Episode 32 – First the Canberras, Buccaneers and Mirages then the paratroopers leap into hi

Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Des Leifim. This is episode 32 and we're joining with the SID of Paratroopers aboard 9 Plans flying towards Kasinka for the start of Operation Randia. It's just before 8am on the 4th of May 1978. 343 parachutists from 1, 2, and 3 parachute battalions are about to jump from these planes in an airborne assault on Swapo's HQ in southern Angola. The major punch in this operation was going to be delivered by the Canberra medium bombers and 6 naval type low-level Buccaneer bombers. Canberra's had been in service with the Royal Air Force for around 20 years and could fly at 50,000 feet, they also had a useful range of 2,600 nautical miles. That was reduced because they were loaded with 300 alpha bombs each and the fuel load was reduced to stay within its all-app weight. The Canberra's and Buccaneers could still reach Kasinka in one long haul from Bartokluv Air Force Base in Pretoria, carry out their bombing runs and then land at Krutfantane to refuel. Then they'd rearm for deployment to Jetiqueta, the second main target of the morning. While both sets of planes approached the target at extremely low level, they would pitch up about 5 nautical miles from Kasinka to their release height, and pitched down again to just about tree height and head back to refuel. One of the Buccaneers left Bartokluv ahead of the other 5, it was armed with rockets, both arm-appearsing and high-exposive. This aircraft landed at Krutfantane first before continuing onwards, refueling which would allow to prowl the area around Kasinka and provide close ground support. Then there was the Dakota plane carrying Radio surveillance tech, and a small sessner which would circle Kasinka as the drop took place, staying well out of small arms range. But the South Africans didn't know, was that Swapu's HQ was defended by 23mm anti-aircraft guns. On board the C-130s and C-160s, the paratroopers were preparing themselves. Colonel Jan Bratenbach had decided he'd have to jump in, they just weren't enough helicopters to allow him to follow his original plan of flitting about the fight zone in his personal chopper. This meant leaping out of the plane with his A53 radio dangling from below his reserve shoot, with the right channel already clicked in, but with the transceivers switched off. He also folded the antenna back into its pocket until he hit the ground, protecting it from the landing impact. All he had to do was turn the switch to on, and he would be talking to his company commanders. Well, that was the theory anyway. As he says, the radio was the most vital piece of equipment he had ever carried into battle during his career as a combat soldier. To enhance the chances of a full-scale cock-up, it should be remembered that we were deliberately jumping into a heavily fortified base, he wrote later. Unfortunately for the S-EDF, the bombing run that was about to take place just after 0800 hours did not achieve its aims. The Canberas were up first, hugging the curses of the Earth at high speed. This meant that no one heard them coming inside Kissinger. The Canberas arrived almost in silence, and just short of their IP, or initial point, and they lifted their noses and climbed to a few hundred feet, spewing the alpha bombs from the open bomb bays. This laid a carpet of spherical devices that exploded just above head height after they bounced. Two lines of Canberas 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. One minute behind the Canberas were the Buccaneers, and they had an even bigger structural weakness built into their bombs they were about to drop. These 1,000-pounders were World War II stock, with simple impact fuses. Because the Buccaneers were climbing as they let their bombs go, some ended up missing the town completely. The 1,000-pound bombs simply dug their noses into the sandy and golden soil and blew out huge craters but caused little damage to the town, and the swapper soldiers and mercifully civilians were thin. It was a case of unbekill luckily for many of the inhabitants. Almost all the Portuguese era buildings survived intact, while the alpha bombs left the buildings pitted with shrapnel but not badly damaged at all. Of course, the civilians inside these buildings survived with few casualties. That would be disputed later by swapper, but we'll get to that story in a while. The result of this massive bombardment was a massive disappointment. There were a series of 32 deep craters in the soft sandy soil, the blast effects having been channeled upwards instead of along the ground. Only two buildings in the entire town were destroyed, that's a very low conversion rate. Two mirages still had a job to do, ostensibly designed as intercepted aircraft, here they were providing ground support. They rolled into steep dives and strafed the camp area to the northwest of town with the 30-millimeter guns. Meanwhile, the aircraft carrying paratroopers were approaching the drop zone or DZ from the north. While its commandant Oliver Holmes spotted the lead C-130 in the distance as he strafed the camp. The mirages climbed back to a few thousand feet, or what they called their perch, to get ready for a second run at the target. On the ground panic had broken out, civilians were trying to get out of the way, swapper and other soldiers were readying themselves, what they now knew was a major assault. Of course, at this stage they still expected it to come from ground-based vehicles. Many had been wounded by the shrapnel from the alpha bombs, but what the S-A-D-F didn't know was that the most lethal part of the base had been completely missed by the planners and the cameras, the bikiniers and the mirages. That was the heavily defended Swapper headquarters and the anti-aircraft battery deployed next to it. The intelligence boys had somehow missed both buildings, believing the HQ was to the east of the main road through town, that was actually a store. The HQ was on the west side and slightly north of that position, and Swapper's strategic building was not only intact, so was the anti-aircraft battery. That was going to have consequences for the paratroopers, as you'll hear. The men, meanwhile, were swaying back and forth in the C-130s and C-160s, some nauseous from their adrenaline. "Stand up, hook up," came the command. "Foot equipment, check equipment." "Tell off for equipment check," they responded with. "Thirty-two-okay, thirty-one-okay, thirty-okay, twenty-nine-okay, all the way down to three-okay, two-okay, one-okay, and then stick-okay." Now that we're hanging onto the overhead cables with the left hands for the port sticks and right hands for starboard sticks, while the pilots watched the smoke-rires from the bomb town, the parachutists, stared at the rivets on the fuselage. The dispatchers on board were calm and they knew as they opened the doors anything could be waiting for the men. For once, they didn't yell or jerk harnesses, nor did they pass the usual snide remark. One dispatched a little cigarette and walked down the rows giving the men a blast of nicotine. The C-160 piloted by Major Mitch Mitchell had already turned along the cut line carrying a seething Major Wesley DeBierre of E company. They were the reserve and Broughtenbach had promised DeBier that they'd see action later should the Cubans and Fubler attack from their titular titty base, sixteen kilometres south of Cushinga. The planes drone onwards with some on board feeling particularly heavily loaded. These were the mortar carriers, the machine gunners and the anti-tank gunners, along with those who carried the heavy medical kits with those sailing drips. The jumpmaster gave the five minutes to go sign. The port and starboard doors were opened and those in front including Broughtenbach felt the cool air rushing past. The dispatcher shouted "Action stations" and a riflemen by the name of Corporal Yakovs ready themselves. Everyone now looked slightly sick. No one knew exactly where they were in Angola which added to the feeling of disorientation. The pilot climbed steeply from 50 feet to above 600 feet in a few seconds and the G forces knocked them into their knees. The plane then leveled out and Yakovs and Broughtenbach spotted Cushinga below and to their left. They also saw the last Mirage ending its strafing run over the camp. Cushinga was covered in smoke and dust. The end Broughtenbach noticed that the smoke and dust was streaming off quickly owing to a strong north-easily wind that was blowing. That was going to cause chaos. The wind was far stronger than anticipated for eight o'clock on a main morning. The wind blowing the smoke was also a package of fast-moving air in which the planes were flying and Broughtenbach realized that Cushinga was starting to drift a stern. "Switch on the green light!" He almost shouted but said it inwardly. And there it was blinking on time to go. Yakovs jumped, followed by number two and then Broughtenbach. They fell into the slipstream then the jerk as the parachute opened and the whipsand as it fooled with air. Most unfortunately we're using the PT-10 shoots which had no modifications, a pumpkin as it was known. Broughtenbach however looked up and he was happy to see that he was riding a sterable this meant you could move himself into a position to land into the wind and hopefully in a clear space avoiding the trees. That was fortunate now because the area below the men was covered with the maromba forests. Air was full of men, long lines of double sticks suspended in the morning light drifting along in the strong wind. Those out first realized that we're heading directly for the river. Broughtenbach was dangling facing the wind in Cushinga but more than half of the town seemed to be far to his left and he knew instantly that most of his men were going to miss their disease. Worse for these men the forest and river was not the only danger. There was a hill to the south around 100 meters high that had not been spotted in any of the photographs collected by intelligence. Broughtenbach heard the unmistakable sound of anti-aircraft guns opening fire along with a sharp pitched AK-47. Some of the commanders in the air at that moment thought they'd missed Cushinga completely and had been dropped at Tetumatiti, if so, then a blood bath awaited. Tetumatiti was where the Cuban and Thuplaforses were based and they had tanks. Most of the assault troops were now heading west or southwest of the river way off their drop zone. It was turning into a shambles. Swapar said later that the bombing had destroyed a medical cabin and killed a large number of soldiers gathered at the parade ground in the centre of town. However, the evidence gathered after it shows clearly that most Swapar were not at the parade ground because the parade had taken place just after 7 and had ended by 8 when the bombing run began. This is just the first of the series of facts disputed by both sides. One thing, however, is not disputed. When the first wave of bombers came over the town, some of the Swapar soldiers waved, believing they were friendly aircraft. They'd come from the north, after all. The pilots of the C-130s and C-160s explained later that they couldn't see the markers because of the smoke and dust blown into the air by the bombing runs. This meant most pilots gave the green light more than 3 seconds too late. That sounds ridiculously tiny, but when an airplane is flying at 250 kilometres an hour and the wind is from the north, 3 seconds turns into hundreds of metres. And the assault team had 450 metres to work with between the town and the river. You can begin to understand how the planners, including Braytonbuck, were somewhat optimistic. Every few of the paratroopers actually landed where they were supposed to. Most were way off course. Brutters Blatoon, which was supposed to land near the north-eastern veterans camp, actually landed on it. The soldiers they faced, however, were raw recruits, not vets, and that battle did not last very long. Intelligence had told Brutters that the Swapar fighters here were vets hard bitten by experience in a vumberland, but in reality they were greenhorns. That 32-man platoon was supposed to land 400 metres east and west of the Ring Road north of Kasinger. Instead they all landed east to the right of the town, and worst, discovered as they descended that the area was actually heavily bushed with some high trees. It was a forest. Many paratroopers ended up suspended 20 or 30 feet off the ground here, and one of the first S.A.D. of casualties was recorded. A rifleman managed to cut himself loose from the trees, only to crash heavily to the ground and knock himself out. He remained unconscious for the duration of Operation Randia, and was carried through the battle by his fellow troopers. He woke up much later at one mill hospital in Pretoria after being casavacked, and all he remembered was that he had jumped at Kasinger. But it wasn't all catastrophe. Slowly the South Africans began to recover from this wind swept mayhem. Vits, grouping, after his landing went well. The men moved quickly into position, and within 25 minutes they were drawn up at the intersection at the north of the town. Remember, that's where the ring road to the east meets up with a ramrod straight main road through the town. The stopper group north wasn't business. Here's a salt group of 20 men lay east of the road to the right, as you look at the map. While his 10 man fire support group lay on the west side, they left. However, two sections of troops from alpha companies for tunes went over or into the cabongra over, along with most of Bravo Company. Knowing that these two companies were tasked with clearing most of Kasinger, they were now in a bad situation. Commandant Brunt was marooned west of the river along with two forward air controllers who were supposed to direct the close air support, joined by the mortar platoon and the sapper officers. Airborne assaults are notoriously difficult, destroying itself into the environment at the whim of the information collected over time, the intel. And the intel had missed an entire hill of 100 meters altitude inside the conflict zone. They had missed the anti-aircraft battery, they had missed Swappers HQ, and they had missed the weather. The paratroopers also came down amongst tall trees and many were hooked up, others went straight into the river. These included Brigadier duplicy, who was part of the mortar platoon. The rest of his men were on the opposite side of the river, the west bank. Both doctors landed in the river and they had a decision as they hit the water, jettison the medical bags, or drown. They chose the former. Meanwhile Braytonbuck touched down on the east side, most of his men were across the fast-firing river and he quickly switched on his radio to begin the process of regrouping for the assault. At the same time Swappers was not passive, their fighters had realised quickly they were in the middle of a full-scale assault and were firing on the paratroopers. The entire town was a fortress, and despite Swappers claims later, Swappers men and women were going to fight back. Had it swat of Alpha Company was trying to aim his parachute at the eastern bank, but it was touching go, the wind was pushing him along. As he looked towards the town, you could see Swappers soldiers opening fire at him, running, stopping to take aim and let loose a few rounds, then running again. These are terrifying moments for any soldier, but particularly for those hanging from parachutes trying to avoid the AK rounds, you can't shoot back. Swat managed to land on the east bank of the river, which was steep. He was the only officer who landed on the east side from Alpha, while about two-thirds of his men had also avoided the river and landed on the town side, fortunately. Two other sections of Alpha were waiting in half-swimming through the river to reach the eastern bank. The battalion leadership and most of Bravo Company landed across the river to the southwest of the town and now had to forge the strong current. While Swappers was trying to figure out where the attack was coming from, this brought the paratroopers time. The South Africans made rapid progress according to the orders and moved away from the dangerously exposed river bank. They also began to establish communications with Bradenbach and other sections, and Alpha and Bravo Company's were now getting organised. But after Swat of Alpha Company counted his men he realised two whole sections were missing. Where were they? You couldn't wait any longer, they'd have to find their own way into town. Swat ordered his own extreme right flank to make contact with Bravo Company's extreme left flank. The only problem was, there was no Bravo Company, they were still trying to cross the river further south of his position. Kasinger was about a kilometre away to the north east of Swat. He began trying to figure out where the town was, they couldn't see it, the bush obscured their view, but he could hear the gunfire. After a few minutes they found a track and plotted the direction to the town with map and compass, and for the first time then he realised just how far out of position he was. At that moment Bradenbach called and Swat explained where he was. The Colonel told him that the direction of the assault had been changed, it was no longer west to east, but pretty much south to north. Bravo Company's Captain Hugo McQueen was now crossing the river from further south, and he had a few extra items. He carried in a tin of oysters, biscuits and a water bottle that was full of brandy and water. That was his traditional celebration combination, he told Rata of a limestone comb later, and that it was a moment of ignorant bodega docho. He planned to share the luxuries with his friend Hitet Swat a little later. McQueen was also one of the few who'd seen with shock that the planes were being fired on by Swapur's anti-aircraft battery. The traces just missed the plane, and he had jumped, and as he landed on the west side of the river, just missing an occasional thorn tree, he heard the anti-aircraft guns again clearly. There were also machine guns roaring to the north, which was then that he realised that his men were going to have to traverse around two kilometres of ground before arriving at Kasinga. Phase one of the attack was a total rite of, only a fraction of bravo was in position. The regrouping order for the assault, which was supposed to take 15 minutes, was impossible. The South Africans had the making of a first class disaster on their hands. But McQueen and others to the south weren't aware that at this stage, north of Kasinga, Vitt and Butter, were already fighting their way into town, and Delta Company's south of Kasinga were preparing to attack their main target, the engineer complex. More groups of Swapo fighters now appeared in the bush firing on Alpha Company and others. How were they going to make it into town? We'll have to leave that answer for next episode. Thanks to those who've sent messages of support, it really helps with details and facts. Please rate the podcast on your platform of choice. iTunes and Spotify in particular, it helps elevate the SA Border Wars story. Thanks to Hetty again, who has provided a great deal of support in the background, and also remembered to head off to your Huns' detailed website, warinangola.com. You can find maps of Kasinga and the order of battle. You may make things a little clearer. Until next, goodbye. (gentle music)