Speaker 1Welcome back to South African Border Wars podcast with me, your host, Des Latham. This is episode 35 and we swing further north now to pick up the story in Kasinga. Last episode I ended with battle group Juliet's attacks on Chetakwera to the south, which was the overland assault using Rattles, Biffle troop carriers and Ilan 90s. In Kasinga, the South African paratroopers had been dropped in by air and were on their way to finishing their task of overrunning Swapo's base when they stalled. Alpha Company was held up by an extremely motivated group of Swapo fighters deployed at their anti-aircraft battery, which included a heavy 14.5mm gun amongst other automatic weapons. Bravo Company was 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 guess it was because South Africans... were not used to women soldiers in those days. So, snipers had pinned down Bravo Company and they had also been fired on by an 82mm recoilless gun. After managing to silence both the snipers and the 82mm, Bravo Company commander Hugo Murray led his men north into Kasinga and it was apparent that the Swapo fighters there were now squeezed into the center and northern areas of the base. Then Bravo had a problem with a toddler who was wandering around the battlefield. The men of the company were growing upset listening to the child, wail was heartrending. Rifleman Malcolm Blom then picked up the baby and brought him to section leader Brunt, who took the child to the nearby hospital, chancing the bullets, peppering his unit as he did so. Luckily, Brunt found three girls aged between 7 and 11 hiding under a bed in the hospital. They were coaxed out and he handed the baby to the three along with some glucose tablets and then sprinted back into the battle. As Bravo cleared the buildings, nearby snipers fired on the men once more and they were forced to take shelter, behind walls and buildings before beginning the onerous task of clearing other buildings nearby. The problem was they weren't sure where the snipers were. A machine gun was set up in a corner of the hospital wall and fired a number of bursts into a big blue gum tree around 50 meters away. Eventually, weapons and three bodies plunged to the ground. They had located the snipers. For now, things began to quieten down in Bravo's sector and Stoney Steenkamp's platoon then emerged from the thick Miomba forest across the river and joined Murray Hugo's Bravo team. Stoney Steenkamp had been moving steadily through the morning, heading towards the sound of the guns. Hugo now deployed his relatively fresh platoon to the left and gave them orders to advance on the machine gun-entrenched strongpoint causing Alpha Company grief. Steenkamp then moved through the buildings on the west side of Kasinga, eventually arriving at Swapo's anti-aircraft position. The South Africans fired at the AA position but could not suppress Swapo's rate of fire, which meant a delay of Bravo Company's final assault. The South Africans had run out of momentum and they were aware that to the south, the Cubans and FAPLA surely had begun to move out of Tecumetete in support of Swapo. Colonel Breitenbach meanwhile was considering his options and he didn't have much time. He had to deal with this critical Swapo strongpoint and quickly. It was firing with great effect on the paratroopers using the heavy anti-aircraft 14.5mm and two 12.7mm machine guns. Their arc of fire covered the combined fronts of Alpha and Bravo companies and the entire northern part of Charlie Company as well. At the same time, small groups of Swapo constantly tried to isolate sections of paratroopers from each other, but the South Africans managed to keep them at bay. It was now also apparent to Breitenbach that because Swapo fighters had been pushed into a small area in the northern part of Kasinga, their combined combat power was probably greater than his. And despite the fact that their commander Amambo had deserted his men and women, whomever was in charge of Swapo in the town was actually using effective tactics. He was probably also delivering his commands by voice. The Swapo fighters were now so close to each other. The South Africans on the other hand were spread out across the town and along its outskirts and using radio messaging. Swapo soldiers could escape, but it was now far more difficult and they were afraid of being taken captive by the SADF. Swapo propaganda commissars had spun many a story about the Burra and how they tortured and mutilated their victims. So Swapo was fighting. 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. As Breitenbach thought about what to do, an unarmed man in Swapo fatigues crept past his position on hands and knees only 10 meters away. "He must have run out of ammunition and he must have come from somewhere directly behind my back," Breitenbach explains in his book Eagle Strike. "I lifted my rifle to blast him away. But then stopped. The man had no idea he had been seen and continued to sneak away from the carnage." "So I let him go. Besides, he was unarmed and how can you shoot an unarmed man in the back?" wrote Breitenbach. Breitenbach then radioed a mortar team and told them to move up to attack the anti-aircraft guns. This was going to test their skill because Alpha and Bravo Company Parabats were within 30 meters of these guns. And Breitenbach was around 20 meters away from Swapo's strongpoint. He had the guns visual, so he could direct some of the mortar fire. The mortar section duly ranged their bombs. The first fell 30 meters beyond the guns and way past the Parabats, who were obviously relieved. The machine guns kept firing as if nothing had happened, a testament to the courage of those behind the sights. Breitenbach's OT, or observer target line, was 90 degrees to the mortar's target line, so the colonel could give corrections quite accurately. The next bomb fell just behind the gun. It continued hammering away. The third bomb fell right on the position, and the firing stopped. Some of the men caught in the danger zone then managed to move into better cover, including Breitenbach. He met up with one of the Forward Air Controllers, or FACs, who had an A-63 radio, and for the first time in the battle, Breitenbach could now talk directly to the Buccaneer air-to-ground support, the top cover aloft, as it's known. By now, Hugo Murray was also trying to locate Gerrie Steyn's platoon, which had a mortar section. Alpha and Bravo companies each had a 60mm mortar tube for just such an eventuality, but SWAPO had cleared their wounded and dead colleagues from the anti-aircraft guns, which resumed firing. The sun was well in the western side of the sky, as Breitenbach puts it, and he was now aware that whomever was in charge at the anti-aircraft emplacement was a worthy adversary. The enemy was tenacious. The SWAPO fighters did not run. They were determined to fight off the South Africans until the Cubans or Angolan army or both arrived. Paratroopers continued to hit the gun crew. The firing would stop for a second, then fresh SWAPO soldiers would jump onto the weapon and fire back. One of the platoons under Bernie Fouchier began crawling towards the 14.5mm gun, when they found a group of children cowering under a thick bush. The children were petrified, but after being given a water bottle and energy sweets, the paratroopers told them to lie down and leopard crawl away. Infantrymen began handing mortar bombs from the rear along the line of paratroopers lying prone. Eventually, these 60mm shells were handed to the first stairs section. Some of the South Africans watched these bombs being fired. They could actually see them loop upwards, reach their apogee, and then drop. To most, it looked like they were going to land right on top of the huddled paratroopers, but they exploded close to the anti-aircraft guns, then one scored another direct hit. But these guns were made to last, and SWAPO once again cleared their dead comrades from the seats, and fresh men or women or both took over. What was making the mortaring more difficult was there were no base plates. Remember these had been left behind as they were too difficult to lug around. The men of the platoon used their boots to wedge behind the mortar as it fired in what must have looked like an extremely uncomfortable position. The main assault was now stymied, and SWAPO appeared to be moving around at their position using the extremely effective trench system that they had built. The mortars were falling on the gun again, but aim was difficult because the boots were being used, and a rough estimate of angle by eye was the mode of sight. And each time the mortar shrapnel hit the gun crew and killed or wounded them, the South Africans had a few moments to creep forward before the new SWAPO gun crew could resume the firing. Meanwhile, to the south of Kasinga, Tommy Smith's Delta Company stopper group had been set up and he'd laid the mines in case the Cubans arrived along with their tanks. Earlier, as you heard, Smith had attacked the engineer complex on the southern outskirts of town. That's when an ammunition dump buried under an old car body blew up with a thunderous roar. And as they swept through the south of Kasinga, they came under friendly fire. Hugo McQueen's Bravo Company, sweeping the trenches on Kasinga's eastern perimeter, thought that they were SWAPO. Luckily, no one was killed or wounded, but friendly fire was going to cause many South African casualties in the coming years of the border war. A platoon led by Peters headed further south along the Tetumetete Road, laying more 8kg mines at an intersection about a kilometer down the road. Then they set up an ambush on both sides. It took a long time for the soldiers to be able to get out of the way, but they were lucky enough to be able to get out of the way. And they were able to get out of the way. As you can see, Kasinga and his men were on the other side of the road, and here they'd stay for many nerve-wracking hours before they'd take part in one of the sharpest engagements of the battle, as you'll hear. Lying along Kasinga's eastern fringe was Charlie Company's Monte Forbes and his men, and they were frustrated. The trees around the renex of the landing zone position I've mentioned were thick, far larger and taller than intelligence had reported. The order, though, was to stay off the radio, but he was worried. The sounds of fighting were supposed to have slowed or even ended by now, and it was clear that a battle continued. raging in the town. While they had been waiting, his men were unaware that a short distance away, close to 100 SWAPO fighters were taking cover in what turned out to be an escaped trench. It ran north-northeast and was nine feet deep. The paratroopers stumbled on this and a short, sharp firefight broke out. At least 90 SWAPO soldiers died in that single incident, unable to move as the South Africans lobbed hand grenades and shot along the length of the trench. Earlier, Forbes had handed his R1 assault rifle to a trooper who dropped his in the river to avoid drowning. Now Forbes was using an AK-47 he'd picked up. As Forbes opened fire with the AK, some of his own men, who were not aware he was carrying this weapon, were taken by surprise and one almost shot him. An R1 sounds nothing like an AK, as you'll know. At the same time, SWAPO was firing back at Charlie Company from buildings while others hid in the thick grass to the east of Kasinga, also firing on the South Africans. And it was at this stage that Lieutenant Witt made his move. Remember, his company had landed to the north and were moving southwards. He deployed his support section north-west of the town, then attacked southwards along the road, heading towards the sounds of the heavy anti-aircraft guns that were firing. And as they went, they cleared SWAPO's trenches, which were dug in an east-west direction. This led to savage close-quarter fighting. The paratroopers had been forced to leave their bayonets behind by General Volun, as you know. It was now that would turn out to be a big mistake. When the rifleman's magazine emptied, he was forced to go to ground to change the magazine instead of attacking with a bayonet. This was also going to have implications for civilians. Grenades were thumping, rifles and machine guns were barking as the two sides battered away at each other. It was also at this point that the South Africans began hearing the screams of the women and children in the trenches. They were trying to jump out and get away. SWAPO soldiers would pull them back down to use as human shields. This meant it wasn't a simple matter of throwing a grenade blindly into a trench, but eventually a large number of men, women and children would die in these positions. And this is also where lack of bayonets caused more casualties. Soldiers fighting eye to eye target each other precisely while throwing a hand grenade into a trench where soldiers and civilians are taking shelter is the least effective way of avoiding unnecessary civilian deaths. This continues to be debated to this day. The SADF was accused of targeting the civilians by SWAPO who say that Kasinga was a refugee camp. But there were no red crosses, no formal recognition that this was indeed a camp run by civilians for civilians. At the same time, there were many non-combatants killed. But was it the 460 claimed by SWAPO? We just don't know because SWAPO never kept logs or lists, nor did they allow the UN to inspect the area later after claiming mass graves were to be found in Kasinga. Just as an aside, as a soldier later when I fought in Angola in 1981 during Operation Pretier, I saw first-hand how SWAPO and FAPLA used civilians as human shields in trenches around the towns of Njiva and Sangongo. In one case in Njiva, FAPLA troops in a trench pushed women out in front of them to stop our artillery from opening fire. This caused our assault to stop. So back in Kasinga, these trenches containing civilians and soldiers were cleared and that's when Bitsmen came across a dead South African paratrooper. He'd been shot during one of the firefights and was lying near the RENIX landing zone. He was one of the victims of the anti-aircraft gun, it appeared. Four paratroopers would die assaulting Kasinga, including 22-year-old Edward James Backhouse from 3 Parachute Battalion, 25-year-old Martin Kaplan from 2 Parachute Battalion, 23-year-old Jakob Conrad de Waal from 2 Parachute Battalion, and 29-year-old Andries Pietrus Human from 3 Parachute Battalion. I spoke about Human in an earlier podcast. He'd had premonitions of his death and he went missing straight after jumping from the aircraft. He was never seen or heard from again and remains unaccounted for to this day. By now it was midday and Alpha Company had been bolstered by the arrival of McQueen's section. Commandant Brunt back at the hospital was monitoring events while waiting at the battalion headquarters near the landing zone and he had mixed feelings. That's because a number of South African dead and wounded began filtering back to the LZ to await CASAVACing. And then one of the oddest moments was about to take place. Warrant Officer Norman Richard slowly walked up to Brunt, saluted, and said, "Good morning, sir. I regret to inform you that I've been shot." He'd been hit in the chest, but somehow walked to the medics. They inserted a drip immediately. Then another rifleman was carried in, Dale Packham. He'd also been shot through the chest, but his condition was critical. The anti-aircraft guns were focused on the buildings where the medics treated the wounded. Bullets were chipping pieces of walls away, smashing the trees and shingles, and smoke was blowing around the site. There were bodies everywhere. Help, however, was on its way. Smith's Delta Company, which had been operating as the stopper groups on the southern outskirts, were now available. Smith had tried to offer his services earlier, but Breitenbach had rejected the suggestion. As the situation worsened for the SADF, Smith knew he had to try to convince Breitenbach that his men were needed. "All this time I could hear on the radio that people were picking up trouble with the machine gun nest. I didn't know it was an anti-aircraft gun then." He radioed Breitenbach once more, and this time the commander gave him permission to advance as reinforcements. Smith ordered his entire company to move up into the town, east of the Tetumetete Road. He arrived at the battalion headquarters near the Rennicks at the same time as Brigadier Duplessis, who was still damp from his fall into the river. Smith left his engineers at the hospital along with a platoon and moved to the left to outflank Swapu's HQ and attack the anti-aircraft guns from the west. Eventually, the gunners at the machine gun nest spotted Smith's men and began to pepper them too, forcing them to run into a mahlanga or melee field nearby, and then they hit the ground, slan decking. Melees are no protection against machine gun rounds, but at least they were mostly out of sight. The only problem, they were now lying within four meters of a large Swapu-occupied trench. One of Smith's men was immediately hit three times by enemy fire. Smith and the wounded man were joined behind a bush by a third man, who was trying to lob a grenade at the trench but the fire was so heavy he couldn't even pull the pin. Another paratrooper was then wounded, his left hand was almost shot off. Smith rolled over and managed to lob an M26 grenade into that trench, but then realized he hadn't pulled the pin. "To my shame," he explained later. So Smith pulled the badly wounded soldier back into a small building nearby, and after laying him down, he realized the rifleman was dead. Now it was time to go on the offensive, or his men would be killed off here one by one. He ordered them to move along the trench using the parapet as protection from the anti-aircraft guns, and then they began to throw grenades as they went. Small arms fire increased as they moved. As they cleared each leg of the trench system, Swapu and other legs would track their progress. This turned into another sequence of extremely violent face-to-face firefights. Each leg was cleared and Smith's Odyssey had now brought him up to the point of Lieutenant Witt's advance, and he'd been moving systematically from the north, as I said. The next incident would be seared into both men's memories. "I was at a bench of the trench," Smith told writer William Steenkamp, "and as I looked around the corner of the leg, this terrorist was doing the same from the other side. They stared at each other, and both fired simultaneously, and both men missed. Then Smith had a stoppage. The Swapu fighter fired again, and he had a stoppage too. Without a bayonet, Smith was now slumped on the side of the trench trying to clear the round, while his adversary ten meters away, obviously also didn't have a bayonet, was doing the same. That's when one of Lieutenant Witt's men appeared above Smith, peering down into the trench. "Shoot him," Smith whispered and pointed at the Swapu fighter. Witt's infantryman couldn't see the target. "What?" whispered the infantryman back. "Shoot him." The trooper, who had had grenades, mortars, and guns going off around his head for more than an hour, was pretty hard of hearing. "What?" he asked again. Smith then managed to reload quickly and shot the enemy before he could shoot back. The 14.5 millimeter anti-aircraft gun suddenly fell silent. The mortars and more accurate fire from the reinforcements had done the job. Fighting finally was beginning to die down as resistance crumbled, but Swapu had fought hard for more than three hours. The entire assault from landing to extraction was only meant to take two hours, so you can see how effective their response had been. But now the South Africans were well over the time ascribed, and worse, they were going to face something far more dangerous than the 14.5-millimeter anti-aircraft gun and machine gun nests. It was tanks. Back in the trench system, Smith realized that Swapu's remaining fighters were backing into a cul-de-sac where the two sets of trenches joined in a kind of V-corner. He shouted in English for them to surrender. As he glanced quickly around the corner, he realized that around 24 soldiers were there, and they were now stripping to their underwear. Smith held his fire, and then the groups. surrendered. It had been a savage fight for Kasinga, but now the withdrawal could finally begin. The South Africans began the grisly task of body counting. In just one trench 75 meters long, they counted 95 Swapu dead. Slowly the paratroopers began to withdraw to the landing zone at Renix, where they'd be extracted by helicopters. It was past noon, and Commandant Brandt finally radioed the SAF was waiting at the Helicopter Administration Area to the east. It was time to take off. It was also at that moment when the stopper said, south of Kasinga reported chilling information. Vehicles, including tanks, could be seen moving towards the town from the south. They knew what that meant. The Cubans were on the move. The paratroopers hurried to the LZ and the commander at the zone watched them pass. Brandt would be the last out and his departure, as you're going to hear, would not be easy. The SA Air Force pumas began to arrive for the first lift while the medics rushed around checking the bodies and tending the wounded. At this stage, there were three serious casualties on stretchers. Dale Packham, Rabi and Kuhlman, while Major Fitzgerald had suffered a broken leg in the parachute jump and was also lying nearby. Warrant Officer Norman Richards, who had been shot in the chest, had managed to find an old Russian Siminov SKS rifle and slung his drip bag on its bayonet. It was now that Brandt made a momentous decision. The initial plan was for the first airlift to fly Bravo Company to the HAA. 30 kilometers east of Kasinga and then drop them there and head back for the wounded and then fly these directly to Inhana back in southwest Africa across the cut line. Instead, it was clear from the critical cases of wounded that these men would have to be flown out first and straight to Inhana. At 10 past 12, the first five pumas took off from the HAA in response to Brandt's request. Before long, the first choppers roared in covering everything with dust. Norman Richards staggered out of the hospital with his drip stuck on the end of the Russian bayonet. The flight sergeant in the puma was screaming at him from inside the chopper saying that his rifle was going to stick holes in his lovely helicopter, but Richards ignored him and managed to climb in Siminov and all. As the choppers landed, the shattered blue gum trees alongside the main north-south road began falling over from the pressure of the rotor blades. They were so damaged they'd been peppered for hours by shrapnel and bullets. Puma co-pilot Major Peter Crowe described later how ghastly the scene looked. He said, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." As they came in, they saw bodies all over Kasinga, many on the parade ground and buildings damaged or shattered. Smoke was blowing across the town. Dale Packham was listed as stable now, so he didn't fly out in the first airlift. As he lay on the hospital's veranda, clouds of debris and dust flew over him. Commandant Brandt then placed his handkerchief over Packham's face, whereupon the wounded man protested, saying he wasn't dead yet. As the helicopters dropped back down to pick up Bravo Company and the wounded man, the helicopter flew back down to pick up Bravo Company and the wounded, the chief of the SAF was back in Ndangwa in southwest Africa, began to grow more worried by the minute. The airlifts were very late, so he ordered two more Pumas based at the helicopter administration area outside Kasinga to join the five. General Constant Fulun, who was at the HAA, decided to join the flight to see for himself what had happened. That was almost the last thing he ever did. As the Pumas took off, they flew so low that they almost hit high-tension wires running to the town. Fulun eventually jumped off the Puma at the LZ in Kasinga and then decided he'd stay with the troops while the airlift continued. Fulun's arrival then set off the usual wild rumor so pervasive amongst troops. They believed a Russian general had been captured. Many had never seen Fulun, so the rumor circulated that a little man with silver hair and dressed like a general had been seen at the LZ. Of course, it was their own general. As the choppers flew the South Africans out, Brandt and Breitenbach turned their attention to mopping up, and the destruction of Swapu's important infrastructure. However, the engineers for some reason had been airlifted with the first troops, and the engineers had the all-important detonators with them, leaving the South Africans with a pile of useless explosives, which infuriated Brandt. So, the paratroopers were ordered to set fire to the town instead. They stripped the Swapu HQ of all documents and equipment, then set it ablaze. Later, Brandt said, It burnt beautifully, and because it was full of ammunition, blew up rather spectacularly, especially when the landmines stored in the building started to blow up. Kasinga crackled as the small arms ammunition went off, triggered by fires across the town. Colonel Breitenbach now arrived at the battalion headquarters, repeat with bandaged hand, from the time he was pinned down with Alpha Company by the anti-aircraft gun. He'd been talking on the radio when he was hit by shrapnel. He looked down and carried on talking. Whatever troops thought of Breitenbach, he was as tough as nails. He continued to bleed from his hand wound until he received proper treatment in South West Africa later. Bravo and Delta paratroopers stumbled off the pumas at the HAA east of Kasinga. The troops were deployed in a defensive position, but it was no more than a gesture because of the large area they were supposed to defend should they be attacked, and most began to doze off. It was then that McQueen, one of the company commanders, realized that he was hungry. Exhausted by the day's efforts, he sat in the tall grass which grew around the HAA and then radioed Platoon Commander Sternkamp. "Do you eat oysters?" he asked. There was silence for a moment, then a reply from Sternkamp, "Yes, Captain." "Well, come over here then," said McQueen. Remember a few episodes ago, during the preparations for this attack, I explained how McQueen had jumped into Kasinga with a tin of oysters, biscuits, and brandy and water in one of his water bottles to celebrate if he survived. The two men shared the meal. Sternkamp told his men he'd never eaten oysters, but "today I'll eat them." While they were resting, the wounded were left without medics or doctors. Brunt's decision meant that all were still inside Kasinga. There were no medics at the HAA. Pilots began to change the men's drips. Back at Kasinga, a large number of civilians gathered at the LZ. They were women and children, and many had been taken hostage by SWAPO. These desperate people then demanded that the SADF take them back home to Southwest Africa on the helicopters. It turned out some were the Ovombo civilians who'd been on board the bus that was hijacked south of the border in April 1978. It was 250 kilometers back to Ovombo land, but there was no space on the choppers. Brunt could not evacuate these people. In fact, the SADF had not expected civilians to demand to join the South Africans' flights back, so there was no way he could do this. This doomed the women, some with small children, who were now going to try to walk through the bush all the way from Kasinga to Ovombo land. I've tried to find out, but can't find any information about them making it. A terrible situation, you'll agree. It was even more desperate because 20 SWAPO prisoners were earmarked to fly back with the South Africans. They were both men and women soldiers, and they had been posted inside a building near the LZ, from where they'd be flown directly to Inhana as well. So, about the time that Bravo and Delta Company were being airlifted out of Kasinga, the SA Air Force had begun to get busy south of the town. That's because enemy vehicles were now grinding their way up the road from Tecumotete and the force moving towards the South Africans included five T-34 tanks and about 12 BTR armored personnel carriers. All were manned by Cubans dressed in their distinctive bright green uniforms. This force was late. It was only 16 km from Tecumotete to Kasinga, and they received word almost immediately that the town had come under attack at just after 8 am. And here they were, past midday. They should have arrived mid-morning at the latest. Had they mobilized immediately, they could have saved many in the first place. But they had not given up, because they knew how tough it was to get them out of the town. But they delayed long enough to allow the town to fall, perhaps believing that the fight between SWAPO and the SADF was not their battle. It's thought furthermore that when the Cuban spotters saw the first helicopters fly out of Kasinga carrying Bravo and Delta troops, they had not realized that more than three quarters of the South African assault force was still in the town. As you're going to hear in the next episode, some of the men aboard the BTRs approaching the town from the south, actually waved at Charlie Company's stopper group until they saw it wasn't SWAPO. Well, with that, we must halt and secure the perimeter. And if you have any comments, please email through the website abwarpodcast.com, or you can direct message me on Twitter. My handle is @DesLatham. Until next time, goodbye. . . .
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