Operation Vanity was a Rhodesian

military operation A military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operations may ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

with clandestine assistance from the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

(SAAF) during the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also called the Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Liberation, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the unrecognised country of Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe-Rhodesia). The conflict pitted three for ...

. The

Rhodesian Air Force The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the ...

planned a retaliatory raid against a

ZIPRA Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), a Marxist–Leninist political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhodes ...

camp in Angola after a second Air Rhodesia Viscount was shot down on 12 February 1979.

Operation

In retaliation for the downing of an

Air Rhodesia Flight 827 Air Rhodesia Flight 827, the '' Umniati'', was a scheduled civilian flight between Kariba and Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) that was shot down soon after takeoff on 12 February 1979 by Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) guerril ...

, the Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) planned a bombing raid against a ZIPRA training camp situated nearby the town of Luso in Angola. The Rhodesians estimated that there were 3000 ZIPRA soldiers, as well as Cuban and East German advisors, based there. The Rhodesians were only able to provide four Canberra bombers for the raid and required three additional aircraft which would be provided clandestinely by the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

(SAAF). Three SAAF Canberra bombers of 12 Squadron, under the command of Major Hannes Bekker, were armed with Alpha

cluster bomb A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...

s and took off around 18h15 from

Air Force Base Waterkloof Air Force Base Waterkloof is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is situated on the outskirts of Pretoria, and is the SAAF's busiest airbase. The base's name, ''Waterkloof'', is Afrikaans. It means ''Water Ravine'' in English. Despite ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 25 February 1979. From there they flew northwards to the Victoria Falls airfield in Rhodesia and landed after dark. There the navigators planned the raid for the following morning. The strike leader was Squadron Leader Chris Dixon, 5 Squadron Rhodesian Air Force, call-sign

Green Leader Squadron Leader Christopher John Taylor Dixon D.C.D. (1943 – 21 October 2011), also known by his callsign of Green Leader, was a Rhodesian military pilot for the Rhodesian Air Force and was born in Shabani, Southern Rhodesia. He was best kno ...

. Three SAAF and three RhAF were armed with 5 Alpha bombs each while the last Rhodesian Canberra bomber was armed with six 1000 lb bombs. The flight of seven bombers took off at 06h30 on 26 February 1979 headed for the target, which was located to the north-west. Additional Rhodesian aircraft were provided in the form of one

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

command and control aircraft and two

Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-R ...

fighters. Initially command passed to Flight Lieutenant Ted Brent because of radio problems, but would return to Chris Dixon later in the flight. The flight headed over

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

and then into Angola, dodging both countries' air defence radars, before turning towards the Benguela Railway west of Luso which followed east toward the target. By this time they had formed into two formations of four and three bombers, line abreast, hitting a rainstorm which cleared up two minutes from the target. The bombers, now line-abreast dropped to a height of 300 ft so that the Alpha bombs, a type of

, would cover an area 300 by 1000 meters. As they attacked, rows and rows of bungalows could be seen by the pilots with no anti-aircraft fire received, nor vehicles seen nor anyone on the parade ground, giving the pilots the impression of an empty camp.

Aftermath

Having attacked the target successfully, the bombers returned to Rhodesia, the SAAF bombers to Flyde near Hartley while the RhAF bombers flew back to Victoria Falls with one 1000 lb bomb before refueling and joining the SAAF aircraft. Photographic evidence captured by a SAAF bomber showed the camp was occupied and there were anti-aircraft guns. It was said 160 ZIPRA soldiers died and another 530 were wounded.

Operation

Aftermath

References

Further reading

See also