Episode 44 – The Recces kayak to Savate as 32 Battalion preps for Operation Sceptic aka Smokeshell

[Music] Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Desi Layton. This is episode 44, it's the run-up to Operation Sceptic in 1980, or what many folks call up Smokshell. That's because the main target to for full was codenamed Smokshell or QFL, depending on which report you read, but there were other targets too. But before that operation, there were a few other incidents across the fighting front. One involved a formation of impalars armed with rockets that ended up strafing what they thought was a swap opposition in a Vombalan. However, when they were debriefed, it was clear that entered into Angolan territory and shut up an unknown location inside Angolan. It began at 0900 on the 27th of February, inside the AFB on Dungwap briefing room. The SAF was informed that South African defence force patrols had spotted vehicles just north of the cutline between Oshikango or Beacon 18 and Ianana, Beacon 30. Empire-Upannet commander Stain Fenter and his number two Henry Jackson were tasked to fly an armed reconnaissance mission just south of the cutline to assess where the Swapar had crossed into South Africa. They duly took off and scattered the area. Shortly afterwards, a second pair of impalars flown by Kuba's Turin and Vick Kesa joined them and ended up flying what was called a divisional battle formation between Ianana and Oshikango. That is, pairs of aircraft flying around 800 metres apart. The cloud base was low at 500 feet. It was still rainy season after all and rain was falling in the east of their position. Then they spotted smoke to the north and headed off to investigate. The turin was tight and their puritive lost touch with the exact position. As they flew over the smoke, they saw people scattering in all directions. There was no village, so they immediately suspected Swapar and Fenter turned sharply once more keeping the smoke in sight. Then ordered the formation to select rockets and follow him as he pitched up. He was still only 400 feet above ground level then descended steeply once more firing rockets at the source of the smoke. Each impalar was armed with 24-68mm rockets. As they pulled out, there were secondary explosions. They'd hit something. Then the battle formation flew back to Andungwa. Later during the debriefing, it became clear that they'd flown into Angola. It was a big no-no politically and there was some explaining to do. These kind of incidents were being reported by patrols in the ground as well, where they'd come under attack and then be forced to halt follow-ups at the border, increasing the frustration of the troops. Anyone who's fought across borders knows this frustration. The enemy is a few hundred metres away and virtually staring at you and strategically to cross the line would be to create an international incident. American soldiers fighting in Vietnam spoke often of this, the border with Laos and Cambodia for example, where special forces were forbidden from following the Vietnam Kong into these international territories, although they did. Well those enough gunnestons were looking across the border into Pakistan. By now, the command of the SDF had been handed over to General Constant Fillion and he was monitoring the upsurge in plan activity. Swappers armed wing had already launched an attack into the triangle of death that we heard about last week and there had been two other major contacts during January 1980. First on the 20th, where two security force soldiers were killed in a firefight, then less than a fortnight later, six soldiers died and 19 planned insurgents were killed in another clash inside of Ombaland. By the 15th of February, 77 planned insurgents had been killed along with three more security force members. The casualty list was growing quickly on both sides. In February, as you heard already, plan launched another attack into the triangle, killing two white civilians. 19 of these attackers were killed and another security force tracker also died. By the end of the first week of March, plan was heading back to Ombaland after killing another soldier when they were ambushed and 11 died, three at the hands of the local Ombal people themselves. In the meantime, Jonas Savinbihov, a unit of centre-letter on the 6th march, outlining his view of a possible settlement of the Angolan Civil War. U-N officials in South African government representatives were sitting down to constitutional talks in Vintuk when Savinbih's letter was delivered to PW Butter who was in Cape Town. The unit are leader-demarded to be included in any negotiations regarding a demilitarized zone because it was he and not Luanda who controlled the Angolan South, the so-called "shellow" area across the cut line in which the no-go was supposed to be established. Savinbih also let it be known that he was against any new intervention of foreign forces into Angola having spent the last decade partying the Portuguese and then the Soviets and the Cubans. He was holding out for a deal that cut his unit into any Angolan settlement. Then in his letter Savinbih threatened the safety of the U-N force directly. Pretoria welcomed Savinbih's letter. It played into the overall political strategy of slowing down the Mabian independence, so they naturally released it locally and internationally. Back in the hot zone, plan continued to launch mortar attacks on SAD of bases and the South Africans responded with Operation Rhekstorke and Safran in Zambia as you heard. The armed movement seemed to be operating wherever it wished and in May 1980 they increased their insurgency dramatically. During one contact in a Wombaland, the SAD have lost five men to plans 81. While the Undungwa Air Force Base came under mortar attack. Although damage was limited, plans seemed to be able to strike anywhere at will, including one of the most heavily defended South African bases in South West Africa. But there was another attack at this time which was not mentioned by the South Africans, publicly, which would go down in the annals of 3-2 battalion as one of the most deadly and all because of an apparent misunderstanding. This was a secret mission by 3-2 into Angola to strike a small town called Savati on the Kabunga River. By early 1980, Fappla had held all the small towns along the Kabunga as far north as Calundu. If you recall, they had a small corridor along the west coast and used their logistics support there to clear a zone along the cutline heading East. But Jnita controlled the far East zone. Fappla controlled the west. Jnita was fighting for the Kabunga River. Up to the end of 1979, Jnita had deployed a scorched earth policy against all towns and territory captured from Fappla. They had torched the villages and dried them out, knowing that these civilians were helping Fappla with intelligence information. Jnita would usually burn everything, blow things up and then retreat back to the Lair at Jamba, which is in the far east corner of Angola just north of the Caprivii-Sarthwest of Zambia. But in 1980, Jnita Savati decided his men would capture the towns and hold them. So on the 14th of April, Jnita took Konga on the Kabunga River, literally on the border. This marked the beginning of a new phase in Jnita strategy where they planned to hold the entire southern Angola in region, if possible. So Vimby then approached the SADF and asked for assistance in attacking Savati to drive Fappla further north west up the river. It was one of the main bases 75 kilometres inside Angola. As you go to here, the South Africans were led to believe it was lightly defended, but it wasn't. Jnita was further upstream on the same Kabunga River as Kwanga and Savati suggested it was an ideal target for three two battalion. Now remember, three two and Jnita were not friends. Many members of three two reformed members of the FNLA, which had four Jnita, so there was no love lost between these two, although they regarded the MPA as a mutual enemy. In charge of three two was common unfriar era, who was provisionally ordered to plan an attack based on Jnita intelligence, that an understrength battalion of around 300 Fappla was stationed at that base in Savati. The SADF knew that Savati was also home to Fappla's brigade headquarters, which could call on two more battalions deployed even further upstream at Kauunda, so any attack had to be sudden and swift. The ever aggressive three two leader immediately said to work in planned an assault force of three raffle companies, one to be held in reserve, a multiple attuned and three two's reconnaissance teams acting as stopper groups. The latter were going to be very busy in the secret up as you're going to hear. Because it was so far upstream and because there were two other Fappla battalions lurking nearby, the attack on Savati had to rely on complete surprise. There would be no air support softening up. Pumas though were on standby and rindu to evacuate casualties and a boss box spotter plane would also be around on the day. On the 13th May 1980 the assault group gathered at Omawuni around 130 km east of Yenhanna and just out of sight of the main road, the C45. The 270 men from the raffle companies, along with six wrecky teams and mortar groups, would be taken across by road. The column included a number of ten time tracks, four Buffle armoured personnel carriers, three cargo trucks carrying ammunition, ration and equipment and pereras command vehicle. An intelligence officer was included and they were ready to go. Hengaiyad R3 to this point was a unita agent, a man known as senior robes, or Francisco Lopez, who worked for the SEDF chief of staff intelligence. He told Ferreira that he knew Savati intimately and would guide the assault force to the base. Ferreira was thorough and used direct simple methods. First the mortar platoon would bombard the base with both high explosive and white phosphorus bombs from 4 km south of Savati using the 81mm. Alpha and Foxtrot companies would attack from the west, the left, and push the enemy towards the river. Savati was on the west bank of the Kabunga, which could be both swift, flowing and treacherous. Crocodiles lurked in the shadows. The defenders would be squeezed between the river and the river. and three two and would have to retreat northwards. Two platoons of Charlie Company under the command of Lieutenant Sam Heap would attack plans vehicle park north west of the airfield, which was two kilometres outside the town. Reconnaissance photographs showed that there were no troops deployed there. The rest would focus the attention on the trench system surrounding society. A third platoon would be held in reserve. First though, Ferreira needed proper intel, so before receiving the green light from SED of headquarters, he sent Lieutenant Villamurata's reconnaissance team to society to confirm the photo information. Senor Lobbs and a second Anita guard joined the Recu platoon from Amaruni being driven north through the night of the 17th May and dropped supposedly at a point north west upstream of society and also supposedly close to the Cabanga River. Senor Lobbs left the Recu platoon with a second guard and he returned to Amaruni. Alarm bells began to ring after this team walked through the night of the 17th all the way to daybreak and laid up at dawn on the 18th. They couldn't move during the day, of course. Stolmer son of the Cabanga River, although their guard continued to point east. At dusk they continued heading east carrying their kayaks and after a six hour march reached the river. The guide indicated downstream and said Savati lay seven kilometers in that direction, but he seemed confused. After another five hours of paddling down the river, they reached a small town on the west bank which they thought was Savati and the Recu platoon laid up for the day. Right then decided to try and enter the town to figure out what was going on. So after sunset of the 19th, he and three other Recu's stepped ashore and found the settlement was deserted, not even a chicken in sight. Right speak not keen as book about three two. Instead of being dropped upstream or north west of Savati, they'd been dropped downstream southeast. Senior Lobs was partly to blame as he'd led the initial landing. The unsuspecting reckeys had rode downstream arrived at the Long Abandoned Town of Pande, which is around ten kilometers south of Savati. The paddle back up river felt more like 20 kilometers and was made at speed because Vireira had told Rata that the attack on Savati was set for the 21st of May. So at 2300 on the 19th of May, the Reckeys slipped their kayaks back into the water and spent the entire night rowing upstream, including negotiating a dangerous stretch of rapids. They reached the outskirts of Savati at first light. The Reckeys pulled their kayaks out of sight and laid up once more this time on the east bank. They could hear vehicles moving around constantly to the north and they knew that the town and the base must be occupied. As fate would have it and at about the same time as they waited, the main assault force moved out of Amuni overland under the gardens of the very same senior Lobs. They followed the same route as the Reckeys but were aiming at a point some distance further east of Savati so that they could proceed more quietly on foot and it was now that the Shambolic navigation cost the battalion. Rataisee could not get a message to Ferreira quickly enough passing on their request to delay the attack by 24 hours until he had done a proper recon. The assault force was already so close to Savati that had their held off an attack at this point that had been discovered. The entire battle plan was based on the assault force being on foot before the last light of 20th of May and moving rapidly to attack on the 21st. Rataisee Rekis ran our spying on the town of Savati from close range and they were picking up some worrying signs. As Darkness fell in the night of the 20th, Rata, along with Sergeant Pete van Irden and Corporal Paolo, slipped into Savati to pinpoint enemy troop deployments, defences and mortar positions. He spotted the trench system that Juneete had pointed out on photographs but then he discovered that the Fuplar Force was way larger than an "undestrained battalion". They were well in excess of battalion strength. He estimated over 1000 and he was not far wrong. Worst was to follow. Rata also identified a strong point of Fuplar troops deployed north of the airfield and at the vehicle park. It was a whopping great 14.5mm anti-aircraft gun that could be swirled horizontally as you know. This was a can of worms. Rata could not reach the assault force by radio so this fresh intelligence was not relayed. Instead, he led his men back to the pre-arranged position outside Savati to wait for the assault force. First light of May 21st came, D-Day, still no sign of 3-2 battalion. Apparently, senior lobs had struck once again. When the column arrived supposedly at the crossroads where they'd clam off the vehicles and the 90th of May they found themselves instead in an open china or waterhole. The guide had led them 16 kilometres north west of Savati to a china called DOS 11th. Senior lobs was relegated to the back of a truck as for error hauled out his compass and tuned east, finding the road to Savati, about 15 kilometres north of the town. They'd trundled down the road still in their vehicles until around 8 kilometres from the town when they leapt off the buffles and cargo trucks to cover the last part on foot. The vehicles moved 10 kilometres away. They'd moved back once they heard the mortar bombardment begin to give support. Each troop carried at least one 81mm bomb over the last stretch to the assembly point from where the mortar crews would move their tubes and 200 mortar bombs themselves to the launch position. So at 0-200 hours in the 21st of May the force began moving towards Savati in single file with Charlie and another company on the left shoulder of the road while the third company and the headquarters and a second reky team and mortar platoon moved on the right. There was no moon. The bush was dense so the march took longer than anticipated. Troops were holding on to each other to avoid getting lost and it became clear that Savati would not be reached. It was just too dark and too slow so for error ordered a halt until first light. The original timetable was now torn up and they were acting on the only initiative and timing. Things then went from worse to terrible because the assault group ran slapping into a fubla vehicle patrol 7 kilometres from Savati and 5 of the enemy escaped. They were going to raise the alarm and they went the element of surprise. Instead of turning around for error decided to speed up and by 0-900 the mortars were in position. The 10 three man reky teams were sent to stopper groups to the north and luckily at that moment Ruta's messages were finally delivered. The information was disturbing. Savati was more heavily defended than they thought and yet they had to attack immediately so the 81mm mortars opened up drawing an immediate counter bombardment. Fubla was wide awake. The five men had alerted the base. The rifle companies who were heavily armed in advance towards the Savati trenches. As they ran they dodged the Fubla mortars exploding around them and machine gun rounds flying about the felt. At the airfield two platoon from Charlie Company took on a full Fubla air defence company which was using the 14.5mm gun horizontally raking the ground with the large caliber rounds. The first solvo from this weapon killed three Charlie Company troops on the spot and seriously wounded four others. At the main base Fubla had let Ripp with everything they had at the rifle companies who were now also pinned down. Remember there was no air support? This was going to be a close call. Ferreira was lying prone and moments later his intelligence officer was shot dead two metres from where he lay. It took a herculean effort but one of the assault companies managed to break through into the trenches and hand to hand fighting took place. Meanwhile at the airfield heaps platoons were taking more casualties and he radioed Ferreira saying he needed to retreat. Orders were issued for the platoons to break off engagement and report to the main assault force as reserves. The airfield was still in Fubla hands for the moment. It was chaos. The vehicles which had been waiting to pick up the S.R.D.F troops after the battle now drove up to Savati from the north and straight into the waiting Fubla forces who opened fire on the tracks. The wounded lay close by awaiting loading as the track teams fired back. The vehicle force was now fighting at Fubla and they were cut off from their main assault force to the south. This battle stalemate continued until around midday and then the shooting died down. Fubla had not been dislodged from their trenches around the town despite the hand to hand face to face fighting. At least that's what was thought initially. Then Rata and his wrecky spotted a large group of Fubla moving on foot along the road northwards. The worst case scenario, some of the attackers were carrying 122mm single tube rocket launches and they were obviously trying to head out of town. But the escaping Fubla troops had no idea that lurking in the bush alongside the road was the wrecky stopper group. Rata's men opened up and Fubla scattered. Berrera then figured out from the yelling on the Fubla radio that the brigade commander was trying to arrange and organise with the draw on northwards despite his men being in superior positions in the town and the trenches. Even though by now the Fubla commander must have heard the gunfire to the north, he still proceeded with his plan and used vehicles. This was bad news for the Angolans because the boss book Spotterplane which had been circling overhead picked up the convoy of around 30 vehicles loaded with troops leaving Sabati. It was a confused situation to put it mildly because Berrera at that moment received an emergency call to report that operations officer Captain Charles Müller had gone missing. After ordering four Buffles to prep quickly to follow Fubla, he issued orders from Müller to be found. The reserve company under Starf Saargin Ron Gregory piled into the Buffles with Berrera and the lead. Sam Heep was in the second, Lieutenant Tony Ninova in the third and Lieutenant Jim Ross in the wolf. And so there was a dirt road chase, the Buffles hunting down the Fubla convoy driving full tilt along the rotted road. The Buffles each had a [BLANK_AUDIO] up to the 7.62mm browning machine gun and they caught up to the Fappler column as it engaged in a heavy battle with the Reki stopper groups to the north. Meanwhile Major Eddie Fulune was on board the boss book flying about the carnage and directed the buffle straight towards the enemy who by now jumped from the trucks and were scattered and running away on foot. Fappler had somehow turned a situation of strength into weakness and would now pay. Many men were shot down, the others who ran east jumped into the Kobanga River, some were taken by crocodiles, some drowned, others managed to make it to the east bank. There was no quarter given and then came the call that Ferrero was dreading. Captain Muller's body had been found in one of the trenches, lying face down, he'd been shot in the head. The rest of the assault force was still in Sabati and hand-to-hand fighting continued from trench to trench. Fappler fought organically according to all accounts but were overcome eventually and their command structure had collapsed then the survivors fled. Mopping up began at 1400 hours and a nominal roll call was taken. 13 SIDF men were dead, 22 wounded, one corporal and one ravenmen were missing in action. Dozens of Fappler bodies were lying about, 12 of their vehicles had been destroyed and burning but there was no one celebrating. The casualty rate among the South Africans was high. The search for the missing men was ordered but when they were listed as missing by nightfall the SIDF had to withdraw. The assault force pulled back four kilometres to the southwest into thick bush and stopped to rest for the night. By now the top brass was swarming about back across the cut line, where it had got out that this foray into Sabati had not gone well at all. SA Army Chief Lieutenant General Constantine Fulyun flew into Rundu to launch a top level inquiry about what was happening. The first thing he found out was that three two battalion were never supposed to attack Sabati on their own. High command had decided that Anita was best placed to lead the assault with three two battalion nominated to assist with mortars and the wreckies, somehow the messaging went awry. The next day Anita Julie moved into Sabati taking the heavily damaged town at 0900 on May 22nd. Perreira was still searching for the two men MIA. The South Africans had a rule which was followed by the best professional organisations in the world. No one left behind. So three two's Charlie Company set off back to Sabati on the 22nd with orders to find the two men MIA no matter what. Anita Garrison troops helped and shortly afterwards the bodies of both men were found in dense bush far from the assault area. How they ended up there remains a mystery but at least they were found. During a follow up debrief and reading of the documents seized at Sabati it was clear that the fapler had been expecting an attack for three weeks and it moved heavy arms into the town. They'd also been expecting Anita so the full blooded assault by the South Africans had unnerved them. Captured documents showed Sabati held at least 1,060 heavily armed troops, not 300. Several casualty figures were prepared and their word difficult reading for the Sabati F. 15 troops dead, more than 20 seriously injured, the heaviest casualties that three two battalion had taken in a single battle in four years of constant fighting. But 550 at fapler have been killed, hundreds were reported wounded or missing. The Sabati F had seized 19 FIFA trucks, two star fuel tankers, a complete star mobile workshop and a land rover. A ration made motorcycle with sidecar probably a year old wolf was also snatched by three two battalions regimental sergeant major who proudly displayed it back at headquarters otherwise known as Buffalo. 24 fapler vehicles had been destroyed along with a bridge before three two battalion left Sabati. This had been a deadly introduction to the upcoming operations skeptic and so we must hold and secure the perimeter. Thanks to Heddy, you phoned me this week from his winter fastness about goings on and Richard was donated a significant amount towards the podcast costs. I'm actually amazed at how folks have tried to help in various ways as this series unfolds so thank you Richard your donation will go towards the podcast and website hosting fees. So now we move on to Operation Sceptic which is going to have a few sharp edges for the SEDUER. Until next, goodbye. [Music]