First Angolan War

Operation Moduler:
The Destruction of 47th Brigade
3 October 1987

by Andrew Laing

Introduction and Background

SADF mechanised battalion (with some Mirages as air support) sweeping through some knocked out FAPLA BTR's and T-55's. Photo by Markus Dickerson.

Commencing in 1975, a three-way civil war was fought in Angola in order to determine who would rule the country, which was in a leadership vacuum due to withdrawal of the colonial Portuguese. The contesting political movements were MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) and FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola). The socialist MPLA party came to power in short order due to assistance from the Cuban army and massive logistical support from the Soviet Union. In December 1975 the United States stopped its logistical support of UNITA and the South African Defence Force, which had intervened in an attempt to halt MPLA, was forced to make a humiliating withdrawal from Angola in March 1976. With the FNLA disintegrating, UNITA was thought to be a spent force.

As soon as it had come to power MPLA also started supporting the SWAPO (South West African Peoples’ Organisation) rebels from neighbouring South West Africa (now known as Namibia) in their struggle for independence from apartheid-era South Africa. This support grew into active logistic and training support, as well as allowing SWAPO bases to be set up in southern Angola. Faced this with this situation, the South African Government authorised attacks on SWAPO bases in Angola. These attacks against SWAPO bases, “Externals” as they became to be known, started in 1978 and kept going on a regular basis into the 1980’s. These generally involved battles between SWAPO and South African mechanised forces, with MPLA and the Cubans normally electing to stay well clear until the South Africans had completed the operation and withdrawn back across the border.

It was only in the early 1980’s that the various powers in the region realised that UNITA was still a serious thorn in MPLA’s side. UNITA had rebuilt itself in the far south-eastern corner of Angola, where it had originally begun its struggle against the Portuguese. The South African government then started giving support to UNITA in order to ensure that they stayed a threat to the MPLA. This was done with the aim of hindering MPLA’s logistical support for SWAPO. In addition, the United States under President Ronald Reagan re-commenced supplying UNITA, including the latest Stinger Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), which were vital in combating FAPLA’s air superiority.

By 1987, the civil war in Angola had been dragging on for thirteen years. On one side were the MPLA Angolan government’s forces, FAPLA (People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola), supported by Cuban ground and air units. The Soviet Union provided advisors and extensive logistical support for FAPLA and the Cubans. Opposing FAPLA was the rebel insurgent movement, UNITA, which was in turn supported by the forces of the South African government, the SADF (South African Defence Force).

FAPLA undertook a number of offensives in the mid-80’s in order to get rid of UNITA once and for all. The FAPLA offensives of 1985 and 1986 were defeated by UNITA with the aid of South African airpower and artillery support. In 1987, a senior Russian general, General Shaganovitch took command over all forces in the region and planned a massive offensive to wipe out UNITA’s stronghold in southeast Angola. A huge supply effort was undertaken by the Soviet Union, including the use of strategic airlift assets, to ensure that FAPLA would have sufficient resources for its offensive.

In August 1987, five FAPLA brigades crossed the Cuito River and drove hard for UNITA’s stronghold in south-eastern Angola, the town of Mavinga. Mavinga was a small town devastated by the civil war but had an airfield that was vital in receiving supplies from South Africa and so was a key target for FAPLA. Despite having to fight across some of the roughest terrain possible with no roads or infrastructure, FAPLA made good progress in their offensive because UNITA was primarily a guerrilla movement and was unable to deal with such a massive conventional assault.

Realising that UNITA was not strong enough to stop this new threat, the South African government made the reluctant decision to commit its ground forces to stop the FAPLA offensive. After its politically disastrous intervention in 1975/6 and the continued bad press that South Africa received from its war with SWAPO, the South African Government was less than enamoured with the thought of sending significant numbers of troops into Angola. Despite this reluctance, the defeat of UNITA would have opened up a vast expanse of South West Africa to SWAPO infiltration as well as giving a huge psychological boost to the Soviet/Cuban presence in Africa and the South Africans implemented Operation Moduler in August 1987.

As part of Operation Moduler, the elite 32nd Infantry Battalion (recruited from Angolan refugees and ex-FNLA troops, known as “32 Battalion”) was sent into Angola along with artillery support. Once the South Africans realised that a larger force was required to combat FAPLA, 32 Battalion was reinforced by elements of the 61st Mechanised Battalion (known as “61 Mech”), including artillery support in the form of a battery of the new G-5 howitzers. Together, these two battalions and their associated artillery, engineer and logistical support were designated 20th South African Brigade.

After the initial successes against UNITA forces, the FAPLA brigades ran into the South Africans in early September 1987 and after several battles on the banks of the Lomba River, the FAPLA offensive was stalled. With the FAPLA 47th Brigade isolated on the south bank of the Lomba River, FAPLA was in a difficult position as it could not reinforce the 47th and at the same time was suffering heavy losses from constant bombardment by SADF G-5 howitzers and Valkiri Multiple Rocket Launchers (MRL) as well as the SADF’s Mirage Fighter Bombers.

On the 1st of October 1987, FAPLA ordered the commander of the 47th Brigade to withdraw it from its exposed position on the south side of the Lomba River. The 47th Brigade’s commander, Commander Silva, protested the order as he felt that, suitably reinforced, the drive south of the Lomba was still viable. He was ordered to begin the withdrawal or face a court-martial! One message intercepted by the SADF said: “No excuses will be accepted, especially if the Russians are caught”, which was the first proof that Soviet advisors were deployed in the field with the FAPLA Brigades. The 47th Brigade’s engineers then focused on completing a wooden causeway for the Brigade’s heavy vehicles to cross the Lomba.

The SADF high command were initially worried that the new causeway was being built to sustain a FAPLA advance south across the Lomba and only after the radio intercepts confirmed that the 47th Brigade was instead going to withdraw, was a plan put in place to attack the 47th Brigade. Together with the local UNITA commander, one Colonel Tarzan (yes, that was his name!), Colonel Ferreira of the SADF’s 20th Brigade seized the opportunity to attack 47th Brigade and destroy it before it could rejoin the main FAPLA force. The attack was originally scheduled for the 5th of October 1987 but the was moved up to the 3rd of October because the 47th Brigade had already started moving to cross the Lomba River.

First Angolan War Operation Moduler: The Destruction of 47th Brigade - 3 October 1987 Andrew Laing

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