By this time I was married and the father of five-year-old twins, so I agreed, at Karien’s prompting, to build in safety measures to increase my survival stakes. One week before the trip we drove deep into the desert and established a water cache at the halfway mark – at a place where some dilapidated infrastructure indicated that people had once lived there. At the time there was a real threat of religious fundamentalists targeting Westerners, but I took the risk of venturing alone into the desert.
On the way back from a 4X4 tour in the desert, I was dropped off with a 60-kg pack and set out on a bearing in the direction of Riyadh. I was carrying 40 kg of water, as the searing heat made one consume more than eight litres a day. To save water, I only hiked at night and in the very early hours of the morning, covering 28 km a day. On the first day I barely rested, because I soon realised that once I had put the heavy pack down I couldn’t get up again. The terrain was flat, with no vegetation, and there was nothing I could use to pull myself up. So I just stayed on my feet and rested by bending over with the pack and leaning on my hiking stick.
Later on, once I hit dune country, it became easier to stand up by taking advantage of the slope of the dune. The disadvantage of the dunes was that I couldn’t get the heavy pack up the steep incline of the leeway, the side of the dune sheltered from the wind. This was a problem especially at night, as I could not see the lay of the land and invariable found myself at the bottom of a dune I could not get across. I would then have to move back along the base of the dune to where the incline allowed me to cross.
It was tough and challenging, but in a sense the most rewarding experience of my life, as I again felt the exhilaration of mastering my old fears and becoming one with the desert around me. During the hike I relived every Small Team deployment, recalling both the hardships and joys, and buried the last of my fears in the sands.
As a 17-year-old, in 1976 I completed the 80-km Karoo Marathon in the town of Laingsburg in 7 h 19 min 48 sec. Long-distance running has always been a favourite sport of mine.
My father, Koos Stadler, was a minister of the church and a man of the veld.
My father, Koos, and mother, Riegie, visited me at Omega in the Eastern Caprivi. At that time I was a lieutenant in 31 Battalion’s reconnaissance wing.
The headquarters of 31 Battalion’s C Company.
Xivatcha Shekambe, scout extraordinaire, on roll-call parade. Xivatcha taught me much about the bush during my time at Omega.
Two senior Bushman soldiers of 31 Battalion’s reconnaissance wing. On the left is Tango Naca, with whom I often deployed.
Bushman soldiers on the basic parachute course at 1 Parachute Battalion in Bloemfontein. The course proved to be challenging for most members of the recce wing.
31 Battalion’s recce wing on the runway at Omega prior to deployment. From left to right: Tinus “Putty” van der Merwe, Steven Steinhobel, Charles Henning, Jorrie Jordaan, Neil Reinolds, Gerhard Nel (behind), Frik Theron, me and Xivatcha Shekambe. Mark Templeton is seated in front.
As a lieutenant with 31 Battalion. Even then I only wanted to do one thing – reconnaissance.
A sketch of an operator with Afro wig and SWAPO hat as disguise. SWAPO uniforms and blackened faces were standard during clandestine missions.
Frans Gunther commanded 31 Battalion’s C Company and was infamous for his drooping moustache when something wasn’t to his liking.
The lecture room at Fort Vreeslik near Omega where 31 Battalion’s recce wing did their training and prepared for operations. This was where the “roaring lions” incident took place.
In a playful tussle with Tinus “Putty” van der Merwe (right) at Omega.
The bar at Fort Vreeslik.
My sketch of a FAPLA early warning post in an old farmhouse near Mpupa in southeastern Angola. Annotations were done in code and later (during the debriefing) drawn in on the sketch.
Candidates were tested on both a physical and psychological level during Special Forces selection. The image below shows two of the doctors on my selection course (the man in the middle and the one on his knees).
Typical accommodation on the Special Forces’ Bushcraft, Tracking and Survival course.
Setting traps and snares was part of the daily routine on the survival course in the Caprivi.
Visitors to the Small Team headquarters at 5 Reconnaissance Regiment at Phalaborwa were welcomed by this emblem at the entrance. Later the official badge depicted Joshua and Caleb (pictured below), two spies sent out by Moses, under a Southern Cross.
With members of 5 Recce during my first Small Teams exercise in the valleys of the Blyde River Canyon. From left to right are Corné Vermaak (intelligence officer), me, and operators José dos Santos (back), CC Victorino (front) and Jo-Jo Bruyns.
The “mean team” from 5 Recce were, from left to right, CC Victorino, Neves Matias, Dave Scales, Boet Swart and André Diedericks.
Small Team operators André Diedericks with his buddy Neves Matias and me with my buddy José da Costa, alias “Mr T”
André Diedericks at Ondangwa prior to a deployment. His pack weighed in at 94 kg.
The Small Team members during Operation Cerberus: from left to right are me, CC Victorino, Neves Matias and André Diedericks. Note the camouflaged BRDM-2 armoured vehicle with SA-9 missile system behind us.
Two sketches I made of the ingenious methods used by UNITA soldiers to get our vehicles up and running again. The top image illustrates how they recovered the BRDM/SAM-9 after a breakdown, while the bottom one is of the improvised jack they made when the vehicle had a flat tyre.
My friend and legendary Small Team operator André “Diedies” Diedericks. Note the two Honoris Crux medals on his left chest.
