Episode 21 – The Battle for Bridge 14 part II and Battle Group Orange face T34s at the Pombuig River

Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Desolateham. This is episode 21, the Battle for Bridge, 14 part 2, and the trials and tribulations of a new outfit called Battle Group Orange. When we left off last episode, Commodun Clases Men of Foxbat had succeeded in driving Fuplar and the Cuban Allies back from the important bridge of the Inhia River, south of Katofi. What had happened now was a debate about whether or not the South Africans should follow up their success, with crates preferring to wait. In the action, which took place between the 9th and 12th of December, more than 400 Fuplar and Cubans had died, four South Africans had been killed while dozens more were wounded along with Unita, which had lost dozens in the fighting too. The exact number of casualties has been disputed by both the MPLA and the SIDF, but it's clear from subsequent evidence and reports by journalists that the forces opposing the SIDF had been defeated in what was an important strategic engagement, but it also showed the SIDF that much of the equipment was out of date and something needed to be done. The battle for this bridge and the region 250 km southeast of Luanda was not over. Back at Cella, the SIDF 101 task force HQ had received the good news, if finally the bridge was held, and the motorised units were moving north. Colonel SWAT wanted to push his illunded 90s further into their attack and follow up their success, but Commodan Crace was given orders to halt further evidences. Moral had improved following battle group FOX BAT's success in overcoming an extremely powerful artillery-backed Fuplar Force at Bridge 14, clouded a little by Commodan Crace and Colonel SWAT's disagreement. The commanding officer Crace was firm, but SWAT was of the opinion, it was a perfect moment to annihilate Fuplar in the region north of the bridge for once and for all. SWAT though had forgotten three main problems. First, the geography north of the bridge favoured the defenders. Second, they had to mop up the region in the immediate vicinity of the bridge, as there were signs that not all Fuplar had been defeated. The third challenge was ammunition and logistics support. It so happened that an ammunition shortage had developed, and the illunds and the artillery were told to go slow. Therefore, group FOX BAT ground to a halt. SWAT's position was moot at this point, but for group Bravo was not fairing much better. They had taken the Kondi route to the east and ran into Fuplar reinforcements. Meanwhile, the sappers continued reinforcing Bridge 14, and Captain Pit Ace moved from the north of the bridge to just south of the Nihir River, and set up an observation post on Umbama Mountain or Top Hat and Quippuka or Big Bang. The South Africans were now also picking up prisoners of war that had been scattered by the overwhelming victory on the twelfth, while at the same time, the first SADP prisoners of war were put on display by the MPLA in Luwanda. They were corporal J.G. to Blanche, Monterey, Arter Wilson, R.H. V. Hunn and G. Danny, who were captured driving a support vehicle near the bridge in the early part of the battle. These four were paraded in front of international media a few days after the battle for Bridge 14, a matter of embarrassment for the South African government, which had continued to maintain there were no troops in Angola other than technical advances. Remember, South African newspaper editors had received an off-the-record briefing on the 1st of December about the real situation, now two weeks later, all South Africans knew the truth. The SADP was deep inside Angola, and they were being taken prisoner. This was not what the National Party's propaganda machine had anticipated. Back at Bridge 14, the artillery units of Commodan Front of Estes deployed in an area giving them better control over much of the ground around the bridge and the approach roads. While all of this was good news, it was not such great news from a newly formed battle group called Orange. It was led by Commodan APR Customs and made up of a Unita Infantry Battalion along with the South African Infantry Company, an Armored Car Squadron, and an artillery section. Its task was to watch over the northern marches of Unita Territory by sweeping around to the West and then linking up with Task Force Zulu around Quibala. Orange drove into one problem after another. The main problem was that the MPLA had destroyed all the bridges on the road north to the capital. Kastin spent much of his time in early December driving from one smashed concrete structure to another in what was extremely frustrating and time-wasting. Each time he moved, MPLA's armoring Fuplar, along with Cuban support, were monitoring his meandering. Kastin's had left Silver Porter on the 8th of December and passed through Massende, his intention to attack Fuplar at Malangie, but he only got as far as the Kwanza River, which was Unita's northern border. The massive Salazar bridge had been blown, this left no option, but to return to Massende and then head westwards towards the coast or to Kibala from another direction. By 15th December, he'd reached the Unita Hill town of Karyanga where his men would receive a rude awakening. They'd fought many small battles until they arrived at the Pumbush River, but were now going to face a far more serious enemy threat. Battlegroup Orange radioed a message back to Silla, and had stopped at the Narda-Funked Bridge over the Pumbush River, and estimated that the sappers would take at least three days to rebuild a temporary structure. That bridge was only 25 kilometres from Kibala, so near and yet so far. Orange began to dig in along the south of the river with the anti-aircraft guns placed alongside the artillery. Behind these guns, the armored cars took up positions ensuring they were on higher ground that offered some protection from possible fapler tanks from the north. On the evening of 17th December 1975, Battlegroup Orange began trying to rebuild the destroyed bridge, a difficult challenge as fapler immediately opened fire with accurate mortars. The Unita battalion was huddled in fairly deep trenches, but the morale began to suffer. It was only their arrival the next morning of Major Jack Bosch who took over the artillery that injected some positive vibes into a threatening moment. The situation became static. Orange was dug in on the south and fapler on the north. At dawn on the 18th December, they opened fire on Unita's trenches with 82 millimetre mortars. They then targeted the South African positions with 122 millimetre rockets. The big problem for the SCDF was they didn't know where the fapler artillery was. A couple of then mobilized its airy con, which was a twin engine civilian plant that raw done over South Africa's positions with the doors open, allowing a soldier to open fire at times from the passenger compartment and try as they might. The SCDF anti-aircraft battery could not take it out. Later that morning, a large cargo plane could be seen descending to land to the north, and at first the South African thought it was one of their own, but it wasn't. It was an MPLA twin engine transporter, and by the time the infantry and artillery realized what was going on, it had landed delivering fapler ammunition and other crucial supplies. By midday, battle group Orange was in for another nasty surprise. Three T-34 tanks supported by a battalion of infantry approached the damaged bridge and began firing on Unita's trenches. The island armoured cars fired back, concentrating on the T-34s, and eventually one blew up. It had received a direct hit in its ammunition on board. The other two reversed and disappeared. At the same time, no work could take place on the bridge, which was supposed to be ready in a day or so. When Kastin's radioed for an update from the men at the bridge, he was told that Unita troops had retreated from their trenches. The artillery barrage had been so accurate. That night, Fapler towed their stricken tank away, but a checkmate situation had developed between Faplan and the SCDF. Neither side could land a final blow, and the other, it appeared. On the 19th of December, Fapler opened fire again at dawn with the 82 millimeter mortars, as well as medium artillery and 122 millimeter rockets. It was becoming extremely frustrating for Battle Group Orange, because they still did not know where Fapler's guns were based. Five of the South African islands had also broken down over the last 48 hours, and parts for slow to arrive. Senior officers back at Cele thought it was time to pay a visit. On Saturday, the 20th of December, Second Military Area Brigadier Pottheater arrived along with Brigadier Schumann and Major Lombard. Pottheater was always a man or forefoot, and it brought along an extremely powerful telescope, which was hurried to the South African observation post alongside the artillery position. The Fapler barrage was almost unrelenting at this stage and continued through the day. Still, the SCDF spotters could not locate their position, and they had also been a few run-ins with small patrols bumping into Cuban soldiers and Fapler. Everyone was jumpy. The cat and masqueram continued for days, until the 23rd of December, when the SCDF radar unit arrived and installed around 6 kilometers from the destroyed bridge. But Fapler suddenly switched its artillery barrage to the radar installation and peppered it with 122mm rockets. Fortunately for the South Africans, these rockets missed. In the meantime, infantry fire fires continued as unita and the SC infantry opened up on Fapler positions, who responded with heavy small arms fire of their own, which was becoming more tense by the hour, neither side was prepared to retreat, both the SCDF and Fapler artillery kept up the sporadic bombardments of each other throughout the day. By early evening, Fapler's firing had slowed, and SCDF troops took the opportunity to emerge from their trenches. That was a big mistake. Fapler obviously had a fantastic observation post because they suddenly let rip with a 20-round salvo of 122mm rockets, which landed amongst the SC infantry. Of its Tennyson and Miller, a 14-felt regiment were killed instantly, and five others were wounded. Two more were so the shells. shock they had to be evacuated along with the casualties. Overnight, Commandant Kastan reassessed his artillery position and decided to move his guns and was trying to decide where they should end up. He sent out a number of patrols to recon the Larderland and one ran slap bang into Cubans. One of these men pulled out a hand grenade but proceeded to blow himself up. The Cuban fuse was set to short. As you can hear, this battle was very personal. If the SEADF sat here much longer, they would lose more men to the highly accurate Fuffler and Cuban artillery. But it was also clear that the Cubans and Fuffler were not willing to try and outflank the South Africans or attack them directly, and neither was battle group orange because they lacked firepower and men. They couldn't keep shooting at each other forever with artillery. One side had to try and take the initiative. Commandant Kastan then began to think about retreating. Every barrage was being exchanged and small patrols were being sent out by both sides as their respective commanders pondered what to do next. One of the SEADF patrols approached what looked like an abandoned enemy trench on the north side of the river and were lucky. They found a map of the terrain with some notes about installations. Still nothing about Fuffler artillery's position. The next day was Christmas 1975. The SEADF largely ceased fire and held celebrations. Fuffler continued firing and one of their positions was spotted. The observation posts picked up that a battery of 675 mm cannon had been placed northwest of the damaged bridge, but despite attempts, South Africans failed to hit this. Short while later, another Fuffler recon plan flew low over the South Africans positions but their anti-aircraft guns again missed the fast-moving aircraft. Things quite and down at times, it was Christmas day after all, and from time to time, the men of Orange could actually hear a battle underway in the direction of Foxbat firing in the central angle in front of 50 km away. Christmas day in 1975 was not a good one for Lieutenant Kay Barker, who was on patrol to the South of the river. For some reason, he became detached from his patrol and was lost in the bush. Eventually, he managed to emerge near the town of Kalata on the road to Gungo when his luck ran out. He stepped on a South African landmine, he himself had laid only a few days before, and was seriously wounded and then cast back. Christmas day was also the day that Fuffler figured out eventually how many South Africans faced them across the Pombuish River. They clearly had an excellent observation capacity, as I said. The fighting was desultary overnight, but boxing day would change everything. Early on the 26th of December, it became clear to Battle Group Orange that they were no longer able to defend their position, let alone attack. The 10-net morning, small groups of Fuffler troops could be seen south east of the S.A.D. position. There were also Cuban troops moving with these Angolans, and as the recon unit radioed what they saw, communication was broken off with the Terce, the Cubans are too close to talk. And Elon Squadron under Lieutenant Pete Benta was sent out to find out what was going on, and he spotted Cubans close to the S.A.D. of Land Rover near that observation post. He opened fire and they melted away into the bush. Many spotted Fuffler toons behind him around a kilometre away, who seemed to be digging shallow trenches. Fenta ordered two armored cars to attack, and as they rushed towards the Fuffler units, they were hit by an RPG and machine gun fire. The men jumped out of the two Elon's, that were damaged, and managed to make it to the safety of some bushes, despite the attention of the Fuffler troops. Fenta opened fire again on the attackers with his Elon gun, and Fuffler shooting halted. He then made a momentous decision to move his Squadron quickly. As after they moved off, an entire salvo of 122mm rockets flattened the felt where they had been parked, followed up by a dozen heavy artillery shells. Fuffler's artillery continued firing on the S.A.D. of Main position near the bridge. Later that afternoon, the S.A.D. of Infantry patrols were hit by smoke bombs, which seemed an odd tactic. However, moments later, the reason became clear. A mig-fighter jet roared overhead, letting off a number of rockets at the S.A.D. Infantry, but they missed. The South Africans still could not see where the enemy artillery was based, but they knew that the Fuffler 122mm rocket launchers were well out of range of their own artillery, half-restrating. It was not a good position to be in, and more than a week of artillery jules and patrols in the bush, they still had no idea where the enemy had dug in their guns. Unless they could pick these off, there was no way any direct assault could begin. Worse for the South Africans, the enemy began to tighten their noose on their position. They'd set up an ambush on the road to the South near Kalunga, and the Fuffler troops were heavily armed with anti-tank guns, machine guns, and snipers. Captain Lombard Squadron of Elans drove straight into this ambush. One was hit by an RPG, seriously ruining its commander Corporal AP Haasbrook in the shoulder. Anita's support company was pinned down behind the armoured cars, and they lay in the bush there until nightfall, unable to move. Then there was some good news. Fenter's Elans Squadron happened upon a Cuban special forces soldier and took him prisoner. He would be used later in a prison of war swap for the SADF POWs held by the MPLA. The fractured nature of this battle was beginning to turn into an anarchic situation, particularly for the South Africans. Major Bosh back in HQ sent out new orders to the battle group. We are cut off from B echelon he wrote, "Front and rear platoons of infantry are pinned down. Higher powers have decided we should conduct a controlled withdrawal. During the night bring your sections out of the battle and form up on the road. This was not going to be easy. For one, the infantry unit was still pinned down within 100 metres of Fuffler, and there was a missing platoon of South Africans. At night a wrecky lieutenant park found both, and they withdrew without a shot being fired, but the Elans squadron had taken a battering. Yes, they managed to recover their damaged Elans, but that was a small victory in what was turning into a crisis." Lieutenant Kutzea and Corporal AP Hospital were both in a critical condition, another four were likely wounded in that ambush. They had also lost a land rover at the observation post, and two Elant armoured cars were damaged, although both could actually be driven. Three hundred unit troops were missing, only fifteen were found wandering down the road to Missendi the next day. As the SADF withdrew, they had another shock that were attacked by a Russian helicopter which fired at their vehicles with its 37mm rockets. It missed, but it was the first time that the South Africans had come across such an advanced chopper capability. By December 27, Battle Group Orange had made it to Missendi and relative safety. They set up camp 5km south of the town and took stock. Slowly, you need to troops that had gone missing began to arrive. The SADF licked its wounds, and by New Year's Eve, Wednesday 31st December, Commodone Constance of Battle Group Orange sent a message to HQ. Time to meditate. Everyone is waiting nervously. Happy New Year to all. It was also time to leave Angola, but evacuating would not be a simple matter of just heading south. The MPLA forces were taking control of parts of the west of the country and beginning to attempt flanking maneuvers, so Orange would have to continue fighting alongside other SADF battle groups to ensure the roads stayed open. A bitter moment awaited the South Africans despite their victories over the past months. The final days of operations of Anna would be tempered by something called a day of disaster. The Fourth of January 1976, when they lost a Puma helicopter and two of their battle groups with the unfortunate accurate names of chicken and turkey were caught in a major fapler ambush and took many casualties. But that's for next episode. We must halt now and secure the perimeter. If you'd like to contact me, there's my Twitter account @DeathLatham or through the website abwarpodcast.com. Look for the email link there. Please rate the podcast on your favourite platform. It helps raise the visibility of this strange story. Until next week, goodbye. [Music]