Episode 57 – Operation Super: The incredible 1982 Battle of Cambeno Valley, SWAPO’s Point Zero

[Music] Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Des Le from this is episode 57. As you heard last episode from February 1982, Swapo activity had increased in the normally quiet western sector of Angola north of Colchaland. Remember the red cross flood which had been tracked by a Swapo unit in the area at a place they called 0.0. It was decided that this unit had to be confronted as quickly as possible as it threatened to bring the war to an area that had been virtually untouched. Two days later the SIDF commops unit was monitoring a Swapo unit which had headquarters close to Kahama and that unit was ordered to meet their chief of staff from Lubango at Iona on the 22nd of February. Intelligence sources in Sidingo to say plans defend secretary Peter Namiemba was taking a personal interest in 0.0. That confirmed suspicions about how important Swapo thought that this space was. Between the 21st of February and the 1st of March 1982, nine planned cargo tracks made the trip from Kahama to Iona via Occincho and Occuku and returned to Lubango on the 4th of March. On that day Swapo reported that the area cleared of all which indicated the mission was complete. The SIDF meanwhile was putting two and two together. That could mean only one thing and not just four. Something big was happening west of Occincho. Sector 1-0 HQ was worried about these new moves by Swapo. It appeared to be establishing itself in Kaoka land and Maraland. But where was 0.0? It was time to deploy a 10-man team from Far Reconnaissance Regiment to investigate the situation. They prepped and then moved across the Kathlan at 1800 hours on the 9th of March, aiming at a point about 20 km east of Iona. A tactical HQ was set up under command of Captain Jan Hochart near Marion Fluss on the border and 36 members of 3-2 Italian were stationed there, along with two Puma helicopters and two Eloect gunships. This was the standby reaction force in case the 10-man team ran into Swapo or Fumpla or both. On the way to Iona the wreckies mined the road to Mocha-Metus. It didn't take long for the mines to find their first victims. At 0.300 hours on the 10th of March, six vehicles in a convoy passed by and the lead vehicle triggered one of the mines. Tactical headquarters radioed the SAF was for an air strike against the stranded convoy, but the weather was too bad and the impilers could not take off. Three of the vehicles turned around and drove back to the north while the remaining two continued onwards in a southerly direction. The wreckies moved towards Iona the next day, reporting the town was empty but found vehicle tracks leading south. Three Swapo soldiers were captured as they moved towards the wreckies layup just south of the town and shortly afterwards about 20 Swapo soldiers walked into view. The wreckies waited until they were around 800 meters from the layup position, then called in the gunships and a 12-man reaction force. They allow its swept in along with the reinforcements and during the contact 14 enemy were killed and six captured. These POWs were flown back to Moneon Fluss and under interrogation they disclosed that there were about 200 Swapo at the base, 10 km south of Iona at a place called the Kumbena Valley. It was just across the border, west of Ruecaina, north of the heart of Cogland. There was no time to waste. The soldiers at the Swapo base must have been aware already that the SCDF had been active nearby so things had to move fast. The SCDF planned an attack for midday on the 12th of March. Captain Ho-Hard was to command 45 members of three two battalions Delta Company along with three 12-man stopper groups and a 12-man mortar group armed with two 81-millimeter mortars. That wasn't all four alluret gunships would be available for the operation under the command of Major Neil Ellis while far puma would be led by Major Polar Krueger. Another 36-man reserve force was to be held back in Moneon Fluss. Two DC-3 decoters were to provide logistic support because this was an exploratory mission the planners didn't give it a name. Later it would become known as Operation Super. Cogland is ragged in the extreme. Its topography resembles the face of the moon. It's arid with very little vegetation or water and suffers the rigors of a desert climate hot as haydies during the day and is called as charity at night as Brigadier General Dick Lord would say. The rocky hilly terrain makes mobile warfare almost impossible if you're using mechanized units. For Swapo it was difficult partly because of the desert conditions. There's no red or hide during the day unlike of Ambulant. But it's also hilly and bush and trees grow along the valleys and in the ravines. The Kineni River flows through this area with a norm of desert to the south and the Marion Fluss Valley to the southeast. Up the Kineni River to the northeast, Lada Erupa Falls is stunningly beautiful part of the border if you ever planning a trip. Intelligence reports filtering in suggested that Swapo was using these valleys across the Catlan as roots into Cochaland and pinpointed the base camp north of the Kineni River at a place called Kambina Valley along one of the ravines which intersected the river in roughly a north south direction. The four Aloids and four of the pumors took off on schedule but in a twist of irony a thunderstorm brought heavy rain and reduced visibility over the mountains to almost zero. The assault forced flew back to Marion Fluss and waited until 0700 hours 30 the next day when they returned to the valley. It was hard to see anything the Swapo base was well camouflaged so the choppers flew back and forth for around seven minutes. Finally Swapo's nerve broke and some of the men began running from the base below. The S.O.D. of ground troops were promptly dropped by the pumors. First in Rodeauty Company and the Stopper Groups along with the mortar sections. Then the Aloids swept over the Swapo base from the air because of the arid countryside and the fact that Swapo had broken ground they spotted the main area. The target was contained because of the topography squeezed between the hillsides and the dry thorn trees and if they ran these would offer no cover at least at first glance. The Aloid gunships fire stopped Swapo soldiers who were running about in all directions and the insurgents died for cover. On board his alawet, Ellis was in for a rough ride. "I heard a loud bang towards the rear of the aircraft as an RPG rocket exploded behind me," he told Leopold Scots later. While Captain Maranta shunted over the radio, "Sam launch six o'clock! I could see the distinctive thick, whitish grey smoke trail of a Sam 7 twirling up into the sky towards us. I immediately put on more bank to find the firing position." As he turned through 180 degrees a second, SA7 was launched towards the Aloids. This time Maranta was the target in Ellis called "Sam launch nine o'clock!" But the missile was travelling at Makh 1.5 and passed the helicopters before he'd finished his sentence. The South Africans had stood up a hornet's nest. The attackers were to realise quite swiftly that the rocky terrain offered dozens of hiding places, making up for a lack of vegetation, and this was going to be a major battle between elements of Swapo and 3-2 battalion. The gunships poured bursts of 20-millimeter automatic cannon fire into the base, sending the enemy scattering towards the stopper groups. But Swapo continued firing SA7 missiles and RPG7s towards the choppers, causing them to break off the attack for a moment. Then the South African ground troops faced stiff resistance. It was heavy going. The terrain was covered with hollows and rocky art crops, as well as cliff faces and small caves. This was tailor-made for an unconventional army's defence against air and ground attack, and the Swapo unit there appeared both well-trained and motivated to fight. The first three-two group under second of ten and PJ Nell or Nella, as he was called, found themselves constantly under heavy fire. That was the first real contact, and very little ground was made as they sought protection from some of the rocks and thorn trees. It was extremely hot now over 35 degrees, and some of the tough three-two soldiers began to suffer from heat exhaustion made worse by the fact that they had carried very little water. And Swapo outnumbered the SAD troops by four to one. The attack lost its shape as the SAD went to ground, others just rested in the blazing heat. The battle turned into a standoff. This was bloody and grinding work at times involving face-to-face fighting. At noon, Captain Ho-Hard called for an impala strike with May palm on the base, but that request was denied. The alluret gunships continued flying in and letting off a burst of two, and retreating beyond small arms range. It was clear this fight was going to get nasty. The SADF was going to have to penetrate the ravines and the hollows and the outcrops one by one. Enemy was taking cover in these positions, and the 20-millimeter gunfire was managing to stop Swapo from counterattacking, at least initially. Eventually Nell's Stopper Group was picked up, and then dropped in a ravine closer to the main Swapo Group, but too close. They landed right in the middle of a company of Swapo between 50 to 100 men were nearby, and they opened up on the SADF. Another Stopper Group, commanded by Sergeant Peter Williams, came under fire nearby as they jumped from their pumes. SADF was command a major ellis ordered a gunship piloted by Captain Angel E Maranta to cover a side of the ship. large and Williams from the air while he continued circling the base, coordinating the air support. He was also firing on Swapo close to Nell. The volume of rounds passing back and forth was momentous. Two hundred Swapo were letting rip with RPGs, machine guns, you say seven missiles and AK-47s. The Aloids were shuddering as the 20mm fired and the three two soldiers were popping of rounds and lobbing a grenade here and there while the mortars coughed up their 81mm presence. It took Nell's group three hours to fight the way across a ravine then they halted and radiated Ho-Kot. He could see Nell and was on a hill about two hundred meters away. Then Nell's men were charged by Swapo on their left flank as he swung his defenses towards this threat. More Swapo attacked from his right flank trying to cut off the section from the rest of three two. They were in real danger of being overrun. At this moment a fight or flat principle kicked in and Nell was all fight. He charged Swapo along with two other men but all three were shot and killed almost immediately. Sergeant Victor Dracula took over command of Nell's stick. Things were desperate. Dracula knew there were about five enemy on his left and about twelve on his right. They were at close quarters. Any slight movement could be their last on both sides. The sergeant searched for the radio to call for gunship support only to find it lying alongside the prone body of second lieutenant Nell, forty meters away in the open and in direct line of fire. He took stock. They would run out of ammunition before Swapo and before the rest of Delta Company came to his aid. It was now that he and Rafferman Boranano Domingo tried to crawl to the radio but the fire was murderous and they both withdrew after two attempts. But their third attempt was successful. Swapo was also running low on ammunition and Domingo pulled both Nell's body and the radio to safety behind rocks. The gunships were called in but could do nothing as the South Africans and Swapo were lying so close to each other and the enemy continued peppering the choppers as they appeared. The battle wore on through the day with neither side giving an inch. When Sergeant PT Stewart was shot and killed, followed by Corporal J. J. By late afternoon, Swapo had climbed the hill where the motor group lay and they began to engage in a hand-to-hand fight. It was 3pm and only a few shots then continued to ring out over the desert valley. Most of three two men had run out of ammunition and they had taken AK-47s from dead Swapo lying around the valley to use these but even those were running on empty. Seven hours of hard and unrelenting fighting left both sides exhausted both physically and mentally. Then the sun began to set and as darkness descended, the South Africans were fervently hoping that Swapo would not launch a nighttime counterattack. Swapo could rely on reinforcements to the north but would these men advance overnight. Three two battalion sections remained in the valley as Ho-Hot flew back to HQ at Muddy Influis to report by radio to Oshakati. Yet trying to avoid the call for some reason the top-rise demanded a first person report which seemed to make no sense because he was needed at Kambino. Back in the dark ravine of tenant Duperseed took over and regrouped his men then arranged security patrols for the night. A few hours later in the pitch dark, half a dozen Swapo walked into their defensive position but to sultry fire drove them off. The next day 24 more men were flown in as reinforcements and to assist because it appeared that the surviving Swapo soldiers had disappeared northwards. It was time to mop up. They began with a Kambino base where one Swapo soldier was found and shot after a short struggle while a second surrendered along with a pile of documents. As the intelligence staff poured over these they found that 200 Swapo had been based at Kambino, a part of a new mechanized Swapo unit who had originally come from Lubungo. Their task had been to establish supply caches following which the main Swapo units would have moved into the Kaulkaland, turning it into a new battlefield and spreading the SEDF even thinner on the ground. The prisoners told intelligence officers that all Swapo at Kambino were from the July 1981 intake while a group of 51 long-serving Swapo were stationed further south closer to the Kinehriber. One of the prisoners said another group of 200 from Lubungo was due to join them soon while a boat began to carry 18 men was stationed on the fast-flowing Kinehri upstream. The battle at Kambino had been hard fought 197 Swapo were dead, seven captured, three South Africans were killed, five were wounded. Mopping up the base took a whole day. Among the equipment captured or destroyed included seven RPG 7 launches with more than 1000 rockets, 648 SKS Raffle grenades, 8,000 TM57 and 1100 TMAA3 anti-attank mines, more than 1500 F1 hand grenades, 22 crates of RG3 grenades, 463 anti-personal mines, 4 SA7 missiles, 7,460mm and 82mm motorbombs, 76 AK-47 rifles and 20 crates of ammunition. There were also 27 B10 anti-tank recoilers gun rockets and just to complete this incredible inventory nearly 40kg of plastic explosive. There was also nearly 6,000kg of maize mill, 54 boxes of soup and 4,000 cans of meat which were taken back to Marion flus but 1000kg more food was burned. As three two battalion counted the cost there was no time to sit on their hands. Two days after the battle Captain Ho-Hard was given a new mission to clear the area South of Iona and Locate Swapo. This would take three weeks and his specific target was to destroy the 50 man base supposedly South of Iona as well as Locate and destroy the boat on the Kinehri. Delta Company provided the 126 men for this project under the command of Lieutenant Duplici joined by 12 man mortar group, two aloe wet gunships, two pumes of Bossport last spotter plane and a decoto for supply. They duly swept the area around Iona but no boat was found nor any swampo bases. Eventually the exhausted troops made it back to Buffalo three weeks later and they received a hero's welcome. The desperate fight at Cumbino had been three two battalions biggest and most successful battle to date but everyone on the ground also gave credit to the Air Force's major Ellis who'd flown repeatedly into the chaos of battle despite being peppered by S.A.7 missiles, machine guns and AK-47 ground fire along with RPGs. Swapo would never use Cumbino again. Captain Ellis and Sergeant Stephen Kutsir were awarded the honorous crux along with the second Lieutenant Nella Nell, Sergeant Victor Drakula and Ratham and Boranando and Omigos. And for the first time in three two's history the politicians publicly acknowledged their existence because Captain Ho-Hart received personal thanks from PW Buddha. While the politicians did the normal pomp and ceremony strutting about looking important, the attempt by Swapo to expand the area of operations meant they still held the initiative. In the middle of the military terms the S.A.D.F. may have defeated them in the Sinktap but the planners back in Fuhrtrakah Huhrt'an Acha-Karti were worried. Authority was then granted for Mirage III in Canberra photographic aircraft to cross into Angola again. Pretoria wanted to make sure that the area north of the Kolkala and was indeed clear of Swapo. The Canberras were going to take pictures to update the existing maps of southern Angola while the Mirage III RZs were picking up tactical intelligence by pinpointing specific areas for more detailed coverage. On the 25th of March 1982, 9 F1AZs arrived at on Dungwa for operation Ritstok III. These flying missions were to take two days but of course it's not that simple and rainy season. As I've explained the climate in western southern Africa is divided into a predominantly long, drier season and four months of what are known as big rains. When the big rains sweep in, flying is almost impossible. These huge tropical cumula numbers clouds would rip up plain to pieces. So the intel gathering and photo-taking aircraft flew between the storms, eventually taking 12 days before they were back in Hutsprey. The mig pilots had stayed away and the new data and photographs would be illuminating. Back in a Vumberland things were heating up in more ways than one. At the beginning of April Swapo escalated its activities to full guerrilla warfare after indulging in intimidation and activation tactics through January too much. Nine heavily armed groups of plans special Volcano Unit, as they were known, were heading south for a very special project. These were men and some women trained in Eastern Europe and some had been dormant inside Kaulkaland waiting for the mobilisation order. It came in early April and now they headed south from the western fringe of the Kaulkaland while others moved from Avambaland and Kavango. They split up and headed either side of ittoshapan southwards towards the mainly white sumip farming areas. But two of the western units were tracked down and destroyed and two more were hitting east of ittoshapan were blocked and turned back. Two others moving east of the pan were also wiped out when they reached the Mangetti block north of the farming area. But three sticks of plan fighters managed to break through the defence of Korden and we're going to so have a look. work in a six week rampage in which they ambush their pursuers, mind the roads, kill civilians and sabotage infrastructure. We're going to hear a lot more about what happened next in episode 58. Please rate the podcast on iTunes. It helps elevate the series and if you have any comments, it over to my website abwarpodcast.com is a link to send emails if you want to chat. Or you can direct message me on Twitter @dezlethem. Until next, goodbye. [Music]