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.

As we heard last episode, By 6pm on the 24th August 1981, Battle Group 20 was in control of its objectives, having destroyed at least four tanks and capturing vehicles, guns and ammunition. The fort and water tower, key targets in the town, were eventually reached and taken. The bridge was reached by the combat teams by 17h30 and was immediately prepared with demolition charges by the engineers. It was found later that FAPLA and PLAN officer and their Soviet advisors had hurriedly fled the town while the FAPLA and SWAPO soldiers held their positions and fought furiously. And so the sun had set on a long day’s fighting, but Battle Group 20s rest was going to be interrupted in the early hours of the morning. I was part of that group dug in overlooking the river alongside a road out of Xangongo. Before dawn, we began to hear the sound of tanks approaching, the first sound you hear is the deep bellow of the powerful engine, then the squeaking of the tracks. There were T34’s approaching. Little did we know that there was another incident that took place in the north when a convoy tried to leave Xangongo and drove into Captain Jan Hougaard’s combat team ambushed the troop carriers. Now it was onwards to Ongiva and the commanders once again caucused in the main HQ tent that night. This was going to be another tough nut to crack. The town was defended by two battalions protected by 23mm AA guns, a tank squadron of T34s, as well as an armoured car company with BTR-23s and an artillery battery with both 82m and 76mm field guns. Dippenaars 20 Battle Group was going to spearhead the attack, assaulting from the northwest. He’d then hold the areas taken an allow Serfontein to continue phase two of the attack – swinging past 20 alongside and also striking from the north west.

The air strikes on the targets for Operation Protea have ended, and now the mechanised units will begin their move on the targets, Xangongo and Peu Peu. 32 Battalion has already cleared the bunkers and trench positions in the north of Xangongo as you heard last episode. Attacking westward on the northern flank of Battle Group 20 was 40 under command of Commandant Deon Ferreira. They were to fight through the most northern FAPLA defences at Xangongo and capture the old Portuguese Fort overlooking the river. This fort was situated on high ground with an excellent view of the critical bridge across the Cunene River and the main road leading from Humbe into Xangongo. Whomever held this fort could influence the course of the battle with direct fire weapons, small arms and short range mortars. The high grounds at the fort and to the south of the main road, adjacent to the river, were important tactical features either for defence or attack. This included a high-rise water tower just to the south of the main road next to the river which was an excellent observation post to the west and over the town. The South Africans left it standing because they were going to use it. This high rising stretch of ground adjacent to the Cunene river formed the most western edge of the Xangongo defences. Later on Battle Group 10 would use the river and the high ground in combination for the defence of Xangongo once it was taken. The small town of Peu-Peu 10kilometers to the north also nestled alongside the Cunene River and Battle Group 30 was due for a stiff fight there. Back in Xangongo, as the mechanised units moved forward, machine-gun and AK47 fire increased until suddenly the chatter of a single Soviet 23mm anti-aircraft gun stopped the Battle Group dead in its tracks. This weapon was extremely effective in the hands of a trained crew – and that’s what faced the SADF at this moment.

Last episode we heard how the South Africans had travelled overnight to reach the first target planned for Operation Protea, Xangongo. So we’ll return to the next moves later in this podcast, but we need to delve into what had happened in the air war first. There was an interesting moment – and a first for the Air Force on 20th August 1981. That was four days before the attack proper. Pilot Rynier Keet was strapped into the cockpit of a Mirage III at Ondangwa runway – the wingman of a section led by Commandant Mac van der Merwe. They were standby for a ground attack and had their underwing rocket pods attached which mean the Mirage’s were totally unsuitable for any air defence activity. At about 09h45 South Africa radar picked up fast-jet traffic on the Angoland side of the border heading straight for Ondangwa. It looked like an Angolan Air Force attack of some sort. The Mirage pair scrambled and were given an interception vector. The high-speed Mirages closed in on the Angolans head-to-head. As they approached 40 nautical miles to impact the South Africans were about to jettison their rocket pods to reduce drag and improve their chances against the MiGs when suddenly, the Angolan’s turned 180 degrees. Waiting for the SADF and deployed around Xangongo was FAPLA’s 19th Brigade. The brigade headquarters and two infantry companies were actually with an anti-aircraft battalion at Peu-Peu with the infantry basically protection companies as well as a mobile reserve for the brigade. The major strategic objective was the bridge over the Cunene River – the Xangongo Bridge – and there were two infantry battalions and a company of Military police guarding that structure. A tank company of ten T-34/85 tanks were also available to serve as a mobile reserve along with an armoured car company of ten more BTR troop carriers. There were two anti-tank battalions and an artillery company waiting for the SADF.

It’s the first half of 1981 and more hit and run raids were being carried out by SWAPO – particularly around Okalonga and Mahanene. Some of the frustrations concerning the quality of intel were proving difficult to explain away by the SADF. The early months of 1981 were characterized by a series of operations inside Angola of various sizes. 32 Battalion and 1 Parachute Battalion were busy most of the time, and it was apparent that FAPLA was growing increasingly aggressive. The Angolan Air Force too was showing signs of life – and the training was improving. In mid August more contacts took place near Chiede – but each firefight led to SWAPO beating a hasty retreat in the direction of the nearest FAPLA base. And thus the move to Operation Protea which would turn into the largest ground assault by South Africans of the entire Border War. The cooperation between SWAPO and FAPLA had to be broken. Both used the same logistics routes so the SADF needed to destroy the communication lines across the Cunene River. To do that Major General Lloyd approached Constand Viljoen and suggested a large force be sent into Angola to destroy the combined FAPLA/SWAPO strongpoints at Xangongo, Mongua and Ongiva.

The Russians were increasing their support for the MPLA in Luanda and one of those who arrived was Vladimir Vasilievich Kostrachenkov. He helped establish the Pechora Anti-Aircraft system between 1979 and 1981 in the south of Angola and published some of his thoughts in a book called Bush War, the Road to Cuito Cuanavale. While most of this book is about the major battles that took place later around Cuito, Kostrachenkov’s explanation of what happened in the south in the very 80s is important for us at this juncture. It was his second tour of duty of Angola – his first was as a translator in 1976 and he witnessed the civil war break out between the FNLA, the MPLA and UNITA. He was based in Carmona, northern Angola, and was translating for a team of Russian advisors. He survived numerous FNLA attacks and explains how all attempts at sealing the border with the Congo failed. The FNLA fighters used dugout canoes and small light boats to move in complete silence along the many tributaries of the Congo River and could infiltrate up to 300 kilometers into Angola. They were supported by what he calls “…their fellow tribesmen…” who were scattered all over the region – and he knew then that the struggle inside the country was going to be a long drawn out affair.

We heard about Ops Smokeshell over the past few episodes, the next major incursion into Angola will be Operation Protea. There’s quite a bit to cover before then. Ops Sceptic and particularly the battle for the SWAPO complex code-named Smokeshell had been a valuable learning curve for the SADF. At the same time, a new round of political negotiations were under way in June 1980, and General Magnus Malan had been appointed Minister of Defence in October. General Viljoen was now chief of the Defence Force and Lt General Jannie Geldenhuys took over as chief of the army in November. Taking a closer look at the attempt at restarting negotiations - when it came to the Namibian settlement talks, Foreign Affairs Minister Pik Botha had offered to reduce operational bases in the proposed DMZ from 40 to 20 on certain conditions. The diplomatic shouting match had barely died down before the SADF launched another invasion into Angola called Operation Klipklop. This began at dawn on the 30th July 1980 when SADF forces launched an attack on a SWAPO logistics base near Chitado, which was only 5 kilometers from the cutline and around 35 kilometers east of Ruacana. in Ovamboland, 32 Battalion was planning a special event. By mid-January 1981 Colonel Deon Ferreira was ordered to take personal command of further deployment inside Angola to find this missing SWAPO HQ. That would lead to something known as Ops Klipklop.

This is episode 46 and its June 10th 1980 and Commandant Dippenaar’s Combat Group 61, that huge convoy of 151 vehicles, had drawn up to the East of the main target of Operation Sceptic. That was a group of more than a dozen facilities grouped together and the codenamed Smokeshell. Last episode we heard how Dippenaar had broken up his assault force into six combined armed combat teams for the coming attack. 1,2 and 3 were to launch directly from the east to the west, while teams 4 and 5 were deployed as stopper groups on the Western Side. Teams 1 and 3 moved in first just after 13h00 hours and they found that the defenders in the north had disappeared. They came to the erroneous conclusion that SWAPO had fled instead of wanting to fight. In a moment Team 2 were going to find the assault a different kettle of fish entirely. OR perhaps a can of worms is the better analogy. Team 1 wondered off track and ended up north of their target – 800m to be exact, whereas Team 3 were right on their selected facility but it was empty of PLAN troops who had withdrawn so quickly, they left several anti-aircraft guns behind. This further reinforced the perception that SWAPO had run away. Team 1 eventually located their target which was deserted and made sure the trenches and bunkers to the north were empty, then regrouped. Some of the fleeing SWAPO fighters were spotted and a firefight broke out, six SWAPO were killed. Meanwhile Team 2 which was led by Captain Louis Harmse and comprised of B Company of mechanized infantry, supported by Ratel 90s and mortars were heading directly towards the main southern end of this network of bases at Smokeshell. We’ll hear a lot more about Captain Harmse in coming episodes – unfortunately he was to join his father in the pantheon of those who were to give their lives fighting for their beliefs.

This is episode 45 and its 1980. Everything will accelerate from now on – as wars generally do when neither side has complete control over the battlefield. And one of the biggest events over the Border War was about to take place – Operation Sceptic or Smokeshell as most call it. SWAPO by now had pulled back from the shallow areas – those parts of southern Angola closest to the cutline – the border with South West Africa. They moved deeper into Angola, northwards which meant that any future operation would have further to go. The pattern of rainy season cross border incursions was now under way as SWAPO’s armed wing PLAN used the thicker vegetation and numerous water holes. Not to mention the increased problems for the SA Air Force with thunderstorms and more weather around making air support more problematic. It was also more difficult to locate their bases inside Angola. The SADF began focusing its powerful conventional cross-border operations during winter when it was dry. Remember southern Africa is a summer rainfall area – for my global audience. The dry winters made it was easier for heavy vehicles to travel about, and during the winter PLAN would gather in their main bases to debrief and retrain for the following summer. The South Africans were making new plans with a strategic purpose to attack SWAPO and destroy its image as a war-winning movement. That of course was supposed to show South West Africans they shouldn’t depend on SWAPO when the country became an independent Namibia.

This is episode 44 – it’s the run up to Operation Sceptic in 1980 – or what many folks call Ops Smokeshell. That’s because the main target – Chifufua was code-named Smokeshell or QFL depending on what report you read, but there were other targets too. Before that operation there were a few other incidents across the fighting front. One involved a formation of Impala’s armed with rockets that ended up strafing what they thought was a SWAPO position in Ovamboland – however when they were debriefed, it was clear that they’d entered into Angolan territory and shot up an unknown location inside the territory. Then in 1980 UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi decided his men would capture the towns and hold them. So on 14th April UNITA took Cuangar on the Cubango River – literally on the border. This marked the beginning of a new phase in UNITAs strategy where they planned to hold the entire southern Angolan region if possible. Savimbi approached the SADF and asked for assistance in attacking Savate to drive FAPLA further north west. It was one of their main bases 75 kilometers inside Angola. As you’re going to hear, the South Africans were led to believe it was lightly defended - but that was totally incorrect.

This is episode 43 and we’re into 1980. Last episode we met Tannie Pompie van der Westhuysen and touched on a growing sign of PLAN action through late 1979. 1980 was going to be a momentous year in Border War history and from now on, the combat ramps up along with the casualties on all sites. Up until now the SADF had been winging it – using a pastiche of military techniques backed up by a somewhat haphazard political agenda. To outsiders it appeared that the National Party was organised and focused but the real situation was far more chaotic. Then PW Botha took over from BJ Vorster and the hawks in the party won out in 1980. Not that Vorster appeared soft and gentle to outsiders, but in terms of the overall political strategy he’d been advocating a negotiated settlement from the immediate position while Botha preferred a future negotiated settlement from a future position of military strength. So in February 1980 in the Triangle of Death, that zone between Grootfontein, Tsumeb and Otavi, the farmers were gearing up for what was going to be an escalation of the war. There were few incidents again for a week, then on 22nd February the Dressel family were up and about in the morning aware that something was amiss. First their dogs began barking constantly, then they tried the landline, but the telephone was dead. Sonja Dressel was about to turn into a hero.

This is episode 42 – it’s 1979 and all hell is breaking loose as the Rhodesian Bush war reaches it apogee and SWAPO increases its incursions into OVamboland and into the Death triangle further south. In this episode we’ll meet an extraordinary woman called Tannie Pompie, real name Pompie van der Westhuizen. She has been lauded and memorialised by retired members of the SADF for good reason. It’s not every day that civilians play such a crucial role in communications in the midst of a war and Tannie Pompie was one of those indefatigable figures that history produces every now and then. By February 1979 SWAPO incursions became known as the Winter Games in a kind of counter-intuitive symbolic phraseology because these were now taking place mainly in summer. But it was during the rainy season – so the Winter Games as they were known accelerated starting at this point. The Triangle of death lay between Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein. The triangle starts around 80 kilometers south east of Etosha Pan, and is well watered making the bush thick and extremely useful as cover if you’re planning attacks on farms – which was precisely what SWAPO was doing. The people of the Triangle of Death farmed a variety of crops. The Roodts on the farm Wildernis for example produced watermelons, others farmed cattle and some had game parks. These are large farms for the most part, isolated and exposed. So on May 8th 1979 Willem and Lena Roodt loaded their bakkie full of watermelons and headed off to Tsumeb. They left Granny and two youngsters behind, their son who was three and their daughter who was slightly older. The old lady and the children would not survive the day.

This is episode 41 and we’re dealing with events in 1979. One of these as you’re about to hear involve a Rhodesian Airlines Vickers Viscount that was shot down – and the SAAF was involved in the response. That was to target a ZIPRA base in eastern Angola. While the new year of 1979 began relatively peacefully, that changed in February when 250 SWAPO soldiers crossed the cutline into South West Africa. The summer rains had been good – and then on the 13th February a blinding rainstorm saw insurgents attacking Nkongo Base which was 15 kilometers from the border. However the assault was a glancing blow and SWAPO melted away almost immediately. The rain cut visibility and washed away their tracks so follow up operations were further hampered. But they’d be back as you’re going to hear. PW Botha was the new hawkish Prime Minister who took over from BJ Vorster who was presumed too soft by the militarising National Party. Pretoria was bristling for a fight and SWAPO’s cross border attack led to a few diplomatic messages being exchanged while in the background, Botha’s government was preparing for another invasion of southern Angola. The situation in Rhodesia was approaching resolution in 1979 as Ian Smith accepted the idea of Majority rule for the first time, and he also accepted the concept of a transitional administration being set up. The ferocity of the conflict there, the pure blooded viciousness had shaken those covering the war as journalists. Nuns were raped and bayoneted to death along with children, civilians were caught in the middle of the struggle. The South Africans like the Rhodesians sought revenge because the commander of the Air Rhodesia flight 827 Viscount was former SA Air Force pilot, Jan Andre du Plessis. And now a retaliation strike on a ZIPRA camp near Luso in eastern Angola was planned.

This is episode 40 and it’s a special edition focusing on one of the most successful military organisations in African military history. That’s the 61 Mechanised Battalion Group which first saw action during Operation Reindeer as Battle Group Juliet which was targeting SWAPOs western front at Chetequera. As you know from previous episodes, one of the takeaways from the entire operation was the need to establish a permanent conventional mechanised combat unit inside the Operational Area. By January 1979 61 Mechanised Battalion was formally named and established at Otavi before moving to Tsumeb in April 1979. It was eventually settled at Omuthiya just north of Etosha Pan while the HQ remained at Tsumeb. Joining me for parts of this episode is the former commander and founder, Roland de Vries. A big thank you to him for spending time with me outlining the rationale for the creation of a multi-service brigade.

This is episode 39 and SWAPO has just mortared Katimo Mulilo as revenge for the airborne assault on Cassinga. Ten SADF troops died in the bombardment as you’ve heard – a single Redeye rocket accounted for the deaths as the men huddled in a prefabricated building in the early hours of 23rd August 1978. Combat Team Bravo had set off about an hour after the bombing of Katima and as we’ve heard, found that SWAPO had retreated from their forward bases. However Combat Team Alpha was going to find things a little hotter. They set out at dawn on the 24th and crossed the cutline at 07h05 and half an hour later caught up with SWAPOs rearguard. Fire was exchanged without any losses and then just before 8am the Combat Team ran into an ambush. A high volume of small arms fire was let loose in Alpha’s direction and they returned fire, killing five SWAPO troops but around 50 others made off into the bush. Just after 8am, Alpha discovered a SWAPO base but it had been hastily evacuated. Helicopter support was called in and at 09h25 another group of SWAPO was discovered a short distance away – six more were killed in that sharp exchange. In October 1978 General Constand Viljoen appointed the first commander of a permanent mechanised warfare unit in the operational area and of course, Commandant Johann or Dippies Dippenaar was the man to lead it. And so 61 mechanised battalion group came into being on January 1st 1979 consisting of two mechanised infantry companies in Ratel 20s, an armoured car troop in Eland90s – later they’d be traveling in the powerful Ratel 90s. Also embedded – a 140mm G-2 battery from 4 artillery field regiment, a support company and a combat engineer troop from 16 Maintenance Unit. Later on a tank squadron was also added – but that’s for later. SWAPO and PLANs deployment also shifted at this time. The headquarters of SWAPOs armed force was at Lubango – the town we heard about during Operation Savannah.

This is episode 38 and its time to scrutinise the fall-out from Operation Reindeer, particularly the attack on Cassinga – during 1978. As you heard last episode, the SADF regarded the invasion of Angola as a success – however as we know, war is politics by other means and in this – the South African state had failed. It would also lead to SWAPO’s Operation Revenge which would kill far more SADF troops than the airborne assault at Cassinga. The strategic plan of Operation Reindeer was to weaken SWAPO at the point the united Nations had demanded elections. They idea was to show how militarily weak SWAPO was – but this strategy backfired spectacularly. Instead, it strengthened SWAPOs position internationally. Attacking a town without any warning was always going to cause civilian casualties and therefore, bad PR. It was seen as not only unethical, it was criminal. SWAPO meanwhile was planning revenge already and their response would kill more than three times more South Africans than Operation Reindeer. This took place at Katima Mulilo, the unofficial capital of the Eastern Caprivi, which had been a quiet zone for years as we’ve heard. What would happen next took everyone by surprise – except for SWAPO and those in the know inside Zambia.

This is episode 37 and we’re dealing with a Cuban counter-attack targeting the South African paratroopers still being airlifted out of Cassinga. It was the afternoon of 4th May 1978 and more than half the paratroopers had still not been evacuated from the landing Zone to the east of the shattered town. Jan Breytenbach had requested urgent close air support and had also ordered the helicopters at Whisky Three which was the Helicopter Administration area 35km east of Cassinga to return and extract his trapped paratroopers. But the Cuban armour was almost on top of them and there was no sign of any aircraft. Breytenbach withdraw into the surrounding bush and try to get to an emergency LZ setup as you heard last episode. In the meantime some eyewitnesses claim that General Viljoen, concerned now about the very real possibility of being captured, removed his badges of rank and his beret and hid them under a stone. He’d flown in on one of the first evacuation choppers and decided to remain very much against Defence Force operating procedure. The commanding officer of the entire Army should not place himself directly in harms way – even if he was trying to show that he was a courageous as the rest. And yet the MPLA and SWAPO had actually won a major victory at Cassinga. Pretoria’s political strategy had failed miserably with SWAPO about to gain a vast amount of credibility. It so happened that the World Conference for the Eradication of Racism and Racial Descrimination was about to take place in Basle, Switzerland between 18 and 21st May. SWAPO Secretary for Information and Publicity Peter Katjavivi was a speaker there and he denied the presence of any military installations or PLAN combatants at Cassinga saying it was a refugee camp.

This is episode 36 and we’re at the tail end of Operation Reindeer – and we kick off this episode by viewing the SADF attack on Cassinga alongside Captain Joseph Kobo of the ANCs armed wing, Mkhonto we sizwe – the spear of the nation. On May 4th 1978 - the day of the airborne assault on Cassinga 250 kilometers into Angola, Captain Kobo was travelling back to the town having picked up provisions and was part of a convoy of vehicles. It was Ascension day. Kobo’s convoy was speeding towards Cassinga and he was in a confident mood. The convoy had radio’d ahead hours before and everyone was looking forward to an upcoming celebration. This wasn’t Ascencion day, it was the fall of France’s military stronghold at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam to Viet Minh General Giap in May 1954. MK along with SWAPO and Fapla were going to celebrate the French defeat – it was a symbolic victory that also had led to the American’s involvement in Vietnam. And here in Africa, the guerrilla movements were fighting to overthrow their colonial masters so naturally they viewed the fall of Dien Bien Phu as a shining example of how to go about crushing western armies. In Cassinga, the paratroopers were being airlifted out of the town to the HAA protected by the rearguard. The Cubans had arrived from Techemutete with their armoured personnel carriers and half a dozen T34s and as you heard last episode, were about to drive straight into a strafing and an ambush. There were about 100 Cubans and FAPLA troops in this column from the south which was trying to break up the organised air lift out. Unfortunately for them, they drove into Pierre Peter’s anti-tank platoon. Earlier the South African’s in this platoon had watched the first wave of paratroopers take off and were apprehensive.

This is episode 35 and we swing further north to pick up the story in Cassinga. Last episode I ended with the Battle Group Julient attacks on Chetequera to the south which was an overland assault using Ratels, Buffel troops carriers and Eland-90s. In Cassinga, the South African paratroopers had been dropped in by air and were on their way to finishing their task of overrunning SWAPOs base when they had stalled – Alpha Company was held up by an extremely motivated group of SWAPO figthters deployed at their Anti-aircraft battery which included a heavy 14.5mm gun amongst other automatic weapons. Bravo company were busy sweeping the area which was a women’s barracks near the hospital that for some reason the paratroopers referred to as the prostitutes area. I supposed it was because they weren’t use to women soldiers. So Snipers had pinned down Bravo company and they’d also been fired on an 82mm recoilless gun. After managing to silence both the snipers and the 82mm, Bravo Company commando Hugo Murray led his men north into Cassinga and it was apparent that the SWAPO fighters were now squeezed into the central and northern areas of the base. So SWAPO was fighting hard – they were trapped but they were not going to go quietly. These men and women also knew about the Cubans to the south – surely if they held off long enough their cavalry would save them.

This is episode 34 and the SADF are inside Angola – it’s the 4th May 1978 and Operation Reindeer is under way – it’s the joint attacks on Cassing and Chetequera. As we heard last episode, both assaults are not going according to plan. We ended episode 33 alongside Battle Group Juliet as it began to move into Chetequera, one of SWAPOs main base networks just over the cutline or border. Juliet had arrived at its attack position north of the base and first managed to bypass a thick field of Mahangu – a type of corn, then were faced with thick bush and trees as they moved southwards towards the settlement. They had taken heavy fire so far and things were not going to improve. According to the initial plan, Major Van Zyl and his mechanised company burst past the kraal lying north east of Chetequera and headed straight for the base. Remember van Zyl could only see 4 of his 14 Ratels the bush, grass and trees were so thick. For a moment he wondered if he should dismount his infantry who were on board the Buffel troops carriers then thought better of it. Speed was of the utmost importance now and that would mean slowing down. As his mechanised units moved into the ramparts of the settlement, individual vehicles fell foul of the trenches and bunkers mainly because many were almost invisible they’d been camouflaged so well. Meanwhile, further south, Commandant Joubert and his combat team had also decided to lie up after working over the bases which were below Chetequera. The initial plan was for Combat Team Serfontein to cross the Cutline east of beacon 8 and advance north for around four kilometers then attack a base called Dombondola2 in support of Joubert.