They Live by the Sword 32 Buffalo Battalion South Africas Foreign Legion
Author: Col. Jan Breytenbach
Publisher: Lemur Books
Edition: First 1990
ISBN: 0-620-14870-5
Language: English
Condition: Good. Clean copy with tight binding.
Binding: Hardcover with dustjacket
Pages: 387. Print with images
Additional Information
32 Battalion was formed in great secrecy from the rag-tag, half-starved remnants of the Angolan guerrilla movement, the FNLA. The founding commander, a former "Recce" (South African equivalent of the SAS), turned these unwanted orphans from the Angolan guerrilla war into one of the most respected and feared units to see action in Namibia and Angola in later years.
Breytenbach's method was a simple one - he instilled in his men a total commitment and loyalty to the unit, rather than to a country or cause, the time-tested formula of the French Foreign Legion. He also demanded total loyalty to the black troops from his white officers - a vital factor if the unit were to become an efficient fighting force. 32 Battalion first saw action as "Combat Group Bravo" during Operation Savannah in 1975, after Breytenbach had fed, clothed and trained what he called "the most miserable, underfed, ragged and villainous bunch of troops I had ever seen in my life..." Breytenbach knocked his new recruits into shape, often literally by using his fists, gaining respect and willing cooperation.
The account of Operation Savannah which takes up several chapters of the first part of the book provides an insider's viewpoint of the campaign that was the start of South Africa's involvement in Angola. Breytenbach's methods of warfare were as unconventional as his methods of obtaining equipment for his unit. When he was denied permission to demolish a bridge across the Okavango, which he knew was being used by FAPLA, he sent a Recce team to demolish it anyway and then sent a signal to Task Force HQ that he had heard unaccounted for explosions in the area and asked innocently should he investigate? He then later signaled that reconnaissance had revealed that the bridge had been destroyed, according to locals. There were also lighter moments for 32 Battalion, both on the battlefield and off. New arrivals posted to the Battalion were often greeted by exploding mines and large numbers of fierce, camouflage-clad troops brandishing AK-47s, and many a raw recruit must have thought that his last day on earth was at hand, until he realised that it was all a hoax. Other jokes involved fake "hangings", particularly when senior Air Force officers were visiting the base at Omauni. One such hoax backfired slightly when it resulted in a later visit by an irate General, demanding to see the unit's "mass grave"...
In time the Battalion gave rise to a number of legendary figures and colourful characters. One of these was Sergeant Major Koos "Crocodile" Kruger, so named after he escaped from the clutches of a large crocodile which had grabbed him by the leg. Thinking fast, Kruger had thrust his hand into the crocodile's throat and grabbed its throat flap, causing it to drown.
They Live By The Sword is an engrossing book, a colourful account of an irregular unit that achieved unequalled success in its battles, outfighting the Angolans and Cubans, and out-manoeuvring their Russian advisers. They not only lived by the sword, but many died by the sword, and their nickname "South Africa's Foreign Legion" is one that they earned on the battlefield. Jan Breytenbach has done justice to them with this book.
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