Operation Askari 1983/84: War Journal - Dawid Lotter

Operation Askari, December 1983 and January 1984, was the end of the beginning of the Bush War. Due to increasing instability in Angola, since 1975, the South African Defence Force was galvanized into developing new weapon systems and tactics. Operation Askari was the sixth largescale cross-border operation into Angola and signified a clear watershed in both military and political policies for the future. The South Africans launched conventional attacks on a wide front deep into Southern Angola. The five forces stretched over a front of more than two hundred kilometres; from Cahama in the west to Caiundo in the east.

The Operation also signified the beginning of the end. It took another five years, and additional conventional attacks, to bring an end to the conflict. This Book: "Operation Askari 1984/85- War Journal" is the result of more than ninety veterans contributing their own unique experiences to the timeline. It varies from concise inputs to a comprehensive history of the Omauni Raiders by Willem Ratte on the Techamutete Front. On the Caiundo front, Echo Company, 1 Para Bn, and Bravo Company, 32 Bn, attacked a FAPLA Brigade with great valour. Previously unpublished accounts of similar attacks, on all fronts, are recorded in this book. In this "War Journal" the author has attempted to keep the memory of that maverick operation alive.

Dawid Lotter participated as a combat team commander in Operation Askari. He partook in both the attacks on Cuvelai where a small force defeated a strong, Cuban supported, FAPLA Brigade. Operation Askari 1983/4 - War Journal is his sixth publication in five years. 

Softcover, 286 pages.

First Published March 2018.