The Honoris Crux (Cross of Honour) was South Africa’s premier gallantry decoration awarded to members of the SA Defence Force between 1952 and 2003. The stories behind over 300 of these awards and other medals for bravery are graphically told - ranging from outstanding valour in all types of warfare to exceptional heroism displayed in saving lives. For these soldiers, sailors and airmen the common denominator was courage. One reads of a SAAF helicopter pilot who noticed that a friend’s gunship was under heavy fire, so switched on his lights to attract fire away from his comrade. The same pilot was later to land in an enemy camp to rescue the crew of a downed helicopter who were being chased by a patrol. A jet pilot whose Buccaneer was out of ammunition dive-bombed enemy tanks to keep them from over- running his forces. The heroism of the Special Forces, or Recces, became legendary. We read the unbelievable but true stories of two-man teams who crept into enemy camps, sometimes hundreds of kilometres from their bases, to gather vital information. If discov- ered they had to extricate themselves from impossible situations, such as the frogman team which attacked an enemy bridge then fought their way out - against small arms fire and hand grenades, as well as against crocodiles! The Naval heroes range from the seaman who remained inside the sinking SAS President Kruger to rescue friends, to the frogmen who went inside the sinking MV Oceanos to ensure that no one remained behind. Two of them dived into the stormy sea to rescue floating passengers and crew, thereby ensuring the success of the greatest sea rescue of the century. One of the survivors had won the DCM in World War II, while his son had earned the Honoris Crux in 1983. The author has interviewed many of the medal recipients and invariably found them to be modest about their heroic exploits. He has included some of the events in which the SA Police were involved, acting as part of the country’s security forces in combating terrorism. In many cases he has recorded the subsequent lives of the medal recipients. The awards were made irrespective of race, colour or creed - despite most of the events taking place during the Apartheid years. Men from diverse backgrounds learnt to live and fight together, especially among the Special Forces, where their lives often depended on each other. The award of the HC Gold to a black Recce attests to that. During a period of five months on five occa- sions he approached the enemy on his own and fought to the death, thereby displaying total disregard for his own safety. Through these pages one learns of the incredible valour displayed during the turbu- lent years of the Border War. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated, to include not only new information but additional photographs, too. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arthur Walker HCG and Bar with the author in 1991. Ian Uys inherited his love of military history from his father, Jack (1910-59). During his schooldays in Uitenhage he wrote to an ency- clopedia for the names of all South African VC winners. He was sent three names, yet at the time he knew of 25! He volunteered for and served in the SA Air Force Gymnasium in 1960, then attended the University of Cape Town and graduated B Commerce. Uys captained the UCT Boxing team and was selected as South Africa’s first AIESEC commerce student to work in the USA and Australia. After marrying Barbara Bowers, a former Londoner, he qualified as a chartered accountant then lived in England where he did further VC research. In 1973 he wrote and published For Valour, the history of Southern Africa’s Victoria Cross Heroes. It has a natural successor in Enduring Valour as it updates the records of valour by South Africans. Uys has been interested in the personal reminiscences of personalities caught up in military history and has written many books about them. He served in the Heidelberg Commando in the seventies. In 1977 he was a platoon commander in the operational area and was awarded the De Wet Decoration. In 1989 he ran for parliament as a Democratic Party candidate for Germiston District, a strong National Party ward. Though he lost, he believes that in a small way it contributed to the change in the country the following year. Uys is a practising auditor in Knysna and has three children and four grandchildren. He is a former chairman of the SA Military History Society, has completed ten Comrades’ Marathons of 90km and was a private pilot for many years. He has developed his fami- ly’s Bushman Valley Resort near Prince Albert and is a keen nature conservationist. ENDURING VALOUR South Africa’s Cross of Honour Ian Uys This third edition published in 2015 by: 30° SOUTH PUBLISHERS (PTY) LTD. 16 Ivy Road Pinetown Durban 3610 South Africa www.30degreessouth.co.za First published in 1992 as Cross of Honour by Uys Publishers Second edition published in 2014 2 by Helion & Company Ltd & GG Books Copyright © Ian Uys, 2015 Photographs © as individually credited Designed and typeset by Great White Designs (www.greatwhitedesigns.com) Cover designed by Euan Carter, Leicester (www.euancarter.com) Printed by Pinetown Printers, Durban ISBN: 978-1-928211-67-9 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, manipulated in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any mechanical, electronic form or by any other means, without the prior written authority of the publishers, except for short extracts in media reviews. Any person who engages in any unauthorized activity in relation to this publication shall be liable to criminal prosecution and claims for civil and criminal damages. CONTENTS List of Abbreviations vi Acknowledgements viii Original Foreword to Cross of Honour by Vice-Admiral L.J. Woodburne DVR SD SM ix Foreword to Enduring Valour by Captain Larry Bailey, USN (SEAL) (Retired) x Prologue xii 1961-1974: Insurgency and Police Actions 1 1975: Operation Savannah 28 1976: Beginning of the Border War 50 1977-80: Retaliation over the Border 71 1981: The return to Angola 109 1982: A Series of Disasters 133 1983-85: Fighting Intensifies as Cubans increase 147 1986-87: Operations Modular and Coolidge 171 1988-90: Prelude to Peace 209 1991: The Oceanos saga 228 Appendices I. The Decorations Awarded 245 II. List of Decorated Servicemen and Policemen 258 III. Honoris Crux Awards 271 IV. Decorations Analysed by Units 277 Bibliography 282 Index 284 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adv Advanced Ammunit Ammunition ANC African National Congress APLA Azanian People’s Liberation Army Amd Armoured ASC Army Service Corps BM-21 Multiple rocket vehicle Bn Battalion Capt Captain Cdo Commando Col Colonel Const Constable DVR Van Riebeeck Decoration DWD De Wet Decoration FAPLA Forces Armadas Popular de Angola, the military wing of MPLA FNLA The National Front for the Liberation of Angola Gp Group Grd Guard HC Honoris Crux (and Diamond, Gold and Silver) HIdrs Highlanders HQ Headquarters Intell Intelligence JCD John Chard Decoration JMC Joint Monitoring Commission LI Light Infantry Lt Lieutenant LWD Louw Wepener Decoration LWM Louw Wepener Medal Mech Mechanised Med Medical Mil Military MK Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). Military wing of the ANC/SACP. MM Military Medal MPLA The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola OPO Ovambo People’s Organisation Para Parachute LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii PCF Praefecturae Crux Fortitudinis (SA Police Cross for Bravery) PCFG SA Police Cross for Bravery (Gold) Also awarded in Silver PLAN People’s Liberation Army of Namibia PMM Pro Merito Medal R/Const Reserve Constable Recce Reconnaissance Regt Regiment SAA South African Artillery SAAC South African Armoured Corps SAAF South African Air Force SAAIC South African Army Intelligence Corps SACP South African Communist Party SADF South African Defence Force SAEC South African Engineering Corps SAIC South African Intelligence Corps SAMS South African Medical Services SAM-7 Surface to Air Missile - 7 SAN South African Navy Serv Service SCG SA Police Silver Cross for Gallantry Sch School Sgt Sergeant SM Southern Cross Medal SOO SA Police Star for Distinguished Service Spec Special Sqdn Squadron Supt Support SWA South West Africa (Namibia) SWAPO South West African People’s Organisation SWATF South West Africa Territorial Forces Trng Training TSC Technical Service Corps UN United Nations UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. VC Victoria Cross VRM Van Riebeeck Medal WO Warrant Officer WDG Woltemade Decoration Class 1 (Gold) Medal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the assistance and advice of many people in writing this book. Principal among them are the recipients of gallantry awards and their relatives, Colonel Tony Collocott and his staff at Paratus, Cmdt Ray Burgess of the medals and decorations section of the Directorate of Personnel Utilisation, Major Daphne Schutte of the SADF Department of Public Relations, Capt Peter Digby, WO Santjie Milford of the SA Police and Terry King. The sterling work done by Dr At van Wyk in his two books on the Honoris Crux is acknowledged, as is the co-operation and assistance of other writers and publishers in allowing me to use material and photographs from their books, among them Peter Stiff and Paul Els. The latter also allowed us to use many of his private photographs. Lourens Etchell, Tinus de Jongh and James MacKenzie were of great assistance in tracing citations. ORIGINal FOREWORD TO CROSS OF HONOUR BY VICE-ADMIRal L.J. WOODBURNE DVR SD SM Since the inception of the Republic in 1961 no complete record has been compiled of the acts of gallantry performed by members of the South African Defence Force and Police.