1 Recce. Alexander Strachan

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      Back in the plane, Davis called him to the cockpit and showed him that the Biafrans were parking a huge truck in front of the nose of the plane to prevent it from taking off. Again Trevor went down with the rope, this time to threaten the driver to remove his vehicle. In the meantime they did manage to hoist up some of the Red Cross staff, but it was an uphill battle, especially because the women were not strong enough to maintain a grip on the rope. An agitated Trevor now cast aside all military etiquette and yelled at the top of his voice: ‘Jan! Jan! Come on, why are you taking so bloody long?’

      With the Nigerians’ shells falling ever closer, Davis had had enough of this life-threatening situation. He was going to take off without Breytenbach, he announced. For Trevor, this meant he would have to jump out and stay behind with his team leader. He plucked out his pistol and threathened Davis with it. Luckily, the situation was defused shortly afterwards when Breytenbach came rushing up in a vehicle.

      ‘Make way, make way for the pilot!’ Trevor shouted furiously at the crowd. ‘Let the pilot get in!’

      Breytenbach pushed his way through the panic-stricken people and scrambled up the rope ladder. The moment he was inside the plane, they stormed the ladder and started climbing frantically. But the strong rope could not bear this overwhelming weight and the entire ladder collapsed. In the process, the little girl who had been at the front of the queue was trampled by the mob.

      Under artillery fire coming in from the approaching Nigerians, Davis started taxiing, steering the plane between the deep craters the shells had ripped in the runway. Outside, a number of people were still clinging desperately to the body of the aircraft. As the plane accelerated, the last ones peeled away like loose skin. Then volleys of bullets tore holes in the plane. Ironically, Breytenbach and Trevor’s last fight was against the Biafrans themselves. They were firing impulsively at the plane in a desperate attempt to keep it grounded. Amid all the chaos, Davis miraculously succeeded in getting the DC-7 into the air.

      In the plane, Breytenbach and Trevor saw a soldier in uniform who had taken the place of someone else who could have been rescued. With adrenaline pumping through their veins, they were bent on opening the door and throwing him out. The flight engineer had his hands full to restrain the two South Africans. Fortunately, everyone calmed down after the plane had been in the air for a while. They landed in Libreville, and the refugees they had managed to evacuate disembarked there. This was the end of the Biafran episode.

      During their stopover in France on the way home Breytenbach had a debriefing with the French Special Forces. In the process they also informed him about their secret structures.

      Trevor later received the Pro Merito Medal (PMM) for his actions at Uli airport, while Breytenbach was awarded the Southern Cross Decoration (SD).

      3

      1 Recce

      The Biafran operation showed that South Africa indeed needed an unconventional unit, and so Maj. Jan Breytenbach was finally instructed to put together a Special Forces unit. Everything was done as inconspicuously as possible. The cover story was that the envisaged unit would test new weaponry as well as the readiness of other branches of the armed forces.

      Maj. Dudley Coventry of the Rhodesian SAS was asked to help look for a suitable location in South Africa and to advise Breytenbach on the establishment of such a unit. After considerable travelling, Coventry recommended Oudtshoorn. This base in the Little Karoo had sufficient infrastructure, including shooting facilities, buildings and an airport. It was close to open as well as mountainous terrain, and bush training could be done in the direction of Knysna. Moreover, the base was not too far from the sea.

      In 1968, two candidates (an officer and a non-commissioned officer) were recruited from each of the different infantry battalions for a specialist infantry course. This was nothing less than a disguised selection for a future Special Forces unit, with Breytenbach and SSgt. Yogi Potgieter as course leaders. The group assembled in Bloemfontein, where they mainly did shooting exercises. For the first time Breytenbach and Potgieter fired live ammunition among the course participants.

      After a week they went to Oudtshoorn and stayed for three to four weeks in bivvies (self-made shelters) in Luiperdskloof. The candidates practised shooting and did a tracking and survival course, after which they left for the Knysna Forest. There they were ‘captured’, locked up for a day, and subjected to robust interrogation.

      Near Calitzdorp the group escaped over the Outeniqua Mountains and eventually reassembled at Swartvlei close to Sedgefield. At this stage there were only four men left. They had to search for and capture 1 Parachute Battalion’s company commander, and intercepted his Land Rover. After weeks of hardship they made it to the last rendezvous point (RV), where Breytenbach and Yogi were waiting for them.

      Breytenbach could not recruit candidates openly because units were unwilling to relinquish their best people. He had to approach individuals in secret to enquire whether they were interested in doing the qualifying course. This sifting ultimately produced ten suitable men for the selection, each a specialist in his field.

      On 13 July 1970 they reported as Alpha Group at Oudtshoorn, right next to the Infantry School. Alhough the group was made up of only eleven men, over time they became known as the famed Dirty Dozen.

      Breytenbach, who had been promoted to commandant in the meantime, was the commander and could also act as specialist navigator. Maj. Dan Pienaar Lamprecht was the most senior officer after Breytenbach. He was in the first group that passed the specialist infantry course at Oudtshoorn, and years later – on 1 July 1995 – he would become the first Recce operator to be promoted to the rank of major general. At that point he was commander of Western Province Command. Small arms and training were Capt. Fires van Vuuren’s specialist field, while Capt. John More focused on clandestine air operations and intelligence.

      In the ranks of non-commissioned officers, WO2 Trevor Floyd was the RSM. His many talents included an exceptionally strong mechanical aptitude. WO2 FC (Frans) van Zyl had been part of the Biafra group. Yogi Potgieter, who had passed the SAS selection with Breytenbach, was a boffin when it came to medical knowledge. SSgt. Koos Moorcroft, who would become an icon in the Special Forces, was a parachute jumping specialist. At that stage he was no longer in the permanent force, but Breytenbach as well as Gen. WP Louw had asked him to return. Koos had no clue that this would be the start of a Special Forces unit. He had to undero psychological tests along with More and Sgt. Dewald de Beer – a precondition for admission to the Special Forces. De Beer was without equal as far as tracking, bushcraft and survival skills were concerned. SSgt. Kenaas Conradie was the explosives expert, and Cpl. Hoppie Fourie acted as quartermaster and later also as scuba diving supervisor.

      During the months-long training that followed, every member of the Dirty Dozen shared his unique skills with the others. Thus each of them broadened and augmented his knowledge of bushcraft, small arms and navigation, among others.

      Soon more members were recruited. In January 1971, on completion of their parachute jump course, three paratroopers were instructed to report to Oudtshoorn. Corporals Jimmy Oberholzer, Dave Tippett and Wannies Wannenburg had been earmarked to become part of the group. WO2 PW van Heerden and Maj. Nick Visser were added, which increased the numbers of the founder group to 16 men.

      In the years that followed, this group inter alia conducted raids and demolished militarily strategic targets. These included railway and road bridges, harbours, radio masts and stations, and fuel depots and refineries. They targeted selected ships, and deployed and trained indigenous guerrilla forces in hostile countries.5 At all times a high priority was put on in-depth strategic reconnaissance, which was the cornerstone of the unit.

      The unit stayed together as a group even СКАЧАТЬ