Historia de 32 Battalion ( Os Terríveis )

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Historia de 32 Battalion ( Os Terríveis )
« em: Maio 29, 2012, 03:11:19 pm »
Deixo Aqui link http://www.32battalion.net/ da Historia deste batalhao sul africanos que combateu nas fontreiras de Angola e Nanibia
durante 1975  e 1993.

Deixo aqui a historia que consta no wiki, mas aconselho a consultar as pagina e forum dos mesmos,
chamo ainda atenção que este batalhão teve a grande participação de cidadãos[cidadões] Portugueses.


32 Battalion (sometimes nicknamed Buffalo Battalion or Os Terríveis - Portuguese for The Terrible Ones) was a special light infantry battalion of the South African Army, composed of black and white commissioned and enlisted personnel. It was disbanded on 26 March 1993[1] on the request of the African National Congress prior to the elections of 1994.[2]

Founded in 1975 by Colonel Jan Breytenbach of the South African Special Forces Brigade, it was later under the command of Colonels Gert Nel, Deon Ferreira (nickname Falcon) and Eddie Viljoen, known within the battalion by the nickname of "Big Daddy".
 

[edit] HistoryAfter the victory of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) in the Angolan Civil War in 1975, many troops of its main rival, the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (FNLA), found refuge in the then South African-controlled South-West Africa. [3]

From these troops, Colonel Jan Breytenbach together with Commandant Sybie van der Spuy formed a unit that was initially known as Bravo Group but later renamed 32 Battalion. Initially, Bravo Group consisted of two infantry companies, a mortar platoon, an anti-tank section and a machine gun platoon, but 32 Battalion was expanded to 6 infantry companies, a recce wing, and a support company consisting of 81 mm mortar, anti-tank and machine gun sections.

Unlike other SADF units, 32 Battalion was mainly deployed in southern Angola, acting as a buffer between the SADF's regular forces and its enemies. The unit was also used to assist the anti-communist movement of UNITA. Although it was mainly used as a counter-insurgency force it was eventually also used as a semi-conventional force, especially during the later phases of the war - particularly at the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. As such, its involvement in the Angolan/Namibian border war was greater than that of any other unit of the SADF[citation needed] and it is claimed that they caused more enemy casualties than any other SADF unit.[citation needed]

The battalion primarily consisted of black Angolan soldiers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) led by white South African officers and NCOs, although there were also a number of officers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Rhodesia, Portugal and the United States in the unit, especially in its early stages.[citation needed]
After Namibian independence in 1989, the unit was withdrawn to South Africa where it was used in the counter-insurgency role and later also in the South African townships. At the end of its era in Namibia, the unit had developed into a conventional battle group. Apart from the infantry companies and the recce company, the battalion was strengthened by a battery of 120 mm mortars, a squadron of Ratel ZT-3 and 90 mm tank destroyers and a troop of 20 mm anti-aircraft guns mounted on Buffel infantry vehicles. Although the main bulk of the battalion was based at Buffalo on the banks of the Okavango, the HQ was in Rundu, 200 km to the east