Quite a nice photograph of a combat jump.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Ambush Master

Just a quick question Guy, what altitude did you Folks Jump from?? It looks awfully high for a Combat Jump!!

Later
Martin

How do you expect them to get decent pics at 500 feet?

[Ambush Master]

Originally Posted by Dusty

How do you expect them to get decent pics at 500 feet?

I'd be more concerned with the "decent SIGHT PICS" that I'd be providing with all of that additional loiter time under canopy!! Hell, I've deployed a "Belly Wart" Tricon out of the door @ around 100'AGL and I really wouldn't have cared to have been shot at for the time that I was under canopy!! Having been shot at, quite a bit, I would not care to be under canopy for very long!

Since there was a "Belly Band" involved here, I'd assume that a Reserve was there. I'd think that a combat Jump would have been minimal altitude and even less gear!!

[greenberetTFS]

Originally Posted by ZonieDiver

To quote Larry the Cableguy... "Now, that's some funny shit right there."

ZD is right about Kindle Guy,an old walrus like me just got finished ordering my printed copy of your book from Amazon,really eager to read it after going thru these posts..........

Big Teddy

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by Ambush Master

Just a quick question Guy, what altitude did you Folks Jump from?? It looks awfully high for a Combat Jump!!

Later
Martin

It is very deceptive, I think mainly because of the "cloud" which was at tree height and the early morning light on the sparse bush. Our usual jump height is 800 ft, but on this occasion, all aircraft ran in at 500ft (there were 7) and were meant to pull up to 700 ft for exit. However, the scale of the DZ had been miscalculated by 50% so the pilots of the attack group, which I was in, pulled up late and began dropping immediately as the DZ was half the size we had been told it was. I was seventh in the door, so I estimate this picture was taken at about 400 ft as I had already had time to unfasten my belly-band and asses my drift and pull down on a lift-web to avoid the river. Remember, that photo was taken at almost the same level as I , so the ground is not vertically viewed, so it looks much further than what it actually was. The 16mm movie I shot of the jump showed I was in the air for 29 seconds.

[Inflexible Six]

367 SA Paras vrs 5000 Swapos + Assorted Cubans Advisors=1500 Swapo KIA and 150 Cubans. And only 4 SA Para KIAs. With all due respect to your fallen troopers, it must have been quite the turkey shoot.

[TiroFijo]

Mike, what percentage of the casualties were inflicted by the air force bombing prior to the Parabats jump?

How well trained were the SWAPO? I understand their commander fled under the attack. But I'm sure it took bronze balls to advance against AA artillery and a hugely superior (in numbers) and determined enemy in entrenched positions, no matter what level of training disparity.

There was quite a lot of propaganda by the cubans and their allies after this raid, claiming unfair attack on a refugee camp, intentional killing of non combatant women and children, and BS like that. Just like the previous Cuito Carnevale "victory". But the truth is that the south africans almost always fared amazinly well against the soviet block/cuban supported armies and guerrillas.

[Inflexible Six]

Originally Posted by TiroFijo

Mike, what percentage of the casualties were inflicted by the air force bombing prior to the Parabats jump?

How well trained were the SWAPO? I understand their commander fled under the attack. But I'm sure it took bronze balls to advance against AA artillery and a hugely superior (in numbers) and determined enemy in entrenched positions, no matter what level of training disparity.

There was quite a lot of propaganda by the cubans and their allies after this raid, claiming unfair attack on a refugee camp, intentional killing of non combatant women and children, and BS like that. Just like the previous Cuito Carnevale "victory". But the truth is that the south africans almost always fared amazinly well against the soviet block/cuban supported armies and guerrillas.

Yeah, by "turkey shoot" I didn't mean to imply in the least that it wasn't a hard fought and dangerous fight. On the contrary, I think the disparity in casualties shows what happens when highly trained professional combat troops meet irregulars who choose to stand their ground instead of running. I think there's not a soldier here who isn't impressed by the odds you paras faced that day...and all who've been in hard fought contacts would like to have seen the same outcome, the enemy stays in one place long enough so you can kill him in large numbers. Bravo.

[twistedsquid]

Bravo Zulu GuyMullins and crew

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by TiroFijo

Mike, what percentage of the casualties were inflicted by the air force bombing prior to the Parabats jump?

How well trained were the SWAPO? I understand their commander fled under the attack. But I'm sure it took bronze balls to advance against AA artillery and a hugely superior (in numbers) and determined enemy in entrenched positions, no matter what level of training disparity.

There was quite a lot of propaganda by the cubans and their allies after this raid, claiming unfair attack on a refugee camp, intentional killing of non combatant women and children, and BS like that. Just like the previous Cuito Carnevale "victory". But the truth is that the south africans almost always fared amazinly well against the soviet block/cuban supported armies and guerrillas.

Tiro, it is hard to say because we were not counting at any time, but it was less than 100. The Alpha bombs we used were a great disappointment. They , instead of bouncing up and exploding sunk into the soft sand that the base was built on. They made a great spectacle, but caused very little damage. One can see from the photos I took, that the parade ground had only a few bodies on it. The vast majority of bodies were in the trenches which surrounded the town. Everyone I shot was in the trenches, apart from a Russian who I shot while he was trying to radio for help, he was in one of the bases buildings. There were quite a few woman soldiers, all armed and unifornmed and there were some children that SWAPO had kidnapped from SWA in order to con the UN into believing it was a refugee camp. These luckily were not harmed but we unfortunately did not have any spare capacity to take them home on our helicopters.

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by Inflexible Six

Yeah, by "turkey shoot" I didn't mean to imply in the least that it wasn't a hard fought and dangerous fight. On the contrary, I think the disparity in casualties shows what happens when highly trained professional combat troops meet irregulars who choose to stand their ground instead of running. I think there's not a soldier here who isn't impressed by the odds you paras faced that day...and all who've been in hard fought contacts would like to have seen the same outcome, the enemy stays in one place long enough so you can kill him in large numbers. Bravo.

Inflexible, our army was made up of a tiny Professional component , who were responsible mainly for training, the rest were civilians who were called up for National Service after leaving school, thereafter for operational duties every year for at least 3 months per year. Paratroopers often did two tours of 3 months per year. At Cassinga, we had about 5 or 6 Professionals and the rest were Civilian force soldiers. I and most of my mates, was almost 30 at the time, so had done quite a lot of operational service before that attack. The SWAPO were very well trained and it took us almost the whole day to silence the three AA guns, because every time we silenced them, they would be re-manned in moments. Of course we were quite highly motivated in that it was a Win or Walk situation. If we didnt prevail, we would have had to walk back through enemy territory 250 km to our border with very little water ,food or ammo. It didnt help SWAPO that their commander, Dimo Amaambo hopped into his jeep the minute the bombs rained down and headed for the hills. So , yes it was a bit of a turkey shoot, but we were not raw troops by any means, so our bushcraft, fire discipline and caution helped us keep casualties to a minimum while still winning the fight. I am sure that, had young National Servicemen been used, the casualty figures would have been very high.

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by Ambush Master

I'd be more concerned with the "decent SIGHT PICS" that I'd be providing with all of that additional loiter time under canopy!! Hell, I've deployed a "Belly Wart" Tricon out of the door @ around 100'AGL and I really wouldn't have cared to have been shot at for the time that I was under canopy!! Having been shot at, quite a bit, I would not care to be under canopy for very long!

Since there was a "Belly Band" involved here, I'd assume that a Reserve was there. I'd think that a combat Jump would have been minimal altitude and even less gear!!

Yes Ambush, we had reserves and our rifles, LMGs and RPGs were strapped to our sides with the belly bands. A piece of paracord was also fastened to your weapon and your belt so as not to lose it if you undid the belly band in the air. We jumped with two belts of LMG ammo , 9X 20 round mags, kidney pouches stuffed full of grenades, a smoke bomb, a water bottle, some tarzan bars to eat and in my case, a six pack of beer in a wet sandbag. Some carried mortar rounds, RPG rockets or Medic Packs too. I carried a platoon medic pack, a 16mm movie camera and 2 X 35 mm still cameras and quite a bit of film. My pockets were stuffed with packs of cigarettes too in case I had to walk back, I could trade them for water from my mates.

[PTI]

Fascinating. Thanks for the insights/comments posted.

Just bought a copy from Amazon.

Will post a review as soon as I am done reading. Since there are no customer reviews right now, you will be able to tell if I gave u a good or bad review.

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by PTI

Fascinating. Thanks for the insights/comments posted.

Just bought a copy from Amazon.

Will post a review as soon as I am done reading. Since there are no customer reviews right now, you will be able to tell if I gave u a good or bad review.

Thanks PTI, remember, we are not meant to write, we are meant to shoot.

[Team Sergeant]

Great pic!

May or June? 1978 we (1-505) were alerted and almost on our way to Africa to give Idi Amin Dada and his posse a dirt nap. We were all a bit disappointed when we were told the mission was scrubbed.

I'll also be purchasing your book! Love paratrooper stories! (even if I do have a short attention span..)

[Guymullins]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Great pic!

May or June? 1978 we (1-505) were alerted and almost on our way to Africa to give Idi Amin Dada and his posse a dirt nap. We were all a bit disappointed when we were told the mission was scrubbed.

I'll also be purchasing your book! Love paratrooper stories! (even if I do have a short attention span..)

Hi Team,
There was a French or Belgium operation a week or two after Cassinga where their paratroopers rescued some white nationals in the Congo I think it was, maybe Kolwezi? If I remember correctly, American aircraft were involved as they didnt have their own handy. I wonder whether that was what you were preparing for? I will look it up and report back.

Here we go. From Wiki : On Saturday,13 May 1978, Ex - Katanges Soldiers supported by Angola, occupied the city. The government of Zaire asked Belgium, France, Morocco and the United States to restore order. The 2e REP, an elite paratroopers unit of the French Foreign Legion, were sent in to drive out the rebels and rescue any hostages. The Belgian army also deployed a force of some 750 Paracommando Regiment paratroopers and moved out just over 1,800 Europeans to other cities in the region. 700 Africans, including 250 rebels,[5] 170 European hostages and 6 paratroopers died.