Operation Reindeer, which began on 4 May 1978, was South Africa's second major military operation in Angola, carried out under the Apartheid regime, the first being Operation Savannah.
The Battle of Cassinga also known as the Cassinga Raid or Kassinga Massacre was a controversial South African airborne attack on a South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) military camp at the town of Cassinga, Angola on 4 May 1978. Conducted as one of the three major actions of Operation Reindeer during the South African Border War, it was the South African Army's first major air assault operation.
The South African Defence Force (SADF) comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Force was officially succeeded by the SADF, which was established by the Defence Act of 1957. The SADF, in turn, was superseded by the South African National Defence Force in 1994.
The South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) was an auxiliary arm of the South African Defence Force (SADF) and comprised the armed forces of South West Africa from 1977 to 1989. It emerged as a product of South Africa's political control of the territory which was granted to the former as a League of Nations mandate following World War I.
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia, Zambia, and Angola from 26 August 1966 to 21 March 1990. It was fought between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), an armed wing of the South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). The South African Border War was closely intertwined with the Angolan Civil War.
Operation Askari was a military operation during 1983 in Angola by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the South African Border War.
Operation Daisy was a military operation conducted from November 1–20, 1981 by the South African Defence Force and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) in Angola during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War. This conflict was sparked when the South African Defence Force decided to try to halt the regroup of the active military branch of SWAPO, also known as the People's Liberation Army of Namibia.
Operation Seiljag was a South African 32 Battalion search and destroy campaign conducted against the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) from November 1976 to March 1977, during the South African Border War. It was carried out from November 1976 to March 1977 largely on the Yati Strip, a region patrolled by South African security forces parallel to the Angolan border. By February, the fighting had intensified and shifted to about fourteen kilometres into Angola. In the course of a four-month period 32 Battalion had eliminated two PLAN sections, repelled a third incursion across the border, and destroyed three militant bases. The bodies of nineteen guerrillas were recovered, in addition to a cache of mortar bombs and RPG-7 projectiles intended for use on PLAN raids.
Operation Prone was a proposed military operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War between May and September 1988. With the advance of the 50th Cuban Division towards Calueque and the South-West Africa border, the SADF formed the 10 SA Division to counter this threat. The plan for Operation Prone had two phases. Operation Linger was to be a counterinsurgency phase and Operation Pact a conventional phase.
Operation Sceptic was the largest anti-South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) sweep during the South African Border War up to that point. The operation was also known as Smokeshell though this was the codename for the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) base which was the main focus of the attack. This operation followed Operation Safraan and preceded Operation Klipklop.
The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) during the South African Border War. Throughout its history, PLAN had both irregular insurgent and semi-conventional units, as well as an extensive recruitment network in rural South West Africa (Namibia). During the war most of its domestic activities consisted of mine warfare and acts of sabotage. PLAN initially lacked any standing units, and the bulk of operations were carried out by political exiles who spent cyclical periods residing in refugee camps in neighbouring states before launching raids inside South West Africa itself. By the end of the war, PLAN had 32,000 militants under arms, including three battalions of semi-conventional troops equipped with heavy weapons.
Operation Boswilger was a military operation executed by the South West Africa Territorial Force in June 1985 during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War. The SADF soldiers pursued SWAPO's, PLAN insurgents, who had attacked infrastructure, out of South West Africa/Namibia across the border into Angola.
Operation Mebos occurred during July and August 1982 with the objective of attacking SWAPO's People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) bases and new regional headquarters in Southern Angola by the South African Defence Force (SADF) based in South West Africa/Namibia.
Operation Excite/Hilti was a set of military operations by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War.
Operation Merlyn was a military operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF), South West African Territorial Force (SWATF) and South West African Police (SWAPOL) during the South African Border War and Angolan Civil War in April 1989. The aim of the operation was to prevent the incursion of PLAN (SWAPO) insurgents into South West Africa/Namibia from bases in Angola. These incursions were in violation of a ceasefire which came into effect on 1 April 1989 via the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 and the Tripartite Accord. Initially, these PLAN incursions were tackled by South West African police units and eventually by SADF and SWATF units, released to assist the police having been confined to their bases by the peace agreements. These incursions and the conflict that occurred ended after hastily arranged talks resulted in the Mount Etjo Declaration and an eventual ceasefire.
31 Battalion was a light infantry battalion in the South African Army and in later years became part of the SWATF. The battalion consisted of men recruited from the hunter-gatherer San people. It was later called 201 Battalion.
8 South African Infantry Battalion is a mechanized infantry unit of the South African Army. The battalion is equipped with Ratel Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) used for fast transport and combat mobility across rough ground. Support weapons for mechanized infantry are also provided with motorized transport, or are built directly into these IFVs, in order to keep pace with the IFVs in combat. The battalion was raised at Upington in the Northern Cape in 1973 as part of the South African Infantry Corps, and since the change in structure, has been assigned to the Infantry Formation.
The Bagaka Regiment is a reserve airborne infantry regiment of the South African Army.
33 Battalion or the Eastern Caprivi Battalion, was a light infantry battalion that was part of the SWATF.
South West Africa Command was a command of the South African Army.
