Episode 22 – The SADF Day of Disaster as Operation Savannah winds down

This is episode 22 and we’re looking at the end of Operation Savannah which was winding down by early January 1976. We have dealt with various Battle Groups setup by the South Africans as they sought to secure southern Angola – including Foxbat and last week, Orange which had experienced a major battle south of Quibala. A fourth battle group called X-Ray led by Commandant SWJ Kotze had been formed in early December 1975 and was tasked with securing the important Benguela railway line. Unita leader Jonas Savimbi had asked SADF commanders to help him control this line which was crucial in order to deliver Congo commodities to the coastal ports. IF he controlled the railway then the MPLA in Luanda would find their income severely curtailed and would also be a propaganda coup. X-Ray was comprised of a Unita company along with an armoured car group and an artillery section and faced Fapla at a battle at Luso on the 9th December. The MPLA armed wing lost over 250 men to the South Africans at Luso, along with a substantial amount of equipment including heavy weapons which were duly handed over to Unita after three days of fighting. The OAU postponed its emergency meeting once more – to the 18th January. But between Christmas and mid-January there would be a few more engagements and something that the SADF HQ called the Day of Disaster was imminent. That was the 4th January 1976 SADF anti-aircraft gunners stationed in central Angola near Mussende spotted what they thought was an enemy helicopter. So far their attempts at shooting down enemy aircraft had failed but this time they would succeed. The only problem was it was a SA Air Force Aérospatiale SA 330C Puma Helicoptern from 19 Squadron that was flying Staff Officers between Mussende & Carriango.