Use of Armour and Artillery
Indeed, the battle at Lomba River was the first full-scale tank-on-tank armored battle ever fought in southern Africa. During the battle, 62 of the 72 deployed T-55 tanks were either destroyed or captured, while the remaining 10 were found abandoned afterwards. The South Africans had two of their tanks put out of action, but were able to repair both. The recovery, under fire, of a crippled Olifant tank and the subsequent re-entry of a minefield where the tank was extracted from to extract a wounded soldier, earned Captain Petrus van Zyl and Lieutenant Tobias de Vos of 32 Battalion both Honoris Crux decorations.
The technological superiority of their G6 and G5 howitzers also contributed greatly to the South Africans' victory. This operation was also the first combat service of the Ratel ZT-3 variant, as well as the first deployment of the Olifant main battle tank in Angola.
Read more about this topic: Operation Modular
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