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South African 32 Battalion

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'''32 Battalion''' (sometimes nicknamed ''African buffalo Buffalo Battalion'' or ''Os Terriveis'' - Portuguese language Portuguese for ''The Terrible Ones'') was an infantry battalion of the pre-1994 South African Army. Founded in 1975 by Colonel Jan Breytenbach, the controversial "mercenary" battalion was considered to be one of the premier units of the old South African Defence Force (SADF). It was also the most decorated unit during South Africa's "border war", with a total of fourteen Honoris Crux medals for bravery awarded to members of this unit.

History
After the victory of the ''Movimento Popular de Libertaçâo de Angola'' (MPLA) in the Angolan civil war in 1975, many troops of its main rival, the ''Frente Naçional de Libertaçâo de Angola'' (FNLA), found refuge in the then South African-controlled South-West Africa. From these troops, Colonel Breytenbach formed a unit that was initially designated as Bravo Group but later renamed 32 Battalion after Breytenbach refused to abandon them as ordered. Initially, the unit consisted of two infantry companies, a mortar platoon, an anti-tank section and a machine gun platoon. Unlike other SADF units, 32 Battalion was solely employed as a counter-insurgency unit, although it was eventually also used as a semi-conventional force. As such, its involvement it the Angolan/South-West African border war was greater than that of any other unit of the SADF and it is claimed that they caused more enemy casualties than any other SADF unit. The battalion primarily consisted of black Angolan soldiers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) led by white South African officers and NCOs, although there was also a number of officers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Rhodesia, Portugal and the United States in the unit, especially in its early stages. After Namibian independence in 1989, the unit was withdrawn to South Africa where it was used in the counter-insurgency role and later also in the South African Township (South Africa) townships. As one of the results of the negotiations between the National Party (South Africa) National Party and the African National Congress, the unit was disbanded in March 1993. At the end of its era in Namibia, the unit had developed into a Battle Group equipped with Ratel 20 Ratel 90 anti tank, 127mm Valkiri multiple rocket launchers and 20mm AA weapons. {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub}} Category:South African military units

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