Operation Protea has entered its fifth day and the town of Ongiva had been bombed by the Air Force, and bombarded by artillery. Battle Group 10 had managed to sort out the area immediately west of the town, now 20 and 30 were going to bypass the town between the airport and the CBD, and strike at targets from the north West. 30 was heading directly for the airport which was going to prove a difficult target. This aerial assault was in support of the ground assault you heard about last episode, Task Force Alpha was well on its way to seizing Ongiva. Given how stiff the FAPLA resistance had been in places, surely they’d fight for their town with even more gusto? IT was an uneasy night and I must admit I didn’t sleep a wink. We were all in foxholes taking turns to guard the battle group – every bush or movement kept us on our toes. The sense of smell and hearing becomes crucial in these hours, and we sniffed the air like foxes. If anyone had tried to light a cigarette they would have been shot on the spot – and not even by the officers. Thirteen Russians died on the 28th August, one was captured – all had tried to escape using the convoy instead of surreptitiously departing which was the worst way to try and leave a town that had been attacked by conventional forces. Three of the Russians were Lieutenant Colonels, three were majors, one was a captain, another senior lieutenant, and a sergeant major. All the others were civilians and according to documents on their bodies, were advisors to both PLAN and FAPLA. There was a political commissar and a translator amongst these unfortunate souls.

Desmond Latham

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 by unconventional warfare as well as conventional. At times SADF soldiers would be on foot, walking patrols or SWAPO on foot, launching attacks across the border. But there were motorised heavy vehicles, tanks, artillery, air bombardments and mechanised units rolling into attack each other. For some that was a nightmare, for others, freedom. At times youngsters from the suburbs of Pretoria or Durban were fighting experienced soldiers from Russia and Cuba. For veterans the territory would come to be known as “Nam” as the experience replicated the American experience in Vietnam to some extent.

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