Loss of military equipment by the SADF at the Battle at Indungo during the Border War, 31 October 1987

Abstract

This article takes the form of an investigation regarding the loss of military equipment
by the South African Defence Force (SADF) at the Battle at Indungo, in an operation
that was assigned the codename Operation Firewood, on 31 October 1987 during the
Angolan Border War. The war was waged from 1966 to 1989 in Southern Africa. The
case study of Operation Firewood illustrates some of the circumstances under which the
SADF lost military equipment in Angola during the war.
Operation Firewood was one of more than 300 SADF general operations201 that occurred
in Angola. In the final stages of the war, the area north of Cuvelai provided the setting
for the launching of Operation Firewood, some 285 kilometres north of the border with
South West Africa/Namibia. The aim of this military operation was to eliminate an
enemy base that housed elements of the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN),
the military wing of the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO).