THE BATTLE of Epalala la Hamukoto took place in November 1981.
It was in early November when I received orders from the Detachment Commander, Cde Ruben Neshiko Matondo ga Niilonga, to engage the enemy in our area of operation.
Commander Matondo ga Niilonga had replaced Cde Shikuma Kamati who was redeployed to the mechanised brigade in Lubango in the Huila province of Angola.
To execute the combat order, I was to be given about 40 fighters and necessary firepower to engage the enemy in the area of our responsibility. Cde Nairobi, who was the Platoon 11 Deputy Commander, deputised me on this mission.
I was a Detachment Reconnaissance Commander, replacing Cde Sacky who had also been redeployed to the regional headquarters. On that particular day, we spent the night at Ondema village, about 40 kilometres west of Okongo garrison village. We left Ondema via Okalunga village and arrived at Epalala village at about 11h00. At Epalala, we positioned ourselves north-east of the village. At around 14h00, just after finishing our lunch, we received information that enemy troops had arrived in the village pursuing our footprints. Upon receiving this information, I immediately ordered all the fighters to be ready to engage the enemy forces.
At about 16:00, the two comrades rushed back to warn us that the enemy soldiers were moving towards our position. I immediately ordered my deputy to move southwards to signal to the fighters to be ready for the fight. While my deputy was moving in the southern direction, I was also giving the same instructions to fighters positioned to the north and in the middle. As I moved back into the middle of the ambush, I could hear enemy soldiers making noise a distance from the ambush.
We waited until the soldiers were close before the fighter entrusted with the responsibility to hit the enemy first opened fire. Our fighters responded with a wave of fire, prompting the enemy to retreat before regrouping to fight back. When the enemy returned, we had moved our positions. The real battle was to start again after the enemy forces regrouped.
We engaged each other for some time before the enemy retreated for the second time. Later, I ordered the fighters to retreat after we heard helicopters approaching from the western direction. The helicopters started firing into the bushes in the western part of the village. As we were evacuating, I came across a comrade who had been hit in the leg. One of the fighters helped me carry the wounded comrade to safety. As we carried the wounded fighter, enemy soldiers, spurred on by the arrival of three helicopter gunships, surged into our position. Suddenly, a shot rang out just a few metres from us. The enemy forces had noticed the trail of blood of the wounded comrade, and charged towards us. When the enemy opened fire, I had to respond immediately with a barrage of bullets forcing them to take over and that was how we actually escaped from danger. The first bullet fired from the enemy side almost killed the comrade who was helping carry the wounded fighter. The bullet actually passed through his uniform around the waist. We were forced to leave the wounded comrade behind alive though we were able to take his gun.
This was the first time we had left a comrade alive at the battle scene. Our assembly point was at Embwanyana village. Besides the comrade we left behind alive, two other fighters were also wounded, one seriously. Although we left one comrade behind, the battle was actually successful.
Information we received later on suggested that six bodies of enemy soldiers covered in plastic bags were loaded into the helicopter that had landed at the open space in the middle of the village soon after the battle, while over 10 enemy soldiers were wounded. Apart from the local people’s observation, our own reconnaissance cadres, who went back to control the battle scene a day after the battle, also reported that they had seen eight spots full of blood-soaked sand and dozens of bandages covered with blood scattered around the battle scene.
For the reconnaissance cadres, the battle scene was horrific, as dried blood was all over the bushes and branches of small bushes were cut down by our firepower, an indication that we were successful in the way we directed our firepower against the enemy soldiers. These reconnaissance fighters also confirmed that the comrade we left behind was later killed by the enemy.
They found a lot of blood where we dropped him and saw how his body was dragged by the enemy up to where the helicopter landed.
ALL PLAN fighters and other freedom fighters that are enjoying the fruits of independence today should be proud of the sacrifices made by these great sons and daughters of the soil who sacrificed their precious lives for the liberation of our motherland and her people.
• The book is available at the Book Den near Polytechnic of Namibia in Windhoek, Etunda Filling Station in Otavi, Omuthiya Filling Station, Okapana Filling Station in Ondangwa, Highway Filling Station (Selector) Ongwediva, Spar Shop Ongwediva, Book of Namibia in Ondangwa, Oshakati and Outapi, Hosea Kutako International Airport and at Bush War Publication in Durban, South Africa.