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Operation Hooper
Operation Hooper
Cuito Cuanavale
Operation Hooper (Angola)
Operation Hooper was a military operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the South African
Border War. This operation forms part of what has come to be called the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. The Cubans’
objective was securing the town of Cuito Cuanavale on the west of the river from capture. The SADF objective was
to drive the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) west across the river or to destroy them, so
as to ensure that FAPLA was no longer a threat to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)
in the south-east. The FAPLA advance was permanently halted, UNITA lived to fight on for another 15 years. The
SADF never attempted to capture the town. Both sides claimed victory.
29.1 Background
Directly following on from Operation Moduler, by November the SADF had cornered the remnants of three FAPLA
units on the east of the Cuito River, across from the town itself and was poised to destroy them.[1] The quite de-
moralised 59th FAPLA motorised infantry brigade, 21st and 25th FAPLA light infantry brigades, in positions near
Tumpo and east of the Cuito River, were effectively cut off due to SADF artillery control of both the bridge and
airstrip and to UNITA guerrilla control of the road from Menongue, which they had mined and were prepared to
ambush.[2][3]
With no functioning armour or artillery remaining, the FAPLA units faced annihilation.[4] On 15 November, the
29.2. CUBAN OBJECTIVES
Angolan government requested urgent military assistance from Cuba.
On 25 November the UN Security Council demanded the SADF’s unconditional withdrawal from Angola by 10
December but without threatening any sanctions.[5]
29.2 Cuban objectives
In Castro’s view, a South African victory would have meant not only the capture of Cuito and the destruction of the
best Angolan military formations, but, quite probably, the end of Angola’s existence as an independent country. Thus,
Fidel Castro responded immediately by sending — in what was called “Maniobra XXXI Aniversario de las FAR” —
materiel and 15 000 elite troops, retaking the initiative from the Soviets.[3] The first Cuban reinforcements in Cuito
arrived by helicopter on 5 December with about 160[6] –200[7] technicians, advisers, officers, and special forces.[8]
General Arnaldo Ochoa, a veteran of the 1976 Angola campaign and of tank battles in Ethiopia, was made overall
commander of the forces on the government side. Ochoa and Castro were to have serious disagreements in the conduct
of the war in Angola. These tensions were to have repercussions both during the war where Castro’s interference with
defense plans may have cost the Cubans dozens of lives[9] and in the aftermath of Angolan hostilities a year later
when Ochoa was arrested, tried and executed by firing squad after being found guilty of treason.[10] General Cintras
Frias was made commander at Cuito Cuanavale. The Cubans’ initial priority was securing Cuito Cuanavale, but while
reinforcements were arriving at the besieged garrison they made preparations for a second front to the west of Cuito
Cuanavale in Lubango where the SADF had been operating unhindered for 8 years.[11][12]
29.3 South African objectives
Directly following on from Operation Moduler, Operation Hooper’s objective was defined as being to destroy the
enemy east of the river or at least to drive them back across the river, inflicting maximum casualties but suffering
minimum losses of their own. The river crossings were to be fortified and handed over to UNITA, and the SADF
were to withdraw from Angola as soon as that was achieved. The order was that the town of Cuito Cuanavale would
not be attacked unless it fell into SADF hands almost without a fight.[13][14]
The SADF units received fresh troops and equipment, but the units were reduced to about 2000 men and 24 tanks for
the rest of the operation. The new arrivals had to be acclimatised first. The SADF objective was defined as being to
destroy the enemy east of the river or at least to drive them back across the river, inflicting maximum casualties but
suffering minimum losses of their own. The river crossings were to be fortified and handed over to UNITA, and the
SADF were to withdraw from Angola as soon as that was achieved. The order was that the town of Cuito Cuanavale
would not be attacked unless it fell into SADF hands almost without a fight.[13][14]
29.4 Engagement
The bombardment started on 2 January 1988, with a mix of artillery and air strikes, and a UNITA infantry attack
that failed. On 3 January the SADF destroyed the important bridge across the Cuito River using a smart bomb.[15]
The Cubans managed to construct a wooden footbridge in its place which they baptised Patria o Muerte (fatherland
or death).[16] ) They partly buried disabled tanks so that their turrets could be used as fixed artillery pieces.[17]
32 Battalion and elements of other units harried the road convoys for weeks, destroying several hundred tanks and
other vehicles, and inflicting an unknown number of casualties.[18]
On 13 January the SADF attacked the 21st brigade, starting with air strikes and artillery bombardments. Over two
days the FAPLA unit was driven out of their positions, and lost 7 tanks with 5 more captured, various other vehicles
destroyed and captured, and 150 men dead or captured. UNITA lost 4 dead and 18 wounded, and the SADF had one
man wounded and one armoured vehicle damaged.[19] However the SADF was again unable to exploit the momentum,
due to a shortage or reserves and supplies. UNITA occupied the captured positions, and the SADF withdrew, but
UNITA lost the positions later to a FAPLA counter-attack. A large Cuban and FAPLA column was on the way from
Menongue for the relief of Cuito Cuanavale, but progress in the rainy season was slow due to the need to clear the
UNITA minefields and guard against possible ambushes. They did not reach Cuito Cuanavale in time to take part in
the first engagement.[2]
76
CHAPTER 29. OPERATION HOOPER
The next attack was only on 14 February, against the positions of 21st brigade that UNITA had lost, and the neigh-
bouring positions of the 59th brigade. They were counter-attacked by Cuban tanks. Both 21st brigade and 59th
brigade were forced to withdraw. The FAPLA lost 500 men and a further 32 Cuban soldiers, along with 15 tanks and
11 armoured vehicles. The SADF had 4 killed and 11 wounded, plus some vehicles damaged.[20] FAPLA withdrew
to the Tumpo (river) triangle, a smaller area east of the river and across from Cuito Cuanavale. The terrain was ideally
suited to defence, and they laid extensive minefields.
In a skirmish on 19 February a FAPLA position was disrupted, and it resulted in the FAPLA 59th brigade being
withdrawn across the river. However the SADF had two vehicles damaged in the minefield. In the following days the
Cubans stepped up their air attacks against South African positions. On 25 February another assault on the bridgehead
ran into a minefield, and bogged down. FAPLA lost 172 men, plus 10 Cubans, and 6 tanks. The SADF lost 4 killed
and 10 wounded, plus several vehicles damaged. However the bridgehead survived, and the objective of clearing all
of the Angolans from the east side of the river had still not been achieved.[21]
This concluded Operation Hooper. It was succeeded by the brief Operation Packer.
29.5 See also
• 32 Battalion (South Africa)
• Angolan Civil War/South African Border War
• List of operations of the South African Border War
29.6 References
[1] Gleijeses (2007)
[2] Niddrie (1988), p. 2.
[3] Vanneman (1990), p. 79.
[4] Bole-Richard (1988), Le Monde’s Johannesburg correspondent reported that these units had been without resupply for three
weeks. See also Benemelis (1988), cap. 18.
[5] Gleijeses, Piero: Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959-1976 (The University of North Carolina
Press) quoting: Secretary of State to American Embassy, Pretoria, 5 December 1987, Freedom of Information Act
[6] Bole-Richard (1988)
[7] Ricardo Luis (1989), p. 6.
[8] Barber, Simon in: Castro explains, why Angola lost battle against the SADF, 27 July 1989
[9] George (2005), p. 218.
[10] George (2005), p. 215.
[11] Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1988), p. 59.
[12] George (2005), pp. 210–212.
[13] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 316-319, 338-339
[14] George (2005), p. 214.
[15] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 320-321
[16] Ricardo Luis (1989)
[17] Holt (2005), p. 84.
[18] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 334-337
[19] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 321-324
[20] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 332
[21] The SADF in the Border War, 1966-1989, by Leopold Scholtz, pg 341-345