The Battle of Savate : 32 Battalion's greatest operation / Piet Nortje.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nortje, Piet, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

South Africa. Army. Battalion, 32.

South Africa.

Special forces (Military science)--South Africa.

Special forces (Military science).

Special operations (Military science).

Soldiers--South Africa.

Soldiers.

Angola--History--South African Incursions, 1978-1990.

Angola.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xviii, 247 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), portraits (some colour) ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cape Town, South Africa : Zebra Press, 2015.

Summary:

On 21 May 1980, under the codename Operation Tiro-Tiro, 32 Battalion attacked and routed a Fapla brigade at Savate, a small town 75 kilometres inside Angola, Fifteen members of 32 Battalion were killed in the action and many more wounded. It was the highest South African casualty rate in a single skirmish since the start of the Border War. Overall, however, Savate was a significant victory for 32 Battalion. Fapla suffered heavy casualties and the invaders captured a great many vehicles, weapons, ammunition and other equipment. Despite the number of casualties, Operation Tiro-Tiro, or the Battle of Savate as it became known, was 32 Battalion's biggest victory since its formation in March 1976. To this day a remembrance service and parade is held annually to commemorate the battle and to remember 32 Battalion's victory and the prince they paid. Drawing from official documents in the Department of Defence Documentation Centre that have only recently been declassified and from testimonies of soldiers on both sides, The Battle of Savate is the definitive account of one of the greatest battles of the Border War, describing in detail the operation, its motivation and planning, its achievements and failures, and vividly recreating the experience of what happened on the ground. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 War on the Border 1

2 Planning Operation Tiro-Tiro 21

3 Advances 41

4 The assault 71

5 Consolidation 115

6 Debrief and result 137

7 The founding father throws punches 145

8 Information vs. disinformation 157

9 Savate Day 181

10 Let us remember 191

11 32 years later 205.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781770227798

1770227792

OCLC:

911856614

Publisher Number:

99967924044