ramparts of the settlement, individual vehicles fell foul of the trenches and bunkers mainly because many were almost invisible they’d been camouflaged so well. Meanwhile, further south, Commandant Joubert and his combat team had also decided to lie up after working over the bases which were below Chetequera. The initial plan was for Combat Team Serfontein to cross the Cutline east of beacon 8 and advance north for around four kilometers then attack a base called Dombondola2 in support of Joubert.
Sat, 23 Oct 2021 - 19min - 62 - Episode 33 – SA Parabats are in Cassinga but SWAPO fights back, while Juliet raids Chetequera
This is episode 33 and we’re inside Cassinga on the 4th May 1978 with the SADF paratroopers and SWAPO who are going toe-to-toe. Episode 32 outlined the detail of the jump – now we’re going to follow the action inside the town which was SWAPOs HQ in southern Angola. We’ll also hear about the mobilisation of the SADF mechanised battalions far to the south, just against the cutline – the border between South West Africa and Angola. They were heading for Chetequera and other bases and this force was going to face its own set of challenges. Remember there were different groups of SADF paratroopers doing different things at Cassinga that cool morning in May. Charlie Company had settled into its assigned stopper position East of the town - but they were already 45 minutes behind schedule. The entire attack was supposed to take two hours and this was a bad sign. Even more of an issue was the Alpha and Bravo main assault groups which had landed almost two kilometers off their assigned dropzone south west of Cassinga. This was mainly because the C130 and C160 pilots had waited a few extra seconds as they flew over the town because they couldn’t see the zones – the wind had blown dust and smoke from the Canberra and Buccaneer bombing runs over these points and confused them. While the critical battle for this strategic position would continue, we need to shift our attention almost directly due south of Cassinga to the join the men of Battle Group Juliet. That was the second third of a three phased attack into Angola set for May as part of Operation Reindeer – and overland assault just over the cutline. That plan was to the advance on Chetequera and the various mechanised units began rolling out of their training bases at 22 hours 40 on May 3rd. That’s when columns of emerged from Juliet’s training camp into a bitterly cold semi-desert night. But there were three separate combat teams involved starting from different positions.
Fri, 15 Oct 2021 - 20min - 61 - Episode 32 – First the Canberras, Buccaneers and Mirages then the paratroopers leap into hi
This is episode 32 and we’re joining with the SADF paratroopers aboard 9 planes flying towards Cassinga for the start of Operation Reindeer. Its just before 8am on the 4th May 1978. Three hundred and 43 parachutists from 1,2 and 3 parachute battalions are about to jump from these planes in an airborne assault on SWAPOs HQ in southern Angola. The major punch in this operation was going to be delivered by the Canberra medium bombers and six naval type low level Buccaneer bombers. Canberra’s had been in service with the Royal Air Force for twenty years and could fly at 50 000 feet – it also had a useful range of 2 600 nautical miles. Unfortunately for the SADF, the bombing run that was about to take place just after 08h00 hours did not achieve its aims. The Canberra’s were up first, hugging the curves of the earth and at high speed. This meant that no-one heard them coming inside Cassinga. The Camberra’s arrived almost in silence, and just short of their IP or initial point they lifted their noses and climbed to a few hundred feet spewing the Alpha bombs from their open bomb bays. These laid a carpet of spherical devices that exploded just above head height after they bounced – two lines of Camberra’s rushed over the town from north to south and side by side but many of the devices actually ended up bouncing into the bush and exploding over no-one. As the paratroopers were going to discover, the defenders had been shaken but not broken by that first run.
Thu, 07 Oct 2021 - 18min - 60 - Episode 31 – D-Day and Operation Reindeer begins
This is episode 31 and it’s the start of Operation Reindeer – the twin assaults on Cassinga and Chetequera in Angola on May 4th 1978. Colonel Jan Breytenbach was the most important of these leading fighting forces on the ground at Cassinga code-named Alpha assisted by Commandant Deon Ferreira. SWAPOs code name for Cassinga was Moscow by the way so I will sometimes refer to it by that name. Seventeen medium-transport helicopters were going to be used to airlift the paratroopers out of Cassinga after they were airdropped in – and you know by now this would be the first major airborne attack carried out by the SADF anywhere. On May 2nd the South African government of John Vorster finally gave the go-ahead for Operation Reindeer on 2 May two days before the SADF would launch its invasion. The date was calculated to follow a United Nations Security Council debate on South West Africa. According to government officials later, this was to avoid making things difficult for the Big Five western nations who had been tacitly supporting Pretoria at the UN. The other target was Chetequera which was 30 kilometers from the cutline. Major Frank Bestbier was commanding the ground forces there.
Fri, 01 Oct 2021 - 21min - 59 - Episode 30 – A four phased blueprint to attack Cassinga as Operation Reindeer is good to go for May 4th 1978
This is episode 30 and it’s the start of Operation Reindeer, one of the most important ops conducted by the SADF during the Border War. It involved two different attacks – one by air on Cassinga and the second a ground assault by a mechanised battle group targeting Chetequera and its satellite bases further south. Cassinga was 250 kilometers across the border – the cutline – so this was going to be tricky from the start. We heard last episode about the high risk factor and as with many airborne assaults, this one was not going to go too well for the South Africans at times – while the chaotic extraction saw T34 tanks making it all the way to a key helicopter administration Area and the final minutes were touch and go. First Cassinga. It could be compared to the size of Oshakati at the time. There were many civilians amongst the troops and this was going to cause the SADF quite a bit of trouble as they bombed then assaulted this medium sized Angolan urban area. A large number of women were being trained as soldiers here and many were training as a family – in other words their husbands or partners and their children were also living alongside. It’s a bit like the SADF base at Voortrekkehoogte in Pretoria. While it is a training area for different army commands, there are also schools. By the way Voortrekkehoogte was targeted by the ANC’s MK and the PAC’s Apla over the years. Civilians living openly inside a military zone often end up as collateral damage.
Thu, 23 Sep 2021 - 16min - 58 - Episode 29 – Two parachute battalions begin training in earnest for Operation “Wedding” aka Reindeer but there’s a hitch
This is episode 29 and we’re covering the period up to the start of Operation Reindeer which was to take place in early May 1978. First the planning phases – of which there were many. By early that year intelligence had convincingly proven that there were a number of SWAPO bases that were critical to the organisation’s operations in southern Angola and these had to be attacked. As you heard last episode, the main base was at Cassinga 250 kilometers north of the cutline – the South West African border. There were signs that SWAPO was increasing its attacks on the farm areas around Ovamboland and the SADF was determined to stop these. SWAPO’s forward operational bases were filling up and heavy support weapons were being moved south. The commercial farming areas were likely to be subjected to a flood of incursions, particularly since these were also timed to coincide with the height of the rainy season. Meanwhile, a heavy blanket of secrecy enveloped the planning for the upcoming attack on southern Angola. One of the most important characters of the upcoming assault was 32 Battalion commander Colonel Jan Breytenbach. He had passed through Cassinga on the way north during Operation Savannah three years before and what’s more, was a paratrooper with experience in Biafra in Nigeria. He’d also launched One Reconnaisance commando, the Reccies, which were an SAS type organisation.
Tue, 14 Sep 2021 - 21min - 57 - Episode 28 – Operation Reindeer gets the green light after SAAF Buccaneers discover Cassinga camp
This is episode 28 dealing with events in early 1978 – mainly operation Reindeer and the attack on Cassinga. As with Savannah, I’m going to spend some time and a few episodes drilling down into Ops Reindeer because it has left a legacy of recrimination and bitterness particularly between SWAPO and former SADF commanders. While most combatants have allowed by-gones to be bygones, the attack on Cassinga now forms one of the cornerstones of SWAPOs propaganda of this war while Angolan forces are more forgiving and as you hear the details, you’ll understand why. In the wake of Operation Savannah border incursions and unrest escalated in northern Ovamboland. SWAPO was now crossing into northern SWA in small, lightly armed sections or groups. Every now and again, a larger group would cross as we heard last episode where more than 80 insurgents fought running battles with SADF platoons to and fro across the cutline. South African political leadership believed the increased activity in early 1978 was directly linked to the effort by the Big Five western countries – the US, UK, France, West Germany and Canada to negotiate a settlement regarding SWA. While the negotiations stalled over two main issues – the timing of the SADF troop withdrawal and ownership of SWA main port, Walvis Bay – there was still hope. The main target however remained Cassinga and this was code-named Moscow. It was 250 kilometers inside Angola and there were significant swathes of bush and Miombo forest between it and the cutline. IT was a sprawling base, large by the standards of Angola, and protected with an intricate trench and bunker system. There were heavy machine gun positions along with 82mm mortars, B10s and possibly anti-aircraft guns.
Tue, 07 Sep 2021 - 19min - 56 - Episode 27 - A prelude to Operation Reindeer and the SADF airborne attack on Cassinga
This is episode 27 and we’re focusing on the end of 1977 through to early 1978. Later that year Operation Reindeer would once again shake southern African political leadership and cause more ripples in the global pond – and also leave a legacy which SWAPO continues to commemorate to this day. Just as an aside – this week I had a chance to discuss various tactics and matters with General Roland de Vries who is one of the most important military tacticians of the SADF. He was instrumental in setting up 61 Mechanised Battalion Group which first saw action during Operation Reindeer. So through the next few episodes we’ll hear his first-hand account of various action and his innovative leadership concepts. At times I will include the voices of those who fought on both sides which I’m sure you’ll find informative. Remember this is not a series that seeks to glorify war – it seeks to inform and educate those who have no idea what significant events and issues are at the heart of our recent past and to honour those who are no longer with us. Because, as we know, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it and no-where is the more apparent than in Southern Africa.
Mon, 30 Aug 2021 - 22min - 55 - Episode 26 – Jannie Geldenhuys takes charge of SWA Command
This is episode 26 and we’re covering events in 1977. The incursions into Ovamboland increased suddenly in early 1977 and the SADF was also concerned about reports that the four frontline states of Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Angola had agreed to support the new wave of insurgency. From early December 1976 SWAPOs armed wing PLAN had set its sights on traditional leaders, literally, who were mostly conservative and well disposed towards the South African administration. To SWAPO, they were sell-outs and had to be eradicated. Then in February 1977, the Caprivi experienced its first incident in two years when a PLAN group opened fire on a South African patrol base near the borders with Angola and Zambia. Three SADF troops were wounded and twelve insurgents were killed in follow up operations before they had time to cross over into Zambia. At the same time, the SADF’s communication operations scheme or hearts and minds campaign, got off the ground. 79 selected national servicemen were withdrawn from other tasks and assigned to teaching duties in black schools in the border area starting on the 22nd March. Just over a week later, on the 31st March, PW Botha announced in Parliament that during the two years since April 1975 a total of 231 insurgents had been killed in Ovamboland, Kavango and the eastern Caprivi. ON the South African side, 33 men had died while Swapo had also killed 53 locals – many were traditional leaders or their family members.
Mon, 23 Aug 2021 - 16min - 54 - Episode 25 – The Reccies and 32 Battalion continue the war inside Angola and the Soweto Uprising shocks the Nationalist
This is episode 25 and we’re focusing on the second half of 1976. Last episode we heard about the Cold War machinations which had led to Cuba and Russian coming to the assistance of the MPLA in Angola. We also heard about the deployment of black troops inside the SADF for the first time and how South Africa was rearming itself as its defence equipment was out of date. 32 Battalion had been deployed to the cutline at the border and was highly active, as were SWAPO’s PLAN insurgents. Meanwhile the diplomatic storm that had broken over South Africa’s invasion of Angola continued to rage with the OAU breaking its own membership rules to accept the MPLA in as the official and yet unelected government of Angola. ON the security front South Africa was in a terrible situation. In June 1976 the Soweto Uprising shook the Pretoria government with both its ferocity and its unique character. For the first time black youth living in the township to the south west of Johannesburg decided enough was enough and went on the rampage in what was an historic event as they rose up against the apartheid government. Watching all of this was the International Community which was to increase sanctions on Pretoria shortly. While a full arms embargo had still not been enforced -that was only to follow in 1977, Pretoria had effectively entered pariah status already and most nations were already loathe to sell weapons of any sort to security forces who were being photographed shooting teenagers in the streets. After Operation Savannah the government forbade the SADF to cross the border into Angola as it tried to reset relations with neutral African countries – most of whom had been shocked by the extent of the SADF’s invasion – all the way to the edge of the capital Luanda. That frightened Zambia for example which was tinkering with support for the ANC and other liberation movements.
Sun, 15 Aug 2021 - 16min - 53 - Episode 24 – The Angolan Army re-organises, Moscow refocuses on Africa and Mirages arrive in Ondangwa
This is episode 24 and we’ll hear how Swapo insurgency into Ovamboland began increasing rapidly after the end of Operation Savannah in early 1976. The Angolan war was just getting going and its future would be determined to a large extent by Cold War politics. Despite strong competition, the Soviet Union managed to reassert it’s power and its decision to intervene drastically in Angola was motivated by the perception that it had lost influence in the Third World. They wanted to show support for liberation movements in Africa and Angola was an opportunity which they exploited to the full. By the start of 1976 the USSR actually had relatively few ties remaining in Africa. Moscow had suffered setbacks in Ghana, Mali, Zaire and the Sudan while relations with Egypt were also in decline. The Chinese meanwhile had made great strides in East Africa, particularly in Zambia and Tanzania and Beijing was challenging Moscow openly – worse the Chinese and the Americans had colluded in their joint covert support of the FNLA. In May 1976 and twenty three years after the end of the Korean war, 2 Squadron was called on to fly their first operational mission of the border war. Intelligence reports on Angolan defence deployments were received at Grootfontein. Commander colonel Dan Zeeman was given authority for three cross-border missions and number 2 Squadron was given the task of carrying out this attack. The reason was intelligence reports were starting to indicate that the Russians had installed SA-2 and SA-3 missile launchers in southern Angola. On the 14th May 1976 commandant Ollie Holmes led a formation of four Mirage IIIs on the ferry flight from Waterkloof air force base in Pretoria to Ondangwa via a refuelling stop at Grootfontein.
Thu, 12 Aug 2021 - 19min - 52 - Episode 23 – The SADF re-equips after Savannah and the Ratel is born
This is episode 23 and we’re dealing with the fallout from Operation Savannah which began in October 1975 and ended in March 1976. What started as the deepest and fastest invasion of any country by a mobile army since World War Two turned into a strategic blunder for the South Africans. The South African Defence Force battle groups had fought well and the opportunity had presented itself early in the engagement for the chance to change Angola’s history. A combination of diplomatic and military setbacks through December 1975 and into January 1976 altered that picture. Operation Savannah had mixed consequences for the SADF. The main issue was equipment that was dated – the officer corps was also still trying to wrench itself free from the decades of neglect that had followed World War II. And that big brother and the first major breakthrough in terms of equipment was the design of a radically new armoured car – the Ratel IFV. Three years after the Ratel’s first prototype rolled off the test facility, the Minister of Defence reported in parliament that the vehicle was ready for production. I fought alongside Ratels in Angola and can attest to their incredible firepower, speed and manoevrability over an African landscape. They appear to float over rough terrain traveling at up to 80 kilometers per hour smoothly. Watching them is a thrill and facing them – not so much so. It’s only major weakness was the fact that it did not have a stabilised gun and had to stop to fire gave up much of its mobility.
Wed, 04 Aug 2021 - 20min - 51 - Episode 22 – The SADF Day of Disaster as Operation Savannah winds down
This is episode 22 and we’re looking at the end of Operation Savannah which was winding down by early January 1976. We have dealt with various Battle Groups setup by the South Africans as they sought to secure southern Angola – including Foxbat and last week, Orange which had experienced a major battle south of Quibala. A fourth battle group called X-Ray led by Commandant SWJ Kotze had been formed in early December 1975 and was tasked with securing the important Benguela railway line. Unita leader Jonas Savimbi had asked SADF commanders to help him control this line which was crucial in order to deliver Congo commodities to the coastal ports. IF he controlled the railway then the MPLA in Luanda would find their income severely curtailed and would also be a propaganda coup. X-Ray was comprised of a Unita company along with an armoured car group and an artillery section and faced Fapla at a battle at Luso on the 9th December. The MPLA armed wing lost over 250 men to the South Africans at Luso, along with a substantial amount of equipment including heavy weapons which were duly handed over to Unita after three days of fighting. The OAU postponed its emergency meeting once more – to the 18th January. But between Christmas and mid-January there would be a few more engagements and something that the SADF HQ called the Day of Disaster was imminent. That was the 4th January 1976 SADF anti-aircraft gunners stationed in central Angola near Mussende spotted what they thought was an enemy helicopter. So far their attempts at shooting down enemy aircraft had failed but this time they would succeed. The only problem was it was a SA Air Force Aérospatiale SA 330C Puma Helicoptern from 19 Squadron that was flying Staff Officers between Mussende & Carriango.
Sun, 25 Jul 2021 - 16min - 50 - Episode 21 – The Battle for Bridge 14 part II and Battle Group Orange face T34s at the Pombuig River
This is episode 21 – the Battle for Bridge 14 Part II – and the trials and tribulations of a new outfit called Battle Group Orange. When we left off last episode Commandant Kruys’ men of Foxbat had succeeded in driving Fapla and their Cuban allies back from the important Bridge over the Nhia river south of Catofe. What happened now was a debate about whether or not the South African’s should follow up their success – with Kruys preferring to wait. In the action which took place between the 9th and 12th December more than 400 Fapla and Cubans had died – four South Africans had been killed while dozens more were wounded along with Unita which had also lost dozens in the fighting. The exact number of casualties was disputed by the MPLA and the SADF but its clear from subsequent evidence and reports by journalists that the forces opposing the SADF had been defeated in what was an important strategic engagement. But it also showed the SADF that much of their equipment was out of date and something needed to be done. The battle for this bridge and the region 250 kilometers south east of Luanda was not yet over. While all of this was good news, there was not such great news from a newly formed Battle Group called Orange. It was led by Commandant APR Carstens and made up of a Unita infantry battalion along with a South African infantry company, an armoured car squadron and an artillery section. It’s task was to watch over the northern marches of Unita territory by sweeping around to the West and linking up with Task Force Zulu around Quibala. Orange drove into one problem after another – at first the fact that the MPLA had destroyed all bridges on the road north to the capital.
Sun, 18 Jul 2021 - 18min - 49 - Episode 20 – The Battle at Bridge 14 part I
This is episode 20, the Battle at Bridge 14. Operation Savannah was supposed to be winding down but two of the most important clashes were to take place at the tail end of this op. I explained last week how the Bridge over the Nhia River near the town of Catofe was seen by both the MPLA and the SADF as a key position. It lay 250 kilometers away on the main road from Luanda to the capital’s South East. It lay was the main route south heading towards the crucial Benguela Railway where minerals from Katanga province of neighbouring Congo – or Zaire as it was now called – could be transported to the Atlantic Ports of Lobito and Benguela. So far during this Operation the SADF had defeated the MPLA’s armed wing Fapla, overrunning dozens of towns and villages and taken Lobito and Benguela – but had suffered its first big defeat at the Battle of Ebo only a few days before Bridge 14. So we left off last episode with the SADF south of the Nhia River and the engineers planning to rebuild Bridge 14 using wood from a nearby forest. We also heard how a special forces unit had been dropped north west of the river in an attempt at seizing the high ground but this unit was caught in an ambush and one of the members killed. Meanwhile, Comandante Ochoa who was officer commanding the Cubans and Fapla had similar goals to Colonel Swart. The Angolan’s fighting each other on both sides – Unita and the FNLA with the South Africans and Fapla, the MPLA’s armed wing with the Cubans were all highly trained.
Sun, 11 Jul 2021 - 20min - 48 - Episode 19 – The SADF conducts an off-the-record briefing and the start of the struggle to control Bridge 14
This is episode 19 and we’re dealing with the fallout after the Battle of Ebo, and the preamble to the next battle for Bridge 14. As the battle of Ebo ended, terrible news emerged about the shooting down of one of the crucial spotter planes. Remember last episode I mentioned Captain Williamson who helped locate the missing 5 South Africans mechanised troops who’d managed to survive their Eland’s being knocked out – then trying to walk back to Cela. Captain Williamson’s Cessna 185 was shot hit by ground fire on the 25th November leading to the loss of all three on board including Lieutenant Thompson and Captain Taljaard close to Ebo a few days after the battle ended. Ebo was the first defeat for the SADF inside Angola and drove home three major weaknesses which defence HQ realised had to be fixed and quickly. First was a lack of highly mobile heavy artillery and air cover. Ebo had shown that a well-setup Fapla position with Cuban and Russian technical assistance could not be easily overcome. As we’re going to hear, re-equipping the SADF would be difficult because South Africa was already facing military and other sanctions because of apartheid – and because they refused to allow free elections in South West Africa. Second was intelligence. The information was patchy and the SADF began to actively recruit more Portuguese army refugees who crossed the border from Angola. The third weakness was in how the citizen force was being deployed. The draft system at this time was a lottery which meant that soldiers spent a year in the army and were then rotated back to civvy street. As we head to towards the end of Operation Savannah there was to be one more major battle inside Angola and it involved something called Bridge 14 which took place on the 9th December 1975.
Sun, 04 Jul 2021 - 16min - 47 - Episode 18 – The Battle of Ebo - the first major defeat for the SADF during Operation Savannah
This is episode 18 and folks back home were in for a bit of a shock. The invasion of Angola by the SADF during Operation Savannah had been an exercise in support of both Unita and the FNLA – but the government had said that the South Africans were merely technical support. The reality was hundreds of SADF troops were directly involved in the fighting – and had fought all the way to south of the capital Luanda. This was almost a thousand kilometers inside Angola. As we heard last episode, by the end of November a group of liaison officers and artillery had been evacuated by ship from Ambrizette north of the FNLA headquarters at Ambriz. The Nationalist party government had been relying on the MPLA backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union fighting a war on two fronts – both in the north and the south. But the collapse of the FNLA in the north which Pretoria still had not fully grasped was going to throw this strategy into some chaos. The withdrawal of the CIA and a Congress decision coming in December which would ban further military support put paid to the overall grand strategy. And the grand strategy was to weaken the MPLA until they were forced to the negotiation table – thereby protecting South West Africa which was the main reason why the SADF went into Angola in the first place. Battle Group Alpha was to arrive at Ebo at 09h00 on the morning of Sunday 23rd November for a coming fight that was to be a real test of character for the South Africans.
Mon, 28 Jun 2021 - 19min - 46 - Episode 17 – The SAS Steyn’s role in the remarkable evacuation from the beach at Ambrizette
This is episode 17 and we’re approaching the end of Operation Savannah which had started out so well but was rapidly turning into a strategic nightmare for the South Africans. One of the fastest mechanised invasions since World War Two had resulted in the SADF now deep into Angola – and in the case of Brigadier Roos who was a liaison officer based in Ambriz with the FNLA – he was cut off on the coast to the north of the capital Luanda. IT was mid-November 1975 and the MPLA and Cubans were starting to move determined to rid the country of the FNLA. Meanwhile to the south, Unita was holding onto its main gains which now extended from the South West African border to the main railway linking the coastal ports of Benguela and Lobito – and the resource rich Katanga region of neighbouring Zaire. The political strategy was about to come under intense pressure – although the US, France Unita and the FNLA had all requested the South Africans to remain inside Angola and support Jonas Savimbi. Remember the Holden Roberto had decided to attack the capital with SADF support – an attack that ended in dismal failure along Luanda’s Death Road. Brigadier Roos who was the SADF Liaison officer based in Ambriz now faced possible capture – along with South Africa’s three 5.5inch guns they’d flown into northern Angola to assist the FNLA in their hapless assault on Luanda on 10th November. IT was decided that the an anti-submarine frigate SAS Steyn would steam to Northern Angola to extract the SADF. This was not going to be easy with Russian and Cuban ships and planes on the lookout...
Mon, 21 Jun 2021 - 19min - 45 - Episode 16 – Luanda’s “Death Road” leaves the FNLA in tatters and the CIA decides to up and off
This is episode 16 and we’re covering Operation Savannah which took place between October and December 1975. That was the invasion of southern Angola by the South African Defence Force in response to the outbreak of a civil war in the country involving the three main independence movements that had fought against Portuguese colonial rule. These were the MPLA, Unita and the FNLA. Our focus in this episode shifts in a while to the FNLA’s assault on the Capital Luanda. But first an update about the SADF. Brigadier Schoeman who was in charge of the region had setup his base at Cela in the south east and he had plans. The first was to replace the commanders of both Task Forces. So he duly summoned Zulu’s Colonel van Heerden to a meeting. Van Heerden left Battle Group Alpha behind at the port of Sumbe south of Luanda and arrived in Cela on the 13th November along with 500 members of his now ragged force. He was told that Task Force Zulu was to be led by Colonel CJ Swart. Commandat Eddie Webb also received the military equivalent of a Dear Jonnie and he was replaced as Foxbat officer commanding by Commandant George Kruys. The SADF swapped out these hardened soldiers at precisely the same time as the anti-MPLA forces were to suffer a reversal of fortune. Earlier in November on the 4th , Magnus Malan and Constand Viljoen had paid a secret lightning visit to Holden Roberto at his port laire where they tried to convince him that a direct assault along the main roads was not the wisest military strategy. Roberto refused to entertain other options - a decision which turned out to be suicidal.
Mon, 14 Jun 2021 - 18min - 44 - Episode 15 – Angolan independence day passes while Task Force Zulu and Foxbat continue fighting
On the 7th November 1975 Zulu’s Battle Group Alpha were on the road to the South African’s next goal, Lobito. It’s a bay just north of Benguela which had just been seized by the SADF and handed over to UNITA forces after a crucial fight for the airport. The MPLA military arm FAPLA had decided that Lobito would be too difficult to defend against a twin South African assault – Zulu approaching from the South and Foxbat from the East, so they they decided not to defend this harbour town. Lobito is regarded as one of the most natural harbours in Africa but was only developed at the start of the 20th Century by the Portuguese who had concentrated their development in Luanda to the north and Benguela to the South. Remember Benguela was the terminal for rail traffic from Katanga in Zaire and strategically vital. UNITA had been bombing the line for months so by now not much rolling stock was on the line. But at the start of the 2th Century, the Portuguese began developing Lobito harbour tying the copper districts of Zaire and Zambia directly to the Atlantic coast – via Benguela. There were more than 73 000 people living in Lobito in 1970 which had also developed a thriving industrial zone that included boat building. The SADF rolled into Lobito on the same day – 7th November and the next day Task Group Zulu linked up with Task Group Foxbat led by Eddie Webb
Mon, 07 Jun 2021 - 17min - 43 - Episode 14 – The assault on Benguela and its airport
This is episode 14 – the assault on the port city of Benguela its airport which was not going to be easy as you’ll hear. As the South African Task Force Zulu approached the city they continued mopping up towns as they went. Near Caimbado a group of Portuguese police appeared who were part of the interim government. They warned Commandant Jan Breytenbach of Battle Group Bravo that there there was an MPLA unit in some of the Caimbado houses. Part of the group was sent south to secure the approach to the town while the rest entered. Major Toon Slabbert was driving point in his camouflaged armoured car when a strange event took place. The FAPLA commander rushed out of a building, rifle in hand, and greeted Slabbert like a long lost brother. He obviously thought that Slabbert was a Cuban commander– although the Major was famous for his bright red hair and beard which is not the look that can be called Cuban.
Sun, 30 May 2021 - 16min
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