South African Border Wars
A podcast by Desmond Latham
Categories:
113 Episodes
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Episode 33 – SA Parabats are in Cassinga but SWAPO fights back, while Juliet raids Chetequera
Published: 10/15/2021 -
Episode 32 – First the Canberras, Buccaneers and Mirages then the paratroopers leap into hi
Published: 10/7/2021 -
Episode 31 – D-Day and Operation Reindeer begins
Published: 10/1/2021 -
Episode 30 – A four phased blueprint to attack Cassinga as Operation Reindeer is good to go for May 4th 1978
Published: 9/23/2021 -
Episode 29 – Two parachute battalions begin training in earnest for Operation “Wedding” aka Reindeer but there’s a hitch
Published: 9/14/2021 -
Episode 28 – Operation Reindeer gets the green light after SAAF Buccaneers discover Cassinga camp
Published: 9/7/2021 -
Episode 27 - A prelude to Operation Reindeer and the SADF airborne attack on Cassinga
Published: 8/30/2021 -
Episode 26 – Jannie Geldenhuys takes charge of SWA Command
Published: 8/23/2021 -
Episode 25 – The Reccies and 32 Battalion continue the war inside Angola and the Soweto Uprising shocks the Nationalist
Published: 8/15/2021 -
Episode 24 – The Angolan Army re-organises, Moscow refocuses on Africa and Mirages arrive in Ondangwa
Published: 8/12/2021 -
Episode 23 – The SADF re-equips after Savannah and the Ratel is born
Published: 8/4/2021 -
Episode 22 – The SADF Day of Disaster as Operation Savannah winds down
Published: 7/25/2021 -
Episode 21 – The Battle for Bridge 14 part II and Battle Group Orange face T34s at the Pombuig River
Published: 7/18/2021 -
Episode 20 – The Battle at Bridge 14 part I
Published: 7/11/2021 -
Episode 19 – The SADF conducts an off-the-record briefing and the start of the struggle to control Bridge 14
Published: 7/4/2021 -
Episode 18 – The Battle of Ebo - the first major defeat for the SADF during Operation Savannah
Published: 6/28/2021 -
Episode 17 – The SAS Steyn’s role in the remarkable evacuation from the beach at Ambrizette
Published: 6/21/2021 -
Episode 16 – Luanda’s “Death Road” leaves the FNLA in tatters and the CIA decides to up and off
Published: 6/14/2021 -
Episode 15 – Angolan independence day passes while Task Force Zulu and Foxbat continue fighting
Published: 6/7/2021 -
Episode 14 – The assault on Benguela and its airport
Published: 5/30/2021
Much has been written about the South African Border war which is also known as the Namibian War of Independence. While the fighting was ostensibly about Namibia, most of the significant battles were fought inside Namibia’s northern neighbour, Angola. South Africa’s 23 year border war has been almost forgotten as the Cold War ebbed away and bygones were swept under the political carpet. South African politicians, particularly the ANC and the National Party, decided during negotiations to end years of conflict that the Truth and Reconciliation commission would focus on the internal struggle inside South Africa. For most conscripts in the South African Defence Force, the SADF, they completed matric and then were drafted into the military. For SWAPO or UNITA or the MPLA army FAPLA it was a similar experience but defined largely by a political awakening and usually linked to information spread through villages and in towns. This was a young person’s war which most wars are – after all the most disposable members of society are its young men. Nor was it simply a war between white and black. IT was more a conflict on the ground between red and green. Communism and Capitalism. The other reality was despite being a low-key war, it was high intensity and at times featured unconventional warfare as well as conventional. SADF soldiers would often fight on foot, walking patrols, contacts would take place between these troops and SWAPO. There were many conventional battles involving motorised heavy vehicles, tanks, artillery, air bombardments and mechanised units rolling into attack each other. The combatants included Russians, American former Vietnam vets, Cubans, East Germans and Portuguese.
