Operation Banzai: Congo 1965

 Mercenaries were ferried from Albertville up to the tiny port at Kabimba A tug boat towed the Uvira and the Crabbe. The Ermans towed six P.T. boats and the convoy had air support from six T-28S and two B-26S. The planes were headed to Baraka to soften up the villages to the north of it. Over two hundred voices raised a loud cheer, as the planes dipped their wings in salute. At dawn on September 27th, 1965, 5 Commando with its tertiary forces headed to Baraka.

Col. Mike Hoare’s plan was to seize both Fizi and Baraka and effectively put an end to the Simba Rebellion. He knew that once the word got out internationally, the countries that had been aiding the rebel cause, mainly Tanzania, Sudan and Uganda, would cease their operations almost immediately. But he also knew that President Kasavubu would no longer need Moise Tshombe, who has been effectively leading the country for 14 months and working closely with Col. Hoare every step of the way. 

Col. Hoare knew that if this operation were to succeed, it would immediately endanger Tshombe’s existence as the Prime Minister. The unit was divided into two groups of one hundred mercenaries each, Force John-John under Commandant Peters and Force Oscar under Captain Hugh van Oppens. Peters was tasked to form a six man beach recon group composed of Ron Columbic, Tim Dreyer, Sergeant Hammond, Sergeant Mansfield, Lieutenant Smallman and Lieutenant Braham. Despite all their training and dry runs, everyone in the group would either be killed or severely injured. 

Prior to the assault, Col. Hoare had flown over the whole area in a B-26 to make a personal reconnaissance of possible landing places and the selected beach was eight kilometers north of Baraka. Just before dusk, halfway to Baraka, Mike gave out the detailed orders, “At 0130 hours in the morning, the Beach Recce Party, under John Peters, will push off. On their “all clear” signal, the first wave of five P.T. boats will leave. By dawn the whole force should be ashore the vehicle barge Crabbe will land at first light and, as soon as the jeeps were landed, we would race into Baraka and take it by surprise. We will wait for dawn before advancing, because I want to be covered by the strong air support which was due over us at first light.” Even with the well laid plans, Mike expected everything to go wrong knowing that amphibious operations are prone to mishap at the very least. “Tonight, gentlemen, will be a long night. In the stillness of the small hours of tomorrow morning, you may like to remember that Sir Winston Churchill, that great warrior, once said, ‘Enterprises of great pith and moment rely for their execution on men of courage.’ This is certainly such an enterprise and you are certainly such men. Or that the late President Kennedy once remarked, ‘Victory has a hundred fathers, defeat is an orphan.’ Gentlemen, tomorrow at breakfast time, I hope we shall all be victorious fathers!” proclaimed Col. Hoare. 

Hugh van Oppens commanded the first wave of the assault and they reached the shore just as daylight broke. The enemy opened fire with tracer rounds flying over and around the ships lighting up the early morning sky. The first wave of mercenaries made it ashore but were pinned down by enemy machine gun and mortar fire. Hugh made his way to a hut and torched it, making the perfect signal for the other waves heading toward the beach. With the P.T. boats coming in at max speed, nearly lifting entirely out of the water, Col. Hoare made it to the shore, under a hail of machine-gun fire. Mike and his troops pushed straight up the road to meet up with John Peters. In just a few hours, 5 Commanded landed and took the beach head. Once reinforcements and supplies arrived, phase 2 began, Force Oscar (van Oppen's group) went at max speed to take Baraka, with rear support from Force John-John. Once they took Baraka, they would re-consolidate and Force John-John would immediately head to Fizi to attempt a complete surprise attack. Right before the orders to take Baraka had been given, Col. Hoare realized he wouldn't have air support, he had no wireless communication with the base, and the clouds were hanging very low. 

Van Oppens engaged the Simbas about 4 km from Baraka, crashing his jeep into some cover. He routed the initial Simba in the area. Force Oscar torched a nearby village, sending a thick plume of smoke into the sky, setting a grim warning to the Simba that remained in Baraka. While advancing to Baraka, the massive Rhodesian "Skinny" Coleman and Dave Braham flew past Col. Hoare in two Ferret armored cars to act as a steel spearhead to thrust into the defenses at Baraka. During the assault, several 5 Commando members would fall to Simba gunfire, and many would be severely injured. John Peters and Dave Braham were caught in a hail of bullets and both were wounded, with Peters refusing morphine to keep the fight going until he nearly lost consciousness from blood loss. 

5 Commando dug in and let a volley of rifle fire loose on the Simba defending Baraka while von Lieres set up 60mm mortars and rained hell from above. While still pinned by Simba gunfire, Bob Rogers, a former officer in the U.S. Army suggested that Col. Hoare ordered the gunboats to fire on the enemy's central position. The 75mm shells slammed the enemy position sending them fleeing in panic as the mortar shells still came down. It couldn't have happened any sooner as the mercenaries had almost completely run out of ammo, and the momentary victory bought precious time to re-arm and reload. 

An hour later 5 Commando controlled Baraka, and repelled every counter attack the Simbas attempted. By the time morning had come, air support was able to come in and clean up the smaller pockets of enemy resistance still in the area. Once things had calmed down, Col. Hoare and his men reflected on the battle, noting that these soldiers were significantly better armed and trained compared to the Simbas they had fought up to this point. With the help of one of his signalers, they were able to determine from the enemy radio that the force at Baraka had been trained and supplied by the communist Cubans under Che Guevara’s orders.