Speaker 1Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Des Latham. This is episode 59. In episode 58, we heard how two swapper platoons had created an obvious trail near Tsumeb. It was bait for a trap they were planning, an ambush that would surprise the trailing 61 mechanized battalion follow-up. This was a change in tactics by a swapper's commander, Danji Ashipala, who had sent 150 men to attack the white farming areas in the Triangle of Death. The South Africans were aware of a series of tracks. This had been a large group of swapper and couldn't be missed. What they had no idea about was that their enemy had decided that in this case, they wouldn't run, but stand and fight. On the evening of April 14th, 1982, 61 mech had been enjoying entertainment laid on at Tsumeb Town Hall, when word came of the large number of tracks discovered near the border with Angola. And it appeared the enemy was heading their way. Less than 90 minutes later, these troops suddenly were in the bush trying to make contact with two swapper platoons. There were also two Alouette gunships and two Pumas ready to fly over the area at first light on the 15th, and it wasn't clear at this stage how fast swapper was moving. Of course, they weren't moving fast at all, and had moved and stopped exactly where they were going to lay their trap, alongside FN Sachana, west of Tsumeb, on the Bravo area cut line. Tanti Pompey van der Vesthuizen, the civilian farmer's wife, who was so critically important in the relaying of information across the Triangle, was up and about in her kitchen at Kudusvlei Farm. 61 mech commander Roland de Vries radioed her asking for assistance from her husband, Deinke, who knew the area so well. "Kudusvlei is located about 30 km from Tsumeb, and Deinke, van der Vesthuizen, responded immediately, heading off to 61 mech HQ at Sintsebas, along with his son Hendrik, the expert Spoor reader Jan Kaka, and two other sand trackers." With so many swapper guerrillas on their way south, de Vries was pondering something unusual. Why did swapper not cover their tracks? They appeared to be marching about the bush, leaving clear signs, instead of the usual approach, which was to try and obfuscate their movements. The next day, the sun rose, heralding another warm day in the Triangle, but today it was going to be more than warm, it would be very hot. It was Thursday, the 15th of April. Swapper's platoons, under their commanders Kajofa and Kululu, had ordered their men to dig in behind thick bush on the western side of a large open area, the Afensa Chana. That was northwest of Tsumeb, and their position provided an excellent vantage point. They could look out over open ground from behind thick bush, to the other side of the Chana, which is an area like a small salt pan, open, sandy. They had walked north from Bravo Cut Line, into the bush, then over the Chana, and entered bush on the other side. This left a very clear trail to follow. It was a classic set-up. The guerrillas then dug shallow foxholes, forty men in all laid out in two lines. The first group, of around fifteen, were lying a few metres away from the edge of the Chana. The second was behind them, about twenty to thirty metres away. Both groups arranged to fire in a south-easterly direction. They had set up sixty millimetre mortars, and further to the right was a strela missile group with a view of the cut line, the Chana, and their own men. They had created a killing field. Swapper was also armed with RPG7s and grenade launchers, and these troops were laid out so that the blast from the pipes would not burn their comrades. Behind them were the sixty millimetre mortars. They could hear the rifles and other vehicles moving around through the bush. But they couldn't see any yet. Back at Kourisvlei, Tanti Pompi was monitoring the army radios, and had the volume turned up loud. As Dion Lamprecht writes in his biography of Tanti Pompi, she had prepped Danky's pack before he left, with extra cigarettes, his Bible, and a bottle of whisky. He'd always tank a bottle into the bush when he patrolled. She wasn't too pleased about that. He'd formed a kind of dependency, which wasn't quite alcoholism, but it wasn't healthy. His brand was White Horse, according to Karl-Futt Itzak, or Itzak Visser, a friend. Karl-Futt, or Barefoot Itzak, preferred not to wear the boots issued to commanders. He also liked to make a huge fire when he patrolled, which unnerved his colleagues. Visser just laughed, saying he wasn't afraid. Back in Tsintsebas, Roland de Vries was up and about, at about 0600 hours, waiting for news on the 15th. He didn't have long to wait. He almost immediately received a call that one of the 61 Mech Rattles had rolled south of Oshevelo Gate, killing one of the troops inside. The first SADF soldier to die in this coming battle had perished in a car accident. That seemed more than an utter waste. Three hours later, more bad news. A Northern Border Company patrol spotted Swapwa's tracks crossing the Bravo cut-line, 30 kilometers west of Tsintsebas. As they tracked this group, one soldier had been blown up by an anti-personnel mine. But this time, Swapwa didn't just lay a single mine, they laid it on top of an 82mm mortar bomb. This killed the SADF soldier outright, and wounded eight others nearby. It was a real mess. De Vries was growing more concerned by the minute. All that this patrol could find, after they cazevacked their wounded, were the tracks of four Swapwa. Back at HQ, de Vries began to privately dread the next radio call. Events were not going in 61MEC's favour. De Vries also needed better information about what was going on, and he trusted Captain Jan Malan of Alpha Company with the mission. He asked him to take along Deinke van der Vestezen, his son-in-law Hendrik, and three SAND trackers, Jan Kaker, Jan Sr. and Eddie. They were the best in the business, and right now he needed the best out there, searching for Swapwa. They headed off along the Bravo cut-line through the border. De Vries had left Bravo cut-line through the bush, arriving at a spot 15km west of Zinsebas, where Swapwa's trail had last been seen. Captain Malan had chosen Platoon 2 from Alpha Company to trail Swapwa, joined by four Rattles. One for each of the infantry section of ten men, as well as an extra for the platoon commander. The company commander Captain Malan was in his own Rattle, so there were now five of these feared armoured vehicles out at Bravo cut-line. 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They needed to find out which. Captain Milan radioed De Vries, asking for permission to conduct a wide circular sweep both sides of the cut line, using the tracks as the center point. That was taking a bit of a chance, given how hot the trail was, but De Vries decided it was worth the risk, and during the radio call, warned Milan that One of Alpha Company's sections would head south and rattle 12 Bravo, using Jan Kaker's older brother, O-Jan, as their tracker. They were to head no further than 200 meters off the cut line road. Another section was to head north, following the larger trail of men into the thick bush. As I said, that was taking a big chance. Given that they were now following what looked like an entire platoon with a single rattle, a section, those weren't great odds, particularly as Swapper had the upper hand because of the thick bush surrounding 12 Alpha. They'd leave the three other rattles, 10, 12, and 12 Charlie, on the Bravo cut line, so they could respond in other directions should the situation arise. A full section of 10 men were on board the rattle as it headed slowly into the thick bush. There was also the driver and a gunner manning the 20mm automatic cannon. This was 12 Alpha, platoon 2, section 1. They believed they had enough firepower to cope with 20 Swapper if the enemy had been slow to leave the area. What they obviously didn't know was just how many guerrillas were waiting just the other side of Offensa Chana, dug in with a strela missile, 60mm mortars, and RPGs. Even for a rattle, any one of those arms would pierce its armor. Daiki was sitting with the commander in the turret with three men on the front of the rattle including Hendrik, Jan Kaka, and the other sand-tracker, Eddie. The six-wheeled, powerful rattle crunched through the thick bush knocking down the small trees as the trackers pointed the direction to the driver. They were bundabashing and the rattle was king of the bush-bashers. Lying in their foxholes, the Swapper company waited, hearing the tearing sounds as the branches broke and the rattle's powerful turbo-diesel growled. They had been briefed that this would happen and today they were not running. They were going to fight where they were. Jan Kaka was apparently sitting on the road on the nose of the rattle by now along with rifleman Hendrik Visser while Eddie was sitting on the spare wheel behind him although there is some debate about whether at least one of the trackers was on foot. Daiki was still sitting in the commanding officer's tower keeping a close eye on the trackers and for signs of Swapper. He'd been in the command tower through four previous contacts with Swapper where he'd seen 18 enemy killed so he was confident of the rattle and the SADF capabilities. It was around 1100 hours ago when the rattle broke cover heading in a north-westerly direction across the China and they were approaching the thick bush on the opposite side when suddenly Jan Kaka or perhaps Eddie, no one can be sure, smelt human urine and saw the splashes on the sand. At about that time Daiki could have spotted the dark green uniforms of Swapper in the bush directly ahead. Captain Milan, waiting with the three other rattles heard the explosions and automatic fire. He immediately realized that the weapons firing were not the 20mm rattle. As Dion Lamprecht says the gates of hell had opened up on 12 Alpha. The first RPG hit its engine block which stopped the rattle in its tracks. At least seven other RPGs and SKS tank grenades then hit the rattle at point-blank range. Daiki died instantly. Jan Kaka was also killed as he sat on the front peppered with AK-47 rounds. Hendrik Visser was wounded but tried to pull Daiki's body from the tower. Apparently he died in the attempt. It was a close call. It was carnage. The ten troops inside were all either dead or wounded by shrapnel. A few were sitting at the open door and they were thrown out by the force of the RPG blasts then shot down by AKs. Back at the cut line Captain Milan ordered the two other sections into their attack formation and they moved quickly towards the black smoke rising above the bush. At the same time he continued calling 12 Alpha but there was no answer and he had to hold his fire because he had no idea where the South Africans were. Then he radioed Commandant De Vries back at Zinzebus who screamed Go! Go! Go! to the Alouette pilots and they were in the air shortly afterwards. Back at the China SWAPO commanders Kayofa and Kululu fired signal flares and the two companies leapt up from their foxholes and took off northwards into the thick bush. They'd come to destroy a rattle not die as Lamprecht notes. They weren't suicidal and knew exactly what was likely to be on the way. Their own version of hell was now approaching the Alouette gunships. The two SWAPO companies broke into small sticks of two or three men and melted away. Back at the China two bloodied troops staggered towards Captain Malan and told him that many were dead. They all hurried to the burning rattle where it was surrounded by AK-47 casings only a few meters away. The South Africans didn't have a chance. As Malan tried to push open the rattle door the ammunition inside began to explode. There were bodies and some were thrown burning out of the rattle as the explosions rent the air. The Alouettes arrived overhead within 10 minutes which is remarkable really and once Captain Malan had radioed the direction SWAPO was last seen he turned his attention back to the burning rattle. The Pumas landed and the wounded were evacuated along with the bodies of their fellow troops but many more were inside the blazing rattle. Minutes later the sound of the Alouettes circling and their 20mm cannon could be heard from the northwest. Then Captain Malan saw a line of black smoke rise towards one of the choppers. It was a Strela missile fired by SWAPO but it missed. He turned back to the scene of chaos and began to count the cost of this ambush. Along with Dainke, Hendrik and young Kaka there were 8 other bodies lying in and alongside the rattle. It was time to radio the facts through to De Vries but Captain Malan could not reach him. Monitoring these calls was Tanti Pompey in her farmhouse kitchen and she offered to relay whatever information he had to 61MEC HQ. Captain Malan began reciting an outline of the event to Tanti Pompey along with the details of casualties she asked to speak to Dainke but he continued with his list. He read her the names until he reached the last three her husband Dainke her son-in-law Hendrik and the master tracker young Kaka and here he hesitated. When he could say nothing the radio crackled and Tanti Pompey said It's ok Captain I knew all along. Then she radioed to Vries back at HQ and read him the names one by one ending with Dainke, Hendrik and Jan. Clearly in shock the 61MEC commander ordered the chaplain into a spare puma and he flew to Kudusvlei farm to be with Tanti Pompey and her daughter Olivia who had collapsed when she heard the news that her husband Hendrik was dead. Back at FN Satchana the rattle continued to burn. Captain Malan and two Alpha platoons scoured the bush finding three SWAPO bodies and a Strehler missile. One of the dead enemy was a section leader. By now Karlfoot Itzak heard that his friend was dead and climbed into his land rover heading for the China from around 35km away. That was taking a chance considering how active SWAPO had been but friendship makes you do crazy things. He was determined to pull the bodies from the rattle when he got there but it was burning too fiercely. That night he slept alongside the hulk and said later that it glowed in the dark like the heart of a Vulcan. The dead could not be removed and Karlfoot Itzak said that those inside had died a viking death. It took three days for the rattle to cool down enough before the bodies could be removed for burial. Later the sappers found eight landmines around the area where SWAPO had hidden waiting for their prey their departure present. But SWAPO's Operation Typhoon was not finished yet. The platoons under command of Nangobi Kilimanjaro, Kaunda, Shikongo, Castro and Indowishi were still in the bush aiming at targets east and west of Tsume. Their actions would continue to rip through the Triangle of Death. We'll hear what happened next in episode 60. Please rate the podcast on iTunes it helps escalate the visibility of the story. If you have any comments head over to my website abwarpodcast.com There's a link to send emails if you want to chat. Or you can direct message me on Twitter @deslathan Until next Fussbait. Outro Music Outro Music Outro Music Outro Music Outro Music Outro Music
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