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Topic: Battle of Cassinga


  
  Chronological Index of South African Battle Honours since 1945
Note: Not all battles are represented as "battle honours".
Battle honours through 1945 were awarded by a central British authority or by Commonwealth members in close coordination with each other (with a few minor variations).
Battle honours since 1945 have been awarded by independent nations under their own authority, and these are represented in separated lists.
www.regiments.org /wars/bhx-za.htm   (122 words)

  
 Battle of Cassinga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Battle of Cassinga (4 May 1978) was a South African airborne attack on a South-West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) base in the town of Cassinga, Angola.
The nearest Cuban presence was 15 km south of Cassinga, at the village of Tetchamutete.
Despite the huge volume of armaments found and photographed at Cassinga, and documents to the contrary, the International Red Cross stated that the camp was in fact both a refugee camp and a military base.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Battle_of_Cassinga   (4328 words)

  
 NamibWeb.com - The online guide to Namibia: Death in the Desert: The Namibian Tragedy: Into Angola - Operation Reindeer
They were: an airborne assault on Cassinga, some 250 kilometers inside Angola; an overland assault on a series of SWAPO bases near Chetequera, twenty-five kilometers north of the Angolan border; and a helicopter-borne sweep through a series of small SWAPO bases seventeen to twenty-one kilometers east of Chetequera.
Since Cassinga was so far north of the border, the SADF planners reasoned that SWAPO would consider it to be almost immune from attack, especially an airborne assault.
The dense smoke pouring from Cassinga had caused some of the pilots to miscalculate their release-point and the paratroopers were sent out the door three seconds late.
www.namibweb.com /chap13.htm   (5130 words)

  
 Into Angola - Operation REINDEER - Death in the Desert: The Namibian Tragedy by Morgan Norval
It was especially critical at Cassinga where the drop zone was only 450 meters wide and restricted in length by a bend in the winding tributary of the Cubango River that flowed by the town.
The battle at Cassinga was over and an almost disastrous start had been turned into a daring major victory for South African arms.
Cassinga cost the South Africans three known dead, one missing and presumed dead, and eleven wounded.
www.geocities.com /odjobman/norch13.htm   (5170 words)

  
 chronicles sa-soldier
The battles at Lomba River and Cuito Cuanavale forced the Cubans and the Luanda regime to the conference table.
In the battles on 13 and 14 September UNITA suffered 40 losses, and the South African supporting force lost six soldiers as against 382 losses of the FAPLA forces.
The large scale infiltration of SWA by a large number of heavily armed SWAPO terrorists on 1 April 1989 and the bloody battles that ensued indicated that many stumbling blocks remained to be overcome in 1989 before the ideal of an independent Namibia could be achieved.
www.sa-soldier.com /data/02_chronicles/02_2chronicle_col_noethling.htm   (8494 words)

  
 [No title]
The reality however was that Cassinga was not the headquarters of SWAPO but was only a camp for refugees from Namibia, and the toll, which included hundreds of women and children, was almost twice that number.
There was no glory in Cassinga; but sections of the restructured SANDF continue to view that 'battle' as one of the achievements of the old SADF, a great victory in the battle against 'terrorists', which deserves annual commemoration.
Thus, there is an annual admonition by the Defence Minister against moves to commemorate Cassinga or expression of outrage when medals are issued to old SADF personnel for their acts of heroism in the struggle against 'terrorists'.
www.hindu.com /fline/fl1513/15130570.htm   (1961 words)

  
 Cassinga   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
One of the occupants was reminded of the song of the first soldiers who went into battle as paratroopers in 1940, the "Fallschirmjäger :- Rot Scheint die Sonne...."as he glimpsed the rising sun through a window in the Hercules.
It has since been speculated that this was a routine roll call and according to SWAPO itself most of the 4098 terrorists had gathered there that morning just before the attack had taken place.
Despite SWAPO's protestations that Cassinga was a so called " refugee camp", most of the dead, both men and women, were wearing olive green Cuban uniforms, very few bodies were dressed in civilian clothes.
flecha.co.uk /CASSINGA.html   (1452 words)

  
 Index-Battles and Skirmishes in Namibia
Battle of Otjimbingwe (defeat of Orlam Afrikaners by Andersson), June 1863
Battle at the Kareb River, south of Khauxa!nas, June 1905
Battle at Mavinga in Angola and at the Lomba River in Angola, January 1988
www.klausdierks.com /Chronology/index_battles.htm   (373 words)

  
 South African battle honours: Southern Africa 1966-89
Some time in the 1970s, the SA Police established a battle honour for its service during this period.
The SA Defence Force announced military battle honours in 1992, but whether they were actually granted and, if so, to which units, I do not know.
Battle honours (as announced: no idea if they were actually granted):
www.geocities.com /militaf/bh/1966.htm   (377 words)

  
 Number 14   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
The battles that ensued from the encounters and clashes with the Rhodesian armies and apartheid reinforcements have gone down as among the first and fiercest between the regime/s and armed liberation combatants.
The announcement came on the heels of what is now known in the annals of liberation history as the Battle of Mochaneng, when, a small unit of MK got into a meeting engagement with the SADF in Rustenburg in the Western Transvaal.
It was further strengthened by the attack, the previous year, on the SWAPO refugee camp at Cassinga, Southern Angola, where the apartheid military machine massacred children and old women in their hundreds.
www.anc.org.za /ancdocs/pubs/umrabulo/umrabulo14/umkhonto.html   (6951 words)

  
 Unity and Purpose of action - Assata Speaks - Hands Off Assata - Let's Get Free - Revolutionary - Pan-Africanism - ...
But remember, in the battle for freedom, it is not the armoury of the oppressor that matters, it is the will of the people.
That was a novelty, because most leaders don't send their sons into battle, they send other people's sons.
Cassinga was a reception centre for our new arrivals, refugees who were leaving Namibia to join the struggle.
www.assatashakur.org /forum/showthread.php?t=9838   (9031 words)

  
 August 2005 newsletter - Durban - South African Military History Society - Title page
Battle was joined in November 1975 during Operation Savannah when Task Force Zulu advanced towards Benguela on the coast.
The force moved northwards to Oshivello, the training area, to become part of Operation Bruilof to be conducted by Battle Group Juliet under the command of Cmdt.
The infantry battalion was equipped with the new Ratel ICV; the battle group with a squadron of Eland armoured cars (both the 90mm and 60mm models) while the artillery battery also had Eland 60s.
rapidttp.com /milhist/5/d05augne.html   (1193 words)

  
 NamibWeb.com - The online guide to Namibia: Death in the Desert: The Namibian Tragedy: Operation ASKARI
Some documents contained comprehensive detailed sketches and instructions fashioned by Soviet army officers that were so meticulous in their design that they left open spaces between the Russian lines, in order to permit instructions in any language to facilitate comprehension.
After a few isolated clashes the SWAPO terrorists either broke up into small groups of five or six terrorists who continued to try and run the gauntlet to Namibia, often with disastrous results, or they scattered into the bush and worked their way back north to regroup and lick their wounds.
The FAPLA forces had fled before them, but a few of the FAPLA troops were a little tardy in their retreat and, as darkness approached, got mixed in with 32 Battalion.
www.namibweb.com /chap16.htm   (3300 words)

  
 BIOGRAPHIES OF NAMIBIAN PERSONALITIESin alphabetical order
On 17.10.1885 he was defeated by Maharero in the battle of Osona (Witbooi lost his two sons: Jeremia and Salomo, a third one, Jesaias, was wounded), although both sides were prepared to strengthen the peace agreement of Onguheva.
On 18.02.1892 Witbooi was defeated by the Ovambanderu in the battle of Otjihaenena.
From 02./04.01.1905 the battle of Groß Nabas was fought between Hendrik Witbooi and the Germans, with heavy losses on both sides (32% on the German side).
www.klausdierks.com /Biographies/Biographies_W.htm   (11743 words)

  
 NamibWeb.com - The online guide to Namibia: A Forgotten War
After beating the Angolans in a four-day battle, the task force pushed on, with a large number of T-34s being lost to the 90mm guns of its Eland light tanks.
Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected out of hand by Luanda's rulers and, by the end of the year, the communist forces were substantially reinforced as the radar screen protecting Angola was boosted by the addition of SAM-3 and -6 air defence ' missiles.
On 20 July 1988, a major battle took place between South African forces and three Cuban columns advancing towards the Calueque and Ruacana dams under the protection of SAM-6 air defence missiles.
www.namibweb.com /war.htm   (3825 words)

  
 Namibiana Buchdepot: Buch, Bücher, Karten, Video, CD, DVD, Reiseführer, Geschichte, Antiquariat, Flora, Fauna, Kunst, ...
A few years later, I was the Sunday Times's military correspondent and also wrote for a number of well-known international magazines and newspapers, notably Soldier of Fortune.
The fact is, while many were called up, very few SADF members were ever involved in any sort of battle whatsoever.
Probably 95 per cent of all soldiers only ever fired their rifles on a shooting range - something that's tough to admit when all your buddies are impressing the girls with (made-up) war stories.
www.namibiana.de /index.cfm?action=ViewDetails&itemid=1932   (2784 words)

  
 Angola
The Portuguese victory over the Bakongo at the Battle of Mbwila (also spelled Ambuila) on October 29, 1665, marked the end of the Kongo Kingdom as a unified power.
By the eighteenth century, Kongo had been transformed from a unitary state into a number of smaller entities that recognized the king but for all practical purposes were independent.
Damaging though the UNITA assaults were, the greatest threat to Angola's security in the late 1970s was posed by the SADF.
www.mongabay.com /reference/country_studies/angola/all.html   (17969 words)

  
 The History of the SAAF   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
The Corps was awarded the South West African battle honour, a unique award as battle honours are normally only awarded to units.
This led to him battling with Defence Headquarters and the Public Service Commission to get them better rates of pay as no sooner were artisans trained that they were lured away by the trade through offers of better pay.
There was little doubt that the 'Battle of training' as it became known, was being well and truly won.
www.saairforce.co.za /history.htm   (4859 words)

  
 sadfhist
The brigade - known as 1 SA Brigade and 5,800 strong - arrived in Britain in November 1915 and was almost immediately diverted to Egypt to assist the British forces defending the Suez Canal.
In these battles, which lasted from 5 to 20 July 1916, the South African Brigade was almost wiped out, emerging from the carnage with a strength of just 29 officers and 751 men out of a total of nearly 4,000 who had entered the battle.
Cellano, en route to Florence, was captured on 10 June after a particularly fierce battle in which the 11 SA Armoured Brigade performed heroically.
www.rhodesia.nl /sadfhist.htm   (7502 words)

  
 student voice uwc campus src transformation politics
There were some claims and allegations during this time that the interim SRC backed off to challenge the court order since SASCO was supported by the ruling party and its mother body, the African National Congress.
The power battle of the two SRC’ s divided the student body since it became clear that the battle was about resources, Office Keys, SRC Vehicles (ventures) and as to who want to forcefully represent student sentiments.
This ultimately led to the tournament coordinator who is from Ruth First to deduct three points from Dos who had earlier beaten Cassinga 5-3 and funny enough Cassinga never protested the game instead officials from Ruth First and BFR protested the game on behalf of Cassinga.
www.uwc.ac.za /Societies/studentvoice   (3481 words)

  
 Print news - IPS Inter Press Service
She first arrived in Cuba at the age of 16, injured and with horror written on her face after the massacre she witnessed in a refugee camp in Cassinga, in southern Angola.
The ambassador recalled that the victory of Cuban and Angolan troops fighting alongside the guerrilla Southwest African People's Organisation (SWAPO) against South Africa's apartheid army in the April 1988 battle of Cuito Cuanavale in southern Angola played a decisive role in the liberation of Namibia.
Pretoria, after it was defeated in its last major offensive in Angolan territory, was forced to accept the tripartite accords with Angola and Cuba that led to the withdrawal of South Africa's army from Namibia, and in November 1989 Namibia held elections for a constituent assembly.
www.ipsnews.net /print.asp?idnews=24464   (938 words)

  
 Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola 1975 - 1980 by Willem Steenkamp (Book) in
This was a significant publishing event because it showed how the nature of the border war had changed irrevocably, from the occasional ad-hoc “hot pursuit” of SWAPO insurgents into a full-blown semi-conventional conflict.
It heralded the shape of things to come, which was to culminate in the fierce later battles of 1988/89, when South Africans and UNITA slugged it out toe-to-toe with the Soviet-supported and led forces of the Angolan government (Cuban & Russian).
I appreciated the maps of the various battles, which again are a boon for those who were not on the ground at the time.
www.lulu.com /content/136228   (1347 words)

  
 IMAGES OF WAR   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
Having virtually defeated them in battle, the mother country now handed Angola and Mozambique over to the communist Mpla and Frelimo respectively.
The remaining anti-communist Southern African states [Rhodesia, South West Africa and South Africa,] continued to resist the wave of terrorism and communist subversion threatening to engulf the whole of the continent in the wake of the headlong flight of the colonial powers.
According to a 32 Bn soldier, it was further north of this point, during an unscheduled attack on a Swapo base outside his circumscribed area of operation, that Swapo terrorists were caught literally in their sleeping bags, while the base inside the given area had been evacuated.
www.scafrica.com /imagesof.htm   (2491 words)

  
 Pohamba pleads for National Unity   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
The historic journey to the battle of Omugulugwombashe took many years and thousands of miles, starting with the founding of SWAPO on 19 April 1960.
As we all know, after the battle of Omugulugwombashe in the Omusati Region on 26 August 1966, Namibia’s armed struggle shifted to other parts of the country including the Caprivi Region.
We salute the brave sons and daughters who were brutally massacred at Cassinga, Oshaatotwa, Oshikuku, Oshakati Barclay’s Bank, Singalamwe, Shantuhu and many other places in and outside Namibia.
www.grnnet.gov.na /News/Archive/2006/august/heroes.htm   (2254 words)

  
 Angola: Claims & Reality about SAAF Losses
In fact, the losses were so heavy that quite a few aircraft rushed as replacements from the USSR at the time have got the serials of downed planes in order to hide the battering the FAPA-DAA was receiving at the time.
As the SADF was now disengaging towards south their movements were explained with a "defeat of South Africans in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale", which actually never happened, and the vacuum that came into being as the SADF troops pulled out of Angola was swiftly filled by Cuban and FAPLA troops accompanied by SWAPO insurgents.
Following this battle, the Cubans were convinced that further military confrontation with the SADF would not succeed, but launched a propaganda and diplomatic campaign to cover their setbacks and cover their losses.
www.acig.org /artman/publish/printer_184.shtml   (8053 words)

  
 Galago   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
32-Battalion itself which he forged in battle from FNLA guerrilla forces during the South African intervention in Angola in 1975 and 44-Parachute Brigade.
While commanding 44-Para Brigade he led the successful 1978 assault on SWAPO's main base at Cassinga in Angola.
It was believed to be one of the largest airborne assaults anywhere since World War-2.
www.galago.co.za /author_Jan_breytenbach.htm   (212 words)

  
 New Page 1   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
In any case, they formed a minority and the vast majority of white officers and NCOs were born South Africans.
The unit’s aggressiveness and the successes it achieved in the field of battle, often against incredible odds, lay in its spirit and its Esprit de Corps.
To all those who died but especially for those whose bodies were left behind in Angola - We tried to bring you home - Your graves are unmarked on any map but they are marked on our hearts forever.
flecha.co.uk   (1286 words)

  
 [TMP] Miniature Wargames #259 Arrives
Historical introduction, map, and discussion of how to wargame this battle.
Fannin's Defeat, 19th March 1836 - a little-known battle of the Texas War of Independence.
The airborne assault on Cassinga (South African incursion into Angola).
theminiaturespage.com /news/338358   (239 words)

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