Department of Military History

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Browsing Department of Military History by Author "Gordon, Hugh William"

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    Forged in Battle? A socio-military history of South Africa’s 32 Battalion (1975 – 1993)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Gordon, Hugh William; Van Der Waag, Ian Joseph; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies: Military History.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African Defence Force (SADF) and South African Police were involved in a protracted armed conflict in southern Africa from 1966 – 1989. Various protagonists in the conflict received backing from Cold War superpowers. South Africa made use of several “irregular” units, usually comprising black soldiers under white leadership. A group of former Angolan soldiers, who had been abandoned by their Angolan leaders, became part of the South African forces during Operation Savannah in 1975 and 1976. These men eventually became part of the SADF, and were named 32 Battalion. They soon built a reputation as one of the SADF’s most successful combat units, and were consequently referred to by their opponents as Os Terriveis, The Terrible Ones. Unlike in traditional SADF units, the soldiers of 32 Battalion had no choice but to bring their families with them when they joined the army. Their dependents could not be left behind in Angola, against whom they were now, in part, fighting. The SADF, and the officers of 32 Battalion in particular, had to find ways in which to provide effective support to the soldiers as well as their families. All the former Angolans of 32 Battalion –both soldiers and civilians – depended on the SADF to provide accommodation,access to food, medical support, financial advice, and social structure. In 1989, 32 Battalion relocated to South Africa. They were, initially, deployed in South African townships as peacekeepers, but neither the National Party (NP) government, nor the incumbent African National Congress (ANC) were comfortable with one of the most successful SADF units on South African soil. To the apartheid-orientated NP, the soldiers of 32 Battalion were, quite simply, too black and to the ANC they were the epitome of blacks who had not supported the struggle and sided with the apartheid government. The result was that 32 Battalion was disbanded in 1993, with little thought about their future. Drawing on newly declassified documents from the South African Department of Defence Documentation Centre, this dissertation traces the history of 32 Battalion, starting with their emergence from the Cold War conflicts in southern Africa, through their deployment by the SADF, to their eventual relocation and disbanding in South Africa. Using a “bottom-up” perspective not commonly found in South African military historiography, the dissertation pays particular attention to the way in which 32 Battalion’s military existence interacted with the social dynamic within the unit. The presence of a civilian component throughout their history facilitates a close examination of the areas in which the SADF was, and was not, successful in providing for an irregular, but highly effective, unit. Amid a plethora of 32 Battalion histories and memoirs, this dissertation is the first to provide an archivally based, “bottom-up” history with a social focus.