The Terrible Ones. A complete history of the 32 Battalion

The Terrible Ones, a comprehensive two-volume history work covers in detail the 32 Battalion's 117 documented military operations from 1976 to 1993.
Nortje, Piet
the-terrible-ones-a-complete-history-32-battalion
978-1-77022-397-4
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Title: The Terrible Ones
Subtitle: A complete history of the 32 Battalion
Type: Military History
Author: Piet Nortje
Publisher: Zebra Press; Random House Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2012
ISBN 9781770223974 / ISBN 978-1-77022-397-4
Two hardcover volumes contained in a slip case, 18x25 cm, 1320 pages, 600 photographs, 80 maps

Description:

Founded in utmost secrecy from the vanquished remnants of an Angolan rebel movement, the soldiers of 32 Battalion were forged into a highly effective fighting machine that took on guerrilla forces and conventional armies alike. Undefeated in 12 years of frontline battle, the 'Buffalo Soldiers' became the South African Army's best combat unit since World War II. This comprehensive two-volume work chronicles the unit's explosive history. Starting in the early 1960s, it covers events in Angola that would eventually result in the formation of 32 Battalion, and it ends in the 2000s, when the soldiers of the unit unknowingly betrayed themselves.

It describes in detail the 117 documented military operations that 32 Battalion took part in from 1976 to 1993, explaining how they were planned and executed, and illustrating them with maps. It also provides personal recollections from former 32 Battalion members and their allies and enemies, vividly recreating the experience of what happened on the ground. The Terrible Ones provides a complete picture with new insights, drawing from thousands of pages of documents in the Department of Defence Documentation Centre that have only recently been declassified. Definitive and magisterial, this is one of the most impressive military histories ever written.

Content: The Terrible Ones. A complete history of the 32 Battalion

VOLUME 1
List of maps, illustrations and diagrams
Preface and acknowledgements
Picture credits
Abbreviations
HOW IT BEGAN
Land of conflict and theatres of war
Part 1: The Angolan Civil War and foreign intervention
O PATRIA AMADA / OH FATHERLAND
War on the doorstep: Colonial Angola and civil war
QUERO SER SOLDADO / I WANT TO BE A SOLDIER
Forged in battle: Operation Savannah, 1975, and the People's Liberation Army of Namibia
Part 2: They lived, and died, by the sword
BUFFALO YETO NAWA / BUFFALO IS OUR HOME
Putting together a unit and operations, 1976
ANGOLANOS AVANTE / ANGOLANS ONWARDS
Angolan military organisation and other forces, 1976-1989
COMBATENTES DO BUFFALO / COMBATANTS OF BUFFALO
Shaping the unit and operations, 1977
TUZALI / WE ARE STRONG
Official recognition and operations, 1978
OUTROS INIMIGOS / OTHER ENEMIES
The challenges of the natural environment
LUTAR, LUTAR / TO FIGHT, TO FIGHT
Enter the Falcon and operations, 1979-1980

VOLUME 2
NOS MARCHAMOS SEM TEMOR / WE MARCH WITHOUT FEAR
Secret cover blown and operations, 1981
A NOSSA GLORIA / OUR GLORY
End of the Falcon and operations, 1982
COMMANDANTE WEYA LA / THE COMMANDANT CAME
Start of the regimental era and operations, 1983
ITEYA / IT CAN BE BROKEN
Behind enemy lines and operations, 1984
Part 3: 32 Battalion to UNITA's rescue
WABATA O TUNGO A / WE I YOU ARE THE LOSER
Final recognition and operations, 1985
A VITORIA CONQUISTAR / TO ACHIEVE THIS VICTORY
The conventional phase and operations, 1986
SOLE, SOLE / I LIKE, I LIKE
New command and operations, 1987
TUIELE THEN DA A / WE I WE CAME, WE GO, AH EH
The end of an era and operations, 1988
Part 4: They lived by the sword and died by the pen
LUTAR ATÉ AO FIM / FIGHTING TILL THE END
The new era, 1989-1991
LIBERDADE E TERRA / FREEDOM AND LAND
The end in sight, 1992-1993
Part 5: Victims of their own betrayal
WATUMALA KO KACHALO? / WHO SITS ON THE CHAIR?
Facing the future, 27 March 1993 to December 1999
POMFRET YETO NAWA / POMFRET IS OUR HOME
A different betrayal, 2000-2005
BROTHER, REMEMBER ME
32 Battalion Roll of Honour
Traditional unit songs
Glossary: General terminology and military slang
Glossary: Weaponry, vehicles and aircraft used during the conflict
Bibliography
Index