The Battle of Lomba, 3 October 1987: a tactical and operational analysis

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dc.contributor.authorScholtz, Leopold
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-10T09:04:02Z
dc.date.available2018-01-10T09:04:02Z
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractThe Battle of the Lomba, which was fought on 3 October 1987, was the final contest between the South African Defence Force (SADF) and Forças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola (FAPLA) during the first phase of Operation Moduler. In this battle, 61 Mechanised Battalion Group (61 Mech; with a Ratel 90 squadron as the battering ram) attacked the vastly superior Angolan 47 Brigade and all but wiped it out. The basic question in this article is why and how this happened? The answer lies in the tactical and operational handling of both forces on a command level. On the one side, from a professional viewpoint, the SADF leadership of 20 SA Brigade and 61 Mech did almost everything correctly, and even lay the foundation of the victory before a single shot was fired. The Angolan commanders did almost everything wrong. The tactical and operational lessons learnt from the battle may provide material for officers’ training, and these lessons are discussed as part of the conclusion.en_ZA
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationScholtz, L. (2017). The Battle of Lomba, 3 October 1987: a tactical and operational analysis. Journal for Contemporary History, 42(2), 48-73.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0258-2422 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2415-0509 (online)
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.18820/24150509/JCH42.v2.3
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11660/7560
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherFaculty of Humanities, University of the Free Stateen_ZA
dc.rights.holderFaculty of Humanities, University of the Free Stateen_ZA
dc.subjectSouth African Defence Force (SADF)en_ZA
dc.subjectForças Armadas Populares de Libertação de Angola (FAPLA)en_ZA
dc.subjectUnião Nacional Para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA)en_ZA
dc.subjectMovimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA)en_ZA
dc.subjectNamibiaen_ZA
dc.subjectAngolaen_ZA
dc.subjectOperation Moduleren_ZA
dc.subjectOperación Saludando á Octubreen_ZA
dc.subjectRatelen_ZA
dc.subjectT-54en_ZA
dc.subjectT-55en_ZA
dc.subjectDeon Ferreiraen_ZA
dc.subjectBok Smiten_ZA
dc.subject61 Mechanised Battalion Group (61 Mech)en_ZA
dc.subject47 Brigadeen_ZA
dc.titleThe Battle of Lomba, 3 October 1987: a tactical and operational analysisen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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JCH 2017 Volume 42 Issue 2