Four Ball, One Tracer

by Van Heerden, Roelf; Hudson, Andrew (CON)

• ISBN13: 9781907677762
• ISBN10: 1907677763
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-19
• Publisher: Casemate Pub & Book Dist Llc

Summary

Brutally honest and devoid of hyperbole, this is Roelf van Heerden's Executive Outcomes. / Unapologetic, unassuming and forthright, the combat exploits of Executive Outcomes (EO) in Angola and Sierra Leone are recounted for the first time by a battlefield commander who was physically on the ground during all their major combat operations. From fighting UNITA for the critical oil installations and diamond fields of Angola to the offensive against the RUF in Sierra Leone to capture the Kono diamond fields and the palace coup which ousted Captain Valentine Strasser, van Heerden was at the forefront. He tells of the tragedy of child soldiers, illegal diamond mining and the curse of government soldiers who turn on their own people; he tells of RUF atrocities, the harrowing attempt to rescue a downed EO pilot and the poignant efforts to recover the remains of EO soldiers killed in action. Coupled with van Heerden's gripping exposé, hitherto unpublished photographs, order of battle charts and battle maps offer unprecedented access to the major actions as they took place on the ground during the heydays of EO.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. 9
Author's note	p. 13
Preface	p. 15
Glossary	p. 16
Roots	p. 24
Angola: Helping a Former Enemy Against a Former Ally	p. 27
Soyo and the birth of a new type of African soldier, March 1993	p. 29
Background	p. 29
Recruitment	p. 31
Mercenary or what?	p. 34
Preparation and training	p. 36
Heliborne assalut on Quefiquena	p. 41
Seaborne landing	p. 44
Consolidating our gains	p. 47
The occupation of Soyo	p. 50
Reflections	p. 52
The 1994 offensive in Angola to oust UNITA from Cafunfu	p. 54
Preparation and training	p. 54
The deployment at Saurimo	p. 59
Rapid Deployment Force operations	p. 61
UNITA attacks Saurimo and EO bleeds again	p. 66
Final preparations	p. 72
Taking Cacolo	p. 75
Cafunfu-the advance and attack	p. 80
The tragic loss of Laurens Bosch	p. 94
Reflections	p. 99
Locating fallen colleagues in Cafunfu	p. 101
Sojourn at Saurimo	p. 104
Retaking the strategic town of Cacolo	p. 113
Preparations	p. 113
The advance	p. 114
The occupation of Cacolo	p. 119
The Angolan contract ends	p. 124
A tantalizing offer	p. 127
Sierra Leone: Defeating the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), 1995-96	p. 131
Winning the contract	p. 133
Politics in Sierra Leone	p. 133
The coup d'état, the RUF and the civil war	p. 134
The death of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert MacKenzie	p. 136
Low-profile preparations	p. 139
Gearing up	p. 144
EO arrives in Sierra Leone	p. 149
Taking Kono	p. 153
Operation Waterloo	p. 153
Hendri's Waterloo	p. 156
The advance proper	p. 163
Securing and defending the Kono district	p. 175
Meeting the people of Koidu	p. 175
Birth of the Kono Consultative Committee (KCC)	p. 177
Gaddafi earns his flak jacket	p. 181
The defence of Baiama	p. 184
Administering the Kono district	p. 189
A new concept of operations	p. 189
The Gandorhun attack	p. 190
Strange visitors	p. 192
War children	p. 195
Soldier, sobel, rebel, Bicycle	p. 198
Fort Pega-The House of Pain	p. 204
The hunt for the 530-carat diamond	p. 207
So true	p. 211
Pamela and the tusk	p. 212
The palace coup, 16 January 1996	p. 214
A new horizon for Sierra Leone, 1966	p. 218
Stepping up before the election	p. 218
Kay's curse	p. 221
TT recalls road movement losses	p. 222
Mi-24 action in the Kangari hills	p. 225
Sobels at Njaiama	p. 226
Preparing for the cessation of hostilities	p. 227
Chief Sam Hinga Norman visits the Eastern Province	p. 229
Keeping the presidents safe	p. 230
Operation Zenith, October 1996	p. 234
The concept of operations	p. 234
Operation Joru	p. 234
Operation Golf Romeo 134	p. 235
Operation Levuma	p. 238
The end in Sierra Leone	p. 241
Reflections	p. 242
Further reading	p. 245
Index	p. 247
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