Читать онлайн "Recce: Small Team Operations Behind Enemy Lines" - Stadler Koos - RuLit

^{André Diedericks and Neves Matias after they were awarded the Honoris Crux silver and bronze respectively.}

^{The famous five-course meal served to Small Team operators after a deployment. From left to right: Graig Trethewy (second from left), Dave Scales, Neves Matias, Col. Terence Murphy, Boet Swart. My back is to the camera.}

^{A Small Team operator’s personal equipment. All items were secured to the chest webbing with a string.}

^{The Small Team operators who took part in Operation Caudad in May 1986. At the back are Jo-Jo Bruyns, Dave Scales and André Diedericks. In front are me and CC Victorino.}

^{In the helicopter before take-off for Operation Caudad to Zimbabwe. On my left is sergeant-major Eddie Edwards.}

^{Operation Caudad was aimed at conducting pre-emptive stikes at ANC facilities in the so-called frontline states. Our mission to Harare, during which two ANC offices were attacked, caused an international uproar. This headline is from the Pretoria News.}

^{TCC Victorino and me during Operation Killarney in December 1985. Our goal was to disrupt the railway line that was also FAPLA and SWAPO’s supply line between the harbour town of Namibe and Lubango in the interior.}

^{Neves Matias, José da Costa and CC Victorino formed a combined team after I injured myself during Operation Killarney. This photo was taken back at the landing zone – note the empty backpacks.}

^{A train on the Namibe-Lubango railway line – this shot was taken from one of the team’s observation posts near the town of Caraculo.}

^{I took this photo of the railway line at Caraculo, stretching east towards the Serra de Leba mountains, when I visited the area in 2002.}

^{Our “guesthouse” at a UNITA forward base during Operation Abduct 1 in early 1987. Our aim was to bring an end to FAPLA’s air superiority in southern Angola by blowing up MiGs at the air base at Menongue.}

^{Prior to deployment on Operation Abduct 1: André Diedericks, a UNITA liaison officer (standing), Neves Matias (sitting in the doorway), Daves Scales (in civvies), me, and our UNITA contact known to us only as “Captain Mickey”.}

^{The Kwêvoël en route to the forward UNITA temporary base during Operation Abduct 1.}

^{With André Diedericks (second from left), UNITA’s Captain Mickey and Neves Matias during Operation Abduct 1. Note the sheepskin padding on the operators’ knees.}

^{Small Team operator José da Costa points to the position of the cache during Operation Abduct 2.}

^{The team back at the landing zone: André Diedericks, me and Da Costa.}

^{This wooden cross was still at the mission station, near the town of Huila, in 2002. During Operation Abduct 2 in 1987 we passed this cross during our infiltration of the target area.}

^{This shot of an MPLA Ural truck was taken from an observation post during Operation Abduct 2.}

^{This photo of the church at Huila was taken from one of our observation posts. We had to pass the settlement to get to the air base at Lubango.}

^{The same church in 2002.}

^{My sketch of the target area during Operation Abduct 2, made in a pigskin notebook, which ensures that the drawings stay intact when exposed to water or adverse conditions.}

^{André Diedericks and me at the landing zone just before we were picked up after Operation Abduct 2.}

^{Receiving the Honoris Crux (bronze) from then Minister of Defence Magnus Malan.}

^{The citation for the Honoris Crux I received for “several highly dangerous and top-secret operations” conducted “deep behind enemy lines”.}

^{When I noticed this photo in an album, I simply knew I had to meet the girl. Karien subsequently became my wife}.

^{With my wife, Karien, and our twins, Kobus and Karlia, on a dune in the Rub’ Al-Khali desert in Saudi Arabia where I was stationed as Defence Attaché between 2007 and 2011.}

^{Greeting the Greek Defence Attaché at a reception during my time as Defence Attaché in Saudi Arabia.}

^{My wife, Karien, and our friend General Abdullah Al-Sadoun.}

^{In 2010, while still stationed in Saudi Arabia, I decided to do a 200-km solo hike through the Rub’ Al-Khali, the “Empty Quarter” of the Arabian Peninsula – the largest sand desert in the world and one of the most barren places on earth.}

About the Author

KOOS STADLER is a professional soldier and former Recce who has been awarded, among others, the Honoris Crux (bronze) for bravery. As a member of the Special Forces’ specialist reconnaissance unit, or Small Teams, he was involved in numerous strategic operations behind enemy lines for five years of the Border War.

Tafelberg,

an imprint of NB Publishers,

a division of Media24 Boeke (Pty) Ltd,

40 Heerengracht, Cape Town, 8001

PO Box 879, Cape Town 8000, South Africa

www.tafelberg.com

No part of this electronic book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording, or by any other information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

Cover design by Mike Cruywagen

E-book design by Nazli Jacobs

Available in print:

First edition in 2015

ISBN: 978-0-624-06944-7

Epub edition:

First edition in 2015

ISBN: 978-0-624-06945-4 (epub)

Mobi edition:

First edition 2015

ISBN: 978-0-624-06946-1 (mobi)