Episode 79 – A shootout on a Cabinda beach and the capture of Cpt Wynand du Toit

Welcome back to South African Border Wars with me, your host, Dez Latham. This is episode 79. Last episode, we covered one of 3 2 Battalions' darkest days, the mauling they received at the hands of SWAPU on the 11th of February 1985, where Charlie Company walked straight into one of the better prepared SWAPU bases after taking what some say was a short cut. The death toll on the South African side was heavy. Thirteen soldiers from 3 2 Battalions' Charlie Company died, either during the firefight or of their wounds later. Fifteen SWAPU were also killed. 3 2 survivors described what happened that day as a massacre, with Charlie Company stumbling upon 100 SWAPU soldiers in trenches who were armed with 82mm mortars and machine guns and proceeded to mow down the soldiers of probably the best known SSB. Thus, Operation Forte came to a bitter end. The battalion had been operating deep inside Angola in support of UNITA, but by the end of May 1985, 3 2 withdrew from Angola. The Joint Monitoring Commission came to an end at the same time. Normal service resumed, as they say. Except right now, it wasn't quite the war that everyone had known. With the JMC done and dusted, the covert war increased in intensity to a full-scale mechanized war. In a few months, FAPLA and the Cubans were to launch an attack on UNITA in the southeast of the country. But first, 4 RECI found itself embroiled in their next operation. This was an ambitious project and took the special forces way beyond their normal stomping ground. They were heading to Cabinda Province, far to the north, a province that produces most of Angola's oil and gas. It's an enclave inside the DRC alongside the Congo River. Operation Argon in May 1985, would leave two RECIs dead, one captured, and the South African government in a pickle. Four RECI were once again the go-to organizations, seeing that they had already been successful in blowing up a pipeline in Cabinda in June 1984. 180,000 litres of oil had gone up in smoke. 200 metres of pipeline were destroyed by the South Africans, who made it look like a job by UNITA. Success! It was hoped Argon would be a repeat. Commandant Fenta was installed as Ops Commander for Argon, which was going to involve the raiding group sent to the coast of Angola on board a strike craft. They had then board a submarine, which would surface just off the shore near Malongo. They had used their inflatable boats to hit the beach, foot it to the Cabinda Gulf oil storage tanks, mine them, and then be extracted back to the sub. A nine-man team was selected, the maximum that could be taken into the drop zone by a submarine. As usual, two doctors were sent, along with three coastwains, for the inflatable barracuda boats. Captain Vaynan Tutoy was Mission Commander, and Captain Krubit Nel was his 2IC. I'm going to mention the others involved, because this is one of the most vicious face-to-face fights involving the reccees of the entire war. Staff Sergeant Amalia Kweros and Maddy's Adam were joined by Corporals Michael Ho, Gert Engelbrecht, Toby Tablai, Roland Liebenbach, and Louis van Breda. The medical support were going to be very busy indeed, and it was fortunate for those who were going to return injured that two doctors were on board the sub, with Doctors Dion Rasmus and Franz Versteyr, both qualified operators, as well as surgeons. They were part of this mission. The boats team included Warrant Officer John Haynes, Sergeant MP Fuljun, and Corporals Herbst and Pedrito. Because they were going to end up inserted fairly deeply into Cabinda from the beach, the operation was going to be a two-day, two-day affair. They'd be inserted, travel to their lay-up position, wait during the day, start the operation proper on night two, followed by extraction at 0400 hours on day two. This kind of operation meant at least an RPG-7 as well as light machine gun being lagged along. The operators also usually entered with more ammunition, but this time they were limited by weight. Because of the long distance they were going to trek to the target, and the mines and explosives they were carrying, it was decided that they were going to be shot down. They decided they'd only be outfitted with a single AKM-47 per three operators carrying only two 40-round magazines. Each group of three would also carry two Sterling Patchett silenced machine guns and two 34-round magazines. They were not equipped for a firefight of any sort. This was purely defensive. Each of the nine men were issued with Makarov pistols and two 8-round magazines. One was tasked with carrying a small tin of paint. He was to daub a UNITA sign on a road that would lead you to Kross. A fairly clumsy but effective bit of propaganda, and in this case, moot, as you'll hear. They were supposed to be carrying no traceable items, but somehow this order was ignored with disastrous repercussions, you'll hear in a few minutes. During the briefing, they were told that if any members of the team were captured, they were to tell interrogators they were conducting reconnaissance looking for ANC and SWAP training camps. This was hopelessly silly, really, because anyone who glances at a map can see that SWAP or ANC would not be training in Kabinda province. The territory is a small slither of land inside the Congo, well over 3,000 kilometers north of the South African border. Furthermore, everyone knew by now that the ANC had burned their bridges in Angola and were training further south. A quick explanation at this point. After initially welcoming the ANC's armed wing MK into Angola after the Soweto riots of 1976, by 1983 that had changed. There was a rebellion in ANC camps after officers beat an MK trainee to death in 1983. Then there was a second mutiny starting in Vianna camp in 1984, where the Angolan presidential guard had to be called in to quell the internal uprising. A third mutiny erupted a few months later at Pango, which was also put down with some difficulty. All of this meant the MPLA, by the mid-1980s, had changed their minds about the ANC and its armed wing MK training in their backyard. Eventually, MK was thrown out of Angola by the MPLA during the final phases of Namibian independence negotiations. I'll come back to this saga later, folks, it's interesting. And so, after a couple of false starts, the date for Operation Argon was set for May 18-22, 1985. The SAS Johanna van der Merwe submarine, under Captain Steve Stead, and the SAS Jim Frasier strike craft, led by Fred Guttje, were the insertion and transport vessels. The South Africans had managed to get hold of gulf oil charts and maps, which featured a grid system and highlighted the underwater dangers for the sub, including capped wells, mud banks and sand banks. It was one of these dangers that almost put paid to the submarine. Amazingly, the South Africans had a second operation plan, which was to take place almost simultaneously. This was known as Operation Bennix, which was another ambitious plan to hit fuel storage tanks further south at Lobito, a day after the raid on Kobindo. The SADF wanted a one-two punch delivered to the Angolans. With hindsight, we can say perhaps an uppercut would have been the better option. Meanwhile, despite the fact the Security Cluster and Cabinet had not signed off the missions, the SADF ordered the sub out of Simonstown on the 7th of May anyway, and it picked up the inflatables, equipment and explosives the next night at Saldana. It was a hefty load, 16 Woodstock limpet mines, along with six P-chargers and their stands. These were going to be set up to cause maximum damage to the oil storage tanks, and there was time to also take out the firefighters when they arrived. Nasty stuff. The important logistic issue was that the strike craft, the Jim Frasier, would transfer the Argonne team to the submarine just off Kobindo, then race south to join the second strike craft, Hennedijk Mens, off Lobito as support for Operation Bennix. Then it would race back to the north to pick up the Argonne team. The support vessel SAS Pretier would steam around the Atlantic just south of the Kanene River, supporting both ops. None of the operators in either team knew what the others were up to when they were picked up separately on the 13th of May after the politicians finally gave the go-ahead. The Jim Frasier arrived off Kobindo on the 70th of May well after dark and rendezvoused with the sub-100 nautical miles west of the enclave. Nine operators were transferred, the Jim Frasier then headed off south to get involved in Op Bennix while the Johanna submerged and headed towards the shore. It's an interesting ocean shelf off the coast here, 50 nautical miles out it's 500 metres deep, but 25 miles out the shelf rises so the sea is only 100 metres deep. As the Johanna approached the shore the depth narrowed to 70 metres and Captain Stead ordered periscope depth to have a look around. The currents were strong and there were many tankers anchored about, so they needed to check their position using the gulf oil charts. By noting where the terminals were the captain fixed his position and the sub closed in on the beach. According to Doe Stain in his great book Iron Fist from the Sea, the Takula terminal 25 miles north-northwest of Malembo Point was their main fix. Once they passed this, cruising slowly north, the Johanna turned south-east towards the launch spot about 12 miles offshore. Once they were sure of this position the sub withdrew, and returned the following night, the 19th, to offload the recon team which clambered aboard two inflatables at 1900 hours 15. By 2100 hours 45 they were off the beach and two swimmers Kwerosh and Adam slipped into the Atlantic and made their way to the shore then up a steep slope and headed through a gully towards the small town nearby. They swam back to the inflatables at 2200 hours 50 and reported that it was easy going past Malongo but there was a challenge. Very thick and tall grass had slowed them down closer to the tanks. It would take the team more than an hour to head from the beach to the tarred road just east of the town. This may change their timing somewhat. Recon complete. The recce's returned to the pickup point but couldn't spot the sub. They had to break radio silence to call the Johanna and cross their fingers that no one intercepted their call. Eventually the sub appeared. They were on board by 0300 hours 50. All this moving around looking for the sub meant the boats had covered almost 40 nautical miles. That was 13 more than they planned and had an impact on the fuel reserves. This was going to weigh heavily on the commanders as they began to make critical life and death decisions later. Everything was now set for the raid proper to begin the next night the 20th. Radio monitoring revealed that the Angolans, the Russians and Cubans had apparently not picked up the sub's presence despite breaking the radio silence. The plan was to insert the team which would recce the outer border of the storage depot by 2200 hours. If all went according to their plan they would lay the charges. If there was a delay however then they'd identify their position half an hour after midnight. If they completed everything the deadline for being extracted by the inflatables was 0400 hours the following morning. So it was at 1900 hours 45 on the 20th that the sub surfaced and dropped off the recce's about 16 miles from the beach. The inflatables took a great deal of strain carrying their heavy explosive loads and this caused a delay of half an hour in the trip to the beach where they arrived at 2200 hours 30 chewing up more fuel. Then a fisherman paddling a small dugout passed by delaying the team. When they arrived at the drop-off point two men were seen sitting near a fire on the beach. Eventually the two departed but it was now 2300 hours 30. Captain Dutoy had to make a snap to say goodbye to the crew. Captain Dutoy wanted to know what was going on with the ship. He asked the captain of the submarine to make a decision. Do we stay? Do we go? If we go what kind of changes could be made to the plan? Back aboard the submarine operation commander Fender had no idea what was going on so he couldn't be asked to help. These men were on their own. After weighing up whether to head back to the sub or not the senior raiders decided there wasn't enough fuel left on the boats to rerun this whole operation. Dutoy made the fateful decision then to continue to their layup point. Wait until the next night and complete the mission. The nine men set off up the steep slope into the gully and disappeared while the inflatables headed back to the Johanna. The stress levels were going up not just amongst the nine but also back in the Johanna where commander Stead was fretting about his major asset now in conditions that were distinctly unusual. They were underwater way north of their usual position. If something went wrong it was going to be catastrophic. He was right to fret. This was not the first time he'd had to make a search within 36 hours. Back on dry land the men reached the road junction north of the Malongo fuel storage depot at 0300 hours. Captain Dutoy took stock. Their schedule was now well out of sync. He needed to speed up and the road they'd planned to use to the layup point from the east was now too long. They'd now head towards their layup position from the northwest instead, from the direction of the sea, shortening their walk but by doing so they made a fatal mistake. There was heavy condensation, a dew on the thick grass that they were going to cross which was going to leave noticeable tracks. This was even more noticeable with a group of nine flattening the grass in the dark. Worse they were going to leave the tracks right in front of a fapla base. It was at 0500 that the team arrived at the layup position which was a dense area of bush in the middle of an open area. They entered from its western edge. Less than an hour later the sun rose revealing something that shocked the Reckies. They were in a precarious position. The thicket they'd entered was not their layup initially identified but a much smaller spur of bush to one side that missed their main hideout. This little thicket was surrounded by an open plain with only a tiny straggle of vegetation to the south that they could use possibly to wriggle out should they find themselves in trouble. Then there was a second major shock. About a kilometer away to the northeast just out of the rising sun was a military bush camp on high ground. They'd actually skirted the space in the dark somehow and had not seen it. They then settled into the layup position on edge. Things were going to move extremely quickly from here on in. Starting at 0630 shots were fired nearby and three men were seen moving through the grass with dogs. They were hunting. One was a white man. This was not fapla. Perhaps it was a Cuban or Russian hunting breakfast. The shooting continued until 08:00 when these men left. At 09:00am two soldiers appeared passing northeast and they broke into a run. The Reckies tensed. Nothing happened. A few minutes later two more soldiers appeared and one spotted the spur through the thick grass left by the Reckies. These two walked along the spur watched by the Reckies hiding in the thicket. One picked up something and turned to speak to his companion then both walked away. What the South Africans didn't know was that the man had picked up one of their hats, an SADF camouflage hat. This was a dead giveaway. The two fapla soldiers hurried back to the nearby camp and reported to Second Lieutenant Salvador that they had found this South African hat along a trail left in thick grass. Salvador went to look for himself and immediately realized from the spur that the special forces were around and they weren't his. At eleven hundred thirty a large patrol of a dozen or so pitched up near the thicket and began sweeping the grassy area. This went on for two hours all within sight of the Reckies who were laid up waiting. At 1400 a second patrol arrived east of their position then at 1500 a third patrol came into view in the open area to the north. It was clear this was abnormal activity. Both the actions and the number of patrols concentrated in the area where they had left their tracks meant the fapla were actively looking for them. They were also drawing the perimeter tighter around the Reckies, hiding in the thicket. The sun was beginning to slant, remember it was autumn, so the nine men were banking on daylight running out before they were rumbled. At sixteen hundred hours thirty, however, they began to hear crashing sounds of people cutting and breaking through the bush to their south. A second later, a fapla soldier popped up a few meters away from the Reckies, inside the bush, and Corporal Tablay shot him once. He fell dead. That was all the others were waiting for. Dozens of troops surrounding this position opened fire with automatic rifles and RPG-7s. The Reckies moved backwards, heading north to the edge of the bush, away from the murderous fire. Captain Nell had been hit in the left shoulder, Corporal Hoag was hit in the ankle, and the Reckies rushed to the northern edge, away from this gunfire. Then the team realized that Nell had somehow been left behind. They didn't know he'd been shot a second time. He'd dropped, then staggered to his feet and ran out into the open. Fapla was so surprised they didn't shoot him down immediately. After a few moments, they did open fire, hitting his automatic rifle and shattering his finger and spattering his face with shrapnel. He dived for cover. Staff Sergeant Kweros shouted at fapla patrols. They were South Africans and wanted to stop fighting. Fapla stopped firing for a second, but Kweros muttered to the rest of the Reckies. He could not surrender. Nor could Corporal Tablay. They were both Angolans, and would be executed. Fapla resumed firing at this point, trying to hit the group huddled in the small thicket. They were now using RPD machine guns, along with RPG-7s and AKs. The RPG rockets were ricocheting off the high ground east of the thicket, the fuses unactivated. They were firing from so close. Datoi wanted to break into smaller groups and head for the beach north of Malembo, but some of the men argued they should wait for the night. It was now only a few minutes away. Kweros pointed out that waiting was madness. The enemy were being reinforced and had ammunition to burn. They were surrounded. If they waited, they'd never get away. But Corporal Hoogh, badly injured, could barely move. Captain Nel was also critically wounded. This appeared to be the end of the road for the raiding party. While they discussed what to do, fapla soldiers were shouting insults at the South Africans, but had yet to directly assault the thicket. They were relying on their superior numbers and firepower to do the job from a distance. The Reckies crawled out of the direct fire zone, but left some important clues as they moved, which the Angolans would pick up shortly. Nine water bottles were dumped, which, of course, revealed the size of the raiding force. The raiders managed to creep back into the center of the thicket. It was only a matter of time before fapla began deploying their mortars, then it would be game over. Meanwhile, Captain Datoi had disappeared as these men crept about, so Kweros took over command. Staff Sergeant Adam and Corporal Engelbrecht, who were helping the wounded, Nel and Hoogh, and followed Kweros and Tablai. They found the densest trees and huddled behind the protection of the branches and trunks. six of the operators were now together three others including de tuy were somewhere else it was now seventeen hundred hours thirty sunset was half an hour away and visibility was starting to drop by now it was more than an hour since the firefight began and it was also the first time that nell and hoch could be treated nell in particular had lost a great deal of blood engelbrecht bandaged him as well as he could then gave him a morphine shot nell's hand was a mess his two bullet wounds seeped blood adam was treating hoch whose ankle was shattered by the round varple continued to fire but now they were moving into the thicket hunting the wreckies the enemy were shouting kwerosz could hear them discussing sharing ammunition talking about the nine water-bottles and he heard their commander's instructions to set up ambush positions for the night meanwhile captain de tuy and two others had made their way towards a clump of trees they'd spotted from the thicket there was thick bush and a small depression between them and the trees perhaps they'd make it if they tried to get away the enemy had crept up to their previous position by now it was cat and mouse inside this beach bush zone de tuy had to make up his mind in a split second the three were exposed and were away from the other six and so they began leopard crawling towards these trees through the depression they had no idea that varple's commander lieutenant salvador had ordered his men to keep a sharp eye on this obvious escape path and so a vaplar soldier spotted the three wreckies and shouted moments before he was cut down by de tuy and the two others who simultaneously opened up with the ak and two silent sterling patchets Fabian now knew exactly where these three were and focused an intense fusillade straight into their position. Corporal van Breda was shot dead instantly, his two colleagues tried to crawl further but then Corporal Liebenbach was the next to be hit and killed. Captain Dutoy's AK was hit by a round and damaged so he hauled out his Makarov pistol and waited for the end. Then he was hit by two rounds shattering his left arm and the second passing through his right shoulder. His fight was over, he could not hold his Makarov. Enemy soldiers swarmed over his position, some began grabbing his watch and his weapon thinking he was dead. Then they realized he was alive and one stood back to execute him. Cuban soldiers had heard him shout he was a South African soldier so they stepped in front of the FAPLA men who were about to shoot. He was then dragged to his feet, arms tied behind his back and kicked and dragged across the open plain towards a nearby road. From there he was driven south to the south of the FAPLA. From there he was driven south to to the town of Kabinda for treatment and interrogation. For the survivors back in the thicket, Dutori's capture was followed by some respite and it saved their lives. What happened next is for episode 80. Please rate the podcast on iTunes. It helps increase the series' visibility. If you want to contact me, you can email me through the website abwarpodcast.com or direct message me on Twitter at Des Latham. Until next, Fussbait. © transcript Emily Beynon