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    Hindbusters
    Hindbusters
    Hindbusters
    Ebook139 pages1 hour

    Hindbusters

    By Johan Opperman

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    About this ebook

    This book is a personal account of the battle for Mavinga in South Eastern Angola during September and October 1985.

    At that time FAPLA, the armed wing of the MPLA government, was at war with rival UNITA guerrilla forces opposing the MPLA rule in Angola. UNITA had its headquarters and main training bases in the south eastern corner of Angola near Mavinga, a strategic town in the area.

    At the same time the South African Defence Force was engaged in mainly counter insurgency operations against SWAPO but it was in their interests to provide military and other support to the UNITA forces.

    Operation Second Congress was launched by FAPLA to attack and take control of the UNITA stronghold areas in and around Mavinga and from this strategic hinge pin it would be possible to re-establish full control over the whole region so that FAPLA could start the process of wrapping up UNITA resistance in Angola.

    The South African Air Force played a pivotal role in helping to stem the advance on Mavinga. It carried out Operation Weldmesh, a successful operation to destroy the helicopter air bridge to the encamped field brigades, who had slowed the advance on Mavinga to lick their wounds and resupply their fighting forces.

    The role of Air Intelligence was to find the helicopters, preferably in the air so that they could be neutralized. This ultimately halted the advance on Mavinga and turned the advance into a rout when the field brigades tried to hightail it back to Cuito-Cuanvale, their main base.

    The author contends, albeit with great circumspection, that Operation Weldmesh had significant geo-political implications and helped to pave the way for Namibia to gain independence.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohan Opperman
    Release dateFeb 6, 2012
    ISBN9781465892584
    Hindbusters
    Author

    Johan Opperman

    After completing school Johan Opperman was conscripted into the South African Air Force to complete National Service as a radar station Fighter Controller. After a brief civilian spell he re-joined the South African Air Force to pursue a full time career in the military. Whilst completing under-graduate studies at the SADF Military Academy he transferred to the Air Force Intelligence Branch. He gained extensive experience in air warfare during the 1980s as an Air Intelligence Officer in the South West Africa/Namibia and Southern Angolan theatres of operations. During the period described in this book he held the rank of Major and retired in 1997 with the rank of Colonel to pursue a civilian career. He is married with two daughters

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      Book preview

      Hindbusters - Johan Opperman

      HINDBUSTERS

      Johan Opperman

      Published by Johan Opperman on Smashwords

      Copyright – Johan Opperman. 2012. All rights reserved.

      ISBN: 978-1-4658-9258-4

      Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ***~~~***

      Contents

      Prologue

      Part 1 – Angry Feet, Churning Wheels

      Trouble

      Ready to Rumble

      Manoeuvring Brigades

      Aloft

      Flutter, Flutter, Flutter

      Part 2 – Retaliation

      Flashpoint

      Lemon

      Part 3 - Find the Needle

      Duff Gen

      Options, Options, Options

      Tactics and Plan

      Part 4 – Hindbusters

      Operation Weldmesh

      Blood

      Restless Nights

      Part 5 – A Whisper of Peace

      Ignored Wisdom

      Mind the Cracks!

      Epilogue

      Photographic credits

      All photographs were taken by Johan Opperman during October 1985. Gun camera film and satellite images are exceptions. Satellite images were downloaded from the Internet via Google Maps.

      ***~~~***

      "What is the law of the jungle?

      Strike first and then give tongue"

      Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book

      ***~~~***

      PROLOGUE

      During the mid-1980’s South Africa was engaged in protracted military operations in an undeclared war in Southern Angola. Ostensibly the military operations were aimed at eradicating the threat posed by SWAPO guerrillas operating out of safe bases in Angola.

      At this time the SWAPO operations were mostly confined to the south western area of Angola in the geographical area of the Cunene province which Forças Armadas Populares de Libertaçao de Angola (FAPLA) called the 5th Military Region.

      UNITA forces in this region were protected by association with the South African forces and in return they created a buffer zone between the distant SWAPO bases, where the insurgent forces trained and the South West Africa/Namibian border area where SWAPO carried out its guerrilla operations.

      It was a crazy time with the MPLA fighting a Soviet/Cuban sponsored counter-insurgency war against rival UNITA forces, succoured by South Africa; and South Africa fighting a counter-insurgency war against SWAPO forces, supported by a MPLA/Soviet/Cuban pact.

      In 1981 South Africa carried out a large scale, limited, semi-conventional military operation (Operation Protea) against FAPLA brigades deployed in Xangongo and Ongiva, two influential towns in the south of the 5th Military Region.

      In 1983 the FAPLA 11th Brigade was attacked and destroyed in its base at Cuvelai in the Cunene province (Operation Askari). The SAAF played an important role in each of these operations and provided air superiority for the SADF ground forces to carry out military operations unhindered by Angolan Air Force counter attacks.

      The success of these military operations had far reaching effects and saw the SWAPO militants forced ever further north and closer to the main FAPLA military bases for protection from SADF cross border raids. This in turn created in a large buffer zone under the nominal control of UNITA which was much to the liking of the South African strategists because it forced SWAPO to run a gauntlet between its training bases and its operational zones before encountering the South African Security Forces.

      During 1984 a failed attempt was made to bring peace to the region and a Joint Monitoring Commission was established with South African and FAPLA military commanders and staffs meeting on Angolan territory, but two of the belligerent parties, SWAPO and UNITA were never part of the Joint Monitoring Commission and so it was doomed to fail sooner or later – and fail it did.

      UNITA had its main headquarters and camps for rest and recuperation, military training, and logistics, etc. in the adjacent Cuando-Cubango province, which was part of the FAPLA 6th Military Region. The MPLA commanded the provincial capital Menongue (formerly, Serpa Pinto) and some smaller towns in close proximity to Menongue but UNITA in effect, controlled the province in the outlying areas and moved freely through the area to its operational zones in the north, north-east and central regions of Angola.

      UNITA located its headquarters Jamba and its main bases in scattered bush camps dispersed over a sizeable area in the general vicinity of Mavinga, a former Portuguese colonial town. By the mid-1980’s UNITA was starting to make headway with its military operations in the central and northern provinces of Angola and it was a foregone conclusion that the MPLA would at some point attack UNITA in its south eastern stronghold to change the status quo.

      In late 1984, early 1985, a case for military intervention in the Mavinga area was duly made and presented to the MPLA Politburo, who extended approval for a military operation, code-named Operation Second Congress, to be carried out.

      Operation Second Congress was scheduled to commence with the end of the summer rainy season in mid to late May, when movement with motorised and heavy mechanised forces was possible through the usually muddy, swampy terrain of the region.

      By August 1985 the area was sufficiently dry, the field forces were assembled, trained and ready for action. The signal to begin the advance was given and reluctantly South Africa was drawn into a military fray not of its design to support its ally in Angola.

      The primary objective of Operation Second Congress was to reach Mavinga and take control of the entire area by establishing a strong military presence there and then systematically begin annihilating UNITA by destroying its headquarters, its supply bases and to cutting off its logistics to the UNITA frontline, thus placing the rest of the UNITA military machine under severe pressure.

      When the FAPLA offensive started, UNITA hurriedly withdraw some of its fighting forces from the north to help defend the home-base. The march on Mavinga had to be stopped at all costs and the SAAF was called upon to help with transporting combat troops into the Mavinga area. The SAAF flew some daring night operations deep into Angola to fetch and carry the UNITA troops for defensive duties at home.

      Meanwhile logistics, especially ammunition supplies to UNITA where stepped up and the Chief of Staff Intelligence Division was charged with determining the operational situation and monitoring the progress of the FAPLA advance plans.

      Politically, it was a difficult time for South Africa and the government was loath to sanction large scale conventional military operations against FAPLA forces. However Special Force Reconnaissance Commandos (Recces) and elements of 32 Battalion were deployed to assess the tactical situation on the ground. Later elements of 62 Mechanised Battalion, with Ratel 90mm IFV and some artillery pieces, including a troop of 127 mm Valkiri MRL would be deployed to support the South African ground troops and assist in delaying the FAPLA advance wherever possible.

      One of four SADF Valkiri 127 mm MRL deployed in a temporary base about 25 kilometre North West of Mavinga. Fresh branches were cut every second day from areas 2-5 kilometre away to use for camouflaging the vehicles and the temporary base. Insert shows one of the other MRLs with a foxhole in the right hand fore-corner.

      It was soon clear that the lightly armed UNITA guerrillas and the SADF COIN forces were not a match for the better equipped FAPLA mechanised infantry units with their heavy fire support. The South Africans planned to make a stand on the banks of the Lomba River to the north of Mavinga as it offered the only real key terrain between the advancing FAPLA forces and Mavinga. It was thought that an orchestrated air strike using SAAF bombers would be helpful in slowing the march on Mavinga and reverse the odds in favour

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