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1	The Cassinga Raid Alexander, Edward George McGill 31 July 2003 (has links) In 1978 the SADF carried out an airborne assault on Cassinga in Southern Angola. The South Africans claimed that Cassinga was a key SWAPO military headquarters, training camp and logistic base. SWAPO claimed it was a refugee camp and that the approximately 600 people who died in the attack were innocent civilians. The SADF said it had dealt SWAPO a significant military blow; SWAPO said the SADF had carried out a brutal massacre of old people, women and children. This dissertation focuses on the military dimensions of the raid, examining first the military situation in southern Angola and northern Namibia at the time, then looking at Cassinga itself before reviewing the airborne capability of the SADF, considering the decision that was made to launch the attack, describing the planning and preparations, the actual assault, a Cuban counter-attack and the extraction of the South African paratroopers. It concludes with the propaganda claims of both sides before assessing the military significance of the action. / History / M.A. Parachute operations Refugees Civilian massacre Insurgency Guerrilla warfare Border war Sun Tzu Breytenbach, Jan Hamaambo, Dimo Viljoen,Constand SADF SWAPO PLAN paratroopers Cassinga Raids Airborne assault Vertical envelopment 967.3041 SWAPO -- History Massacres -- Angola -- Cassinga Refugees -- Angola Refugees -- Namibia Cassinga (Angola) -- Massacre, 1978
2	The Cassinga Raid Alexander, Edward George McGill 31 July 2003 (has links) In 1978 the SADF carried out an airborne assault on Cassinga in Southern Angola. The South Africans claimed that Cassinga was a key SWAPO military headquarters, training camp and logistic base. SWAPO claimed it was a refugee camp and that the approximately 600 people who died in the attack were innocent civilians. The SADF said it had dealt SWAPO a significant military blow; SWAPO said the SADF had carried out a brutal massacre of old people, women and children. This dissertation focuses on the military dimensions of the raid, examining first the military situation in southern Angola and northern Namibia at the time, then looking at Cassinga itself before reviewing the airborne capability of the SADF, considering the decision that was made to launch the attack, describing the planning and preparations, the actual assault, a Cuban counter-attack and the extraction of the South African paratroopers. It concludes with the propaganda claims of both sides before assessing the military significance of the action. / History / M.A. Parachute operations Refugees Civilian massacre Insurgency Guerrilla warfare Border war Sun Tzu Breytenbach, Jan Hamaambo, Dimo Viljoen,Constand SADF SWAPO PLAN paratroopers Cassinga Raids Airborne assault Vertical envelopment 967.3041 SWAPO -- History Massacres -- Angola -- Cassinga Refugees -- Angola Refugees -- Namibia Cassinga (Angola) -- Massacre, 1978
3	The airborne concept in the South African military, 1960-2000 : strategy versus tactics in small wars Alexander, Edward George McGill January 2016 (has links) Text in English / Restricted files have not been uploaded / The thesis commences by elaborating on the concept of vertical envelopment as a form of military manoeuvre and defining airborne operations as comprising parachute, helicopter and air-landed actions. It goes on to describe strategy and tactics as they apply to the discussion before briefly tracing the development internationally of vertical envelopment and the thinking of the South African military about airborne operations during the Second World War. Events leading up to the decision by the South African military to acquire helicopters and to train paratroopers in 1960 are examined and the early operational employment of helicopters is analysed. The establishment of 1 Parachute Battalion is discussed in the light of the absence of a clear understanding of how it should be employed. Moving on to the commencement of the conflict known as the Southern African Thirty Year War, the issue of strategic versus tactical application of an airborne capability during operations in Namibia, Angola and Rhodesia is defined. Strategic application is then illustrated by specific independent airborne strikes, and the requirement for an airborne brigade to plan and conduct such operations is highlighted. The establishment of 44 Parachute Brigade and the difficulties experienced in its development are reviewed before scrutinising the tactical use of airborne forces in support of other ground forces. The high point in organisation and capability of the airborne forces of the South African Defence Force at the time of the ending of the Thirty Year War is appraised and the unfulfilled potential of the capability is elucidated. Faced with change and uncertainty, the employment of the paratroopers in urban operations during the height of the civil unrest is examined. This is followed by probing the response of the paratrooper organisation to severe budget cuts, enforced reorganisation and relocation, the ending of conscription and integration into the new South African National Defence Force following the country’s first democratic elections in 1994. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of the airborne actions during the incursion by South Africa into Lesotho in 1998 and an assessment of the implications of the loss of a strategic airborne capability. / History / D. Litt. et Phil. (History) Airborne operations Paratroopers Thirty Year War Border War Bush War Liberation struggle South African Defence Force SADF South African National Defence Force SANDF 1 Parachute Battalion 44 Parachute Brigade Vertical envelopment Helicopters Strategy Tactics Insurgency Counter-insurgency Namibia Angola Lesotho Rhodesia Constand Viljoen Jan Breytenbach Manoeuvre SWAPO Cubans MPLA FAPLA 358.40968 South Africa. Army -- Airborne troops

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