32 Battalion

32 Battalion may refer to:

32 Battalion (South Africa)

32 Battalion (sometimes nicknamed Buffalo Battalion or Portuguese: Os Terríveis for The Terrible Ones) was a light infantry battalion of the South African Army founded in 1975, composed of black and white commissioned and enlisted personnel. It was disbanded on 26 March 1993.

History

Military refugees

After the victory of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) in the Angolan War of Independence in 1975, many troops of its main rival, the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (National Liberation Front of Angola, FNLA), found refuge in the then South African-controlled South West Africa.

Formation of Bravo Group

From these troops, Colonel Jan Breytenbach together with Commandant Sybie van der Spuy formed a unit that was initially known as Bravo Group but later renamed 32 Battalion. Initially, Bravo Group consisted of two infantry companies, a mortar platoon, an anti-tank section and a machine gun platoon, but 32 Battalion was finally expanded to seven infantry companies, a recce wing, and a support company consisting of 81 mm mortar, anti-tank and machine gun sections.

32 Battalion (book)

32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit is a book written by Piet Nortje. For his entire adult life he had been a soldier. Half of his military career he spent with 32 Battalion. During early 1993 he volunteered to compile the story of 32 Battalion. He was inspired to do this during informal discussions with two former 32 Battalion officers, Commandant Werner Sott, outgoing OC 7 SA Infantry Battalion, and his successor, Commandant Daan van der Merwe. They informed Nortje that someone else already approached to do so, but even though Nortje was advised to drop the idea, he started to collect as much information as possible on 32 Battalion.

At the end of 1993 a staff paper written by Major Walley Vrey, entitled The History of 32 Battalion, was supplied to Nortje. Upon the retrieval of this document, he was again advised that there was another book in the pipeline, but he ignored this warning once again. By January 1998 no other book had been published about 32 Battalion's history, even though various people promised Nortje that there were other books being written. He started to fear that some vital information and facts would start to die away with time. He turned to Brigadier General Eddie Viljoen who immediately offered him assistance. Viljoen told Nortje how to proceed with this project, which Nortje appreciated very much, as Viljoen was the longest serving officer with 32 Battalion.