Episode 64 – Another Maputo raid and Hearts and Minds in the Kavango

Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Tiers Latham. This is episode 64. In February 1980, Robert Macgarby's Zainu movement was about to win the first Symbabrian election, managing to scrape a small majority. They won 57 seats out of 100, so not exactly a landslide then. In April, Macgarby would officially be declared Prime Minister in the country would become independent from the United Kingdom. On the 1st of April, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference was set up with Angola Botswana-Lasuto, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe signing up. South Africa was a noticeable absentee because the main reason for the SADCC was to win the other southern African states off South Africa's economy. Zimbabwe immediately felt the pain. South Africa stopped exporting fertiliser within a few months, then cancelled the trade agreement with the national rollways of Zimbabwe. Harari turned to Mozambique in particular, the Beirut Corridor in Zimbabwe began exporting and importing products via this vital route which terminated in Beirut. There was also that all-important oil pipeline which had been closed through the Bushwar and which was going to be reopened. Before all of this started, planning of another type was underway. The wreckies and the Redision SAS wanted one more opportunity to attack a Robert Mugabi who was living in Maputo. By now, killing Mugabi had become an obsession. Three previous attempts had failed, as you know. The new operation was set for January 1980 and called Trample and was a repeat of a previous object missed Mugabi. This mission was to be conducted by the SAS's Zebra Group under Major Wilson. A new South African navy strike craft under Commander Andrew Renny was called the SAS France Erasmus and was to support the Redis and Captain Woodburn newly promoted would be Ops Commander. Once again, the teams changed and headed off to Derben and after dark one night they boarded and turned out to sea. It took 24 hours and then they were off Maputo and the launch position of around 8 nautical miles north of Inyaka Lighthouse. As if by some kind of divine intervention, things did not go smoothly once again. A third boat had a problem, thus delayed everything and the wind and swells began to rise. So the mission was postponed and the strike craft headed out to sea to regroup and have a think. The wreckies suggested that a second strike craft joined the mission and Commander Johan de Tiff's essay is Jim Fouche just happened to be off Richard's bay. He was told to sail north and join up with the France Erasmus. But first the Fushia doctored Richard's bay to pick up motors and a boat flown into the harbour town by decoder and took off after dark to join the other strike craft just off Maputo. It was going to be another frustrating night as you're going to hear. The three small boats were dropped into the ocean with the crew of wreckies and redision SAS. This time they were far close and inside Maputo Bay. The idea was to launch on the north east side near the Shafina Channel which would shorten the time needed to head to the beach. The idea was good if all the boys had their lights working which they weren't. It's typical of Maputo even today the infrastructure is ramshackle to put it mildly. Captain Woodburn realised there was a real risk of grounding the boats so he ordered the France Erasmus to reverse course and they exited the channel then headed back to the rendez-vous point 50 nautical miles east of Punte du Otto. Despite the fact that the wind was up they decided to move all the raiders to the France Erasmus from the gym for sure but disaster struck on the return, a boat overturned throwing the crew in the equipment into the sea. The crew swam to safety and some operators dived into the ocean to recover the floating gear. Luckily none of the weapons or ammunition was lost. Then after some maintenance on the outboards the two strike craft headed back into Maputo Bay the next night. This time they used the south channel with the France Erasmus in the lead. It was a good night no wind and they could make out the lights of the channel. Then they spotted a ship at anchor close by. The strike craft slowed down to 10 knots to make less noise and after a few tense moments the two crafts sped up again and entered the bay at a speed of 18 knots heading south-westerly. The small boats relaunched once more and they hit the beach in good time where the raiders were dropped off and the Zodiacs withdrew to beyond the breakers in the dock. The S.A.S headed quickly for the target then realized they were further north than they'd planned and had to cross a main beach road. As they walked across a car approach and the S.A.S. operators were in its lights so they stopped the vehicle but the occupants realized they were being apprehended by non-Musbicans and struggled to get away. Things began to unravel because at that moment four policemen appeared. The raiders opened fire with the American 180 silenced machine guns killing three but the fourth policemen escaped into nearby bushes. Mission aboard to the raiders rushed back to the beach and the three boats roared up into the surf, picked up the S.A.S. and headed out to sea in the channel. Looking back as they thundered out into the bay, the S.A.S. could see the road was awash with blue lights. Most and beak authorities had arrived incredibly quickly and the mission of board decision was not only correct, it was just in time. The three boats roamed over with the strike craft and it was back to South Africa and the last attempt at Killing Mugabe in Mabuta was over. All four attempts had failed. This was also the last combined operation featuring four wreckies and the Redision S.A.S. Later, in 1980, the Redision S.A.S. began to suspect that someone inside the S.A.S. government had possibly been feeding warnings to Mugabe about the planned attacks. At least, that's what some S.A.S. bets told four wreckies, Doe Stain, and he put this on the record in his book "I Am Fist From The Sea". There would be many more operations along the Mozambique coast, as well as in Angola, and I'll return to some of these in later podcasts. But right now, we must head forwards back to 1982. Remember, we left off a few episodes ago after the Swapar operation into the Triangle of Death, just south of Bovumberland, in the Tumiblokar. There were a few small ups in the remainder of 1982, leading to a major incursion into Angola in December called Operation Ascari. I'll deal with the plans in Episode 65, but first, in May 1982, S.A.D.F. Intelligence reported that radio messages had been intercepted indicating that Swapo was busy again in the area run on Konkur, which is north-west of Rokona. When Bourmslung began at 1800 on the 30th of May, when three two battalion tactical HQ in Guamato was told to prepare a company in two reconnaissance teams for an airborne assault on the Swapo base at Konkur. Three two battalion requested that the Reckys check on Konkur to verify these reports. Unfortunately, the request was denied with the S.A.D.F. saying there wasn't enough time. One two Pumers airlifted the company of men 20 kilometres north-west of the target on the 14th of May. They laid up overnight. At 1100 on the 15th, two eight men, offensive Reckys teams, were flown into positions just north of Guamato, and they set up ambushes on the road. Then just before midday, all 25 members of the main assault group were chopped into a point to the southwest of the town in a Puma, but a second Puma had technical problems and was grounded. The silhouette gunships were mobilized and the assault on Konkur began at 1,230, but as three two battalion moved in, it was clear the town had been abandoned. The patrol was dispatched into the bush to the north, but after five kilometres of trekking, they turned around because there was no sign of Swapo or of Whuplup. Back in the town, the company moved from building to building, only to find that the main doors to an abandoned hospital had been booby trapped. They blew it up using a bunker bomb then searched the small hospital finding nothing. The next day, the 16th of May, 15 troops were flown further north west of Konkur. Vehicle tracks were picked up at nothing else, and by 1,100 hours 30, three two battalion was on its way back to Rokona. In two days of sweeping the felt, a small tribe of Ovihimba people were contacted, and they said that Fapler had evacuated the town two years before, while the vehicle tracks belonged to government patrols which only visited monthly. The villages confirmed there were no Swapo in the area, and this entire up irritated three two men for its waste of time. Had the wreckies been dispatched, as they had requested, they could have concentrated their energies elsewhere. Speaking of time and money, the far eastern area of Ovihimba land had experienced some peace and quiet for some time, and by 1981, the Kavangro farming area of Mangati was clean. It had avoided the insurgency that had characterized the central region. It was due to a number of factors, not least, a highly successful hearts and minds campaign launched by Billum Ratta of three two battalions reconnaissance wing. Always highly situationally aware, Ratta had noticed that Swapo tended to use the incongru route around 60 kilometers west of Umauni as their main infiltration path. But it was in 1981 that Swapo also realised that it could cut time that it took to reach a Wombu land in half if it set up camps and caches in the Kavangro. The only problem was, the Black residents in Kavanga were totally opposed to Swapu, unlike their brethren for the West. Captain Rutter knew that keeping Swapu out here was critical, so he decided on setting up strong points through the Mangeti and around the Enkonga root. This idea is not new, the Americans had used the similar tactic in Vietnam where they tried to win over the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese by strengthening defences in villages around the Ho Chi Minh Trail. But the S.A.D.F. was not wild about the idea of training up villages in the Kavanga, at least initially, and by May of 1981 Swapu had spotted the gap and was beginning to move through this region unchecked. And Swapu also began to become more emboldened and killed two headmen at Ohe Kik and Oshatotu. By October 6-2-2-0 commanding officers decided they'd supported Rutter's plans and something they called "Operation's Spider Web". The village of Ohe Kik lies around 40 kilometres west of the Kavanga river, almost directly on the Kathnan and was the focus of the first initiative. Families of the murdered headmen would be moved here then trained to fight against Swapu. Soon after the move, ten troops from 3-2 battalion were sent to support these villages and they were in constant radio contact with the main base at Umau Ni. Rutter also ensured that one of the women at the village was trained in nursing by the doctor at Umau Ni and that a clinic be set up at Ohe Kik. South-West African government departments such as Agriculture Health and Education were asked to assist. At first the bureaucrats responded positively, with Colonel Hatnell authorising a first phase of development, the troops moved over under staff sergeant Ron Gregory and they formed the nucleus of a quick reaction force in Ohe Kik. By December 1981, families from villages such as Onguia and Oshatotwa and smaller locals in the radius of around 25 kilometres had agreed to move into the strong point. The only local chief who remained outside was Chief Silas, who had 20 home guards, civilian troops protecting his family and his people under the Aegis of the Obamaland authorities. This hearts and minds campaigns seemed to work well and by February 1982 there were 60 men and some women based at Ohe Kik. 22 were armed with R1s while a doctor and a chaplain from three two battalion paid courtesy calls regularly and staff sergeant Tiyun Szilof set up a rudimentary woodwork factory. Local residents began to turn out utensils and decorative goods from the teak, an amazing wood that grew throughout the region. Then maize in tobacco were distributed monthly, rata there wasn't finished. He knew education was the key to furthering the aims of the SEDF and while travelling through the neighbourhood he spotted an abandoned pre-fampicated building at Olu Kula. That's further west, also quite close to the cutline. Rata had the building dismantled and moved to Omouni where it was rebuilt near the main gate and formally declared the school was open. Some of the kids who attended that year walked 20 kilometres every day to make it a class, hosted by a part-time teacher, Private Kuni Brits, you also happen to be the base clock. By May of 1982 the strong point at Ohe Kik was holding and the locals were supporting this initiative because it serviced their main needs and yet Swapar kept up their infiltration. They just moved the trail further south by passing the Ohe Kik strong point. They had been crossing this area from east to west before turning south into a Vumberland and now they moved even further south of a place called Shandilya Road. Eventually Chief Silas was murdered in early June 1982 despite his 20 well-armed guards and his family finally withdrew to Enkongo. The SEDF began to understand the importance of these armed settlements and granted permission to set up others at Ongalulu, Ombumbo and Oma Mishu but then the bureaucrats got cold feet. They delayed the implementation of structures and even the cash required to build these new strong points. The only one that survived through the period was Ohe Kik and when Oma Mishu was handed over to the newly formed South West African Special Forces later in 1982, everything fell apart. Moving back westwards from this eastern area and by May 1982 Swapar had begun trying to expand the area of the war once more. So Mirage 2 in Canberra photographic aircraft were given permission to fly into Angola, something that the political leadership had halted for almost a year. Captain Martin Lowe and Lieutenant John Ings were in the Air Force-based Andungwa Ops Room on standby on the 13th of May about to brief two Mirage FRCZ pilots who derived the day before with three squadrons. At 1600 hours they were ordered to carry out an armed reconnaissance mission over Kuvale which is about 140 kilometres directly north of Andungwa. Oshikati radio that they'd hot intel that a helicopter carrying senior military staff possibly Cubans and maybe Angolans on its way to Kuvale and they were planning to attend a conference. Their task was to shoot it down. Armed with our 550 missiles and 30 millimeter cannon, a pair of Mirages took off at 1600 hours 35 with Lieutenant Ings as the leader and climbed through 20,000 feet heading directly for Kuvale. It took 15 minutes and they were overhead but had to remain at 16,000 feet to avoid the anti-aircraft fire. A few minutes later, Ings spotted an MI-8 chopper in a field south of the town near famous Espen in the road. They positioned themselves for an air-to-ground attack from the west out of the sinking sun and Ings rolled in first opening up with a 30 millimeter cannon but the rounds burst past the chopper. The low followed him in and he was on target, walking his shells up to the MI-8 and it exploded in a fuel fireball. Both pilots turned and headed home, mission complete. The next day, Commander Dick Lord and Captain Jan Henning took off to hit a railhead in the province of Jamba close to a mining area north of Kassinger. It took out the railway line and flew back. Things seemed to be going well in the air wall. Then on the 15th of May, the busy weekend got busier. Several Mirage A-Zs and four C-Zs took over the order to attack a Swapo base north east of Kassinger. 48 Mark 82 bombs hit the base, half of these armed with contact fuses. The other had limbo air burst fuses. It's not known how many casualties Swapo took in this raid but the SAF was not finished this May weekend. At 1400 hours 30, nine Mirage A-Zs lifted off and headed to another logistics base just south of Moulando, which is about a hundred kilometres southwest of Kassinger. It's on the Kaneni River and was being used by Swapo as a drop up point for equipment and the low level approach caught the AA gun's napping. Ammunition and arms dumps were destroyed in that attack. Then a little later, three Buccaneers headed off from Krutfonte for a strike on an airfield near Kassinger. This time they'd use the initial point medium toss or IPMT profile. Each aircraft had 8 460 kilogram bombs. The way the IPMT profile work was the Buccaneers with thunder towards the target at low level around a hundred feet AGL, then pull up around four nautical miles from the target. They'd release the bombs and plunge back to the safety of low level once more. The first run though was a miss, they didn't drop their bombs and land up once again. During it over 580 knots and at 100 feet, there were in attack formation when a unique situation that could have been catastrophic developed. Suddenly bombs began falling from the wings and bombay of the lead Buccaneer, just missing a pilot by the name of Lapis Labeskachni. The attack was aborted and they flew back to Krutfonte to find that the lead aircraft system had failed, with Labeskachni telling all in sundry how big a half-ton bomb looked when it flew past his canopy at 580 knots. A day later it was Kohama's turn to be bombed, it's a town that has featured quite often in our story so far, and on the 17th of May 8 Mirage Azez and Fourseez were dispatched to attack this town, which is around 100 kilometers north west of Zangongal. The Mirages pulled up to 18,000 feet just before Kohama then dived out of the rising sun into a barrage of anti-aircraft fire. The town was famous for its defensive system, and on that day it was no different, with heavy 23mm and 57mm fire just missing the Mirages, the bombing complete, they headed back to Andangua. The ground crew quickly rearmed the planes in three hours, and then the pilots were back off to Jamba Province, and this time it was even more difficult. They were targeting a Cuban position south of an airfield, and this bombing run was in response to increased Cuban support of Swapu. Three formations of Mirage F1s attacked the Cuban base from the west, but the South Africans now faced an extremely menacing weapon, the Zedys U234 Shilka battery. It's a mobile weapon on tracks, a four-barrelled rapid firing beast that lays a curtain of explosive rounds in the sky, peppering any aircraft in the vicinity. When the shells explode it's like a white curtain that appears that none of the Mirages were hit. Out of the corner of the pilots eyes though, they spotted a Soviet-built twin-engine Antonov-26 transport plane on the ground, but the defensive fire was too heavy to try and take this out. And so ended one of the busiest weekends for the SA Air Force in recent months. The next day all the Mirages headed back to their respective bases in South Africa. following what was seen as a highly successful three days. The air and sea war proved that the border conflict was only just getting going and the SEDF were also planning something big for the end of 1982 called Operation Ascari. I've spoken to a few vets of this op and I'll share some of these stories with you as we cover the next few months of the border wars. One story in particular, biggest belief as you're going to hear. Please rate the podcast on the iTunes, it makes the series more visible and you can head off to abwarpodcast.com and you can mail me there if you want or direct message me if you're in a rush on Twitter @tearslave. Until next goodbye. you