All Episodes

Episode 113 - More details about the fierce fighting when PLAN invaded Namibia in April 1989

Episode 112 - SWAPO's Sam Nujoma pulls a fast one and UNTAG struggles to cope

Episode 111 - Two Scorpions in a bottle and peace after 23 years

Episode 110 - Cuban MiG-23s bomb Calueque Dam and 11 SADF troops pay the price

Episode 109 - A Bosbok survives a missile near miss as both the SADF and the Cubans gear up

Episode 108 - Cubans start heading towards Calueque Dam and another South African POW

Episode 107 – Reagan, Gorbachev, Ulysses the Bull, Fidel Castro: Diplomacy Breaks Out

Episode 106 – Operation Packer/Tumpo 3 and Castro’s obsession

Episode 105 – Citizen Force ou-manne train for the third Battle of Tumpo while Russians drink rice-vodka to forget

Episode 104 – The SAAF raids Lubango and a tired 61 Mech launches the Battle of Tumpo II

Episode 103 – The First Battle of Tumpo Triangle where 61 Mech faced a fierce FAPLA bombardment

Episode 102 – 32 Battalion strikes Menongue Airfield and a Mirage is shot down

Episode 101 – The Valentines Day assault on 59 Brigade and a Cuban tank ambush

Episode 100 – FAPLA pushed from their positions along the Chambinga High Ground on Friday 13th

Episode 99 – The SAAF tests a top secret weapon while new recruits come to terms with giant moths and skulking MiGs

Episode 98 – Hougaard goes marauding and a Russian commander dies as an ammunition bunker explodes

Episode 97 – Castro starts to talk peace but along the Cuito River all hell rains down

Episode 96 – The Chambinga Gallop and the end of Operation Moduler

Episode 95 – 21/25 Brigade makes a dash for the Chambinga Bridge amidst heroics by 32's Van Zyl

Episode 94 – South African and Russian tanks go toe-to-toe at the Chambinga river in southern Angola

Episode 93 – Russians claim chemical weapon attack as the SADF pounds FAPLA

Episode 92 – An indebted Pretoria fixates on Cuito Cuanavale

Episode 91 – Russians on the Lomba and the Olifant Battle Tank

Episode 90 – FAPLAs 47th Brigade shattered as Operation Moduler continues

Episode 89 – Mirages, MiGs, missiles & the Lomba River tango to the death

Episode 88 – Operation Moduler begins with T54/55s taking on Ratels at the Lomba

Episode 87 –Crocodiles attack Recces and the Lomba River heavy metal clash looms

Episode 86 – The SAAF harried in Angola and Soviets import arms from Afghanistan

Episode 85 – Small teams missions behind enemy lines and the courage of 7 Med

Episode 84 - FAPLA renew their offensive against UNITA at Mavinga

Episode 83 – The most ambitious Op involving SADF special Forces hits Namibe

Episode 82 – More Russian choppers down and 32 learns how to use SATNAV

Episode 81 – The MPLA attacks UNITA and the SAAF shoots down Russian choppers

Episode 80 – An SA Navy sub damaged at the end of the failed Cabinda raid

Episode 79 – A shootout on a Cabinda beach and the capture of Cpt Wynand du Toit

Episode 78 – Operation “foreskin” and 32 runs into a SWAPO firestorm

Episode 77 – The Recces blow up locomotives and 32 Battalion dresses like UNITA

Episode 76 – Turned SWAPO cadres, Recce pseudo-operations & Soviet air strategy

Episode 75 – Russian OSA2 missile boats targeted in 1984’s Operation Nobilis

Episode 74 – FAPLA/SADF joint patrols hit a wobble & Recce Op Bouganvilia

Episode 73 – A 1984 cease-fire as the SADF and FAPLA conduct joint patrols

Episode 72 – Cuvelai III: A Ratel destroyed by a T54 and an Impala narrow escape

Episode 71 – The Battle of Cuvelai II: Bundu-bashing into Soviet T54/55s

Episode 70 – Operation Askari missteps at Cahama and Cuvelai

Episode 69 – Operation Askari begins with a reconnaissance drone

Episode 68 – UNITA overruns Cangamba with SAAF help but Russia gets proactive

Episode 67–A rifle grenade in a ribcage, an Ionde minefield mishap and a Dragon

Episode 66 – Another MiG shot down and Russian VIPs arrive

Episode 65 – Ops Meebos where SWAPO AA fire downs a Puma

Episode 64 – Another Maputo raid and Hearts and Minds in the Kavango

Episode 63 – 4 Recce and the Rhodesian SAS target Beira fuel depot and port in a series of raids

Episode 62 – Rhodesian SAS and the Recces plan an assassination attempt on Robert Mugabe codenamed “Lark”

Episode 61 – The Recces first Seaborne Operations and how the British High Commissioner’s Rolls Royce was blown up

Episode 60 – Tsumeb farmers suffer repeated blows as SWAPOs Operation Typhoon sows destruction in the Triangle of Death

Episode 59 – A SWAPO ambush leaves 11 dead as a Ratel is blown up at Effense Chana

Episode 58 – SWAPOs “Danger” Ashipala switches tactics as he dispatches 150 men to the Triangle of Death

Episode 57 – Operation Super: The incredible 1982 Battle of Cambeno Valley, SWAPO’s Point Zero

Episode 56 – SWAPO takes aim at the Kaokoland and 32 Battalion hit by SAAF friendly fire

Episode 55 – Operation Daisy where a Mirage shoots down a MiG in a first for the SAAF since the Korean War

Episode 54 – Operation Protea wraps up but the Russians and Cubans want revenge

Episode 53 – Soviet officers die and one is captured at Ongiva as Operation Protea enters DDay+5.

Episode 52 - Operation Protea D+1, Xangongo falls and the attention shifts to Ongiva

Episode 51 – Xangongo the target as Operation Protea begins and the story of a freak smoke rocket shot

Episode 50 – Operation Protea begins and Xangongo and Peu Peu targeted but FAPLA’s 19th Brigade awaits

Episode 49 – SWAPO uses FAPLA as a defensive screen in southern Angola and the plans are laid for Operation Protea

Episode 48 – Russian specialists set up anti-aircraft missiles and Special Forces ops accelerate across the cutline

Episode 47 – 32 Battalion’s Colonel Ferreira hauled over the coals for attacking FAPLA and Impala’s drop napalm

Episode 46 – The attack on Smokeshell leaves 17 dead – the largest SADF loss in a single day’s combat since 1945

Episode 45 – The SAAF begins flying Impala’s at night and Operation Sceptic aka Smokeshell begins

Episode 44 – The Recces kayak to Savate as 32 Battalion preps for Operation Sceptic aka Smokeshell

Episode 43 – Sonja Dressel shoots up a PLAN platoon and political change sweeps southern Africa

Episode 42 – The Triangle of Death in 1979 and an introduction to Tannie Pompie

Episode 41 – A Rhodesian Airlines Viscount downed at Kariba and an old Zambian man stares down the SADF

Episode 40 – 61 Mechanised Battalion special edition with former commander Roland de Vries

Episode 39 – Both the SADF and SWAPO reorganise and 61 Mech is born

Episode 38 – 32 Battalion ends Ops Reindeer then SWAPO attacks Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi

Episode 37 – A Cuban counter-attack causes chaos at the Cassinga LZ and Pretoria’s political strategy backfires

Episode 36 – Paratroopers in Cassinga face off against T34s as the Cubans infiltrate the battle zone

Episode 35 – Cassinga finally surrenders but the Cubans in Techamutete mobilise their T34s

Episode 34 – The SADF begin to take casualties as they attack Chetequera where hyaenas and jackals would feast

Episode 33 – SA Parabats are in Cassinga but SWAPO fights back, while Juliet raids Chetequera

Episode 32 – First the Canberras, Buccaneers and Mirages then the paratroopers leap into hi

Episode 31 – D-Day and Operation Reindeer begins

Episode 30 – A four phased blueprint to attack Cassinga as Operation Reindeer is good to go for May 4th 1978

Episode 29 – Two parachute battalions begin training in earnest for Operation “Wedding” aka Reindeer but there’s a hitch

Episode 28 – Operation Reindeer gets the green light after SAAF Buccaneers discover Cassinga camp

Episode 27 - A prelude to Operation Reindeer and the SADF airborne attack on Cassinga

Episode 26 – Jannie Geldenhuys takes charge of SWA Command

Episode 25 – The Reccies and 32 Battalion continue the war inside Angola and the Soweto Uprising shocks the Nationalist

Episode 24 – The Angolan Army re-organises, Moscow refocuses on Africa and Mirages arrive in Ondangwa

Episode 23 – The SADF re-equips after Savannah and the Ratel is born

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

Episode 21 – The Battle for Bridge 14 part II and Battle Group Orange face T34s at the Pombuig River

Episode 20 – The Battle at Bridge 14 part I

Episode 19 – The SADF conducts an off-the-record briefing and the start of the struggle to control Bridge 14

Episode 18 – The Battle of Ebo - the first major defeat for the SADF during Operation Savannah

Episode 17 – The SAS Steyn’s role in the remarkable evacuation from the beach at Ambrizette

Episode 16 – Luanda’s “Death Road” leaves the FNLA in tatters and the CIA decides to up and off

Episode 15 – Angolan independence day passes while Task Force Zulu and Foxbat continue fighting

Episode 14 – The assault on Benguela and its airport

Episode 13 – A Beechcraft recon plane “Dinky Toy” crashes but Foxbat & Zulu push onwards in Operation Savannah

Episode 12 – Xangongo, Ongiva, Lubango and Namibe fall in Operation Savannah

Episode 11 – Battle Group Foxbat retreats but a blitzkrieg begins as Task Force Zulu gears up

Episode 10 – Operation Savannah begins as the SADF pocket force Foxbat faces FAPLA

Episode 9 – The Alvor agreement debacle sends Angola into a civil war tailspin and SWAPO takes advantage

Episode 8 – The Portuguese pull out of Africa and the first Reccie dies in Angola

Episode 7 – SWAPO escalates incursions and the SADF eventually takes over from the SA Police

Episode 6 - The Battle of Omugulugwombashe ushers in the formal period of the armed struggle in South West

Episode 5 – The South African Defence Force re-arms as the Angolan war of independence overflows into South West

Episode 4 - Cold War race-paranoia and how the Portuguese faced an Angolan knife-edge in 1961

Episode 3 - Congo uprisings and the war for independence in Angola turns up the Cold War heat

Episode 2 - South Africa’s poisoned mandate and SWAPO emerges as the key early struggle movement

Episode 1 – German South West Africa and its bloody birth