Shaba II:

The French and Belgian

Intervention in Zaire

in 1978

by

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom

FOREWORD

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom's study, Shaba II The French and Belgian 

Intervention in Zaire in 1978, presents a historical analysis of the 1978 invasion of 

Shaba province by the exiled Katangan Gendarmerie. Included in this study is the 

Western reaction to the invasion, from the Zairian Army's initial response, which set off 

the massacre of expatriate mine workers, to the airborne landings of French and 

Belgian forces.

The French responded by sending the Foreign Legion into Shaba to restore order in the 

province. Belgium, on the other hand, sent its Paracommando Regiment on the 

humanitarian mission of rescuing the hostages. Both countries developed independent 

plans for their missions, plans that were not coordinated until the two European forces 
were accidentally shooting at one another.

The 1978 operations in Shaba should not be dismissed as something unusual or 

unlikely to reoccur, nor should they be discounted as European operations of little 

interest to U.S. planners. Since these Shaba II operations, the United States has been 

committed to similar operations in Lebanon, Grenada, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, 

Panama, and the Persian Gulf. Without doubt, U.S. forces will continue to be involved in 

such operations, making Shaba II worthy of study by U.S. Army officers.

April 1993

RICHARD M. SWAIN

Colonel, Field Artillery

Director, Combat Studies Institute

CSI publications cover a variety of military history topics. The views expressed herein are those of the author and not 

necessarily those of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

Shaba II:

The French and Belgian

Intervention in Zaire

in 1978

by

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom

U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027-6900
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Odom, Thomas P. (Thomas Paul), 1953-

Shaba lI : the French and Belgian intervention in Zaire in 1978/

by Thomas P. Odom.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Zaire-History-Shaba Uprising, 1978. 2. Kolwezi Massacre,

Kolwezi, Zaire, 1978. 3. Zaire-Foreign relations-France.

4. France-Foreign relations-Zaire. 5. Zaire-Foreign

relations-Belgium. 6. Belgium-Foreign relations-Zaire. I. Title. 

II. Title: Shaba two.

DT658.25.036 1992

967.5103-dc20 92-29132 CIP

CONTENTS

Illustrations

I. Introduction

II. Origins

III. Shaba I
IV. Shaba II Begins

V. Massacre in Kolwezi

VI. The West Reacts

VII. The Evacuation of Kisangani: "Stanleyville II"

VIII. Conclusions

Appendix

A. Personalities, Terms, and Acronyms

B. Chronology

C. Organizational Charts of French and Belgian Units in Zaire

Notes

Bibliography

Contents

ILLUSTRATIONS

Maps

1. Zaire and the bordering countries

2. The FNLC's first invasion into Shaba, March 1977

3. The FNLC's second invasion into Shaba, May 1978

4. Kolwezi, 17 May 1978

5. Kolwezi, 19 May 1978

6. Kolwezi, 20 May 1978

7. Metal-Shaba

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION

Another dawn broke in the Zairian mining town of Kolwezi on 13 May 1978. Normally on 

the Saturday before Pentecost, the 3,000 foreign residents would be anticipating a 

relaxing weekend at home or with friends and family at the nearby lake. Most would 

have slept late and enjoyed the day off. In any case, no one would have expected to do 
anything in a hurry. After all, one who works in Africa soon comes to embrace its pace 

of life.

But the 13th was not to be just another day for Kolwezi. The town had been through a 

restless evening; an atmosphere of tension had hung over the city. Dogs had barked all 

night, and the expatriates found themselves waking repeatedly to glance at bedside 

clocks in anticipation of morning.

By 0500, the sun was climbing. Some of the foreigners were awake and preparing 

breakfast. Some looking out their doors found the streets unusually empty for a market 

day, when everyone tries to be the first customer and get the best price. The streets 

were not empty for long, however. Shortly after dawn, firing broke out in different parts 

of the city. That, in itself, was not too disturbing. The Zairian Army was known for its 

habit of firing ammunition for all sorts of reasons. But when the firing grew in intensity 

and Zairian soldiers began running through the streets pursued by soldiers in different 

uniforms, it was clear that this would not be just another weekend in Kolwezi.

Death had descended on the mining town, and many of its residents, native and foreign, 

had less than a week left to live. Soon, the city would become a charnel house with 

several hundred dead scattered through its streets. Four different armies would clash in 

Kolwezi during the coming days. Once again, people would shake their heads and 

mutter, "C'est l' Afrique!"

Since the end of World War II, the use of the threat of terrorism particularly that of 

hostage taking-has grown increasingly serious. Governments have struggled to find the 

best means of dealing with such episodes, and the burden has often fallen on military 

forces. When one mentions hostage rescues, people are usually reminded of the daring 

Entebbe rescue by the Israelis or the less fortunate Desert One attempt by the United 

States. Few know of the Dragon operations in 1964 by the Belgian Paracommando 

Regiment and the U.S. Air Force, the first hostage rescues since World War II. The 

Dragon missions were the longest in range and the most successful operations, saving 

over 2,000 hostages from execution by the Simba rebels in the Democratic Republic of 

the Congo.

Of those few who recall the Dragon operations of 1964, even fewer realize that 1978 

saw a repeat performance by the Belgian Paracommando Regiment along with France's 

2éme Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes (2d R.E.P.). In May 1978, the French, the 

Belgians, and the Zairian armed forces were forced to rescue expatriates in the mining 

center of Kolwezi, Zaire. The operations that ensued could by no means be called 

combined operations, as political differences prohibited cooperation among the forces 

involved. Instead, each country conducted independent operations, providing a truly 

unique opportunity for military analysts and historians to study each military's approach 

to the crisis in Zaire.
Contents

II. ORIGINS

Even to the casual observer, Africa in 1978 was ablaze with war. The continent was the 

scene of conflict from one end to the other. Wars raged in Namibia, Angola, Chad, 

Rhodesia, and the Spanish Sahara. The Ogaden, on the Horn of Africa, and 

Mozambique struggled to recover from the destruction of war. Meanwhile, Tanzania and 

Uganda prepared to engage in open conflict. Yet this level of war was hardly 

unprecedented: Africa had always been a violent and mysterious place. Zaire, the 

setting for Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, was no stranger to the ravages of war or 

to violence.1

Zaire, the former Belgian Congo, joined the ranks of independent countries as the 

Democratic Republic of the Congo on 30 June 1960 (see map 1). A Belgian colony for 

almost ninety years, the Congo was ill-prepared by its colonial masters for the 

independence its leaders had demanded. Within days of independence, the country 

plunged into a maelstrom of war that continued, almost without pause, for the next five 

years. From 1960 to 1963, the United Nations struggled to maintain the territorial 

integrity of the Congo against Belgian sponsored attempts to wrest the mineral-rich 

province of Katanga (Shaba) from the control of Leopoldville (Kinshasa). With the help 

of a mercenary-reinforced Katangan Gendarmerie led by Belgian officers under Colonel 

Frédéric J. L. A. Vandewalle, Moise Tshombe, the provincial leader, fought the Congo's 

central government and the United Nations to a standstill. Only with U.S. pressure on 

Belgium to reduce its support to Tshombe did the United Nations finally succeed in 

forcing the collapse of Tshombe's Katangan state.2

With Tshombe's defeat in 1963, the Katangan Gendarmerie crossed the border into 

Portuguese Angola and what seemed permanent exile. Maintaining its military 

organization and some of its mercenary leaders, it nevertheless waited for an 

opportunity to return home. Like the majority of the population of Katanga province, the 

Katangan Gendarmerie was primarily Lunda in tribal origin and easily fit into the areas 

of Angola that were also Lunda. The opportunity to return to the Congo, however, came 

quickly. In early 1964, a new wave of rebellion swept across the Congo and, this time, 

Moise Tshombe, the former provincial dissident, was called on to rescue the struggling 

central government.3

Continued tribal dissatisfaction with the government in Leopoldville had led to an 

outbreak of rebellion in the closing months of 1963. Heavy-handed repression by the 

Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC), the fledgling national army, coupled with the United 

Nations' withdrawal of its peacekeeping forces in early 1964, had produced a new 

outbreak of terror in the Congo. Unable to contain the spreading troubles, the 

Congolese president, Joseph Kasavubu, asked Tshombe to return from his European 

exile to assume the office of prime minister. Agreeing, Tshombe came back in mid-1964 
to a rapidly deteriorating situation. In August 1964, the rebels, or Simbas, had taken 

most of the eastern Congo, including the regional capital of Stanleyville (Kisangani).

Contents

Map 1. Zaire and the bordering countries

The seizure of Stanleyville doomed the rebellion because it prodded the United States 

and Belgium into supporting Tshombe's efforts against the Simbas. Once the rebels 

seized Stanleyville and its 1,600 foreigners, Western intervention was inevitable. 

Building slowly, that response began with the recall of the Katangan Gendarmerie and 

the recruitment of mercenaries to lead them. Much like the original formation of the 

Katangan Gendarmerie in the fight for secession, the operation owed much to the 

organizational skills of Colonel Vandewalle, who along with a levy of Belgian advisers 

was once again in the Congo at the side of Moise Tshombe. After a period of 

organization and training, Vandewalle unleashed his forces against the Simbas and, 
with the support of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) aircraft and Cuban-exile pilots, he 

soon was ready to take Stanleyville.4

Vandewalle's success in retaking rebel-held territory forced the United States and 

Belgium to intervene militarily against the Simbas. Most of the 1,600 expatriates in 

Stanleyville were Belgian, but 5 were American diplomats, whom the rebels began to 

threaten as Vandewalle's campaign gained ground. As his drive on Stanleyville gained 

momentum, the rebels seized the Belgians as hostages. Unable to halt Vandewalle 

short of withdrawing all support from Tshombe, the United States and Belgium 

agonizingly decided to use direct military force to rescue the non-Congolese in 

Stanleyville and perhaps other areas as well.

Staging from Europe, the Belgian Paracommando Regiment and the U.S. Air Force 

conducted Operation Dragon Rouge to rescue the hostages. Using 5 U.S. Air Force C130s to drop 340 paras on the airport, the operation succeeded in rescuing most of the 

non-Congolese on 24 November 1964. Following Vandewalle's arrival in the city that 

same day, the Paracommandos hastily planned and executed a second operation, 

Dragon Noir, at Paulis (Isiro) on 26 November. Fearing an international uproar and 

deepening involvement in the situation, the combined force withdrew within days, 

leaving hundreds of other nonCongolese behind rebel lines. Many of these unfortunates 

suffered hideous deaths at the hands of the Simbas, which was long remembered in 

Brussels.5

Although the Dragon operations broke the Simba movement, the war continued little 

abated into the next year. The Katangans remained in the thick of it alongside the 

mercenaries. Frustrated with the struggle, Leopoldville declared the rebellion over in 

March 1965. Notwithstanding this declaration, the rebels continued fighting in scattered 

areas over the next decade. Nevertheless, Tshombe and his Katangan army had 

succeeded, with heavy foreign assistance, in saving the Democratic Republic of the 

Congo.

Success, however, does not always bring reward in Congolese politics. With the war 

over, squabbling between Tshombe and his former sponsor increased. Kasavubu, 

jealous of Tshombe's success and suspicious of his intentions, dismissed him from the 

government in October 1965, but that action only intensified the struggle as Congolese 

leaders split into pro- and anti-Tshombe camps. Disgusted with the infighting and more 

than a little opportunistic, the commander in chief of the ANC, Lieutenant General 

Joseph Mobutu, seized power and declared himself president.6

Mobutu had been a fixture in Congolese politics since the early days of independence. 

Befriended by the country's stormy and short lived first prime minister, Patrice 

Lumumba, Mobutu became the first chief of staff of the ANC. From that point on, 

Mobutu served as a power broker behind the throne. Based on his control of the military 

(which, despite its bad performance in the field, was still important in Leopoldville), 

Mobutu held enormous influence in the government, and he had proved his willingness 
to wield that power in September 1960 by temporarily seizing power to halt a struggle 

between Kasavubu and Lumumba.7

During the next five years, Mobutu struggled to build the ANC into something of a 

fighting force. Born out of the ashes of the Force Publique, the ANC was a uniformed 

military disaster. Soon after the revolt of the Force Publique against the Belgians, Prime 

Minister Lumumba had promoted all the men and officers of the newly formed army 

several ranks in order to ensure their support. Renaming the Force Publique army the 

Armée Nationale Congolaise, Lumumba soon had to rely on it to put down the Katangan 

secession. Here, the ANC proved incapable. Tshombe's Katangan Gendarmerie 

humiliated the ANC and aroused Mobutu's ire. That resentment grew when Tshombe 

brought his Katangans back in 1964 to save the ANC and the Congo.8

Mobutu's 1965 coup was daring, for it challenged Tshombe when he was strongest. 

Tshombe had almost 18,000 gendarmes and several hundred mercenaries available to 

support him against Mobutu and the ANC. But Mobutu's forces were concentrated in the 

Leopoldville area, and he was able to consolidate his power quickly. Tshombe publicly 

supported the new president and then wisely departed for Europe, where he soon 

began scheming to resume power.9

For the Katangan Gendarmerie, Mobutu's 

coup and Tshombe's extended vacation in 

Europe did not bode well. Though the war 

against the Simbas was officially over, the 

ANC and the gendarmes were still fighting 

against the rebels who failed to heed 

Leopoldville's decrees. The alliance 

between the ANC and the Katangans 

remained uneasy however, and tension 

gradually increased, exacerbated by tribal 

hatreds and linguistic differences.

The situation exploded in Stanleyville in 

1966 with the revolt of the Katangan 

Gendarmerie's Baka Regiment. Led by 

Colonel Ferdinand Tshipola, the regiment 

was one of the original units that had 

returned from Angola in 1964. Seizing the 

airport, the mutineers resisted government 

offers to negotiate a settlement for two 

months. Finally, Robert Denard and an allwhite mercenary unit put down the rebellionfor a substantial cash bonus. Meanwhile, 

Mobutu accused Tshombe of using the 

revolt to generate support for his return to 

power. Yet others believed that Tshombe 

Mobutu Sese Seko
was not connected to this attempt. Rather, the 1966 mutiny was a Katangan reaction to 

rumors that the unit might be disbanded.10

In contrast, the mercenary revolt of 1967 was directly tied to a plot to return Tshombe to 

power. Unfortunately for the mutineers and even more so for Tshombe, the wily 

Katangan's luck had finally deserted him. By the time of the revolt on 5 July 1967, 

Tshombe was languishing in an Algerian prison, the victim of a hijacking operation 

apparently sponsored by Mobutu, Two years later, the Algerians announced Tshombe's 

death of a heart attack, a report questioned by many. Nevertheless, after the 

mercenaries learned that they were to be disbanded by the ANC, Jean Schramme, the 

infamous Belgian planter turned mercenary, came forward to lead the revolt.11

On 5 July, Schramme,11 whites, and some 100 Katangans began the mutiny in 

Stanleyville by firing on an ANC camp full of troops and their families. The slaughter 

was terrible, and the ANC reacted by killing thirty other mercenaries who were not 

involved. The rest of the mercenaries immediately joined Schramme. After weeks of 

fighting, Schramme withdrew from Stanleyville with a force of around 150 mercenaries 

and 1,000 black troops, not all of whom had been trained. The rebel force conducted a 

fighting retreat to Bukavu. Arriving there on 8 August, Schramme's force had bloodied 

the ANC repeatedly and continued to grow.

Schramme held onto Bukavu for seven weeks. Repeatedly defeating ANC units thrown 

against him, Schramme humiliated Mobutu and destroyed the little cohesiveness that 

remained in the ANC. Tribal conflicts began to appear as ANC soldiers from Katanga 

took the blame for the defeats. T-28s flying missions against the mutineers mistakenly 

attacked ANC forces. In addition, attacks failed due to a lack of artillery ammunition, and 

at least one ANC battalion revolted in sheer frustration over continuous fiascoes.

Finally, the ANC began to make progress. Fresh units, including a paratroop unit, 

arrived by American airlift. Rearmed, resupplied, and reinforced, 15,000 ANC troops 

began to push inside Bukavu. Schramme's men had been cut off for almost two months, 

and casualties were growing. Denard attempted to reach Schramme by crossing the 

Angolan border with a mixed force of eighty mercenaries and gendarmes on bicycles, 

but ANC air attacks drove them back. On 29 October, the ANC launched its final assault 

on the city. After seven days, the survivors in Schramme's force crossed the border into 

Rwanda.12

Not surprisingly, the ANC considered the operation a great victory. Mobutu had long 

hoped for an improvement in his army's martial standing. Suddenly, the ANC could 

claim that it had defeated an internal enemy without foreign assistance. The American 

airlift aside, the claim was true and, in light of the ANC's previous record, rather 

remarkable. The fact that a force of several hundred mercenaries and 1,000 Katangans 

conducted a fighting withdrawal over several hundred miles and then repelled attacks 

by 15,000 troops for nearly 2 months was conveniently forgotten.13
In contrast, the Katangan Gendarmerie did not forget its successes against the ANC or 

Mobutu's vengeance. The Katangan survivors of the Bukavu battle later were offered 

amnesty and repatriation to the Congo only to disappear mysteriously shortly after their 

return. Most observers agree that they were executed. Meanwhile, Mobutu's governor in 

Katanga carried out reprisals against the entire province and purged the provincial 

police of all the former Katangan Gendarmerie. Joined by refugees, the ex-gendarmes 

crossed the border into Angola. A decade later, they would have the opportunity for 

revenge.14

Following his victory at Bukavu, Mobutu concentrated on consolidating his position 

within the country. In keeping with its policy of maintaining access to the country's vast 

mineral resources, the West had consistently worked to keep the country from 

collapsing. The biggest backers had been and still were Belgium and the United States. 

Following Belgium's withdrawal of support from Tshombe's Katangan secession, the 

two Western allies had cooperated closely in their support of the Congo.

After the collapse of the Simba Rebellion and subsequent mercenary revolts, Belgium 

nearly lost its predominance in the Congo's mining industry. The Union Miniére du HautKatanga (UMHK), the Belgian mining company founded in 1906, found itself at crosspurposes with Mobutu in 1966 over the control it could exert over the country without 

government sanction. The problem surfaced when UMHK raised prices on its products 

without consulting Leopoldville. Mobutu, who had already indicated that the country was 

going to move toward more government controls over private industry, responded with a 

law requiring all companies established before independence to reapply for their 

charters. When UMHK did so, Mobutu denied the application and ordered that the 

company's assets be seized to form the government-owned corporation, Générale 

Congolaise des Minerais (GECOMIN). Since GECOMIN could not operate without 

Belgian and European technicians, the Congolese signed an agreement that offered the 

Belgians 6 percent of the gross revenues in return for operating the mines. Renamed 

Générale des Carriéres et des Mines (GECAMINES) in 1971, the company ensured that 

a substantial expatriate population would remain concentrated in the Congo's mining 

region despite government efforts to replace them with trained locals.15

Belgium's relations with Mobutu remained stormy. Many problems were to be expected 

between a former colony and its European master, but Mobutu's attempts to break with 

the colonial past were at times excessive. Mobutu aspired to be known as an African 

nationalist, and his program of "authenticity" was the first step toward that goal. He 

began renaming everything in the country that had a European name or a strong 

association with the Congo's colonial past. The Democratic Republic of the Congo 

became Zaire, and the Congo River became the Zaire River. Town names changed: 

Leopoldville became Kinshasa; Stanleyville, Kisangani; and Elizabethville, Lubumbashi. 

Mobutu even changed his own name. But when he threatened to give five years in jail to 

a Catholic priest who baptized a Zairian with a European name, conflict erupted. As if 

this were not enough to challenge the Church and strongly Catholic Belgium, Mobutu 

declared that Christmas would henceforth be celebrated in June. He stepped up the 

challenge by nationalizing the schools, but when the school system collapsed without 
the support of the missionaries, he asked them to return. In 1974, when Julius Chromé, 

a Belgian lawyer, published a book in Brussels criticizing Mobutu, the Zairian president 

demanded that the Belgian government confiscate the book. When Brussels refused, 

"spontaneous" demonstrations occurred outside the Belgian Embassy. Belgium then 

recalled its ambassador. Relations between the two countries deteriorated further as 

Zairian dissidents increasingly used Brussels as a base of operations.16

In 1974, Mobutu's programs developed real problems. He moved his authenticity 

program into the small business sector by nationalizing all foreign-owned enterprises. 

After seizing hundreds of farms, trading posts, and other businesses, Mobutu turned 

them over, as political payoffs, to untrained Zairians, who failed miserably in running 

them. In this heavy-handed move, Mobutu had inadvertently caused Zaire's rural 

production and distribution system to collapse. His timing could not have been worse: in 

1974, the price of copper, Zaire's main export, declined 50 percent, and the country 

went from prosperity to bankruptcy almost overnight. Zaire's Western backers were left 

holding loans that would require drastic rescheduling to keep the country from 

collapsing. When the International Monetary Fund agreed to manage Zaire's central 

bank as part of the rescheduling process, its auditors found that corruption had 

contributed to Zaire's economic crisis: 40 percent of the government's funds were filling 

private accounts. Mobutu's vision of Zairianization was turning into disaster.17

Mobutu faced other problems beyond Zaire's economic collapse. Undeterred by the 

Katangan Gendarmerie still waiting across the border in Angola, Mobutu continued to 

make new enemies. Some opposition groups were veteran opponents; the African 

Socialist Forces (FSA) and the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP) had formed in 1964 

after the fall of Stanleyville. The National Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, 

also Marxist-Leninist, dated back to 1965. In extending his Zairianization program to the 

political field, Mobutu had swept aside all political parties to establish a single party, the 

Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR). In 1974, Mobutu rammed through a new 

constitution that formally centralized virtually all power in his hands. His assumption of 

the title "Le Guide" further triggered the appearance of new opposition groups. The 

Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo (FODELICO) coalesced around 

Antoine Gizenga and other survivors of the 1964 rebellion. Members of the MPR broke 

away to form the Action Movement for the Resurrection of the Congo (MARC). Mobutu 

seemed to be in trouble.18

However, those who predicted that Mobutu would slow down on his Zairianization 

programs in the face of growing Western, Church, and internal opposition were wrong. 

At the end of 1974, Mobutu visited the People's Republic of China and returned sporting 

a new Mao jacket and the title of "Citizen Mobutu." Proclaiming his intent to "radicalize 

the Zairian revolution," he expanded the nationalization programs to include many of the 

Zairianized businesses he had just given away. Other well-considered measures 

included a 50 percent cut in all rents and caps on salaries. It was too much, and in 

June, members of the military, now called the Forces Armées Zairoise (FAZ), attempted 

a coup. The bid failed, and after a brief trial, some eleven officers and thirty civilians 
were convicted and jailed. Mobutu publicly accused the United States of sponsoring the 

attempt.19

Mobutu's challenge to the United States represented the low point of his relationship 

with Washington. Like Belgium, the United States had been growing steadily more 

concerned with Mobutu's Zairianization. His nationalization policies and his break in 

relations with Israel in 1973 added to the tension. Following Mobutu's criticism in 

January 1975 of the U.S. failure to act against apartheid-despite his own contacts with 

the Republic of South Africa-estrangement between the two countries seemed a distinct 

possibility. With Mobutu's accusations in June, the United States withdrew its 

ambassador.20

It seemed in mid-1975 that Mobutu's future 

as Zaire's leader was propelling him along a 

path leading away from his traditional 

Western base of support. Zaire seemed 

doomed to economic ruin, and "Citizen 

Mobutu" appeared determined to alienate all 

who might be willing to rescue the country 

from itself. Mobutu, however, was already 

involved in events in Angola that would 

assure him of continued Western support at 

the cost of three wars.

The Portuguese African Empire was nearing 

its end in 1974. For years, the Portuguese had been fighting Angolan nationalists 

seeking to gain control of their own country. By 1974, three different groups had 

emerged in the struggle: the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) led by 

Holden Roberto, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) 

headed by Jonas Savimbi, and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola 

(MPLA) under Agostino Neto.21

A coup by the Portuguese Army in April indicated that an end to the anticolonial struggle 

was near, but it left still at issue who would control Angola. The FNLA, UNITA, and 

MPLA were deeply suspicious of each other. Roberto's FNLA espoused a nationalist 

line and drew its greatest support from the north of the country among the Kongo tribe. 

UNITA likewise was a nationalist organization and was tribally affiliated, in this case with 

the Ovimbundu in the south. The MPLA tended heavily toward Marxist-Leninist dogma 

and depended heavily on Soviet and Cuban support. Most of the MPLA followers were 

of the intelligentsia, mulattoes, and others around Luanda. None of these groups were 

inclined to cooperate with the others.22

Jonas Savimbi, charismatic leader of UNITA
Mobutu had long supported the Angolan 

guerrillas. He favored Roberto and had 

provided arms and training for the FNLA. In 

fact, Roberto was his relative by marriage. 

Mobutu wanted to ensure that a friendly 

Angola emerged on Zaire's southern border, 

and he went so far as to attempt to 

negotiate a coalition government of 

transition incorporating the FNLA, UNITA, 

and a breakaway faction of the MPLA. 

When the Portuguese backers for the plan 

fell victim to a second coup, Mobutu tried a 

more direct approach.23

Mobutu, who had a number of advantages, 

decided on direct military intervention against the MPLA. In sheer numbers, the FNLA 

was the strongest of the groups, with over 10,000 men in training camps and 2,000 

inside Angola. Mobutu had convinced both the United States and the People's Republic 

of China to support the FNLA, and both countries were busy supplying weapons and 

money. He also looked to a UNITA-FNLA accommodation based on their common 

hatred of the MPLA. Furthermore, the South Africans could be counted on to support 

UNITA from the south, as they, too, were afraid of a Communist regime in Angola. 

Finally, Mobutu assumed that the FAZ, with its steady buildup in men and modern 

weapons, would do well.24

Between July and August 1975, a total of 

five FAZ battalions crossed the borders into 

Angola and Cabinda. By October, FNLA and 

FAZ units were only twenty miles from 

Luanda. Meanwhile, a South African, FNLA, 

and UNITA column pushed up from the 

south. Everything was going well until 

November, when suddenly the resistance 

outside Luanda hardened. Mobutu's old foe, 

the Katangan Gendarmerie, had taken a 

hand in the war.25

Following the defeat of the 1967 mercenary 

revolt and Mobutu's reprisals against the 

people of Katanga, most of the Katangan Gendarmerie had once again gone south into 

exile. The Portuguese had used them to fight the spreading rebellion, creating 

counterinsurgency units under the command of ex-Katangan police general, Nathaniel 

Mbumba. Called the Black Arrows, the exgendarmes were useful in offsetting Mobutu's 

support of the FNLA, and in June 1968, they assumed the title of the Front for the 

National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC). When the end of Portuguese rule appeared 

Angolan President Agostno Neto

Cuban instructors (foreground) with MPLA recruits 

at training camp near Luanda
near, the FNLC allied itself with the MPLA rather than trust a Mobutu offer of amnesty. 

An alliance of survival for the FNLC, it 

proved critical in saving the MPLA.26

Now just when Mobutu seemed about to 

take the winner's pot in his Angolan gamble, 

the FNLC seized the opportunity for 

revenge. Reequipped and trained by the 

Cubans, the ex-gendarmes slowed the FAZFNLA offensive and allowed the Cubans to 

bring in troops, armor, and aircraft. The near 

FAZ-FNLA victory turned into disaster. The 

invaders fell apart and raced back across 

the border, pausing only long enough to loot 

abandoned houses along the way. On 28 

February 1976, Mobutu and Neto signed the Brazzaville Accords to end the conflict and 

to end support for dissident groups operating inside each other's borders. It was a futile 

instrument.27

The Angolan adventure was a total disaster for Mobutu. The MPLA was safely installed 

in Luanda, surrounded by Cuban troops. Mobutu was a dirty word in the world of African 

nationalism. The CIA's involvement, once public, ensured that the next American 

president would be less willing to respond to Mobutu's hysterics over Communist 

advances as it generated a storm of controversy in the U.S. Congress. The FAZ had 

once again demonstrated its impotence. Most important, Neto owed the FNLC a favor 

for its support in the war, a favor that might include support for an FNLC attempt to 

retake its old territory, now called Shaba. The ex-gendarmes would not wait long to 

demand their payment.

Contents

III. SHABA I

On 8 March 1977, the FNLC, under the command of General Nathaniel Mbumba, 

invaded Zaire's Shaba province from Angola. Approximately 2,000 men on bicycles 

crossed the Zairian border. Their drive met virtually no resistance as they proceeded 

along the railroad that crossed the border at Dilolo, divided into columns, and headed 

for different objectives throughout the province (see map 2). At 1330, one FNLC 

company occupied the manganese mining town of Kisenge, killing the FAZ squad 

leader charged with its defense. The remainder of the squad escaped to Malonga to 

report the invasion. Mobutu's eighty-day war had begun.1

MPLA troops, trained by Cubans, pass in review
The FNLC units rapidly seized their initial objectives. Reports came in that Kapanga 

was in rebel hands by 1430 on the 8th. On 9 March, Dilolo fell to rebel control, followed 

by Kasaji and Mutshatsha on the 10th. By 15 March, the rebels held Sandoa. The 

Zairian response to the invasion was sluggish and uncoordinated even though, in 1976, 

reports had arrived from the province indicating that the FNLC was actively recruiting 

young men of military age among the Lunda. In addition, in March 1977, additional 

reports claimed that the FNLC had plans to invade. Such reports were ignored and, in 

some cases, actively discouraged. A division of troops protected the area, but as a 

tension-reducing measure, Mobutu had ordered that the border remain free of large 

units. When the FNLC moved, those units near the invasion area failed to act decisively. 

Though Mobutu dispatched Colonel Mampa Ngakwe Salamayi, the army chief of staff, 

to take command of the operations center in Kolwezi on 9 March, the FAZ reaction to 

the invasion remained dismal. On the 10th, two companies of the 2d Airborne Battalion 

moving from Kasaji to Divuma ran into an ambush near Malonga. Suffering only one 

killed, the 93-man force fled and abandoned all crew-served weapons, including heavy 

machine guns, a 75-mm cannon, and mortars.2

To reinforce the region, the FAZ headquarters in Kinshasa ordered the 11th Brigade of 

the newly formed Kaymanyola Division flown to Shaba. Intended to be an elite unit, the 

Kaymanyola Division was a new concept for the FAZ. Activated under North Korean 

instructors, the unit was a melting pot of all tribes and walks of life in Zairian society, an 

attempt to reduce tribal influence and hatreds within the FAZ. Unfortunately, the 

Kaymanyola Division had been in existence only six months when it was ordered into 

battle. Two of the 11th Brigade battalions arrived in Kolwezi on the 12th and were 

immediately committed with the remainder of the 2d Airborne Battalion, Under the 

command of Lieutenant Colonel Monkoti, the composite unit fell apart as soon as it 

made contact with the FNLC, requiring two days to reorganize. Finally, on the 18th, 

Monkoti led the force in a march on Kasaji. Once again, the FNLC ambushed the unit, 

but this time, it held together, sustaining two dead, two missing, and three wounded, 

while killing fifteen of the FNLC. Meanwhile, the remaining units of the division were still 

in Kinshasa awaiting transportation to the war zone.3

Contents
Map 2. The FNLC's first invasion into Shaba, March 1977

Confusion prevailed at the regional headquarters, and Mobutu began to involve himself 

directly. The FAZ regional headquarters ordered the 3d Company of the 4th Battalion, a 

Kinshasa-based unit on temporary duty in Kolwezi, to reinforce Sandoa. Arriving in the 

town, the unit commander, Lieutenant Munganga, took his unit back to Kolwezi, leaving 

the town to be occupied by the FNLC the next day. Such withdrawals and the initial 

defeats suffered by the 2d Airborne and the Kaymanyola Division angered Mobutu, and 

he relieved Colonel Salamayi six days after the unfortunate colonel had taken 

command. On the 23d, Mobutu relieved Salamayi's replacement, along with all the staff 

in Kolwezi.4

The situation remained grim for the FAZ. Due to morale problems, Monkoti's force was 

out of combat by the 23d. A company of commandos under Major Tshibangu arrived in 

Kolwezi on the 23d. Sent to Mutshatsha on the 24th along with Monkoti's unit, the two 
units fought isolated engagements the next day. On the 27th, a company of pygmies 

commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mukobo reinforced Tshibangu at Mutshatsha, and 

both units conducted uncoordinated counterattacks that failed. Their only success was 

that they managed to link up in time to 

withdraw.5

Once again, the FAZ moved to stop the 

invasion through reorganization. The FAZ 

headquarters in Kamina divided the 

operational area into three zones centering 

on Kamina, Kolwezi, and Luiza. That, 

however, did not placate Mobutu, who on 

the 29th again changed operational 

commanders, this time placing Brigadier 

General Singa Boyenge Mosambay in 

command. Sings received more 

reinforcements as the 12th Brigade of the 

Kaymanyola Division moved by rail from 

Kamina to Kolwezi at the end of the month. 

Another force, two battalions of the airborne 

division under Colonel Songambele, arrived 

at Kamina with orders to deploy to 

Kanzenze, sixty kilometers from Kolwezi. 

Songambele put his headquarters there as directed but deployed his units 139 

kilometers the other side of Kolwezi. To avoid confusion, the local air commander 

refused to allow aircraft to fly resupply missions unless he personally approved each 

one. In summary, the first month of Shaba I was a disaster for the FAZ. On 7 April, 

however, things began to look better, for a French liaison party arrived to coordinate the 

deployment of Moroccan troops to Zaire. Thus, a decade after the FAZ had claimed 

victory over the Katangans, it once again needed foreign assistance to fight its old foe.6

For Mobutu, the attack should not have come as a surprise. In compliance with the 

Brazzaville Accords, Mobutu had ceased supporting the FNLA and had many of its 

camps withdrawn from the border. But he had increased his support of UNITA, and he 

continued support to FLEC (Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave) incursions 

into Cabinda. In Brazzaville, Neto and Mobutu had agreed to normalize relations, but 

this relationship had proved to be a shortlived honeymoon. Angered by Zaire's 

continued support of his enemies, Neto claimed that the FAZ was once more preparing 

to invade Angola. Meanwhile, the leadership of the FNLC established links with other 

dissident groups as it prepared for the invasion.7

Zairian troops prepare for battle near the Angolan border 

in Shaba. Note the Moroccan adviser (wearing the 

beret).
Certainly, numerous groups were willing to 

discuss Mobutu's ouster. By one count, 

some thirty-two gathered in Paris to build 

support for the invasion. Some of these 

dissident organizations agreed to provide 

men for the invasion. Reportedly, the 

People's Liberation Party from Kivu, famous 

for the kidnapping of Jane Goodall's three 

assistants in 1975, and the Democratic 

Force for the Liberation of the Congo, led by 

Antoine Gizenga of the abortive Stanleyville 

regime, provided troops and supplies.8

In any case, Neto provided the most 

important support for the FNLC. In return for 

that sponsorship, the FNLC mined and 

patrolled UNITA infiltration routes into 

Angola. While Neto reportedly was growing tired of the FNLC's free reign in eastern 

Angola, Mobutu's clumsy support for Angolan insurgent groups ensured that the 

Angolan leader would provide the logistical base for the invasion. Mobutu could only 

blame himself.9

As the invasion proceeded apace, Mobutu 

demonstrated little inclination toward selfcriticism. Very quickly, he seized on the ties 

between the FNLC and the Cubans in 

Angola to generate the idea that this was a 

Communist invasion. Appeals to the 

Organization of African Unity (OAU) on this 

basis made little progress, but the invasion 

had broken two African rules of 

acceptability: the FNLC had crossed 

international borders, and more important, 

the FNLC, heavily Lunda based, appeared 

to be launching a tribal attack. Nothing 

makes African leaders more nervous than 

cross-border tribal unrest. In a grand gesture of solidarity, Idi Amin flew to Zaire and 

offered the unspecified services of his "suicide squad"; other African nations also voiced 

support for the oft-criticized Mobutu. Yet none seemed overly impressed by his version 

of a Communist threat. So while the OAU spoke against the invasion, the international 

body failed to react to cries of Cuban activity.10

Zairian troops at an assembly area in southern Shaba

Idi Amin with Mobutu
The OAU was not alone in this indifference 

to the Cuban threat. Mobutu next turned to 

the United States for assistance. Long a 

supporter of Mobutu, the United States had 

been a principal supplier of military aid, 

donating around $400 million in aid since 

the early 1960s. Moreover, the United 

States had underwritten much of the United 

Nations' expense in stabilizing the Congo 

and had funded the CIA's Congolese 

version of Air America, with its exiled Cuban 

pilots, during the Simba Rebellion. Also, the 

U.S. Air Force had flown the airlift 

operations that helped put down the 1967 

mercenary revolt. More recently, the CIA 

had funded the FNLA's struggle against the 

Cubans in Angola. Now, the Cubans were 

back-this time, however, they were on the 

wrong side of the border. Surely, Mobutu 

could count on the Americans to help him 

against a Cuban invasion.11

In 1977 in Washington, D.C., nothing could 

have been less likely. President Jimmy Carter and his administration were not known for 

their support of the controversial Mobutu. Instead, the administration leaned toward 

Nigeria, Zaire's rival, as the key player in African politics. In general, the Carter 

administration at this stage regarded Africa's problems as regional and therefore subject 

to regional solutions. Since détente was not yet on the shoals, Carter and his aides, 

save National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, were more concerned with 

preserving the status quo. Andrew Young, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, 

publicly dismissed the danger of Marxist Africa and gibed at Mobutu's inability to handle 

the FNLC. Moreover, in view of its emphasis on human rights, the Carter administration 

could hardly be expected to rally behind Mobutu's regime, of which the State 

Department had once said, "Generally, after interrogation, nonpolitical prisoners are not 

subject to repeated beatings."12

President Jimmy Carter's administration did not provide 

the support Mobutu had hoped for
Suffice it to say, Mobutu received less 

support in Washington than he had hoped. 

Aside from a statement by the State 

Department that the situation was 

"dangerous," little anti-Communist hysteria 

crept into the administration's response. 

Agreeing to speed up the delivery of military 

assistance materiel that Washington quickly 

described as nonlethal, the United States 

chartered civilian DC-8s to airlift the 

supplies. As the crisis continued, Congress 

actually reduced credits for military 

assistance from $30 to $15 million--so much 

for U.S. support in the Shaba I affair.13

Mobutu next approached Brussels, and as 

in the case of the United States, he came 

away disappointed. As his initial request, 

Mobutu asked for 1,000 paras, a bid for 

support that drew little serious consideration 

from the Belgians. In consideration of the 

safety of their nationals in the war zone, the 

Belgians were unlikely to intervene to 

support the FAZ. Furthermore, with an approaching election, the time was hardly ripe 

for new Belgian adventures in Zaire. Besides, the Belgian business community had 

hardly forgiven Mobutu for his nationalization programs of 1973 and 1974. Aside from 

additional supplies of small arms and crew-served weapons, Mobutu received little else 

from his ex-patrons.14

National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski
Just as things were looking bleak for 

obtaining outside military assistance, 

Mobutu received help from unexpected 

quarters. A traditional Muslim and rabid antiCommunist, King Hassan of Morocco 

offered the services of a combatexperienced paratroop brigade. Matching 

Morocco's support, Egypt agreed to provide 

a group of trained pilots and mechanics to 

back up Mobutu's limited air force. Finally, 

Saudi Arabia granted funds to defray the 

operation. Under the command of two 

colonels who had served in the UN force in 

the Congo, the force was to fight alongside 

the FAZ if airlift could be arranged.15

In a move that rankled Belgian sensitivities, 

France agreed to provide the airlift needed 

by the Moroccans. President Giscard 

d'Estaing ordered the action without 

consulting France's National Assembly. 

Reportedly bowing to pressure from 

francophone Africa to contain Soviet-Cuban 

advances on the continent, d'Estaing already knew the request was coming. Colonel 

Yves Gras, head of the French Military Mission (MMF) in Zaire, was responsible for the 

foreign intervention to rescue Mobutu.16

Gras, with thirty-seven years of service, was an experienced soldier. After leaving SaintCyr in 1941, he had taken part in a revolt of the cadets after the Italian occupation of 

Aix-en-Provence in November 1942. Later, the determined Frenchman escaped through 

Spain to Morocco where he joined the French colonial forces to fight in Italy and France. 

After recovering from wounds received in the liberation of his homeland, Gras went 

overseas again, seeing active service in Madagascar, Indochina, and Algeria. By the 

time of his posting to Zaire in 1976, he had developed a reputation for directness that 

was respected if not always welcomed. Fortunately for Gras, his ambassador in Zaire 

was of a similar mold.17

Ambassador Andrew Young gibed at Mobutu's inability 

to handle the FNLC
André Ross, after thirty years in the French 

diplomatic service, was a respected and 

experienced ambassador. He, too, was also 

known for a willingness to speak his mind. 

More important, Ross worked well with his 

military colleagues. As the initial drama of 

Shaba I unfolded, he dispatched Gras to the 

area to study the situation. When Gras 

reported that a battalion of French paras 

could regain the upper hand but that 

unaided the FAZ could not throw out the 

FNLC, Ross agreed but said that the affair 

would be better left to an African country. 

Ross' political officer, Ivan Bastouil, 

suggested Morocco, a suggestion that was 

ultimately accepted by the governments of 

France, Morocco, and Zaire.18

In addition to orchestrating the Moroccan 

involvement, France provided direct 

assistance to the FAZ. Already Zaire's 

principal arms dealer, France provided the 

FAZ with Mirage fighters, Panhard armored 

cars, and Puma helicopters. After employing eleven military aircraft to fly in the 

Moroccans, France provided additional arms, ammunition, and a twenty-man team from 

SDECE, the French external security service, to help coordinate Shaba's defensive 

plans.19

France's purpose in acting so decisively to aid Zaire was consonant with its activist 

policy toward the African continent. Even after the collapse of the struggle for Algeria, 

France had maintained strong commitments to support francophone countries in Africa. 

France had troops stationed in the Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Senegal, and Gabon. At the 

time of Shaba I, the French Foreign Legion was engaged in Chad. In short, France, and 

President d'Estaing in particular, took a strong interest in African affairs. Considering the 

relative importance of Africa's resources to European industry, such concern was 

understandable.20

Morocco's King Hassan
Zaire supplied nearly 80 percent of its 

exports to Europe and drew 67 percent of its 

imports from European markets. D'Estaing 

had visited Kinshasa in 1975 at a time when 

Mobutu's stature needed a boost. For this 

gesture, French business won a $500 

million contract for telecommunications 

equipment. The company that won the 

Zairian contract was Thomson CSF 

International under financing provided by 

the Banque Francaise du Commerce 

Extérieur. Both the company and the bank 

were headed by members of d'Estaing's 

family. Still, France's total investment in 

Zaire was only $20 million, compared to the 

estimated $750 million to $1 billion from 

Belgium and the $200 million from the 

United States. So, the intervention offered 

France an opportunity to pursue economic 

interests at the same time that it supported 

its self-proclaimed role as Africa's guardian. 

Consequently, as Mobutu and the FAZ 

breathed a collective sigh of relief at the 

arrival of the French liaison team in Kolwezi, 

Belgian eyebrows rose in suspicion at the rapidity and extent of the French response to 

the beleaguered Zairian's plea for help.21

The arrival of the Moroccans on 9 April dramatically changed the course of the war. 

Only some sixty kilometers from Kolwezi, the FNLC's attack had permanently stalled, 

and now, the FAZ and Moroccans prepared to drive the FNLC out. The combined 

headquarters at Kolwezi launched a two-pronged attack by moving two brigades on 

parallel axes toward Dilolo and Sandoa. Backed by the Moroccans and supported by air 

strikes, artillery, and armor, the attack kicked off on 13 April. After an inauspicious 

beginning-the lead FAZ unit retreated almost twenty kilometers after receiving fire-the 

attack proceeded in fits and starts. Over the remainder of April and most of May, the 

FAZ, with the Moroccans in trail, gradually prodded the FNLC westward along the 

railroad and back into Angola. On 28 May, Mobutu claimed victory over the invaders. 

His eighty-day war was over, but the trouble in Shaba was only beginning.22

Shaba I was hardly over before its repercussions began. The people of the province 

were the first to suffer a repeat of the 1967 reprisals. As soon as the last of the FNLC 

had crossed the border, the FAZ turned on the local population, with the most savage 

reprisals falling on the heads of the Lunda. Although the FNLC had announced that it 

sought to overthrow Mobutu by seizing Shaba, the local population had remained aloof 

from the campaign. Their caution, however, failed to protect them, and within the 

French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing
coming months, over 200,000 slipped across the border into Angola to escape FAZ 

vengeance.23

As for the FAZ, its ultimate success on the battlefield did not save it from Mobutu's 

vengeance. Numerous officers were purged and brought to trial for complicity in the 

invasion, cowardice, or incompetence. Among those dismissed were Ngunza Karl I. 

Bond, the chief of staff of the FAZ; his adviser, Bizeni-Mans; Munguya-Mbenge, the 

former Shaba province commissioner; the chief of the Lunda; and Colonel Mampa 

Ngua, the chief of staff of the FAZ ground forces. By March 1978, the wheels of Zairian 

justice began to roll in the trial of ninety-one defendants, twenty-four civilians, and sixtyseven military officers. Penalties were severe: nineteen death sentences, of which 

thirteen were executed, and prison 

sentences ranging from five to twenty 

years.24

During this round of trials and executions, 

the FAZ was completely reorganized. 

Reduced in strength by 25 percent, the units 

were streamlined and reequipped by 

drawing on recent foreign military aid. The 

"elite" Kaymanyola Division established its 

headquarters in Kolwezi, and at the 

recommendation of Colonel Gras, the MMF 

began training an entirely new airborne unit. 

The efforts of the MMF, its U.S. counterpart, 

the U.S. Military Assistance Mission in Zaire 

(ZAMISH), and their Belgian associates 

focused on producing a FAZ that could at 

least defend itself against the FNLC.25

Unfortunately for the FAZ, the FNLC remained a viable force. Moreover, it could 

legitimately regard itself as undefeated, as it had withdrawn from Shaba at its own pace. 

With the FAZ's actions in Shaba after the war, the FNLC gained in strength. When it 

crossed into Zaire, it had boasted at most 2,000 armed men. After the war, it enrolled 

approximately 5,000 soldiers who looked forward to another round with Mobutu. 

Besides the recruitment of new members, the FNLC left behind a number of men who 

were able to lose themselves in the local population. Based on its growing support, the 

FNLC's leadership realized that in the next campaign it would be able to seize Kolwezi, 

a move that might topple Mobutu.26

While Mobutu's popularity had been at one of its lowest points before the war, his 

victory had made him a hero. When the war broke out, Mobutu's standing had 

plummeted in Kinshasa, but his flamboyance in assuming command and the foreign aid 

that had come to him reversed the trend. In cultivating both local and foreign support, he 

promised needed reforms in all areas of Zairian life. Following the campaign, he used 

the purge trials of the FAZ and government as showcases to prove he was taking the 

Mobutu assumed control of military operations
actions promised. By November, Mobutu easily won a vote of confidence extending his 

rule another seven years.27

Even as he rebuilt domestic support, Mobutu restored foreign confidence in his ability to 

govern Zaire. Of course, France remained firmly behind the Zairian strongman. A real 

surprise came with the outspoken support of the People's Republic of China, as the 

Chinese took advantage of the situation to lambaste the Soviets in the United Nations. 

The Carter administration, after its chilly response to requests for increased military aid 

during the war, increased military aid to the Zairians. Even Belgium attempted to restore 

some warmth to its relations with Mobutu by expelling a dissident leader believed to 

have been involved in the invasion.28

However well things might have been going for Mobutu in Zaire and with the West, his 

relations with Neto still remained hostile. Regardless of Neto's difficulties in controlling 

the activities of the FNLC or his desire to rid himself of them and over 200,000 refugees, 

he could not countenance Mobutu's continued support for UNITA. The Angolan leader 

soon found it easier to allow the FNLC to resume its operations against Mobutu.29

Contents

IV. SHABA II BEGINS

Shortly after midnight on 11 May 1978, 3,000 to 4,000 members of the FNLC slipped 

quietly into Zaire from Zambia. Organized into 11 "battalions," each with about 300 men, 

the force divided into 2 groups and pushed on in the darkness. One group of around 

1,000 men headed toward the town of Mutshatsha to cut the railroad. The second had a

more important mission: to seize the city of Kolwezi (see map 3).1

The FNLC's route was well prepared. After the reprisals taken by the FAZ against the 

locals for their support of the 1977 invasion, the FNLC had found it easy to infiltrate the 

province in strength over the previous six months. These infiltrators, along with staybehind elements, had busily recruited among the locals, particularly among the Lunda 

around Kolwezi. There, the FNLC had recruited some 500 young men and organized 

them into a local militia. Now, these locals guided the FNLC into hiding positions around 

the targets. Breaking open weapon caches smuggled in on charcoal trucks from 

Zambia, the FNLC distributed arms and ammunition to the local recruits. The final touch 

was to ensure that each recruit wore the FNLC's tiger armband, which helped with 

identification. Preparations completed, the rebels rested and waited through the 

following day, a day of unusually high absenteeism among the local GECAMINES 

employees.2

Operation Colombe was going exactly as planned. This time, General Mbumba's forces 

were not going to squander their efforts on unimportant villages. By seizing the mining 
capital of Kolwezi, the FNLC would take Zaire and Mobutu by the throat. Following the 

fall of Kolwezi, the next targets were to be Likasi and Lubumbashi, Mbumba's goal was 

no less than the ouster of Mobutu, and the disruption of the mining industry was to be 

the key to his removal. In choosing to infiltrate through areas of Zambia populated by 

the Lunda, the FNLC had avoided the strength of the FAZ. With over 8,000 troops in 

Shaba, the FAZ felt that it could control the Angolan border. But the FAZ had left 

Kolwezi and the border with Zambia virtually unguarded.3

At first light on 13 May, the FNLC struck Kolwezi. Unfortunately for the city's inhabitants, 

the invaders were up against the Kaymanyola Division's 14th Brigade, considered by 

FAZ headquarters as the weakest unit in the division. Ironically, with the Kaymanyola's 

other brigades aligned along the Angola border, FAZ headquarters had stationed the 

14th Brigade in Kolwezi along the "safe" border with Zambia. Consequently, while many 

FAZ soldiers fought valiantly against the FNLC's attack, the 14th Brigade rapidly fell 

apart. Quickly overrunning the airfield, the rebels destroyed all FAZ aircraft on the field: 

five to seven Italian Macchi ground attack aircraft, two to four Cessna 310s, a Buffalo 

transport, and two helicopters. Brigadier Tshiveka, the commander, disappeared and 

was not heard from until he surfaced at Tenke-Fungurume days later. By 1000, the 

FNLC controlled the airport, the FAZ depots, and most of the town. FAZ survivors had 

three choices: attempt to hide, hold out until reinforcements arrived, or surrender and 

join the FNLC. No alternative guaranteed survival.4

Contents
Map 3. The FNLC's second invasion into Shaba, May 1978

For the foreigners, 13 May was not to be the lazy Saturday most had planned. At 0500, 

Henry Jagodinski, a 46-year-old worker for GECAMINES, woke to the sound of barking 

dogs. Failing to go back to sleep, Jagodinski and his Chokwe wife, Angeline, began to 

prepare breakfast. Soon, both heard firing around the town. Jagodinski passed it off as 

the usual FAZ activity, an assumption soon disproved by running gun battles outside 

between the FAZ and unidentified troops. Though the fighting quickly passed by, the 

Jagodinskis were joined at breakfast by an FNLC search party. After questioning them 

on weapons or FAZ survivors, the FNLC soldiers ate and departed.5

Across town, the situation was more sensitive. In their home, Maurice and Maryse 

Faverjon, a French couple, listened to rounds slam into the walls. Maurice was 

surprised. A veteran of Shaba I, he had never felt any danger and had just sent for 
Maryse in January. The previous evening, his houseboy had warned them that a new 

war would soon start. Faverjon had dismissed the warning with a laugh; however, he 

was not laughing now. By telephone, Faverjon learned that the French military advisers 

and several Moroccans had been shot. Rumors abounded: an American had been shot 

as a mercenary, Cuban advisers were running the operation, and FNLC soldiers were 

searching all the homes. Just then, Faverjon became very frightened as an FNLC 

soldier arrived and demanded to see Faverjon's son. After identifying himself as the son 

of a former house servant, the rebel assured the Faverjons that they would not be 

harmed.6

Although most of the foreign population was not in immediate danger, some individuals 

were at risk. The rumor that the French advisers had been shot out of hand proved to 

be untrue, but Lieutenant Jacques Laissac; Chief Adjutant Pierre Nuvel; and Adjutants 

Jacques Bireau, Jacques Gomilla, Bernard Laurent, and Christian Cesario had 

disappeared under FNLC control. They never returned. The FNLC had come prepared 

with lists of people subject to trial by the "People's Court of Justice," and that tribunal 

was soon in session. Conviction by the drumhead court carried an almost guaranteed 

death sentence. In the expatriate community, the French and anyone who appeared to 

be Moroccan were in danger of being arrested. As for the local population, those 

reported to be loyal to Kinshasa soon found themselves behind bars-if they were lucky.7

Initially, the FNLC was remarkably disciplined and certainly better behaved than the 

FAZ. The danger from random violence came from two other sources. The first was 

from the FAZ, who continued to fight around the regional headquarters in the new town, 

or from scattered survivors in hiding around the city, most of whom had gone to ground 

in the European quarters rather than in the hostile native sections. The second came 

from the FNLC's local recruits who, like the jeunesse of the Simba Rebellion, harbored 

grudges against the affluence of their European neighbors. The presence of FAZ 

deserters eager to prove their enthusiasm for the new regime added to the 

precariousness of the situation. That instability held the potential for extreme violence, 

violence that Kinshasa could do little to halt.8

First word of the invasion came from a Belgian pilot attempting to land at the Kolwezi 

airfield. His plane was hit by small-arms fire, and the surprised Belgian flew on to 

Lubumbashi to relay the news. By 1000, in Kinshasa, the news of the attack had 

reached Western embassies.9

André Ross, the French ambassador, had just returned from the airport where he and 

most of the other ambassadors had waited all morning to depart on a Mobutusponsored trip to Boende. Finally, Mobutu's staff, without giving a reason, had relayed 

word that the trip was canceled. At 1000, Ross learned from Colonel Larzul, the military 

attaché, that the Kolwezi airfield had been attacked and most of its aircraft destroyed. 

Almost simultaneously, Colonel Gras, commander of the MMF, one floor above Ross' 

office, received a telex from Lubumbashi reporting the invasion. Even as Gras read the 

cable, Ross called him downstairs.10
Of the three men gathered in Ross' office, none was surprised by the invasion, only by 

its timing. In April, Ross had submitted a report to Paris on the current state of affairs in 

preparation for the upcoming French-African conference. He had referred to Shaba as 

an occupied territory rather than an integral part of Zaire, and he thought a new attack 

was probable. In assessing the capability of the FAZ to defend the area, Ross relied on 

Larzul, who bitingly referred to the FAZ as "le grande corps invertebré [the great 

spineless body]." Neither Larzul nor Gras believed the FAZ had recovered from its 

disastrous showing the previous year. What had hindered their ability to predict the 

present attack was an action taken by Mobutu. In his purge of FAZ headquarters, 

Mobutu had fired a Belgian major named Van Melle who had worked in the FAZ 

intelligence directorate. Van Melle had routinely passed intelligence to the Western 

embassies in Kinshasa, but his Zairian replacement was hardly as cooperative.11

Ross needed additional information, and the three split up to gather it. Larzul went 

directly to FAZ headquarters, where he met with General Babia, the chief of staff. Babia 

confirmed the news from Kolwezi and reported that the rebels had infiltrated through 

Zambia. Nevertheless, Babia claimed that the FAZ's 1st Military Region headquarters 

and the 14th Brigade remained in contact by radio and in control of the situation. 

Meanwhile, Gras conferred with his own contacts at the headquarters who, with a few 

bribes, related the same story given to Larzul. Concurrently, Ross visited the Belgian 

and the American Embassies to consult with his counterparts, who also confirmed 

earlier reports.12

Comparing notes back in the French Embassy, Ross, Larzul, and Gras prepared to 

notify Paris of the Shaba invasion. It had been Ross' nightmare of the previous year that 

the FNLC would take Kolwezi with its 2,500 Europeans, 400 of whom were French. 

Now, a little more than fourteen months later, the nightmare had come true. With the 

situation confused and the status of the FAZ unclear, Ross cabled Paris that an attack 

on Kolwezi had occurred and the expatriate population remained in the city. The 

message reached Paris at 131305 May 1978.13

Shortly after the first message had been dispatched, Gras received further intelligence. 

The GECAMINES headquarters in Lubumbashi had been able to maintain telephone 

contact with its people in Kolwezi. These contacts reported that the FNLC, wearing the 

tiger emblem it wore the previous year and armed with AK-47s, had control of the city. 

Happily, the reports indicated that the FNLC had behaved well toward the expatriates. 

Other information identified an FNLC column headed toward Mutshatsha. Gras quickly 

grasped that this was not simply a raid but a major operation to seize Shaba. The FNLC 

had already succeeded on the first day of this invasion in doing what it had failed to do 

throughout the 1977 invasion. Again, Ross fired off a cable to Paris, and the three 

Frenchmen headed for FAZ headquarters once more.14

Arriving there, Ross noticed that most of the senior diplomats in the city were also on 

hand. Significantly, Mobutu was present and in uniform. Never hesitant to dramatize 

events, Mobutu announced that Kolwezi had been attacked by light units of the FNLC. 

This his audience already knew, but Mobutu stunned his audience when he added that 
the FAZ had known in advance that the FNLC was planning an attack. Operation 

Colombe, Mobutu claimed, was a Cuban-supported attack to seize the towns of 

Kolwezi, Mutshatsha, and Lubumbashi. Mobutu further announced that he had intended 

to disclose the plan on 20 May before its scheduled execution date of 1 June. Asking to 

be excused, Mobutu waited as the other diplomats left and pulled Ross aside to tell him 

that he had personally warned the Soviet ambassador that the U.S.S.R. must stop the 

invasion. Once again, the French ambassador returned to his office to inform Paris.15

While Ross was meeting with Mobutu, the ambassador's two military advisers were 

interviewing General Babia. Gras and Larzul wanted to know the status of the FAZ 

headquarters in Kolwezi. Both knew Babia had ordered the 133d Infantry Battalion and 

the 311th Airborne Battalion to be placed on alert. The 311th had formed six months 

earlier under the tutelage of French advisers commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 

Ballade, who had informed Gras, his commander, as soon as the alert order came 

down. Had Babia been planning something? Far from mounting a hasty operation, 

Babia seemed absolutely confident that the FAZ had the Shaba crisis under control.16

Any such thought was absolute fantasy. Gras, Larzul, and Ross knew the capacity of 

the FAZ to fabricate victory out of defeat. The victory parades following Shaba I were 

prime examples. But without a Zairian call for assistance, neither the French nor any 

other power could act. President d'Estaing had gone so far as to telephone Mobutu. 

Though thanked for his solicitude, d'Estaing received no request for assistance. In fact, 

Mobutu repeated Babia's assurances that the FAZ had everything under control.17

For the Jagodinski family, the events of 14 May left little doubt as to who had control of 

Kolwezi. After spending the night sleeping in their central hallway to avoid stray bullets, 

the Jagodinskis were awakened by pounding on their door. Henry answered the door 

and found a young and thoroughly drugged rebel soldier demanding to see their 

passports. Angeline found the documents, but it was obvious the soldier could not read 

them. Still, he appeared satisfied, until he started to leave and spotted a wounded FAZ 

soldier hiding in a ditch beside the house. Yelling threats in Swahili, he covered the 

Jagodinskis with his weapon and was ready to fire when one of their children ran 

forward to greet him. The presence of the child defused the situation, and the soldier 

left, prodding his FAZ prisoner in front of him. Encountering members of an FNLC patrol 

just down the street, he called them over, and they promptly shot the prisoner. Later, the 

FNLC soldiers returned and searched the area more thoroughly. Finding another FAZ 

soldier, they beat him senseless and put a bullet through his head. Clearly, the FAZ was 

not in control.18

By the end of the 14th, the expatriates in Kolwezi knew that they, too, were in mortal 

danger. That afternoon, following the murder of the second prisoner, the Jagodinskis 

saw their neighbor, Mr. Marreckx, led off by an FNLC patrol. His crime, one that cost 

him his life, was the possession of a military-style riding jacket. A similar piece of 

clothing almost proved fatal to Maryse Faverjon. That morning, she wore an olive-drab 

blouse styled with epaulets. An FNLC soldier spotted her from the street and opened 

fire, thinking she was a mercenary. Reinforced by more soldiers, the FNLC unit 
searched the house and threatened to take away her husband since the mercenary 

seen earlier could not be found. In two other incidents, the FNLC arrested European 

men and went through mock trials, followed by mock firing squads. Both were released,

but they saw evidence that convinced them that most of the firing squads were real.19

Back in Kinshasa, the day had started early at the French Embassy. Ross and his 

military advisers met to review the situation. Ross had been in contact with the Belgian 

and U.S. Embassies, both of which had direct communications with GECAMINES in 

Lubumbashi. Summarizing their reports, Ross pointed out that, so far, the FNLC had 

shown no hostility toward Europeans and had maintained discipline. They were a 

uniformed, well-led, and reasonably well armed force. Beyond that bit of intelligence, 

nothing else had developed.20

For Gras, the situation was clearly dangerous enough to warrant action. He was 

convinced the attack was an invasion, and he knew from the previous year that the FAZ 

could not handle the invasion with its units in Shaba. Backed by Larzul, Gras convinced 

Ross of the threat to the expatriates in Kolwezi. Determined to force a response from 

Paris, Ross telephoned the Elysée, the French president's residence.21

Ross spoke to Colonel Mermet, who was on duty at the residence. Mermet assured 

Ross that President d'Estaing had read all the messages on Shaba and was personally 

involved. Ross then went on the offensive, warning that 3,000 Europeans should be 

considered hostages. He further warned that, as evidenced by the news of a secondary 

attack on Mutshatsha, the attack on Kolwezi was only part of a larger operation to seize 

all of Shaba. Ross then turned the telephone over to Gras, who promptly asked that two 

companies of French paratroops be sent to reinforce the FAZ. Gras explained that he 

intended to reinforce the 311th Airborne Battalion in order to conduct an airborne 

assault on Kolwezi. He also requested that the French advisers under Lieutenant 

Colonel Ballade be allowed to serve with the unit on the proposed operation. Ending the 

call, Ross and Gras sat back and waited for a response.22

As one might expect when a colonel calls Paris asking for troops to intervene in central 

Africa, a positive response would not be immediate. René Journiac, President 

d'Estaing's adviser on African affairs, was against a unilateral intervention at this stage. 

D'Estaing was, in any case, waiting for the Zairians to request assistance formally. 

Further, both d'Estaing and Journiac felt it imperative that the Belgians take the initiative 

in this crisis. Only in an extreme situation would Paris consider a military intervention, 

and then it would have to be a combined Belgian-French operation.23

While the Belgian initiative never materialized, the Zairian request was only minutes 

from delivery. Shortly after Ross had finished speaking with Paris, the Zairian Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs called requesting Ross' presence at an important meeting. Ross hurried 

to the presidential residence where Foreign Minister Idzumbuir announced to an 

audience of ambassadors, which did not include the Soviet representative, that Zaire 

was making a formal request for "aide de toute nature [aid of every nature]." Appearing 

in fatigues to enhance the drama, Mobutu entered and repeated his minister's request. 
Ross now had the request demanded by Paris, but he still needed to know how the 

Belgians planned to react.24

As Ross hurried back to the embassy, Gras met with General Babia, who no longer 

appeared confident that the FAZ could contain the situation in Shaba. The attack on 

Mutshatsha had contradicted his earlier dismissal of the invasion as a mere raid on 

Kolwezi. Never one to hesitate, Gras urged Babia to airlift the 311th Airborne and 133d 

Infantry Battalions to Lubumbashi using the FAZ's C-130s and Air Zaire's DC-10 and 

DC-8. Gras also recommended that the cadets at the military academy be converted to 

an infantry battalion and sent to join the 311th and 133d. Once assembled, the units 

were to launch a drive to seize the Lualaba bridge, some forty kilometers from Kolwezi. 

Such a move would cover the approach to Likasi and facilitate a future move to regain 

Kolwezi. Gras was successful. By evening, the 133d was in Lubumbashi, and the 311th 

was on standby to move. Satisfied that he had convinced Babia to take the initiative, 

Gras returned to brief Ross.25

At the embassy, Ross was listening to another briefing, this one from the irate Larzul. 

Following his return from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ross had sent Larzul to the 

Belgian Embassy to sound out the Belgians on their position on military intervention. 

Larzul returned within the hour angry and disappointed. The Belgians felt the situation 

did not warrant a military response. Instead, they were in contact with the FNLC 

representatives in Brussels and were attempting to negotiate a release of the European 

population. Failing that, military intervention would be used only as a last resort, and it 

would be conducted along the lines of the Stanleyville rescue. Though Larzul was 

disappointed at this stage of the conversation, he had no reason to become angry until 

his Belgian counterpart continued, "I must assure you that a French intervention would 

be considered by us as inopportune and unfriendly." Gras, back at the embassy in time 

to hear Larzul's response, became more convinced that the French were going to have 

to act. Whether it would be a combined operation with the FAZ as he had proposed to 

Paris, he could not say. However, he could see that if Paris waited for Brussels to 

respond, the response might come too late.26

By Monday, 15 May, the world's attention was focused on Shaba province. In 

Washington, Brussels, and Paris, crisis committees were studying the situation. For the 

United States, beyond a Zairian priority request for military assistance supplies, the 

major concern was the eighty-odd Americans located in or near Kolwezi. As the U.S. 

Embassy and its consulate in Lubumbashi painstakingly went over the lists of 

Americans in the area, they set the number at eighty-nine. Most of the Americans were 

in a construction camp eight kilometers north of the city. The company, Morris-Knudsen, 

had a contract to work on the Inga-Shaba power line project and was equipped with its 

own aircraft. With two DC-3s, one Piper Aztec, and two Bell 206 helicopters, the 

company was already considering an air evacuation of the seventy-four people in the 

camp. That still left an estimated fifteen Americans in the area. In a dramatic shift from 

the yawning response of the Carter administration the year before, the request for U.S. 

military supplies was rapidly approved to be flown in by military airlifts. Significant, too, 
was a query from the Shaba Task Force to the U.S. Embassies in Brussels and Paris 

on whether the Belgians or French were going to intervene.27

In Brussels, the situation was similar, with the government's crisis cabinet studying the 

situation. However, the number of Belgians trapped in Kolwezi put the Belgian 

government under such intense public scrutiny that Washington was spared. By 15 

May, although Henri Simonet, the Belgian foreign minister, had already denied that his 

government was planning to intervene militarily, many members of the Belgian 

Paracommando Regiment were speculating on whether there would be another 

Stanleyville. The answer to that question, however, was going to come from Zaire.28

In Kinshasa, the French Embassy continued its push for action. By now, Ross had the 

embassy monitoring the situation on a 24-hour basis. Meanwhile, the GECAMINES 

headquarters in Lubumbashi had continued its contacts with its personnel inside the 

rebel-held city. Suddenly, an air of desperation began to cloud reports as the news from 

Kolwezi grew worse. By 1000, Ross and Gras knew that as of the 14th, the rebels had 

killed ten Europeans, nine Belgians, and one Italian. The gloom was partially dispersed 

when Ross received a copy of a message from the Belgian community in Kolwezi to its 

embassy demanding a Belgian airborne operation. Ross hoped this plea would force 

the Belgians to react.29

In the meantime, Gras had been invited to a cocktail party at the Moroccan 

ambassador's home to celebrate Morocco's armed forces day. He was not planning to 

attend until Ross told him to go so he could corner the representative from the Belgian 

Embassy. With the directness of the French colonel, the order was like setting a bulldog 

on a kitten: the unfortunate target was Van Sina, the Belgian chargd d'affaires. Gras 

cornered his victim shortly after Van Sina's arrival, and after the briefest exchange of 

pleasantries, Gras opened with, "You must know that if you do not decide to intervene, 

you will be held responsible for the massacres that are going to occur in the coming 

hours!" When Van Sina replied that such a decision was not his to make, Gras told him 

that it was his duty to do the impossible and get his government to act rather than 

dismiss the reports of massacres as exaggerations. Gras concluded his sermon with the 

admonishment to the astonished Belgian that, "You do not have the right to ignore what 

is happening!"30

As he returned to the embassy, Gras believed that his exhortation should at least have 

prodded the dispatch of a cable to Brussels demanding an intervention by at least three 

battalions of Belgian paras. Considering his own situation, Gras concluded that if Paris 

did decide to act, then the operation was going to take place with little time for planning. 

To facilitate the operation, Gras decided to create his own little battle staff. Using Larzul 

to gather as much intelligence information as possible, Gras selected Lieutenant 

Colonel Philippe Vagner and Commandant Capelli to begin planning for either a 

combined operation with the Belgians or a French unilateral operation. Vagner was to 

contact Major Van Melle to begin the planning for the combined operation. At this stage, 

Gras considered the planning to be a backup measure to the scheme he had put before 

General Babia to use two French companies to reinforce the 311th and 133d in a drive 
from the Lualaba bridge. He knew that the two units were already in Lubumbashi, and 

he assumed they were following his plan. It was the only bad assumption Yves Gras 

made during the crisis. In doing so, he had failed to consider that Mobutu might take a 

hand in the situation.31

That evening, unknown to Gras, Major Mahele, the commander of the 311th, received a 

surprising directive to report to President Mobutu's office. An excellent officer in an army 

with a disastrous record, the thirty-year-old Zairian enjoyed the respect of his French 

advisers. Although honored, Mahele must have been taken aback when Mobutu 

ordered him to select a single company to be dropped on Kolwezi the following morning. 

The remainder of the unit was to push overland from Lubumbashi to link up with the airdropped unit. President Mobutu, like many politicians, was unable to resist direct 

involvement in military planning. Colonel Gras' proposed plan served as a basis for the 

directive; only Mobutu wanted the 311th to carry it out without French troops. A FAZ 

victory at Kolwezi would restore public confidence in his regime.32

The order was absolute madness, but Mahele had little choice but to comply. His unit 

was only six months old, and only one company, the 1st, had qualified for its wings with 

a total of six jumps. The 2d had made but four jumps, and the 3d was still in ground 

school. None of the units had ever made a tactical jump and assembly as part of an 

operation. Now, Mahele had to select one for an almost guaranteed slaughter. Keeping 

the 1st Company intact as his most experienced unit and therefore his best bet on 

reaching Kolwezi quickest, Mahele selected the 2d Company to make the jump. 

Commanded by Captain Mosala-Monja, a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and 

General Staff College, the 2d Company, 311th Airborne Battalion, had less than twentyfour hours left in its short life as an effective unit.33

Contents

V. MASSACRE IN KOLWEZI

At 0630 on 16 May, a single C-130 flying from Lubumbashi opened its jump doors and 

dropped sixty Zairian paratroops just east of Kolwezi. On the ground, rebel gunners 

opened fire on the descending troops before they hit the ground. The aircraft had been 

off its intended course, and many of the troops landed in the surrounding bush. In many 

respects, they were the fortunate ones; those who landed close to the FAZ 

headquarters were shot before they could assemble. Only a few made it to the 

headquarters they were supposed to have saved. At 0900, the same C-130 returned 

and repeated its earlier performance. The results were equally disastrous. Again, the 

rebels were able to scatter the inexperienced paras before they could react. Of the 120 

members of Captain Mosala-Monja's 2d Company, 311th Airborne Battalion, most were 

missing, wounded, or dead. In any case, the unit was out of action.1
The destruction of the 2d Company, in itself a tragic waste, sparked a greater tragedy in 

Kolwezi. Colonel Bosangé and around twenty survivors of the 14th Brigade had been 

holding out against repeated attacks since the invasion began on the 13th. During the 

morning, the rebels had attacked once already and failed. But the disaster of the 2d 

Company unnerved the frazzled Zairians. As the next attack began, the Zairian soldiers 

broke and ran.2

As the government troops ran, they left behind around forty Europeans who had taken 

shelter in the office of Baron-Leveque across the street from the FAZ headquarters. 

That morning, a Zairian officer had warned them to stay inside until soldiers came to 

escort them to some helicopters coming from Kinshasa to evacuate them. After the 

Zairians ran away, the Europeans were surprised to see the Katangans coming up the 

street. When two Belgian men went outside to talk, the rebels opened fire and killed 

them. The rebels then turned their weapons on the other Europeans who were crowded 

into a single room. Two of the expatriates, Gino Jurman and Rend Michel, managed to 

escape by using a trap door in the toilet to get up in the ceiling crawl space, where they 

remained for the next four days. Inside the slaughterhouse, one other survivor struggled 

to live. Ms. Radu, though bleeding from four wounds, survived, hidden by the thirty-nine 

bodies of men, women, and children. The massacres had begun in earnest.3

In another neighborhood, Maurice Faverjon was in trouble again. This time, the 

Katangans went to his house and accused him of being a Mirage pilot. Hustling him into 

the back seat of a Volkswagen, they took Faverjon to their headquarters. Just outside 

the headquarters, the Katangan driver ran afoul of an officer who had around fifty 

prisoners kneeling on the sidewalk. Faverjon was convinced that he was about to join 

the prisoners. However, distracted by his argument with the driver, the officer waved 

Faverjon away, and he hurried home. Later, Faverjon found out just how lucky he had 

been when the fifty prisoners were discovered dead in a nearby lake.4

While his 2d Company was committed to a suicidal raid, Major Mahele began his 

overland push to Kolwezi from Lubumbashi, a distance of 150 kilometers via secondary 

roads. Mahele expected the rebels to defend the route at critical points. He was certain 

to encounter resistance at the Lualaba bridge, and his strength did not allow for many 

losses along the way. When Colonel Gras had first proposed an overland drive to the 

Lualaba bridge, he had based his plan on the idea of using a brigade-size force 

consisting of the 311th and 133d Battalions and a battalion of military academy cadets. 

Gras hoped to corset that force with two French paratroop companies. Mahele had far 

less strength than a brigade. Because of the 2d Company's independent operation, he 

did not even have a full battalion. Before he could get under way, the FAZ headquarters 

in Lubumbashi took his 3d Company as a reserve. Instead of a brigade or even a 

battalion, the 311th began its overland march with 200 of its normal 500-man 

complement. Mahele had his command section and the 1st Company to begin his drive. 

By that evening, he was poised on the Lualaba for the final 25-kilometer push to 

Kolwezi.5
Back in Kinshasa, Gras continued working for some sort of intervention. During the 

morning, he had been on the telephone to Paris repeatedly. Speaking to Colonel GerinRoze and General Vanbremeersch of the Military Cabinet at the Elysée and General 

Loisillon and Colonel Chabert at army headquarters, Gras begged for a French 

paratroop battalion to use in an airborne operation. He also asked for permission to 

send the 311th's French advisers to Lubumbashi in order to prepare for the drive on the 

Lualaba bridge. But Paris had yet to give up on the Belgians taking the lead in an 

operation in Zaire, even though Foreign Minister Simonet continued to discount the 

possibility of any intervention.6

As d'Estaing's representative in Zaire, André Ross was growing increasingly desperate. 

The information trickling out of Kolwezi via Lubumbashi steadily worsened, with the 

number of reported deaths growing larger. Out of frustration, Ross grabbed Gras, and 

the two visited Mobutu. The audience with the Zairian went strangely. When confronted 

with the rising death toll, Mobutu dismissed the reports as unconfirmed and proclaimed 

that the FAZ had the situation "well in hand," Mobutu seemed to have made a drastic 

recovery from the previous day, when he had asked for all kinds of help. Ross and Gras 

did not know of the 311th's operation, and Mobutu was waiting for a positive report 

before telling the world of the FAZ's masterstroke.7

Returning to his office, the French ambassador again picked up his pen to try to 

convince Paris to act. This time, the addressee was President Giscard d'Estaing. 

Carefully, Ross detailed his concerns: the rebels had 3,000 Europeans as hostages, 

and they had begun killing them already. Reports had indicated the rebels might attempt 

to move the hostages to a central location, a move that would make a mass execution 

possible. The Belgian negotiations were no more than stall tactics and, in any case, had 

nothing to do with the rebels' actions in Kolwezi. Ross concluded with the dire prediction 

that unless an airborne operation took place in the next forty-eight hours, a tragedy was 

going to occur.8

Now that Ross had formally joined the advocates far military action, he wanted the 

intervention to be a combined effort. Ross' ideal operation was a combined French and 

Belgian airborne operation supported by an American airlift. He had the opportunity to 

explore these countries' assessments of the situation when a Frenchman from 

Lubumbashi gave him firsthand information on the deteriorating situation in Kolwezi. 

Ross then sent the Frenchman to inform the U.S. and Belgian Embassies. The 

Americans believed the reports and said that they might provide some form of support 

for a rescue. But the Belgians dismissed the deaths as exaggerations; Brussels was not 

ready to face the true nature of the situation. Ross' hopes for a combined rescue looked 

dim.9

Gras had already arrived at that conclusion. By now, the Frenchman was like a man 

possessed. He had been operating on minimal sleep since the crisis began and could 

feel its effects. Unable to remain inactive, he went to see General Babia to discuss the 

use of the 311th and 133d Battalions in Lubumbashi. Anticipating a brigadesize drive on 

Kolwezi, Gras was completely stunned by the revelation that the 2d Company had 
jumped that morning and the 311th was moving to link up with it at Kolwezi. Though 

Babia appeared confident, Gras smelled disaster. News of the operation soon spread 

around the world.10

In Washington, D.C., the Shaba Task Force had been disappointed to learn that MorrisKnudsen had postponed the evacuation operation of its Kolwezi base camp. Although 

the U.S. Embassy had ordered its consulate in Lubumbashi to evacuate quietly all 

Americans from the danger areas, only Morris-Knudsen had the assets to remove the 

people from the camp, a measure the local authorities did nothing to support. The FAZ 

had been rather coy about the idea to begin with, as they hardly wanted to encourage a 

mass exodus of expatriates from Shaba. Nevertheless, Morris- Knudsen's manager, Mr. 

Adams, had been ready to order the operation despite veiled warnings from Babia that 

such an operation was the company's responsibility. But as news came in on the FAZ 

airborne operation the Americans at the work camp reported seeing the parachutes 

Adams decided to delay the evacuation. Despite assurances from Mobutu that the 

"Katangans were dispersing in all directions," concern over the expatriates' safety grew 

as reports of new killings continued to come in via Lubumbashi. Based on the increased 

threat to the Americans, President Jimmy Carter ordered the 82d Airborne Division to 

achieve a higher state of readiness. By the following day, the 82d's 2d Brigade was 

ready to go. The Carter administration made sure that the word was out.11

However, the 82d Airborne Division was not the only military unit on alert. Across the 

Atlantic, the Belgian Paracommando Regiment was also on standby. The elite unit of 

the Belgian Army, the Paracommandos had a short but proud history. Formed from the 

Belgian Squadron of the British Special Air Services and the 10th Inter-Allied 

Commando following World War II, the Paracommando Regiment had seen service in 

the Belgian Congo and the postindependence Democratic Republic of the Congo. Units 

of the regiment had intervened in the 1960 upheavals in Leopoldville, and many of the 

men in the unit had jumped in Operation Dragon Rouge.12

Since Dragon Rouge, the regiment had changed somewhat. Rather than just the three 

battalions of 1964, the unit had added an air-transportable tracked reconnaissance 

squadron, a 105-mm artillery battery, an antitank company, and a mobilization cell for a 

fourth battalion. Based on the experience of Stanleyville, the regiment also included a 

fully air-transportable surgical hospital. Retaining the headquarters for the 1st Para, 2d 

Commando, and 3d Para Battalions, the regiment had nine independent companies. 

Based on the Belgian draft system, the regiment rotated its men in fifteen-month cycles. 

In May 1978, the 3d Para was in its thirteenth month of training, the 1st Para in its sixth 

month, and the 2d Commando in its third month. Training was the same for all the men. 

With volunteers manning all the specialized units and noncommissioned officer (NCO) 

positions, a full 70 percent of the regiment's 2,500 men were professional soldiers.13

Equally important to the regiment's reorganization since 1964 was the Belgian Air 

Force's increased airlift capability. Since the Belgian Air Force possessed a limited 

number of C-47s and C-54s in 1964, U.S. Air Force C-130s flew the Paracommando 

Regiment to the Congo. Now, in 1978, the Belgians' 15th Wing, commanded by Colonel 
Alaine Blume, had ten C-130s and two Boeing 727s, along with the maintenance 

packages necessary for advanced base operations.14

By the evening of the 16th, three of the 15th Wing's C-130 crews were preparing for 

possible deployment to Zaire. Following the establishment of a crisis cabinet on the 

15th, the Belgian government struggled with the Zaire issue for the next twenty-four 

hours. Though the Zairian Foreign Ministry was in Brussels asking for military hardware, 

the Belgian government had delayed any response, saying any aid would be 

constrained by the 2,000 Belgians in the hands of the FNLC. Accordingly, Foreign 

Minister Simonet directed a full-cabinet review on the 16th, but when the news of the 

311th's operation reached Brussels, the review shifted focus to the issue of intervention. 

Though the Belgians had no intention of a unilateral intervention, Minister of Defense 

Paul Vanden Boeynants ordered the General Staff to prepare for a discrete evacuation 

via Kigali, Rwanda. Pulling the plan for Operation Samaritan (a plan completed the 

previous year during Shaba I) off the shelf, the General Staff ordered the 

Paracommando Regiment to prepare one company for deployment to Zaire. At 1130 on 

the 16th, Colonel Henri J. G. ("Rik") Depoorter, commander of the Paracommando 

Regiment, ordered his 3d Para Battalion to have one company ready by 0300 on the 

17th. Concurrently, orders went to the 15th Wing to ready three C-130s to support the 

plan.15

The day was not over yet for Depoorter or Blume. At 1330, the Belgian consul in 

Lubumbashi had signaled, "Radical change in the attitude of the FNLC toward the 

Europeans. First victims signaled: first three, then five, the panic is spreading among 

the expatriates in Kolwezi." The message generated extreme concern in the Belgian 

government, and at 2300, Depoorter and Blume entered a special meeting at General 

Staff' headquarters. They were to have 1,000 paras ready by 1000 on 18 May for 

deployment to Zaire.16

So ended 16 May 1978. In Kolwezi, the rebels, sparked by the abortive Zairian airborne 

operation, had turned on their European hostages, and the slaughter was growing by 

the hour. Outside the city, the 311th was approaching the Lualaba bridge in a futile 

attempt to save the already destroyed 2d Company. Back in the Zairian capital city, 

Mobutu bragged on the success of a disastrous military operation, while the Western 

community realized that intervention was unavoidable. As the French Embassy 

attempted to convey to Paris the need for action, the Belgian consul in Lubumbashi had 

convinced Brussels that a military response was necessary. The Belgian 

Paracommando Regiment was busily preparing for yet another trip to Africa. At the 

same time, the U.S. government waited to see whether the majority of the U.S. citizens 

would be evacuated without employing the 82d Airborne Division.
As dawn broke on 17 May, Major Mahele 

and his under strength 311th Airborne 

Battalion continued marching on Kolwezi. 

Some twenty-five kilometers from Kolwezi, 

Mahele came upon a company from the 

133d Infantry Battalion guarding the bridge. 

Mahele ordered the unit commander to join 

his column, thus leaving the crucial bridge 

unguarded. Moving on westward toward 

Kolwezi, Mahele ran into an ambush. 

Despite their greenness, the troops 

responded well, quickly dismounting and 

assaulting the ambush. However, the rebels' 

fire was intense, and Mahele sensed that 

his men were about to break and run. 

Mahele sprang forward, rallied his men, and 

broke the ambush at a cost of four dead and 

ten wounded troopers.17

After reorganizing his troops and caring for 

the wounded, Mahele moved out once 

again. Just short of the Kolwezi airport, the 

311th struck another ambush. Mahele 

responded by leading the counterattack, 

and his men pushed the rebels back. 

Surging through the scattering rebels, the 311th rallied and drove through to the airport, 

securing the field by midday. Although the FNLC made a few half-hearted attempts to 

regain the airfield, Mahele's men held. Luckily, the rebels gave up around dusk, as 

Mahele's unit was almost out of ammunition. Now, the undermanned unit was almost in 

as great a danger as the Europeans in Kolwezi.18

North of the airfield in the European sectors of the city, the rebels were engaged in "a 

hunt for whites." William ("Bill") Starkey, an American employee of Morris-Knudsen, had 

been a virtual prisoner in his home for the past several days. On the 17th, the rebels 

went to his house and escorted him to the edge of town. After telling him to run, the 

rebels shot Starkey and left him for dead. Waiting until his assassins had departed, 

Starkey managed to stumble to the GECAMINES hospital for help. At the lake south of 

Kolwezi, the fifty prisoners whom Maurice Faverjon had seen the previous day were 

marched into the water and shot. Other killings took place throughout the city. Many 

were committed by the locally recruited youth rather than the FNLC regulars. 

Indiscriminate firing was going on all over the town, including random air attacks by FAZ 

Mirage fighters. An American Methodist missionary, Harold Amstutz, interrupted a radio 

contact and pleaded with the authorities to halt the attacks. After seizing and beating the 

GECAMINES manager for Kolwezi, the rebels forced him to transmit a message that 

afternoon warning: "Military authorities [invaders] here expect a foreign paratroop 

intervention. This will be considered an act of war. The situation is very delicate."19

Mayor General Henri J. G. Depoorter, who commanded 

the Belgian Paracommando Regiment as a colonel
Foreign paratroops might have been going to intervene, but by midday, it was clear that 

they would not be U.S. troops. At 0718, Morris-Knudsen had begun its evacuation of the 

base camp northwest of Kolwezi. Using helicopters and trucks, the company moved 

seventyseven of its people to Musonie. From there, DC-3s flew them to Kananga and 

safety. By 1512, the evacuation was over. Of the 233 Americans in Shaba, all but 13 

were out of danger. As for the unfortunates in Kolwezi, they could only hope that foreign 

troops would arrive soon. "

20

On the morning of the 17th, French Ambassador André Ross sat in his office holding 

another cable from the Belgian consul in Lubumbashi. Intended for Brussels, the cable 

begged for an intervention within twenty-four hours. Otherwise, warned the Belgian, 

there would be massacres in Kolwezi. Ross transmitted the cable to Paris, praying it 

would force the Belgian government to act, thus freeing the French authorities from their 

self-imposed inaction.21

But the period of French restraint was 

ending. At 0700, Colonel Gras received the 

authority for his Mirage instructor pilots to fly 

strike missions against the rebels. 

Heartened by the message, Gras called in 

the members of his planning team to go 

over the results of their efforts.22

Kolwezi, the focus of the planning effort, 

was not an easy target. As the center of 

Zaire's mining industry, Kolwezi produced or 

processed 75 percent of the copper and 90 

percent of the cobalt exported by 

GECAMINES. The population reflected the 

importance of the city, consisting of some 

143,000 people in a 60-mile radius. Tied to 

the rest of the country by the Benguela railroad, Kolwezi had grown in a sprawling 

fashion around the railhead and GECAMINES facilities.23

European Kolwezi consisted of two areas referred to as the old town and new town (see 

map 4). Old town made up the western half of the city and new town the eastern 

section. The central railroad station linked the two halves, which together covered 

around eight kilometers east to west and three kilometers north to south. Inside these 

European districts, the housing was luxurious by African standards, with wide tree-lined 

avenues, walled-in villas with gardens, and modern facilities such as a hospital, schools, 

and a cinema.

Outside these districts, Kolwezi was a conglomeration of native towns with crowded 

company housing for the fortunate or shacks for the majority. The city had two airfields. 

The main one, some five kilometers south, had an airstrip about four kilometers long. 

Paved, it could handle C-130s but nothing much larger or heavier. The other strip was 

The vital Benguela rail bridge destroyed during the 

guerilla war in Angola. The rail line is the main route for 

Zairian copper shipments to the Atlantic coast.
the flying club's grass field just north of the old town. Outside the urban areas of Kolwezi 

was the African bush. Varying from a dense jungle of towering trees to savanna studded 

with nine-foot-high termite hills, the bush began at the city's limits. Once outside its 

confines, eleven-foot-high elephant grass blocked almost all lateral vision, surrounding 

clearings with miniature forests.

Contents

Map 4. Kolwezi, 17 May 1978

Colonel Gras had given his planners guidance on how he envisioned the operation. 

Surprise and speed were the critical elements. Only by securing all of the city 

simultaneously could an attacking force prevent the rebels from turning on the 

hostages. Such an approach demanded the use of multiple drop zones. But Gras 

wanted the drop zones on the same east-west axis so that the force commander could 

shift forces at the last minute without forcing the FAZ pilots to alter their course. He 

figured the rebels occupied most of the public buildings like the Jean XXIII school, 

GECAMINES hospital, post offices, and business offices. To reach all these places 

rapidly required many troops on the ground as soon as possible.24
Lieutenant Colonel Vagner accommodated Gras' concept in his study of the problem. 

He picked two drop zones. First was the old flying club airstrip just north of the old town 

and west of the new town. Second was the open area east of the FAZ headquarters in 

the new town. From these two drop zones, the force could fan out into most of the 

European areas. The plan did involve risk. With the troops jumping beside the city, they 

would be landing almost on top of the rebels. Gras pointed out that the French had done 

the same thing successfully in Indochina against a more dangerous foe than the FNLC. 

By using close air support prior to the operation, the risk of landing on an organized foe 

could be reduced. Also, there was a danger from shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, 

but Gras accepted the danger as minimal since no missiles had been fired against FAZ 

Mirages during the week. Less spectacular than the enemy threat but more likely to 

affect the operation's outcome was the risk of pilot error. If the FAZ pilots were off in 

their approach, the force might have to land inside the towns or out in the bush. When 

Vagner suggested using the main airfield, Gras told him to go with the drop zones 

closer to the city. It would be better to run the risks involved with jumping in close than 

landing on the airstrip five kilometers from the city. The mission was to rescue the 

hostages inside the city, not to conduct an airborne operation to seize an airfield. 

Certainly, the plan entailed risks, and Gras recognized that only a highly trained unit 

would be able to complete such a mission successfully. Shortly afterward, Gras 

received a message that removed his doubts about the demand for well-trained and 

well-led troops. At 1100, Paris notified him that the 2d R.E.P. was on alert for 

deployment to Zaire.25

Five thousand miles away on the island of Corsica, the phone rang in the headquarters 

of the 2d R.E.P. General Liron, commander of the 2éme Brigade Parachutiste, was 

calling for Lieutenant Colonel Phillipe Erulin, the 2d R.E.P.'s commander. Taking the 

phone, Erulin was surprised to hear that he had six hours to prepare his unit for 

deployment to Zaire. The disbelieving Erulin protested that he would need twenty hours, 

rather than six, to prepare. Nevertheless, Liron stood by his orders. Erulin ordered the 

alert signal activated, and Camp Raffali, the unit's home, turned into an ant bed.26

Like the Belgian Paracommando Regiment, the 2d R.E.P. had a short but spectacular 

career. Created in Morocco in 1948 as the Zéme Batallion Etranger de Parachutistes 

(2d B.E.P.), the unit deployed to Indochina the following year. From then on, the 2d 

B.E.P. had fought almost continuously until it was annihilated in the disaster at Dien 

Bien Phu. Reconstituted and renamed the 2éme Régiment Stranger de Parachutistes, 

the unit left Indochina in 1955 after it had lost 775 men. Arriving in Algeria soon 

afterward, the 2d R.E.P. again found itself fighting in another war, until the French 

pulled out in 1961. In 1967, the 2d R.E.P. was integrated into the regular French Army 

as a part of the 11th Airborne Division. Based in Camp Raffali, named after a battalion 

commander killed in Vietnam, the 2d R.E.P. had continued to respond to calls for 

overseas duty in places such as Djibouti and Chad.27
Though Erulin protested the impossible time 

schedule, he knew his men could meet it. 

Two companies of the unit had been on a 

48hour movement status; now, the unit had 

to upgrade to a six-hour alert with a 

motorized force, two companies, and a 

mounted reconnaissance section. The 2d 

R.E.P had but four line companies, a 

combat support company, and a 

headquarters and support company. Each 

line company specialized in a particular field 

of combat. The 1st Company was the unit's 

expert in infantry antitank warfare. The 2d 

Company concentrated on mountain and 

winter warfare and the 3d on amphibious 

techniques, including combat swimmer and 

scuba skills. The 4th Company practiced the skills of sabotage and sniping. Each unit 

then taught its particular area of expertise to the remainder of the regiment. The combat 

support company had a reconnaissance section trained in free-fall parachuting, a mortar 

section, and a Milan antitank missile section. All told, the 2d R.E.P. had around 700 

men. Much like a U.S. Army Ranger battalion, the unit was a formidable foe.28

With the present alert, Erulin's major problem was that his regiment was scattered all 

over Corsica conducting training. He had to recall men from those training areas and 

get them ready to deploy. Complicating the problem was the unit's chronic shortage of 

officers. Of the forty-two infantry officers assigned to the 2d R.E.P., ten were deployed 

elsewhere-seven in Chad-and four had to be used in support capacities that prohibited 

their deployment. Consequently, Erulin had but twenty-eight officers to conduct the 

operation. Therefore, he relied heavily on his NCOs to ready the force for movement, 

and they did not fail him. At 2000, the 2d R.E.P. was ready. When no further word came 

in, Erulin showed his experience by ordering the troops bedded down. All officers and 

NCOs received similar instructions as they were released to go home. With a duty 

officer in each company, the 2d R.E.P. rested and waited.29

For Colonel Yves Gras, the waiting was rapidly becoming intolerable. Following the 

news that the 2d R.E.P. was on alert, Gras and his staff were able to refine their plan to 

retake Kolwezi. He wished he could count on the support of the Belgian paras to cut off 

any rebel escape routes, but by this time, Gras had come to discount the cooperation of 

the Belgians. Instead, he was examining this operation as a French-Zairian effort. When 

he learned that evening that Major Mahele's 311th Airborne Battalion had pushed on to 

seize the Kolwezi airfield, Gras was not pleased. He felt the 311th had been 

overextended and, more seriously, had left the Lualaba bridge unattended. Once again, 

Gras called the Elysée and demanded action. Asking for the movement of the 2d 

R.E.P., Gras told General Vanbremeersch that he intended to conduct the operation on 

the morning of 20 May. At midnight on the 17th, word came back from Paris. The 2d 

The French Foreign Legion in Corsica
R.E.P. was deploying with four companies and its mortars. Gras was ordered to take 

command of the operation.30

The movement order to the 2d R.E.P. 

virtually guaranteed the French commitment 

to intervene. It also sparked a debate 

between Paris and Brussels over the correct 

approach to the conflict. In keeping with 

President d'Estaing's activist approach 

toward the continent of Africa, France was 

as much concerned with the 

reestablishment of Zaire's internal security 

as in safeguarding the expatriates. The 

French did not approach the problem as an 

evacuation operation. The 2d R.E.P., acting 

under Gras' orders, was going to Zaire to kill 

rebels in order to save the Europeans. 

Brussels focused on the expatriates' safety. 

Despite Belgium's business interests in Zaire and a desire to secure those investments, 

the government remembered the bitter lesson of the 1964 operation. More expatriates 

were killed after that intervention than before. Regardless of the alert of the 

Paracommando Regiment, Brussels still hoped that a negotiated release of the 

foreigners might take place through the Red Cross. The difference between the two 

European neighbors was fundamental. Belgium's foreign minister, Simonet, attempted 

to minimize the dispute by saying, "My French colleague told me that the view of his 

government was humanitarian but that it also wanted to restore order. It was not a 

question of any difference in views between Paris and Brussels, but a difference in 

perspective." Simonet was merely engaged in the diplomatic art of dissimulation.31

For the United States, the situation had at the same time become more clear on one 

hand and more confused on the other. With the success of Morris-Knudsen's 

evacuation of the majority of the Americans, the pressure on Washington, D.C., to act 

had diminished dramatically. True, thirteen or fourteen Americans remained in Kolwezi, 

but the French and Belgians appeared ready-to American eyes-to conduct a combined 

rescue. It did not appear likely that the 82d Airborne Division would be needed. All in all, 

the crisis so far had worked to the Carter administration's benefit by allowing it to 

conduct a relatively cheap display of determination. All the United States was going to 

be required to do was to supply strategic airlift to the French and the Belgians. That 

turned out to be more complicated than had been expected as the possibility of a single 

combined operation fell apart. Instead, the United States was going to end up 

supporting two independent operations with the same target.32

Contents

Belgium focused on the expatriates' safety. Here a patrol 

departs the GECAMINES mining company.
VI. THE WEST REACTS

With the order to assume command of the operation to retake Kolwezi, Colonel Gras 

slept little the evening of the 17th, nor did Lieutenant Colonel Vagner and Commandant 

Capelli. Gras had them back at work by 0100. After telling Vagner to plan on using the 

FAZ airlift, Gras gave his subordinates until 0700 to have the order completed. The FAZ 

had 5 C-130x, and with 2 additional French C-160s, Vagner could put around 500 

rigged paras on the ground in a single lift. A second wave would be needed to get the 

remainder of the 2d R.E.P. on the drop zone. Vagner and Capelli were up to the task. At 

0700, Vagner presented the plan. Approved by Gras, the plan for Operation Leopard 

was soon on the way to Paris.1

At around 0830, a new message came into Gras' office. Gras was amazed to read the 

latest from Paris; the General Staff wanted to know if Gras could advance the date of 

the operation from 0630 on 20 May to 19 May. After a quick staff meeting, Gras replied 

in the negative. He wanted air support, and the FAZ pilots had fired all the ammunition 

for their Mirage fighters. The resupply of ammunition would have to be flown down from 

Ndjamena, Chad, and would not arrive until the morning of the 19th. Furthermore, Gras 

knew that the 2d R.E.P. would need some time to rest and study the plan. To go on the 

19th would risk not having enough time to get all the force on the ground before sunset. 

Therefore, the operation would have to go on the 20th as planned.2

Outside factors began to affect the execution of Operation Leopard. During the 

afternoon, a disgusted André Ross handed Gras a copy of a Radio France International 

broadcast. Dated that morning, the transcript reported the deployment of 1,100 Belgian 

Paracommandos and 12 C-130s to Kamina, Zaire. The paras, stated the report, were 

going to rescue the Europeans in Kolwezi. With the rebels already making threats 

should the West choose to intervene, both Ross and Gras understood why Paris had 

asked to move up the date of the operation. As if that were not enough to disturb the 

rebels in Kolwezi, Gras was stunned to learn that Mobutu had flown his C-130 into the 

Kolwezi airport. Of course, the Zairian had a full complement of newsmen along to 

cover the event. With a Mirage conveniently staging a strike in the background, Mobutu 

met an amazed Major Mahele while the crew off-loaded needed supplies.3

While Mobutu made his gesture-a gesture that had caused the loss of the 2d Company 

of the 311th Airborne Battalion and the lives of over 100 expatriates-the pressure on 

Gras to act grew steadily. The situation was not without irony as Journiac called Gras at 

1500 to repeat the request that the operation take place on the 19th. Telling Gras, "You 

are the soul judge," Journiac again accepted Gras' negative response. Gras' reasoning 

for refusing remained the same, plus his chance to coordinate the operation with the 

Belgians was not completely gone.4

At 0700, Gras attended a meeting with FAZ Generals Babia and Ginga, Colonel Geraci 

of the U.S. Military Assistance Mission in Zaire, Colonel Bleus of the Belgian Military 
Mission, and Major Van Melle. After Babia had announced Mobutu's safe return, he 

turned the meeting over to Bleus who gave the arrival schedule for the Paracommando 

Regiment at Kamina. After sharing the 2d R.E.P.'s schedule, Gras and Bleus agreed on 

a combined operation. The Belgians were to use eight C-130s from Kamina and the 

French four FAZ C-130s and four C-160s from Ndjili. The aircraft were to rendezvous 

over Kamina and attack together. To facilitate planning, the Belgian command group 

was to fly to Kinshasa for a meeting at 1100 on the 19th. Also, beginning on the 19th, 

U.S. Air Force C-141s were to ferry in fuel to support the airlift. Babia asked Bleus the 

Belgians' intentions: "Are you planning an evacuation? That would only take forty-eight 

hours and would collapse GECAMINES' operation and Zaire's economy." Bleus 

responded that he thought it was a rescue but promised the troop commander would 

know. Gras stated that the French were to restore order for the population-both black 

and white. This meeting was the closest the two NATO allies would come to a combined 

operation.5

Gras left the meeting convinced that Bleus had absolutely no mandate to plan a 

combined operation with the French. The question became passé when Babia called 

Gras to his quarters and showed him an intercepted message from the FNLC 

commander, General Mbumba. The message directed the rebels to kill their hostages, 

destroy the mines, and evacuate most of the local population. Faced with this increased 

threat-caused no doubt by news media announcements on the Belgian deployment-and 

the unlikely possibility of a combined operation with the Belgians, Gras decided to move 

the date up to the 19th at 0700. When the Zairians promised to have the FAZ C-130s 

ready, Gras returned to his residence to call General Payrat. Afterwards, Gras held yet 

another meeting and provided his staff with the new schedule. Vagner was to brief at 

0300 on the 19th. At 2200, Gras informed his Zairian, American, and Belgian 

counterparts of his intentions to act the next day. At 2315, Lieutenant Colonel Phillipe 

Erulin, commander of the 2d R.E.P., landed at Ndjili airport.6

The movement order had come into the 2d R.E.P.'s headquarters at Camp Raffali at 

0220 on 18 May for deployment commencing at 0930. With the Solenarza air base 

designated as the takeoff site in the order-a good three-hour drive on Corsica's winding 

roads-Erulin's unit had little time to waste. At 0510, the first truck rolled out the gate, and 

by 0600, all were on the road. The 2d R.E.P. was deploying in two echelons: the first 

with 634 men of the assault forces and the second with the 69 drivers for the vehicles 

that the U.S. Air Force would airlift to Lubumbashi.7

The regiment began arriving at Solenarza at 0900. Lieutenant Colonel Alaine Benezit 

and Captain Stephane Coevoet were to organize the men to board the jets that would 

fly them to Kinshasa. Supposedly, five DC-8s were to arrive at 0930. Then, the numbers 

changed to three government-contracted DC-8s, one Air Force DC-8, and one Boeing 

707. Since the contracted DC-8s had civilian crews, the troops could not board with 

weapons. Still, the troops were ready at 0930, and then they waited. At 1130, one 

aircraft landed with the division commander, General Lacaze, who had come to wish 

them luck and to tell them that the massacres had already begun in Kolwezi. Finally, the 

planes arrived, and at 1520, Erulin lifted off in the lead aircraft.8
When Erulin boarded his aircraft, he believed that he had until 20 May to get his unit 

ready to jump on Kolwezi. Now at 2315, 18 May, after a seven-hour flight, he learned 

that his unit was going into combat the following day. Greeted at the aircraft by 

Lieutenant Colonels Vagner and Ballade, Erulin took the change in stride. Less than 

fifteen minutes later, he had Benezit and Capelli figuring manifests for five C-130s and 

two C-160s. Meanwhile, Erulin and Vagner studied the plan. Again, time was limited; 

the briefing was to be at 0300, and the first wave was to go at 0700.9

The appointed briefing hour, 0300, came and went as a frustrated Vagner waited for a 

missing Colonel Gras. All of the 2d R.E.P.'s command group had been on the ground 

since 0200, and they were anxious to get on with the briefing. By this time, it was clear 

that the last two aircraft would not arrive until 0830, and the initial wave of four 

companies would have to be reduced. With his prospective audience clearly showing 

signs of frustration, Vagner began the briefing around 0330.10

Bommier, a retired French officer and former attaché in Kinshasa, presented a summary

of the problems leading up to the crisis. Now working as a logistics adviser to the FAZ, 

Bommier knew the subject well, and he proceeded to delve into Zairian history since 

1960. Gradually, he covered the evolution of the FNLC and its turbulent past. Vagner 

knew the long-winded Bommier was in trouble when he heard one wag in the audience 

mutter, "Before he finishes the war will be over."11

Just as the tedious speaker finished, an agitated Gras walked into the room and began 

the operation briefing. Of all the mornings to have a flat tire, Gras' luck had dictated this 

one-with the added touch of a missing jack. Actually, the French colonel was lucky to be 

alive after blowing a tire at 120 kilometers per hour. His luck improved, however, and he 

had managed to wave down a passing Belgian to get to the airport. Determined to 

portray an air of confidence, he walked into the briefing and began without bothering to 

wash the dirt from his hands.12

Gras gave a summary of his concept for taking the city. The 2d R.E.P. would first take 

the old and new towns to secure the European areas, then the airport should an air 

evacuation become necessary. To accomplish these tasks, Gras said an initial assault 

of a small headquarters element, two companies, and the mortars-some 405 men-would 

drop on the flying club strip. This assault would seize likely rebel positions throughout 

the two towns. If possible that same day, a second wave of 2 more companies of 200 

men was to jump either on the flying strip or on drop zone B east of the new town. Once 

the town was completely secured, the 2d R.E.P. would link up with the FAZ at the main 

airfield. With that, he turned the briefing over to Vagner.13

Reviewing the enemy situation, Vagner began his presentation. The enemy was 

believed to control most of Kolwezi with several thousand well-armed men. Though it 

had been reported that the enemy had begun a westerly withdrawal on the 18th, it was 

certain that 1,000 to 2,000 rebels remained in the area of Kolwezi. These rebels had 

heavy weapons and might have French AML armored cars taken from the FAZ. Also, 

the FNLC had probably established strong-points in the Hotel Impala, the GECAMINES 
hospital, and the post office in the old town. In the new town, the rebels probably 

controlled the railroad bridge that linked the two European quarters along with the 

principal municipal centers like the market and gas station. Vagner pointed out that 

Manika was the rebels' base of support and would be the most difficult area to control. 

He also warned the men that the enemy would be able to fire at them as they exited 

their aircraft. But he concluded that the rebels would probably not mount a concerted 

counterattack. More likely, the rebels would react with uncoordinated actions before 

withdrawing.14

As for the friendly situation, Vagner reported that more than 2,000 Europeans were 

under rebel control in Kolwezi. He warned that some had already been killed and others 

were hostages in locations such as the Jean XXIII school or GECAMINES hospital. 

Concerning the FAZ, it controlled the main airfield but nothing else. According to 

Vagner, the local population could be considered neutral, except for those living in 

Manika.15

Giving the mission, Vagner briefed that the 2d R.E.P. would parachute on 19 May on 

Kolwezi to regain control of the city as rapidly as possible, reestablish and maintain 

order, and protect the expatriates (see map 5). To accomplish this, the regiment would 

jump in two waves: the first with three companies on drop zone A and the second with 

two companies on either drop zones A or B, depending on how the situation developed. 

Ending the formal briefing at 0430, Vagner worked with Erulin to assign company 

missions under the concept of the operation.16

The 1st Company, jumping on drop zone A, was to move as rapidly as possible into the 

southern part of the old town to take the Jean XXIII school. The company was to cut off 

rebel movement to the south and clean out the area between the school and the 

Institute Notre-Dames des Lumiéres all the way to the southern edge of the town. Also 

jumping on drop zone A was the 2d Company, which was to assemble along the west 

side of the drop zone. Moving alongside the west of 1st Company, the 2d Company was 

to take the GECAMINES hospital, liberate any hostages found there, and cut off rebel 

movement to the west. Special instructions to the 2d Company included searching the 

GECAMINES garages for vehicles suitable for use by the regiment. The 3d Company 

was to jump on drop zone A in the first wave and to move east and south, taking the 

bridge between the two towns and the Hotel Impala and the post office. It was to cut off 

all movement between the two towns and the native quarter of Manika. The 3d 

Company had as its area of responsibility all of the old town east of 1st Company's zone 

and was to be prepared for operations into the new town.17

Contents
Map 5. Kolwezi, 19 May 1978

The second wave was to be the 4th Company, the scout platoon, and the mortar 

platoon. The 4th was to jump on either drop zone, depending on the situation. If it 

jumped on A, the 4th would go into the old town; if it used drop zone B, the 4th was to 

take the new town from the rear. The scouts were to jump on drop zone A and clean out 

the old gendarmerie camp along with Camp Forrest. As for the mortar platoon, it was to 

establish a firing position just off drop zone A to support the regiment. 18

The 2d R.E.P. also received special instructions. The men were not to fire unless fired 

on. Rather than attempt to pull out the expatriates, the men were to encourage the 

foreign population to remain in place. Should a movement of the Europeans become 

necessary, central collection points were to be established as needed. Using these 

rules of engagement and the scheme of maneuver developed by Vagner, Erulin told his 

company commanders that they were to occupy critical crossroads and junctions inside

the towns. Establishing ambushes and checkpoints at these designated points, the 

regiment would be able to halt all movement after dark. Consequently, the rebels would 

not be able to escape with any hostages. After the jump, the units were to move as 

quickly as possible to these positions without stopping to collect their wounded. Though 
indiscriminate fire was prohibited, Erulin told his men to make every shot fired a kill. He 

wanted his men to force the rebels "to abandon the hostages in order to save their own 

skins."19

It was an audacious plan, and as such, it 

held risks. First, it put a great deal of trust in 

the FAZ C-130 pilots to put the men on the 

drop zone. Vagner and Gras recognized this 

risk, and both hoped the pilots were better 

than the Zairians who flew for "Air Peut-être 

[air perhaps]," as Air Zaire was commonly 

called. Furthermore, the operation would be 

going without the hoped-for close air 

support, since there was insufficient time to 

get the Mirage ammunition in from Chad. 

The other major risk was the need to get 

both waves in before dark. Otherwise, the 

Europeans in the new town would be at the 

rebels' mercy overnight. Time was essential, 

and delays began to gnaw at the operation.20

Gradually, enough of the 2d R.E.P. arrived in Kinshasa to make up the first wave. 

Thanks to France maintaining semipermanent overflight clearance in most of Africa, the 

airlift was to take a direct route. Still, the diversion of two aircraft to Abidjan, the Ivory 

Coast, had forced the first wave to be reduced to three companies. In addition, there 

were other problems. The French had borrowed parachutes from the FAZ, and these 

parachutes, American T-10s, would not accept the snap hooks on the French 

equipment bags. Many of the Legionnaires had to wire the bags to their harnesses. 

Nevertheless, the 2d R.E.P. was loaded and ready by 0700, but a heavy fog set in and 

added further delays. Just when the weather began to clear, Gras' duty officer from the 

embassy appeared and told him the jump was canceled. Apparently, Paris had changed 

its mind.21

Convinced by Erulin to try to reverse the decision, Gras raced back to the embassy.

Calling the Elysée, Gras reached Journiac, who informed him that the operation had not 

been canceled and to get on with it. After confirming the new order with army 

headquarters, Gras radioed the airfield and ordered Erulin to take off. The men of the 2d 

R.E.P. scrambled to rerig and reboard their aircraft. The French had to look for the FAZ 

pilots who had promptly wandered off when the cancellation order had arrived. Just as 

they were nearly ready, one C-130 failed. Benezit and Coeveot pulled the men off that 

aircraft and divided them among the other planes. Then, a C-160 Transall went down, 

and they had to repeat the performance. By now, every aircraft had eighty to eighty-five 

rigged Legionnaires on board rather than the specified limit of sixty-four. To climax the 

circus of confusion, another C-160 had a flat tire, which required another agonizing hour 

to repair. Finally at 1040, the four C-130s and single C-160 began to take off. By 1104, 

all were airborne, followed by Gras in the other C-160 as a flying command post.22

Part of the second wave of French paratroopers on drop 

zone A on 20 May
For the rigged jumpers, the next five hours 

were pure agony. Normally a four-hour 

flight, it took five as the lead C-130 got lost. 

Fortunately, Gras' pilot detected the error in 

time to get the planes back on course. Still, 

it was another delay added to the operation. 

Inside the aircraft, the Legionnaires 

alternately were chilled from the air 

conditioning or sweltered with it turned off. 

As the flight approached Kolwezi at around 

1500, it was absolutely impossible to shift 

the men enough to raise the seats for a 

jump run. At 1512, the red warning light 

went on, and the prejump sequence of 

commands began. The troops were unable to safety check each other; they could only 

wait in agony until jumping out the door. On one aircraft, Chief Sergeant Paul Fanshaw, 

an American, struggled in vain to get his stick of jumpers in the correct order. Fanshaw, 

2d Section sergeant of the 3d Company, knew his men were tired; they were now into 

their third day with little sleep. Now, they were going to jump from an unfamiliar aircraft 

using American parachutes. At 1515, the jump doors went up, and the drop zone 

flashed by 600 feet below. After an initial dry run to verify the drop zone, the flight 

swung around for another try.23

After yet another fruitless pass, the jump began at 1540-under trying conditions. The 

FAZ pilots failed to slow down and did not maintain proper altitudes relative to the other 

aircraft. One C-130 narrowly missed a stick of jumpers by breaking hard to the right of 

the drop zone. Wind speed was high, with an equally high rate of descent due to 

Kolwezi's 1,500-meter altitude above sea level; the Legionnaires were moving laterally 

as fast as they were vertically. Even using the large American chutes, the Legionnaires 

slammed into the ground. One unfortunate Legionnaire, Strata, was towed; his static 

line had failed to release his chute. An experienced parachutist, Strata came down on 

his reserve chute after his jumpmaster cut him free. Unfortunately, the high winds were 

out of the north and were pushing the men into the old town. Soldiers landed in

gardens, on houses, or in trees. Some, like Erulin, landed on top of termite hills, only to 

fall another nine feet to the ground. Many were simply lost in the elephant grass. One 

entire antitank section was missing for the next twentyfour hours. The rebels fired at the 

Legionnaires, but most of the firing was ineffective. Nonetheless, the 2d R.E.P. had 

already suffered its first dead. Corporal Arnold, 3d Section, 1st Company, was found 

dead two days later, still in his harness. Still, the unit assembled within ten minutes.24

The 3d Company soon found itself in a spirited fight. After vainly searching for his 

radioman, Captain Gausseres, the commander, linked up with his 2d Section under 

Lieutenant Wilhelm. Using the section's radio, Gausseres confirmed that his company 

was assembled and then ordered it to move. Lieutenant Bourgain, the 1st Section's 

leader, had already had a taste of what lay ahead. Landing in the garden of the Hotel 

Impala, Bourgain found himself staring at twentyfour pairs of hands-white hands that 

French paratroops had difficulty adjusting the American 

T-10 parachutes to their French leg bags. Many 

Legionnaires wired the bags to their harnesses
had been neatly severed at the wrists. Since the hotel was his initial objective, Bourgain 

gathered his men and charged the building. Inside the hotel, it was worse than in the 

garden; the shaken officer found twenty bodies. When Bourgain radioed in the 

information, Erulin came on the net and asked if the casualties were white or black. 

When Bourgain replied that they were all black, Erulin told him to search the hotel for 

the six missing French advisers. In complying, Bourgain failed to find the Frenchmen, 

but he did find what appeared to be their logbook.25

Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Fanshaw had reached the overpass connecting the two towns. 

As Fanshaw set up his defense, he counted heads and came up six short. With only two 

machine guns and a grenadier, Fanshaw needed heavier weapons. He sent a man to 

look for the section's weapons container. Just as Corporal Moran returned with the 

section's rocket launcher, three Panhard AML armored cars came roaring out of the 

new town. One, an AML 60, charged the section's position, and Moran let it close to 

thirty meters before knocking it out. A second armored car, a heavier AML 90, also fired 

on the section only to be destroyed by a rifle grenade. The third withdrew shortly 

afterward.26

While Fanshaw battled the armored cars, the rest of the 3d Company moved to cut the 

principal route out of Manika into the old town. Adjutant Ivanov and the 3d Section got 

into a long-range duel with snipers firing from the roof of the Notre-Dames Church. His 

section and the 3d Company's command group were pinned down, but Bourgain's 

snipers, using French F-1 sniper rifles with four-power telescopic sights, engaged the 

rebels and killed three. The 3d Company resumed its movement toward the entrance to 

Manika.27

As Bourgain's section approached the bridge, the rebel fire intensified. He sent a squad 

to maneuver against the bridge, supported by a barrage of rifle grenades to force the 

rebels back. Threatening their left flank with his third squad, Bourgain took the bridge, 

cutting off rebel infiltration from Manika. On his southern flank, his snipers, under the 

direction of Sergeant Touami, had killed 10 rebels with head shots at ranges in excess 

of 300 meters. The rebels were concentrated around the Ecole Technique Officiale, and 

Bourgain ordered his section NCO, Sergeant Moreau, to take the building. While 

Corporal Callerf enfiladed the rebel withdrawal route with his machine gun, Moreau took 

the school. Callerf stopped the rebels from retreating six times, each time killing one of 

the FNLC. When Bourgain got to the school, he found that the rebels had left nine dead 

behind, along with their weapons.28

By this time, Bourgain realized that he was in an overextended position. Just as he 

started to order his men back to safer positions, one Legionnaire heard French voices 

coming from the nearby police camp. Upon being told of the French cries, Bourgain 

yelled out, "Armée Francaise!" and received an immediate response from the refugees. 

Realizing the people were hostages in a building filled with rebels, Bourgain assaulted 

the position. Just as the lieutenant kicked the door of the building open, he spotted and 

killed a rebel who held an armed grenade. In the act of throwing the grenade into a 

room with twentysix Europeans and nine blacks, the rebel collapsed and let the 
explosive roll back toward Bourgain. Reacting quickly, the lieutenant dived back out the 

door as the grenade exploded harmlessly in the entrance of the building.29

Bourgain's actions turned out to be the only incident where direct military action saved 

hostages from being killed. The reports of a rebel withdrawal were true-as were the 

reports of massacres in the city. But for the most part, the killings had reached their 

peak on 16 and 17 May. Most of the FNLC regulars departed for Angola on the 18th. 

However, the rebels' locally recruited militia and some regulars had remained behind. 

These were the forces fighting the 2d 

R.E.P.30

In any case, the thirty-five people huddled in 

the old gendarmerie barracks were certainly 

happy to see Lieutenant Bourgain. One, 

Charles Dornacker, had been arrested the 

16th along with many of his companions. 

During the hostages' stay in the camp, the 

rebels had threatened them with "trial" 

almost every day, and they had also 

witnessed daily executions, principally 

among the natives. As the 2d R.E.P. jumped 

that afternoon, a mob had attacked the 

captives' cell, trying to drag them outside to 

slaughter. By tying their shirts together into a rope, Dornacker and another European, 

Frédéric Hautot, had managed to tie the cell door closed against the best efforts of the 

mob who, fortunately for the prisoners, were only armed with clubs. When the prisoners 

first heard the firing outside, they wisely waited to cry out until they could identify voices. 

After Bourgain had killed their would-be murderer, the captives swarmed over the 

surprised and embarrassed French officer. Many began singing the "Marseillaise," the 

French national anthem. A number of the refugees were wounded, including women 

and children. One little 2 1/2-year-old girl had been shot. Another was covered in her 

mother's blood; her wounds were intangible but real. Bourgain had his men gather the 

shaken survivors and escort them back to the nearby school for the evening. With 

Bourgain's seizure of the camp, the 3d Company had secured its initial objectives.31

During the 3d Company's fight for its objectives, the rest of the 2d R.E.P was engaged 

in securing the remainder of the old town. The 1st Company commander, Captain 

Michel Poulet, had assembled his unit for its drive to take the Jean XXIII school. Placing 

his three sections on parallel streets headed south toward the school, the company 

commander moved out. As the Legionnaires eased cautiously along the streets, the 

expatriate population began to come out of hiding. The 1st Section, under Lieutenant 

Rochon, took the school and discovered ten refugees hiding in the basement. 

Meanwhile, one expatriate had offered to guide Poulet to a rebel command post. 

Sending the 2d and 3d Sections to invest and take the Institute Notre-Dames des 

Lumiéres convent, Poulet and his command section moved with their guide to the 

suspected rebel position. His 2d Section reported light contact with the rebels near the 

French snipers like this one proved to be extremely 

effective in the Shaba II operation
convent, who fled after sustaining several losses. Then, Poulet's group moved 

unhindered toward its objective. After securing the rebel position in a short fight, Poulet 

discovered several enemy documents that turned out to be the operations orders for the 

FNLC plan to seize Shaba. Moving out to the company's objective-the isthmus of land 

between the two small lakes on the town's southern limit-Poulet soon found himself 

walking through a slaughterhouse; the streets were lined with bodies, both black and 

white. Finally reaching the objective, Poulet discovered the massacre site at the lake's 

edges. The 1st Company had secured its objectives.32

Just west of the 1st Company's area of operations, the 2d Company was moving to 

secure the GECAMINES hospital. Under the command of Captain Dubos-known as 

"Bobosse" to his men-the unit was also to secure the hospital, the western grounds of 

the Institute Notre-Dames des Lumiéres, and the GECAMINES garages (to look for 

vehicles). Despite repeated contacts with rebel forces along the route, Dubos' men 

moved well under fire, responding as if it were a drill. By dark, Dubos had the hospital, 

which was almost totally destroyed and proved to be useless, and his other objectives. 

The 2d Company's seizure of the hospital meant that the first wave of the 2d R.E.P. had 

completed all its initial missions before sunset. As the night closed on Kolwezi, Erulin 

could hear his second wave circling above the city.33

For the second wave of Operation Leopard, 19 May had been a series of frustrations. 

Shortly after the initial wave had taken off for Kolwezi, the second had boarded an Air 

Zaire DC-10 for Kamina. With Kamina less than an hour's flying time from Kolwezi, 

Colonel Gras hoped to make up for lost time by having the second wave close at hand. 

On board the DC-10, the 4th Company, the scouts, and the mortar section attempted to 

get some needed sleep on the way to Kamina. Along with the remainder of the 2d 

R.E.P.'s headquarters element, the DC-10 also carried Colonel Larzul, Lieutenant 

Colonel Vagner, Commandant Capelli, and the 311th Airborne Battalion's advisers 

under Lieutenant Colonel Ballade. All hoped to join in the action to retake Kolwezi. At 

1600, the DC-10 landed at Kamina, and its passengers stirred expectantly. Minutes 

passed, and on asking, the French learned that Kamina did not have a ladder high 

enough to service a DC-10. A minor frustration became a serious problem as the 

Legionnaires sat and waited-losing precious time. Finally, a Belgian worker at the field 

came to their rescue with an ordinary painter's ladder placed on top of an embarkation 

ramp. 34

Even hurrying as rapidly as possible, the 250 men of the second wave still had to draw 

parachutes and rig for the operation. That required time, and it was 1800 before the C130s could take off for Kolwezi. Forty minutes later, the aircraft swung in on the jump 

run, waiting for a signal as to which drop zone the paras were to use. Circling over the 

city, the pilots received the abort signal from Gras in his flying command post. After 

conferring with Erulin, Gras decided to postpone the second wave. On the ground, 

Erulin had the old town secured, the western portion of the new town under control, and 

the entrance to Manika sealed off. Night had already fallen, but the moon had yet to 

appear. Putting the second wave out in the intense darkness only risked confusion and 

a strong possibility of the men firing on each other. Although he was not pleased, Gras 
made the correct decision. After making a futile pass over the airfield to raise the 311th 

Airborne on the radio, Gras turned for Kinshasa.35

As the evening closed in on Kolwezi, Erulin studied the results of the operation so far 

with Captain Thomas, the intelligence officer of the 2d R.E.P. Since the beginning of the 

airborne operation at 1540, the regiment had liberated at least 35 hostages, killed 

around 100 rebels, destroyed 2 AML armored cars, and captured several hundred small 

arms. In addition, the regiment had captured documents that established the FNLC's 

strength and purpose in this second invasion, proving Gras' suspicions that this was 

indeed an attempt to wrest all of Shaba from Zaire. Unaware of Legionnaire Arnold's 

death, Erulin placed friendly casualties at three to four wounded, five missing, and six 

jump injuries. The 2d R.E.P. controlled the old town, part of the new town, and the 

entrance into Manika. For the rest of the evening, Erulin ordered his companies to set 

up ambushes, taking advantage of the full moon. For the Legionnaires, these nighttime 

activities were just part of their duties and included their third day without sleep.36

With his command post in the Jean XXIII school, Erulin monitored the night's 

operations. Once again, the 3d Company seemed to be the most aggressive of his 

units. Adjutant Ivanov of the 3d Section reported early in the evening that his men had 

found two European families hiding in their sector. The terrified-and starvedexpatriates 

had been hidden since the morning of the 13th. Next, based on the debriefing of 

Charles Dornacker, Erulin ordered Captain Gausseres to send a patrol into the new 

town to search for a suspected slaughterhouse near the former FAZ headquarters.37

Gausseres decided to go himself, taking a small but well-armed escort. Setting out, the 

patrol had only gone a few hundred meters when Gausseres began to smell the stench 

of rotting bodies. Soon, the horrified Frenchman could see bodies scattered around the 

street, eaten and being eaten by dogs. Gausseres attempted to drive off the dogs and, 

failing at that, considered opening fire on them. Suddenly, firing broke out back in the 3d 

Company's sector, and Lieutenant Wilhelm reported that several rebels had attempted 

to run a roadblock in a Volkswagen. The lieutenant's men had opened fire, killing one 

and driving the others off. Hearing the report and asking Gausseres how his search was 

proceeding, Erulin decided the mission could wait until first light. He ordered Gausseres 

to return.38

As the captain turned back, one of his unit's listening posts warned him that six rebels 

were headed toward his position. Gausseres and his men established a hasty ambush 

and waited. After what seemed ages, the Legionnaires spotted the rebels and opened 

fire, killing four and recovering five weapons. Aside from a brief firefight near dawn 

between the 2d Company and a group of rebels, the remainder of the night was fairly 

quiet, broken only by occasional firing and the incessant growling of the feasting dogs. 

The 2d R.E.P welcomed the morning's light.39

Contents
VII. THE EVACUATION OF 

KISANGANI: 

"STANLEYVILLE II"

Forty minutes flying time to the north of Kolwezi, other European soldiers eagerly waited 

for dawn on 20 May. They were the men of the Belgian Paracommando Regiment, and 

they, too, had a mission to perform in the mining center.

Following his meeting with the Belgian crisis cabinet the evening of the 16th, Colonel 

Rik Depoorter, the regiment commander, had returned to his headquarters to begin 

planning. Actually, the staff was already ahead of the cabinet in anticipating a larger 

operation than that conceived under Operation Samaritan. At 0200 on 17 May, the 

Belgian General Staff confirmed the planning guidance: Depoorter was to plan for a 

seizure of Kolwezi airport and a humanitarian evacuation operation not to exceed 

seventy-two hours. Based on an enemy strength of around 4,000 rebels, the staff began 

planning on how best to seize the mining center. Although efforts were still ongoing to 

secure French cooperation, Depoorter's instructions did not mention the possibility of 

French assistance. While he went to yet another cabinet meeting that morning, the 

regimental staff continued its preparations, and by 1500, the plan for Operation Red 

Bean was ready.1

Red Bean called for two reinforced battalions of the regiment to conduct simultaneous 

airborne operations to seize the airfield and the city the morning of the 20th. The 3d 

Para Battalion, commanded by Major BEM G. Couwenberg, was to take the flying club 

airstrip north of the city and move immediately to secure the expatriates. Couwenberg 

understood the need for speed, for he had written a paper on the Dragon operations 

while a student at the Belgian Staff College. Along with its headquarters company, the 

battalion was to have three rifle companies: the 15th and 17th from the 3d Para and the 

14th from the 2d Commando Battalion. Meanwhile, the 1st Para Battalion, under the 

command of Lieutenant Colonel R. Verbeke, was to jump on the main airstrip south of 

the city. The 1st Para, a veteran of Dragon Rouge, was to take its headquarters 

company and the 11th, 13th, and 21st Companies. Using 18 radio jeeps, 10 armored 

jeeps from the reconnaissance squadron, and 26 three-wheeled AS-24s, the regiment 

was to have 1,180 men for the operation. In addition to its normal medical complement, 

the regiment was also taking an airbornequalified surgical team. The regiment would 

also receive a light aviation detachment with an Alouette helicopter to facilitate control. 

To move the Paracommandos, the 15th Wing was going to use 10 C-130s and 10 

Boeing 727s (8 from Sabena), and the U.S. Air Force was to fly 120 tons of fuel per day 

into Kamina. While seven of the C130s were available immediately, three would have to 

join the airlift at Kamina from a food relief mission in Mali.2
Clearly, the Belgian Paracommandos approached the rescue operation as a serious 

military undertaking. Many of the plan's fundamentals were directly related to the unit's 

experiences in 1964. Of particular importance to the planners was that the regiment 

have sufficient strength to take the town and the airstrip at the same time. In executing 

Dragon Rouge, the Paracommandos had been delayed in seizing the city of Stanleyville 

(Kisangani), and the Simba rebels had slaughtered many of their hostages moments 

before the Belgians could save them. The need for trauma medical care was equally 

important to the operation, which had also been proved in the 1964 operations -hence, 

the inclusion of the mobile surgical hospital. Finally, the regiment was taking its organic 

transport to allow it to operate outside the city in motorized patrols as it had done in 

Dragon Noir, the rescue at Paulis (Isira) in 1964.3

Aside from the military lessons learned from 1964, it was equally apparent that 

Belgium's political leaders had also learned a fundamental lesson. This became 

apparent in Defense Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants' guidance to Depoorter as the 

regimental commander departed at 1900 with the tentative decision to execute Red 

Bean: Depoorter was to execute a humanitarian evacuation operation, taking all 

measures to protect the expatriates and rescuing any hostages short of crossing 

international borders. The defense minister prohibited Depoorter from participating in 

the French operation in any way, classifying it as a military action divorced from the 

Belgian evacuation. In addition, Depoorter's orders emphasized speed of execution: he 

had but seventy-two hours to evacuate all refugees who wished to leave. The Belgian 

government did not intend to abandon any expatriates in Kolwezi as it had done in the 

hasty withdrawal from the Congo in 1964, nor did it intend to get drawn into a security 

operation with the French that might backfire on Belgians in other locations in Zaire. So, 

as Depoorter departed for his headquarters, he understood clearly the political 

constraints and imperatives surrounding his mission.4

With the conditional order to proceed in his pocket, Depoorter put out the formal alert 

order at 2020 on 17 May for a 1300 departure the following day. The Paracommando 

Regiment readied for deployment. Major André Patte, a veteran of Dragon Rouge as 

well as Depoorter's intelligence officer, had managed to develop more information on 

the situation courtesy of Mr. Lauwers, a GECAMINES employee specially flown in from 

Zaire. Even with Lauwers' help, Patte still lacked sufficient maps to equip the regiment. 

By this time, most of the units involved were already preparing to move. Since the 

decision to execute was not firm, the men of the regiment were not confined to their 

camps but were released to go home as soon as their preparations were completed.5

At 1000 the next day, Depoorter and his staff met with the representatives of Sabena 

Airlines and the 15th Wing. The officers agreed that the C-130s would deploy first with 

equipment and parachutes to Kamina. The military and Sabena jets would then move 

the regiment's personnel. By doing so, the men would remain fresh and rested for the 

operation on the 20th. To the Paracommandos' chagrin, however, Sabena insisted on 

using the international airport at Melsbroek rather than Kleine-Brogel. The civilian 

airlines furthered confusion by continuously changing the number of aircraft available. 

Overflight clearances were also a problem; unlike France, Belgium had to negotiate 
clearances with the countries along the routeMorocco, the Ivory Coast, Gabon, and 

Zaire (Madeira, Abidjan, Libreville, and Kamina). By C-130, the trip would take twentyfive hours, by 727, eighteen hours, but it was the most direct route open to the 

Belgians.6

Even as the men worked, the government announced the alert to the public-to the great 

consternation of the Paracommandos. As the unit moved to the airport, the regiment 

was swamped by civilians. The scene at Melsbroek was, according to one of the paras, 

something out of a circus. News media coverage of the deployment had attracted a 

large crowd at the airport to watch the regiment take off. Families came out to wave 

farewell, and the troops lined up for a hurried series of vaccinations. Each 727 was 

packed with 180 paras along with their rucksacks and weapons. Even with all the 

delays, the unit was soon loaded, though it was a far cry from the quiet deployment of 

1964. That afternoon, the Paracommando Regiment began another journey to Zaire.7

At 1315, the first C-130 lifted off with Colonel Blume at the controls. On board were 

Depoorter and his principal staff. The Belgians were going without air clearance from 

the French, and it was not until the third C-130 took off that France granted overflight 

clearance to the Belgians. Nevertheless, it was a remarkable performance by the paras 

and the flight crews, for less than thirty hours from the initial warning order, the 

regiment's lead elements were airborne and headed for Africa. That evening, the 

remainder of the unit, on board the 727s, followed.8

After a long and tiresome flight, the first Belgian 727 landed at Kamina at 1400 on 19 

May. Greeted by Commandant De Keyser of the regiment's advance party, the paras 

were off-loading as Depoorter's C-130 set down. The regiment's planes arrived singly at 

the airfield until, less than thirty-six hours after its departure, the Paracommando 

Regiment had arrived fully equipped in Zaire.9

On landing, Depoorter wasted little time. While the men offloaded equipment and 

prepared for the next day's operation, the regimental commander studied the situation in 

light of a dramatically altered situation. Depoorter had known that the 311th Airborne 

Battalion reportedly held the Kolwezi airport, but since departing Belgium, he had not 

received any information on the status of the city or the expatriates. He and his staff, 

however, were absolutely astounded to learn that the French were to attempt to take the 

town that afternoon using four to six aircraft. Depoorter feared the French would be 

unable to secure the city before dark, thus leaving part, if not all, of the expatriates at 

the rebels' mercy. After learning of the French plan, Depoorter radioed Brussels and 

asked for permission to conduct a reconnaissance in force into the airfield before dark 

to reinforce the 2d R.E.P. Although Brussels' reply to the hasty operation was negative, 

the government did issue the final clearance for the operation on the 20th.10

With Brussels' final decision in hand, Depoorter modified his plan to meet the new 

circumstances in Kolwezi. Since the 311th held the airfield and the French would 

already be in the town, Depoorter decided to abandon the original plan to parachute 

onto the two drop zones. Instead, he would conduct an assault landing using the C-
130s of Blume's 15th Wing. The two commanders had worked together many times 

perfecting the technique, and they soon had a workable plan.11

At 2200, Depoorter briefed the new plan for Operation Red Bean. Using eight C-130s, 

the Paracommando Regiment would conduct an air assault landing on Kolwezi airfield 

in three waves. The first wave was to consist of the regimental tactical command post 

and elements of the 1st and 3d Para Battalions. The 1st Para Battalion was to secure 

the airfield while the 3d Para Battalion moved along the railroad into the old town. As 

soon as the first wave was out of the C-130s, the aircraft would return to Kamina for the 

next wave. Along with the remainder of the 1st and 3d Para Battalions, the second wave 

was to bring in the reconnaissance squadron as the regimental reserve. This would free 

the 1st Para Battalion to move on the new town. The third wave of the assault was to 

bring in the regiment's vehicles and the mobile surgical hospital. Immediately on arrival 

at the airfield, the regiment was to set up a reception center for the refugees.12

Depoorter's plan capitalized on the new circumstances of the situation. By conducting 

an air assault on the airfield, he could have 500 pares on the ground and assembled in 

minutes. Thus, the march into the city could be made in almost the same amount of 

time as that needed to assemble after an ordinary airborne operation. Without more 

details on the French operation, Depoorter did not dare drop his men on a drop zone 

closer to the city-and his orders forbade direct coordination with the French should he 

be able to contact them. With his full complement of vehicles due in by the third wave, 

Depoorter could expect to be fully mobile by midmorning. This would allow the regiment 

to mount patrols outside the city, a capacity sorely missed by the 2d R.E.P. After 

preparing for the mission, the Paracommando Regiment bedded down for a short night. 

The men were confident and, in the words of Captain Wittemans, "very calm. Some of 

them had been at Stanleyville and Paulis. They served as a model for the others." 

Wittemans spoke from experience: he, too, was a veteran of Dragon Rouge.13

The veterans of the airborne assault on the 19th were equally calm. As dawn broke on 

the 20th, the members of the 2d R.E.P. prepared for the second day of operations (see 

map 6). Colonel Erulin issued orders to his units: the 1st Company was to move to the 

south along the route to Kapata; the 2d Company was to expand its positions to include 

more of the western half of the old town; and the 3d Company received instructions to 

clear Manika. While the 1st and 2d Companies had little contact with the rebels, the 3d 

Company was once more in a bitter fight with the FNLC.14

Captain Gausseres decided to take Manika in a pincer movement. The 1st Section 

under Lieutenant Bourgain was to move directly south into the quarter from its night 

position. Gausseres, with the rest of the 3d Company, would move east of the quarter 

and penetrate Manika from the flank to link up with Bourgain. Lieutenant Colonel Erulin 

had stressed speed in clearing the area and searching for hostages, and Gausseres 

hoped to catch the FNLC off guard. The company commander realized that the rebels' 

local militia, after retreating into Manika the previous day, had had ample opportunity to 

prepare its defenses.15
Contents

Map 6. Kolwezi, 20 May 1978

Bourgain's platoon moved off first. Easing along Avenue Okito, the 1st Section moved in 

bounds through the native quarter. In contrast with the European quarters of Kolwezi, 

Manika's streets were narrow and crooked, offering a defender excellent ambush 

positions. The rebels used the area to their advantage; less than 100 meters into the 

town, the Legionnaires began receiving fire. The shooting grew in intensity, and no 

matter how the lieutenant maneuvered his men, they made little progress. After an 

advance of about 200 meters, the 1st Section stopped and assumed defensive 

positions, and Bourgain radioed his company commander.16

Though not happy with the 1st Section's progress, Captain Gausseres could not 

complain too loudly. He was having his own problems just getting close to the native 

quarter. After moving off along the north side of the town at 0500, Gausseres had 

attempted to reach the railroad east of Manika. His unit drew rebel fire almost 

immediately. Though generally inaccurate, the rebel fire forced the Legionnaires to 

move slowly and cautiously. Consequently, the 3d Company did not reach the eastern 

entrance to the village until almost 0700. Halted 250 meters outside the town, 
Gausseres searched for a way to rout the rebels, who seemed perfectly willing to slug it 

out with the French. He had just decided to take the Protestant church on the outskirts 

of Manika when one of his men asked him to identify some troops approaching their 

rear. Turning to see, Gausseres swore, "Merde. Voilà, les Belges [Shit, there are the 

Belgians]!"17

After arising at 0400, the Belgian Paracommandos had quickly completed last-minute 

preparations for the day's mission. The first wave of eight C-130s took off at 0550 for 

Kolwezi. With Colonels Depoorter and Blume on board, the first C-130 led the formation 

in a low-level flight to the target. The first wave's initial flight of four C-130s with the 1st 

Para Battalion's lead elements swung in toward the target at 0628. Shuddering under 

the drag of full flaps, the C-130s slammed onto the runway, their rear ramps already 

lowering for the paras. Quickly, the men ran from the aircraft, the C-130s took off, and 

the next four C-130s swarmed in to repeat the operation. In minutes, the Belgians had 

500 men on the ground.18

For the Paracommando Regiment, things were a bit confused initially. Briefed that the 

311th Airborne Battalion had control of the field, the Belgians were at first surprised by 

the number of black soldiers present and by the variety of uniforms that made 

identification difficult. A less-disciplined unit might have opened fire and asked 

questions later, but the paras restrained their nervous fingers. Lieutenant Colonel 

Kesteloot, the regiment's deputy, sought out Major Mahele, the FAZ commander, and 

coordinated the field's defenses. Meanwhile, Depoorter ordered the 3d Para Battalion to 

move into the old town. Even as Major Couwenberg led his unit toward the city, the 

Belgians saw parachutes blossom northeast of Kolwezi.19

Following an uncomfortable evening waiting on the tarmac at Lubumbashi, the 2d 

R.E.P.'s second assault wave had boarded its aircraft shortly before dawn for the 

morning's jump. On board, Captain Grail's 4th Company was to jump on drop zone B 

and hit the new town from the rear. Meanwhile, the 2d R.E.P.'s reconnaissance section, 

mortar platoon, and main command post element were to jump on drop zone A. The 

reconnaissance section was to move on Camp Forrest and the old gendarmerie camp 

north of the city, and the mortar platoon was to establish firing positions on the drop 

zone to support the 2d R.E.P.'s operations.20

The drop went as planned, and the 4th Company assembled quickly. Captain Grail sent 

one section along his left flank to secure the FAZ command post. Another section 

moved to the right to take the Baron-Leveque building. Grail moved with that section 

and discovered the slaughterhouse missed by Gausseres the previous evening. Grail 

had just finished calling in the grim news when his men discovered Ms. Radu alive 

under a pile of bodies. Minutes later, the nearly starved Jurmann and Michel appeared 

from their hiding place in the ceiling, grateful for their apparent salvation. As the 4th 

Company secured the new town, the reconnaissance section took the police camp and 

Camp Forrest without trouble.21
Flying overhead in his C-160 command post, Colonel Gras was pleased so far with the 

morning's events. But his satisfaction turned to concern as he watched the Belgians 

conduct their assault on the airfield. When he saw the lead Belgian units head north to 

the town, he recognized that a dangerous situation was developing. With the arrival of 

his second wave, Colonel Depoorter had sent the 1st Para Battalion toward the new 

town. The entire Paracommando Regiment was marching toward Kolwezi. Gras flew 

over the field and attempted to stop the movement before the Belgians blundered into 

French positions. Gras was too late.22

Shortly after Captain Gausseres' 3d Company, 2d R.E.P., had spotted the approaching 

Belgians, he met the lead unit's commander, Captain De Wulf of the 17th Company, 3d 

Para Battalion, an old acquaintance. The two talked over their missions: De Wulf was 

there to evacuate the expatriates; Gausseres was attempting to expel the rebels from 

Manika. The two missions were completely different. Still, the two comrades parted 

amicably, each wishing the other success in his operation.23

The friendly atmosphere was short-lived. As the Belgians moved off and Gausseres 

returned his attention to Manika, firing broke out between the two European forces. Both 

sides had been under sporadic rebel fire, and neither knew the exact dispositions of the 

other. Each claimed it was the other that began the shooting. Fortunately, the firing was 

inaccurate as leaders on both sides brought their men under control before anyone got 

hurt. Aside from a residual mutual suspicion of each other's intent in the affair-a 

suspicion that still exists-the brief exchange of fire produced no casualties. 24

Actually, the instance of friendly fire had positive effects on the remainder of the 

operation. With the failure of his attempt to halt the Belgian movement into the city via 

radio, Gras had his C-160 land on the airport. In his face-to-face meeting with the 

Belgians, Gras attempted to get Depoorter to halt the Belgian operation, a demand that 

Depoorter naturally refused. The differences in the two missions were apparent to both. 

Gras' mission was to drive rebels from the city; Depoorter's was to evacuate the foreign 

population. The Belgians did not care what happened to Kolwezi or Zaire once the 

operation was over as long as they did not leave anyone behind. Depoorter had only 

seventy-two hours to complete his operation, and he was ill-disposed to consider Gras' 

objections. Recognizing the futility of trying to change the Belgians' mission, Gras 

agreed to turn over the majority of the new and old towns to the Paracommando 

Regiment, leaving the central area of the city around the rail station and Manika to the 

2d R.E.F. While the Belgians completed their evacuation with the FAZ and French airlift 

bolstering the 15th Wing, the 2d R.E.P. would continue to search the outlying districts 

for expatriates and rebels. At 0930, Depoorter reconfirmed the agreement with Erulin in 

the Hotel Impala.25

Though less than an ideal arrangement, the agreement was the first and only 

coordination between the two forces. Minimally, it stopped the Belgians and the French 

from shooting at one another. It also provided the 2d R.E.P. with needed medical 

support from the Paracommandos' surgical team. The French, in turn, placed their airlift 

at the disposal of the Belgian evacuation effort. That is not to say that relations between 
the two European neighbors were particularly cordial for the remainder of the operation. 

Gras and Erulin still did not like the Belgians' emphasis on a speedy evacuation of the 

expatriates. Gras felt the Belgians' haste had panicked the foreign population 

unnecessarily. Some of the French accused the Belgians of forcing the expatriates to 

leave. The Belgians felt the 2d R.E.P. was rather cavalier in its use of force against the 

locals. Belgian leaders reported that the French attempted to interfere with the Belgian 

operation. Both sides only grudgingly cooperated in coordinating patrols outside the city. 

Still, there was no further exchange of fire among the "friendly" forces in Kolwezi.26

In any case, the arrival of the Paracommando Regiment had not halted the activities of 

the 2d R.E.P. in clearing the city. After the exchange of fire between his 3d Company, 

2d R.E.P., and the 3d Para Battalion, Captain Gausseres finally succeeded in reaching 

Lieutenant Bourgain's position. After a 2-hour fight to move the 900 meters to the 1st 

Section's location, Gausseres eased his company out of Manika, leaving it to be cleared 

later. That afternoon, the 2d R.E.P. got into the most serious fight of the operation when 

Erulin ordered the 4th Company to scout out the rail station at a village north of MetalShaba (see map 7). Captain Grail began the march at 1530 with his 3d Section in the 

lead. As the company closed on the objective, Grail ordered the 2d Section forward to 

check the village. Meanwhile, Chief Sergeant Cas of the 3d Section had climbed the 

station tower and reported spotting around 100 uniformed soldiers at the company's 

front.27

Grail had just refused Cas permission to open fire when the soldiers whom Grail thought 

were FAZ paras opened fire on the 3d Section. Grail soon found his company engaged 

by a heavy machine gun and 200 to 300 rebels. The 4th Company responded like 

veterans. Seeing the 3d Section under fire, the 2d Section set up a base of fire along a 

ridge northwest of its comrades. The 2d Section's snipers played havoc with the rebel 

machine gunners, killing them one by one as the FNLC attempted to man the gun. Still, 

it was not a one-way battle; rebel fire raked the 4th Company's positions killing Chief 

Sergeant Daniels and wounding Corporal Prudence. Grail saw that he would need help 

to clean out the area. After drawing back into a more defensible posture, Grail radioed 

Erulin and asked for reinforcements.28

Erulin responded immediately by ordering Captain Dubos' 2d Company to move to the 

village. "Bobosse" soon had his unit moving, mounted on Magirus trucks borrowed from 

the GECAMINES motor pool. With a Dutch mechanic who did not speak a word of 

French (he was known as "Godverdomme" by the Legionnaires due to his enthusiastic 

swearing) to guide it, the 2d Company arrived at MetalShaba quickly. Erulin's operations 

officer, Captain Coeveot, took command of the fight and directed the coordinated fire of 

the two companies and the newly arrived reconnaissance and mortar sections. The 

rebels broke under the assault and fled, harassed by a FAZ Mirage. Afterward, the 

French found that the FNLC had left behind nearly eighty dead. Aside from scattered 

firing during the evening, the struggle at Metal-Shaba ended the fighting around Kolwezi 

on 20 May.29

Contents
Map 7. Metal-Shaba

As the French concentrated on eliminating pockets of rebel resistance, the 

Paracommando Regiment focused on removing the foreign population from danger. By 

the morning of the 20th, at least sixty expatriate bodies had been found. By the time the 

evacuation was complete, some 160 expatriates and several hundred natives were 

known to be dead. Kolwezi had been gutted-left without water, electricity, and food-and 

most of the survivors were more than willing to leave. Once the Belgians penetrated the 

city, the foreigners began gathering to depart, many in need of medical care. Some had 

seen their family members killed in front of them, and a fortunate few were reunited with 

loved ones who had been missing for several days. In any case, few asked to stay. One 

who asked the paras if the evacuation was mandatory was told, "Of course not! But, we 

won't be coming back next week either." The individual joined the refugees headed to 

the airport.30

At the airfield, the air traffic was moving the refugees out quickly. By 1230, some 500 

expatriates had departed for Kamina, where the Belgians had established an 

intermediate processing center. Around midday, a Royal Air Force VC-10 flying hospital 

arrived from the United Kingdom via Lusaka, Zambia. As Italy's contribution to the 

evacuation, an Italian C-130 flew in with additional spare parts for the 15th Wing. The 

U.S. Air Force's C-141s continued to ferry fuel and supplies into Kamina and 

Lubumbashi to keep the operation going. That afternoon, President Mobutu flew in to 

compliment the French and Belgians on the operation. Taken to visit the massacre site 

in the new town, the shocked dictator gasped, "My God, they have smashed their heads 

in." He soon departed for Kinshasa. At dusk, the Belgians rounded up abandoned 

vehicles and lined the runways with them, using their headlights to illuminate the field. 

By the end of the operations on the 20th, the 15th Wing and others had flown 1,100 

pares into Kolwezi and evacuated some 2,000 expatriates. They continued the 

operation the following day.31
After the drama of 19 and 20 May, 21 May proved almost anticlimactic for the 

Paracommando Regiment. The Belgians dispatched motorized patrols in company 

strength to areas as far as forty kilometers away. One patrol made visual contact with 

rebels fleeing toward the border, but no shots were exchanged. The Belgian 

ambassador, Rittweger de Moore, flew in from Kinshasa and toured the area with 

Depoorter and Blume. Significantly, the ambassador suggested that some of the paras 

might stay behind once the withdrawal began. Mobutu paid yet another visit to the city 

that afternoon, stopping briefly to see the Paracommandos. By late afternoon, 

Depoorter was able to report that Operation 

Red Bean was virtually over.32

In Kolwezi, the situation was virtually the 

same for the 2d R.E.P. That morning, the 

French ambassador, Ross, had visited the 

city and toured it with Colonels Gras and 

Erulin. Ross also brought word that the 

French might be required to extend their 

stay in Shaba as the rapid flight of the 

expatriates from Kolwezi had spread panic 

throughout the province. The 2d R.E.P. had 

continued to concentrate on cleaning out 

Manika, where it was believed the rebels had once again left stay-behind supporters 

along with weapons and ammunition. That day, the unit's vehicles were driven in from 

Lubumbashi where they had arrived via U.S. airlift. More good news came in with the 

return of the 2d R.E.P.'s antitank gunners, missing since the drop on the 19th. During a 

visit at 1600, Mobutu instructed Gras to assume command of all friendly forces in 

Kolwezi, a decision hardly palatable to the Belgians. Nevertheless, by the end of the 

day, the French were able to report that rebel activity around Kolwezi had ceased.33

With the arrival of its vehicles, the 2d R.E.P. prepared to expand its operations outside 

the city. After debriefing the refugees, Erulin began dispatching a series of motorized 

patrols the next day to cut off rebel escape routes. Rumors were rampant that the FNLC 

had withdrawn with up to seventy expatriate hostages, and Erulin still had hopes of 

saving the French military advisers who had disappeared in the rebels' initial attack. On 

22 May, the 2d R.E.P. mounted an action to Kapata, ten kilometers from Kolwezi. 

Capturing several rebels and killing four, the Legionnaires failed to find any hostages. 

Erulin's men carried out similar missions on 23, 25, and 26 May, and although these 

missions succeeded in killing several rebels, they failed to find any more hostages. Nor 

were they without cost to the 2d R.E.P., which lost three men killed in action after 21 

May. Nevertheless, the 2d R.E.P.'s combat in Shaba was over by 27 May, when the first 

company departed for Lubumbashi and its ultimate return to Corsica on 6 June. In eight 

days, the 2d R.E.P. had captured 163 rebels, killed around 252, and seized an 

enormous amount of military hardware. The cost had not been cheap: the 2d R.E.P. lost 

five dead and another twenty-five wounded.34

Mobutu, his command C-130 in the background, is 

briefed by Colonel Depoorter on the mission and 

execution of operations on 20 May 
Ironically, the Belgian Paracommando 

Regiment, so reluctantly dispatched to Zaire

by Brussels, was on hand to witness the 

French departure. On 22 May, following the 

end of the air evacuation the previous day, 

the Paracommando Regiment began its 

withdrawal from Kolwezi. At 0400, word 

arrived from Brussels ordering Depoorter to 

pull back to Kamina, and the 3d Para 

Battalion boarded the aircraft almost immediately. In 55 hours in Kolwezi, the 

Paracommando Regiment had evacuated 2,300 civilians without a single casualty. By 

1000, the 3d Para had closed on Kamina and the 1st Para was on its way. At 1325, 

Depoorter reported that the entire unit was at Kamina prepared to return to Belgium. 

Unknown to the paras, not all would be going home right away. At 1800, a message 

arrived from Brussels congratulating the regiment on its performance and directing 

Depoorter to leave one battalion behind in Shaba. The next morning at 0400, the 1st 

Para Battalion and the antitank company watched the rest of the regiment board planes 

to fly home.35

With the current state of uneasiness in Shaba-especially among the foreign populationthe Belgian government had agreed with Ambassador de Moor's assessment that some 

form of stabilizing force would be needed. With the FAZ already openly pillaging 

Kolwezi, it was clear that Zaire's own armed forces were still ineffective. Discussions 

were already under way in Washington, Paris, and Brussels concerning a return of the 

Moroccans or some other African security force. At this stage, an interim security force 

was needed, and the task fell to the Paracommando Regiment. The 1st Para Battalion, 

reinforced with additional mortars, logistical and medical support, and airlift, was to 

assure the safety of the expatriates in other Shaba towns. Prohibited from assisting the 

FAZ in any actions, the 1st Para Battalion remained in the country until 25 June when 

the 3d Para Battalion returned. The 3d Para stayed until the arrival of the InterAfrican 

Force in July. Though the Inter-African Force would remain in Zaire for the next few 

months, the Second Shaba War was over.36

Although the war was over, its reverberations were only beginning. The invasion was a 

blow the staggering Zairian economy could ill afford. The attack had shut down the 

country's mining industry, and within a week, the world price for cobalt jumped 24 

percent. With Zaire already $3 billion in debt, Mobutu's Western supporters quickly 

raised $100 million to forestall a total Zairian collapse. Economic measures aside, 

Mobutu faced other problems. In contrast to the euphoria after Mobutu's "victory" in the 

eighty-day war, the atmosphere in Zaire was almost funereal after the Kolwezi disaster. 

Once again, the FAZ carried out reprisals against the Shaban population, and the fear 

of repression spread as far as Kinshasa. This time, however, Mobutu's backers stepped 

in and forced reform measures on the recalcitrant dictator. If he wanted to continue to 

receive Western economic aid, he was going to have to take real steps to control the 

corruption in Zaire's government. Grudgingly, Mobutu complied, even going so far as to 

release a number of political prisoners jailed in the aftermath of Shaba I.37

Refugees waiting to board a C-130
The other half of the bargain for Mobutu to receive Western aid was for him to settle his 

differences with Neto of Angola. When Mobutu made disturbing remarks at the FrancoAfrican Summit at the end of May about American corruption in government, U.S. 

Secretary of State Cyrus Vance warned him to stop interfering in Angolan affairs or he 

would face yet another Shaba invasion. Negotiations between the two African neighbors 

had begun before the invasion was even over and had progressed well, producing a 

Neto promise to disarm the FNLC. Following another round of meetings in Brazzaville, 

Mobutu and Neto agreed to quit supporting groups hostile to the other's regime. The 

honeymoon was capped with a visit by Neto to Kinshasa in August. Still, the episode 

ended with observers wondering how Neto was going to handle the FNLC, Mobutu, or 

the tribal hatreds that remained in Shaba. As one Moroccan officer, newly arrived as a 

member of the Inter-African Force, put it, "I was here last year, I am here now, and I 

have no doubt that I will be back again next 

year."38

While Mobutu's Western supporters were 

telling him to get along with his neighbors, 

they engaged in their own squabbles. The 

principal dispute was, as might be expected, 

between France and Belgium. France, and 

d'Estaing in particular, had emerged from 

the crisis with a strong measure of support 

for the intervention among Europe's news 

media, especially that of Belgium. In 

contrast, the Belgian press had been vocal 

in criticizing the Tindemans government for 

its sluggish handling of the affair. In 

response to that heckling and the French 

remarks about the disclosure of the 

Paracommandos' movement, the Belgian 

government had accused France of 

neocolonialism and of exploitation of the 

crisis for economic gain. Belgian observers 

referred to the 2d R.E.P.'s action as another 

example of "d'Estaing's Africa Corps," 

Watching from the sidelines and ever 

hopeful of manipulating the situation to his 

own ends, Mobutu threatened to replace all Belgian workers with French workers, a 

threat Brussels felt sure had originated in Paris. Tindemans, however, managed to 

reduce the tension appreciably with an unscheduled trip to Paris in late May. Meeting 

with d'Estaing and Mobutu, the three resolved some of the differences brought out by 

Shaba II.39

Across the Atlantic, one of Mobutu's more reluctant allies also struggled with the 

aftershocks of Shaba II. Following the Carter administration's decision to alert the 82d 

Airborne Division, the news media had been aware of the message being sent to the 

U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance warned Mobutu to 

stop interfering in Angolan affairs
Soviets vis-à-vis the crisis in Zaire. Having served notice that it would react to perceived 

threats in the Third World, the Carter administration waited until the French had 

intervened and then canceled the 82d's alert, a step made possible by the MorrisKnudsen evacuation.40

Yet White House advisers, concerned over the administration's poor standing in the 

press, convinced President Carter to be aggressive in his pronouncements to the press 

rather than low key as in the previous year. Carter came out blasting-and promptly shot 

himself in the foot over the question of Cuban involvement in Shaba II. After the Ford 

administration's embarrassment over the Angolan fiasco in 1975-76, Carter's advisers 

had treated the 1977 Shaba invasion as strictly an African affair. But things had 

changed by 1978 with the growing insurgency in Rhodesia, supported by the Soviets 

and the Red Chinese, and the massive intervention by the Soviets and Cubans in the 

Ethiopian-Somali conflict. President Carter's advisers had convinced him that he had to 

draw the line somewhere and that the Shaba province was the place to do so. 

Unfortunately, the president's charges of direct Cuban involvement rang empty when 

U.S. congressional leaders asked to see hard evidence to support the accusations. In 

the end, many observers were more inclined to believe Castro's claims that he had tried 

to forestall the invasion and had gone so far as to warn the United States that it was 

coming. Concerned over bolstering his image as a tough international statesman, 

President Carter had picked the wrong arena and, in the end, only appeared 

incompetent to Congress and the news media.41

So, almost as quickly as it began, the Second Shaba War ended. As in 1964 after the 

U.S.-Belgian intervention, the reverberations of the crisis had a greater effect outside 

the country of Zaire than they did within the Mobutu regime. Like the crises of 1964 or 

1977, the 1978 invasion ended on a note of doubt, doubt that anything lasting or 

beneficial had taken place. Once again, the government in Kinshasa had survived 

another challenge due largely to external support. And, once again, those who had 

provided the support came away with burned fingers and the nagging suspicion it would 

not be the last time Mobutu called for help.

Contents

VIII. CONCLUSIONS

In reviewing the operations in Kolwezi, clearly French and Belgian political differences 

dictated their conduct of separate military efforts. Under the guidance of President 

Giscard d'Estaing, France pursued a policy intended to reinforce its continued interest in 

Africa. Although largely a military program designed to bolster the African countries 

against Soviet-Cuban or other forms of communism, France's activist policy included 

economic dimensions, as d'Estaing intended to expand France's commercial status on 

the continent. Though Belgium had given Zaire (the Congo) its independence in 1960, 
Belgian economic ties to the country had remained strong, so strong in fact that Belgium 

tended to regard the former colony as its economic fiefdom. With the French response 

to the Shaba I crisis and Mobutu's clumsy threats to replace Belgian interests with 

French, the Belgians were loathe to participate in a combined operation with their 

European neighbors.

The Belgians were equally reluctant to consider a unilateral intervention in Zaire. 

Memories of the 1960s were fresh in Belgian minds. More Westerners had died after 

the 1964 rescues and subsequent withdrawal than before. Since Shaba I had turned out 

to be more a comic opera than a war, the Belgian cabinet futilely hoped that the rebels 

would not harm the Westerners captured in Kolwezi. Prime Minister Leo Tindemans' 

handling of the crisis reflected this hesitation. Forming a special crisis cabinet that 

excluded opposition parties, the Belgian cabinet attempted indirect negotiations with the 

FNLC to evacuate the expatriates. An agreement that military action was unavoidable 

only came after the killings had begun in Kolwezi. Once that decision was reached, the 

Belgian government retained tight control over the operation.

In contrast, the French considered intervention from the very beginning of the war. 

Certainly, France had demonstrated a willingness to intervene in conflicts on the 

continent, as shown in Chad, Lebanon, or Djibouti. President d'Estaing's activist policy

demanded such actions in order to remain credible. When the Kolwezi crisis began, 

d'Estaing did not bother with a crisis cabinet. Instead, he worked with an emergency 

task force formed from government technicians. Matching this proactive approach, 

d'Estaing had the indefatigable Colonel Gras in Kinshasa to push for the intervention. 

Once the French had decided on action, d'Estaing turned the operation over to Gras for 

execution, a step that would have been inconceivable from the Belgian perspective.

Equally inconceivable was the French cooperation with the Zairian armed forces. After 

Shaba I, France had become Zaire's principal supplier of arms and training. Moreover, 

French military teams conducted much of this training inside Zaire and worked directly 

with FAZ units. As in the case of Lieutenant Colonel Ballade's advisers to the 311th 

Airborne Battalion, the associations became quite close. In planning to retake Kolwezi, 

Gras had intended to establish a combined French-Zairian brigade to drive overland 

from Lubumbashi. Unfortunately, Mobutu had destroyed any chance to conduct the 

operation as he wasted the FAZ units that were available. When the French deployed 

the 2d R.E.P., the FAZ provided the C-134 crews-unskilled as they were-and other 

support never offered to the Belgians. French pilots manned FAZ Mirages to fly combat 

missions against the rebels, and the French advisers rejoined the remnants of the 

311th. Mobutu completed the cooperative effort by placing all the FAZ troops in Kolwezi 

under Gras' command. In contrast to the free hand given Gras by Paris, the Belgian 

government placed tight restrictions on Colonel Depoorter's cooperation with the FAZ in 

order to avoid compromising his mission, even after the Kolwezi operation ended.

An examination of the two forces' missions captures the fundamental differences 

between them. France's policy toward Africa was clearly activist; d'Estaing made it clear 

that France would not tolerate further Communist adventurism on the continent. Erulin's 
mission, while equally activist, was to restore order in Kolwezi until the Zairian armed 

forces could assume responsibility for the area. By driving the rebels out of Kolwezi and 

Shaba, the French felt the Westerners could be saved and the stability of Zaire 

maintained.

On the other hand, Belgium had no intention of getting involved with propping up the 

shaky Zairian government. The memories of the disastrous Katangan secession and the 

1960 and 1964 interventions were too strong for Brussels to forget. The Paracommando 

Regiment returned to Zaire in 1978 to conduct an operation similar to the one 

conducted in Stanleyville (Kisangani) in 1964. Depoorter's mission was to rescue the 

foreign population with a minimum of force. That did not mean the Belgians were 

forbidden to use their weapons; the paras were fully prepared to kill if the situation had 

required it. Depoorter's rules of engagement allowed him to use force against anyone 

who attempted to interfere with the safe evacuation of the expatriatesincluding the 

French if necessary.

Just as the squabbling between France and Belgium over Zaire caused political 

problems, it drastically affected the military operations meant to resolve the situation. 

For a fleeting moment, there had been a chance for a truly combined and coordinated 

operation to rescue the foreign population in Kolwezi. With the realization by both Paris 

and Brussels that an intervention was unavoidable, the Belgian and French planners in 

Kinshasa met to coordinate their operations. The 2d R.E.P. and the Paracommando 

Regiment would have conducted a combined airborne operation on 20 May. Yet the 

announcement by Brussels that Belgian and French military forces were on the alert to 

deploy to Zaire ended any hope for further cooperation. Angered and alarmed by the 

Belgian disclosure of an imminent operation, the French government pushed Gras to 

move up the date of the 2d R.E.P.'s operation.

Colonel Gras' decision to accede to Paris' request to advance the date of Operation 

Leopard accounted for much of the French operation's hastiness. In fact, the 2d 

R.E.P.'s quick response was a result of the French colonel's foresight in planning the 

operation before Paris had even made a decision to act. As Erulin got off the plane in 

Kinshasa, the French Military Mission provided him with a nearly complete plan that he 

used with few changes. From that point on, most of the 2d R.E.P.'s problems could be 

attributed to bad luck or "the fog of war."

The French were forced to accept the risks in mounting the operation on the 19th. 

Certainly, Gras recognized the need to parachute in close to the city in order to secure 

all of it quickly, as well as the need for air support to make the operation feasible. He 

had wanted to get both waves on the ground as rapidly as possible to conduct the 

operation. After all, the 2d R.E.P. had only some 600 men to fight several thousand 

rebels. But bath Gras and Erulin realized that the expatriates were in grave danger due 

to the announcements in the world news media that the French and the Belgians were 

going to intervene. As Erulin later explained, "All the initial phase was becoming more 

and more based on bluff and rapid action: for this reason the order went out to the units 
to regroup as rapidly as possible to get to their initial objectives without regards to 

casualties."1

The French accepted more than just the risk of friendly casualties. The airborne 

operation, with its unskilled crews, ill-maintained aircraft, and overloaded troops, 

courted disaster. Jumping in marginal conditions with ill-matched equipment and 

unfamiliar parachutes, the 2d R.E.P. suffered remarkably few casualties from the jump, 

a fortunate circumstance since Erulin had been forced to mount the operation with 

inadequate medical support. Furthermore, the Legionnaires began the operation after 

almost forty-eight hours without sleep, and they continued to operate for another two 

days before getting any appreciable rest. To meet the challenge, Erulin relied heavily on 

the special training and character of his unit.

To understand Gras' and Erulin's calm acceptance of the enormous tasks facing the 2d 

R.E.P., one need only look at the unit's background. By reputation, the French Foreign 

Legion did not attract those who possessed gentle souls. The 2d R.E.P. carried on the 

tradition of the Foreign Legion parachute regiments that were so active in the Indochina 

and Algerian wars. This jump into Kolwezi was the 2d R.E.P.'s first combat jump since 

the unit had been destroyed in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu, a fact that gave the unit a

certain élan when it came to facing the tall odds at Kolwezi. Although the 2d R.E.P. did 

not go to Kolwezi to conduct "a Western" shoot-out (as reported by certain Belgian 

critics), Erulin's men had a certain hardness of attitude not often found in peacetime.2

Aside from its reputation and morale, the 2d R.E.P. was an extremely well-trained unit. 

Since Erulin's men had practiced this type of mission many times, the concept was 

familiar to them. With a high level of training in basic infantry skills, the Legionnaires 

were able to adapt to the changing situation. After the extremely confused jump on the 

19th, the men assembled and took their initial objectives, fighting off attacks that 

included armored cars. By using night patrols, ambushes, and listening posts, the 

Legionnaires disrupted rebel activities that first night in Kolwezi. Their specialty training 

also paid dividends, especially that of sniper training. Coupled with their mission's intent 

to kill the rebels, the offensive use of the unit's snipers allowed the 2d R.E.P. to maintain 

the upper hand against a sometimes determined resistance. So, in accepting the risks 

of this operation, Colonels Gras and Erulin counted heavily on the abilities of the men in 

the 2d R.E.P.3

Matching the abilities of the 2d R.E.P., the Belgian Paracommando Regiment was also 

an elite unit. Colonel Depoorter's Paracommandos, like Erulin's Legionnaires, were 

proud of their unit's history. Unlike the 2d R.E.P., however, that pride came from their 

success in past operations, not from a heritage of glorious defeat. The difference is 

critical in understanding the Belgians' approach to the operation. Even in 1964, in the 

Dragon Rouge operation in Stanleyville when the paras were told to consider all blacks 

as enemies, the regiment had been selective in its use of force against the Simba 

rebels. In 1978, the Paracommando Regiment modeled its operations in Kolwezi after 

this experience.
The Paracommando Regiment applied a number of the lessons it learned in 1964 to its 

Kolwezi operation. Because of the 1964 experience, Colonel Depoorter intended to 

seize the city as rapidly as possible rather than secure the airport as his initial objective. 

Depoorter decided to conduct an air assault operation so that his assembly after 

airlanding would allow for a more rapid penetration of the city than an airdrop. The 

paras' experience in 1964 had shown that the delay required for assembly after an 

airborne operation could be fatal for any hostages waiting for rescue.

Another lesson learned by the Belgians from the 1978 operation was to include a fully 

mobile surgical unit. After the earlier Congo operations, the Belgians had pushed for the 

creation of such a unit to support operations where civilian or military casualties might 

be suffered far from an adequate surgical facility. According to French after-action 

reports, several 2d R.E.P. lives were saved because the Belgians had included a 

surgical team in the Kolwezi operation.

Providing organic mobility for such operations was another lesson learned from the 

1964 experience, when the paras had relied heavily on the availability of abandoned 

cars to mount their operations. In 1978, the Belgian regiment took its organic transport 

to Kolwezi and, from the first day of its operations, was able to dispatch patrols outside 

the city. The French, on their part, noted in reports that they relied on confiscated 

transport and bemoaned the need for organic transport in the 2d R.E.P.'s operation.

In contrast, however, the Belgian political leaders failed to grasp a major lesson of 1964: 

the impossibility of conducting an operation in conjunction with another military 

operation without effective coordination. The Belgian defense minister's orders for 

Depoorter to avoid all contact with the French were absolutely absurd. In 1964, a similar 

situation had developed with the coordination between the Paracommando Regiment 

and the ground column under Colonel Frédéric J. L. A. Vandewalle. Then, as in 1978, 

the paras were conducting a humanitarian rescue, and the Vandewalle column was on 

a mission to restore governmental control. In order to avoid conflict between the two 

Belgian-led elements, coordination before the operation and after the arrival of 

Vandewalle's force proved to be necessary. The same need was present in 1978, and 

the failure to coordinate the two operations ended in a near disastrous firefight between 

the Belgians and the French. Just as it had been in 1964, the reluctance to conduct the 

required liaison in 1978 was due to political restrictions that were not fully thought out.

Apart from these operational lessons, certain other fundamentals from the 1978 

operations are evident. A crisis situation can develop rapidly in Third World countries, 

and the developments may be beyond the normal intelligence focus of Western 

countries. Zaire, so often the scene of previous eruptions of violence, still caught 

Western intelligence agencies off guard. In contrast to 1964 when the United States and 

Belgium spent months sifting through and agonizing over the available information, the 

1978 situation in Kolwezi occurred rapidly, leaving little time for reflection. Even 

acquiring maps can be a problem, and in a fast-moving situation like the one in Kolwezi, 

there may not be time to request maps or to conduct aerial photography.
Another issue is that in today's world, there are no poorly armed insurgents. In 1978, the 

FNLC had modern weapons, including armored cars, and the French found out that the 

rebels knew how to use them. Modern arms and the training to use them are readily 

available on the world market. Therefore, modern reaction forces, such as light infantry, 

must be prepared to deal with determined, welltrained foes. Furthermore, intelligence 

officers must be careful in assessing probable reactions by insurgent forces such as the 

FNLC. One cannot assume, as Brussels did in 1978, that such a force will adhere to 

international conventions. Today, it is safer to assume the opposite. The same holds 

true in assessing military capabilities; the nature and potency of military units must be 

carefully evaluated.4

Reacting to a hostage or evacuation situation places special demands on units. First, 

these situations usually develop rapidly, generally without warning. Therefore, units 

tasked with such missions have little time to prepare and no time to train. Often, such 

missions may require that hostages be rescued at the same time other refugees are 

being evacuated. Consequently, specially trained units charged with rescuing hostages 

may have to coordinate their operations with the more conventional forces conducting 

the evacuation. Thus, such cooperation should be rehearsed in training. Once an alert 

goes out, there is little time for practice; it is truly a "come-as-you-are" environment.

In addition, such operations demand special communications, such as the 

Paracommandos used in talking directly to their national authorities. By their very 

nature, hostage rescue missions are heavily political, and liaison with the diplomatic 

mission in the country and the news media is mandatory. The Belgians had adequate 

measures prepared along these lines, but the French did not. As Erulin reported 

afterward, his staff was almost overwhelmed with the need to coordinate diplomatic and

press functions. All these requirements dictate that units that might face such 

contingency missions should train to conduct them-as the Paracommando Regiment 

did.5

Tied to the ability to fight rebels (such as the FNLC of 1978) is the ability to deploy 

forces to the combat zone. Often, the logistical requirements of even light infantry forces 

such as the 2d R.E.P. and the Paracommando Regiment are underestimated by those 

who superficially examine potential operations in places like Zaire. After the 1964 

experience, the Belgians developed austere area logistical packages to support any 

further operations along similar lines; the French after-action reports noted that such 

logistical packages would have served their force well in Kolwezi.

To deploy and support the Belgian Paracommando Regiment, the 15th Wing flew 32 

round-trip and 426 local C-130 missions-1,726 hours of flying time. In a sixty-hour 

period covering 19 to 21 May, the Belgian crews flew forty-three C-130 and fourteen 

Boeing 727 missions, with some of the crews logging thirty hours of flight time. With an 

additional 210 flying hours on its Boeing 727s, the 15th Wing still needed the assistance 

of Sabena, with 10 airliners, and the U.S. Air Force, with 8 C-141s, to complete its 

operations (with support not included in the above totals).
Aside from airframes and crews, the 15th Wing also needed austere base maintenance 

packages to keep its operation going. During the operations at Kamina, the 15th Wing's 

mechanics completed four engine changes at the central African base and another five 

back in Belgium. The same staggering requirements proved necessary to support the 

2d R.E.P. Even using the five FAZ C-130s and three French C-160s in Zaire, the 2d 

R.E.P. required five airliners and two additional C-160s to deploy its men. To transport 

the 2d R.E.P.'s equipment, the French needed twenty C-141s and one C-5. All this airlift 

was needed to deploy some 2,000 "light infantry" to Zaire to evacuate 2,300 expatriates 

to Europe.6

The operations to retake Kolwezi in 1978 should not be dismissed as something 

unusual or unlikely to reoccur, nor should they be discounted as European operations of 

little interest to U.S. planners. Even though the United States did not commit ground 

troops to the operation, the 82d Airborne Division had some 2,000 paratroops on alert at 

one stage of the crisis. Moreover, in the months following the crisis in Kolwezi, 

American troops found themselves on alert for rescue or evacuation operations in Iran, 

followed by the disaster at Desert One. Since those operations, U.S. forces have been 

committed to similar operations in Lebanon, Grenada, Sudan, Somalia, Liberia, 

Panama, and the Persian Gulf. Without doubt, U.S. forces will conduct further ventures. 

Thus, the French and Belgian operations of 1978 have special relevance.

Contents

APPENDIX A

Personalities, Terms, and Acronyms

Personalities

Zairian

General Babia FAZ chief of staff in 1978 who had the situation under control.

Joseph Kasavubu Ineffective president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1960 to 1965.

Patrice Lumumba First prime minister of the Congo whose flamboyance in office helped set off the 

violence of the early 1960s in the Congo. He died while a captive of Tshombe. A 

martyr, he became a rallying point for all with a grudge against the central 

government.

Major Mahele Commanding officer of the 311th Airborne Battalion who had the dubious honor of 

selecting one of his companies as a sacrifice to Mobutu's ego. His performance in 

reaching Kolwezi was outstanding.

General Nathaniel Mbumba One-time police chief of Katanga province. After Mobutu's revenge against the 

Lunda and the exgendarmes in Katanga following the 1967 revolt, he crossed into 

Angola and became the military head of the FNLC.
President Mobutu Sese Seko "President" of Zaire since seizing power in 1965. He was corrupt and difficult to 

deal with as the leader of Africa's potentially wealthiest country and responsible 

for Zaire's miserable economic status. As the self-styled leader of Zaire's armed 

forces, he has rewarded success with exile or worse. Formerly known as Joseph 

Mobutu before Zairianizing his name, he is also known as "Le Guide (the guide]" 

or "Citoyen (citizen]."

Moise Tshombe Former "president" of the Katangan seccession against the Congo's central 

government who was responsible for the formation of the Katanga Gendarmerie. 

After a year's exile, he returned to the Congo in 1964 to become prime minister 

and defeat the Simba Rebellion. He was exiled again in 1965.

Angolan

Agostino Neto Leader of the MPLA who won the civil war to control Angola. He also sponsored 

the FNLC in revenge for Mobutu's support for the FNLA.

Holden Roberto Leader of the FNLA who received Mobutu's aid in the 1975-76 war for Angola. 

Aided by the United States, Roberto lost his bid for power.

Jonas Savimbi Leader of UNITA who was loosely allied with Roberto in the 1975 war. He 

continues to fight against Neto and his Cuban supporters.

Belgian

Colonel Alaine Blume Commanding officer, 15th Wing, who flew the first aircraft into Kolwezi on 20 May 

1978.

Paul Vanden Boeynants Belgian defense minister who claimed that the news releases on the French and 

Belgian movements were necessary so the FNLC would know that the units were 

to evacuate the foreigners not attack the rebels.

Colonel Henri J. G. Commanding officer, Belgian Paracommando ("Rik ") Depoorter Regiment, who 

had his entire regiment on the way to Zaire within thirty hours of the alert. His 

original plan was a more effective version of what the French did on 19 May 

1978.

Jean Schramme Belgian planter in Katanga province who became a mercenary during the 

Katangan secession and formed his own unit, the Leopard Battalion. After the 

secession failed, he crossed into Angola. He returned to fight the Simbas in 1964, 

fought the rebellion of 1966, and led the rebellion of 1967.

Henri Simonet The Belgian foreign minister who held off from intervention until requests from the 

Belgian mission in Zaire made action unavoidable.

Leo Tindemans Belgian prime minister whose government's handling of the crisis caused an 

uproar in the Belgian press.

Colonel Frédéric Belgian chief of security in the Congo during the J. L. A. Vandewalle colonial 

period. With Tshombe's secession, he served as the Belgian consul in Katanga 

and oversaw the creation of the gendarmerie. After Tshombe's return to the 

Congo in 1964, Vandewalle returned to create a combined Belgian, mercenary, 

and Katangan outfit to defeat the Simbas.

French

Lieutenant Colonel Phillipe Erulin Commanding officer, 2d R.E.P., who executed an unfamiliar plan twenty-four 

hours ahead of schedule.

President Giscard d'Estaing French president whose activist approach to the Soviets' gains in Africa led to 

French support of Mobutu in 1977 and the intervention in 1978. Critics dubbed 

the actions as evidence of d'Estaing's "Africa Corps." Once he made the decision 

to act in 1978, he allowed his subordinates to do their jobs.

Colonel Yves Gras Commander of the French Military Mission who was responsible for the drive to 

get the French to intervene in Kolwezi. He convinced Ambassador Ross to go on 

record in support of the intervention. He also had the foresight to begin planning 

the operation before the decision to intervene had been made and designed the 

parameters of the plan.

René Jorniac President d'Estaing's adviser on African affairs who, after turning down Gras' 

suggestion for an intervention, ended up calling Gras and asking him to intervene 
ahead of schedule.

Colonel Larzul French military attaché who worked closely with Gras in planning the operation. 

He jumped on the second wave of the airdrop.

André Ross The French ambassador in Zaire who got on well with his military staff. He 

strongly favored a military intervention.

American

Jimmy Carter U.S. president who virtually ignored the 1977 invasion. His attempt to play on 

Cuban involvement in 1978 backfired.

Zbigniew Brzezinski President Carter's national security adviser who encouraged Carter to react in 

1978 to the Soviet-Cuban gains on the African continent.

Cyrus Vance U.S. secretary of state in 1978 who knew Mobutu from the 1964 crisis. In 1978, 

he warned Mobutu to behave or Shaba III was just around the corner.

Andrew Young U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who tried to keep the Carter 

administration's focus in Africa on the question of apartheid. In 1977, he 

succeeded, but in 1978, he failed.

Terms

Zairian

Brazzaville Accords Agreement made in 1977 between Mobutu and Neto to cease support for each 

other's dissident groups. Mobutu's failure to comply led to Shaba II.

Colombe Code name for the FNLC's attack on Kolwezi.

Katangan Gendarmerie Mercernary-led forces created under the guidance of Belgian officers under 

Colonel Vandewalle. The Katangan Gendarmerie fought UN forces to a standstill 

until they received more support. After the Katangan secession, the gendarmes 

went into exile in Angola. Returning in 1964 at the behest of Tshombe, the 

gendarmes, again led by Vandewalle's Belgians and mercenaries, helped put 

down the Simba Rebellion. After the 1966 and 1967 mercenary rebellions, the 

gendarmes returned to Angola. (See FNLC.)

Kaymanyola Division The "elite" FAZ unit that protected Kolwezi.

Simbas Members of a rebel movement that revolted against the central government in 

1964. The Simba movement was based on superstition and discontent. They took 

twothirds of the Congo before they were defeated by a Belgian-American-Zairian 

coalition. The Simba seizure of Stanleyville and the holding of 2,000 hostages led 

to the Dragon operations.

Zairianization Mobutu's program of "authenticity," meant to break all colonial ties by renaming 

everyone and everything that had a Western or colonial-associated name. Under 

this program, the Congo became Zaire.

Belgian

Dragon operations Dragon Rouge-the Belgian-American airborne operation to take Stanleyville on 24 

November 1964.

Dragon Noir-the rescue at Paulis on 26 November 1964.

Red Bean Code word for the 1978 Belgian operation at Kolwezi.

Samaritan The Belgian plan to evacuate expatriates from Shaba in1977 (Shaba 1).

French

Bonité The final name given to Operation Leopard by the French General Staff.

Leopard The original code word for the French intervention in Kolwezi.

Other

Morris-Knudsen American engineering firm that had its base camp northwest of Kolwezi.
Acronyms

ANC Armée Nationale Congolaise-name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's 

armed forces after independence. It was formerly the Force Publique under 

Belgian colonial rule. (See FAZ.)

FAZ Forces Armées Zairois-the ANC's new name in 1974 (which did not make it any 

better).

FLEC Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave-the Angolan opposition group 

supported by Mobutu.

FNLA National Front for the Liberation of Angola-the Angolan insurgent organization led 

by Holden Roberto and supported by Mobutu and the United States. It was 

defeated in the Angolan Civil War and still maintained bases in Zaire in 1977.

FNLC Front for the National Liberation of the Congo-the Katangan Gendarmerie's 

adopted political title under General Mbumba. The FNLC allied itself with Neto's 

MPLA in Angola and launched the Shaba invasions in 1977 and 1978.

FODELICO Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo-the opposition group formed in 

1974 around survivors of the 1964 rebellion.

FSA Africian Socialist Forces--an opposition group formed in 1964 after the fall of 

Stanleyville to government forces.

GECAMINES See UMHK.

MARC Action Movement for the Resurrection of the Congo the opposition party formed 

as a breakaway from the MPR in 1974.

MMF French Military Mission.

MNLC National Movement for the Liberation of the Congo-a Marxist-Leninist group 

formed in 1965.

MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-an Angolan insurgent organization 

led by Agostino Neto. Helped by the Cubans and the FNLC, the MPLA defeated 

its opposition to win control of Angola.

MPR Popular Movement of the Revolution-Mobutu's party, created in the late 1960s. 

Under the MPR's platform, Mobutu pushed through the laws making him a virtual 

dictator.

OAU Organization of African Unity.

PRP People's Revolutionary Party-another post-1964 opposition group that remained a 

disaster in the field.

UMHK Union Miniére du Haut-Katanga-nationalized by Mobutu in 1966, which became 

the Générale Congolaise des Minerais (GECOMIN), then rechartered with a new 

agreement with the Belgians as Générale des Carriéres et des Mines 

(GECAMINES) in 1971. The GECAMINES was the principal employee of the 

expatriates in Kolwezi.

UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of AngolaAngolan insurgents led by 

Jonas Savimbi, who were sometimes allies of the FNLA, South Africa, or the 

United States. They were always an enemy of Neto and the MPLA UNITA 

controls the bush in Angola.

ZAMISH U.S. Military Assistance Mission in Zaire.

Contents
APPENDIX B

Date Event

30 Jun 60 Independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

9 Jul 60 Katangan secession begins. Belgium intervenes as the ANC mutinies. Colonel 

Joseph Mobutu named ANC chief of staff. Katangan Gendarmerie recruited.

15 Jul 60-May 63 First UN troops arrive. United Nations campaigns for three years to restore the 

central government's control over the country.

29 May 63 Tahombe surrenders Katanga and goes into exile. The Katangan Gendarmerie 

crosses into Angola.

Apr 64-May 64 Minor uprisings in the eastern Congo expand into major rebellion due to the 

ANC's penchant for brutality and distaste for combat.

Jun 64 The Simba Rebellion explodes and consumes most of the eastern Congo. 

Tshombe returns from exile to become the prime minister.

5 Aug 64 Stanleyville, with over 1,500 expatriates, falls into rebel hands. Tshombe asks for 

help. Belgium dispatches Vandewalle to oversee the campaign against the 

Simbas. Mercenaries and the Katangan Gendarmerie return to fight under 

Tshombe's banner.

Mid-Sep 64 Vandewalle begins his campaign to retake the eastern Congo.

24 Nov 64 In Operation Dragon Rouge, the Belgian Paracommando Regiment, carried by 

American C-130s, retakes Stanleyville just ahead of Vandewalle's ground column, 

saving some 1,500 expatriates.

26 Nov 64 Operation Dragon Nair is conducted at Paulis. The Paracommando Regiment 

withdraws to Belgium.

Nov 64 War continues into the next year, and numerous expatriates are killed by the 

rebels in revenge.

29 Mar 65 Watsa falls to government forces, and the war is declared over.

25 Nov 65 General Mobutu seizes power. Tshombe goes into exile again.

1966 The Baka Regiment of the Katangan Gendarmerie mutinies in Stanleyville and is 

put down by Denard and mercenaries.

Jun 67 Tshombe is kidnapped and imprisoned in Algeria, where he dies two years later 

of a "heart attack."

Jul 67 Jean Schramme leads the mercenary revolt at Stanleyville fights his way to 

Bukavu and holds that city for two months, and then crosses into Rwanda. 

Katangans fighting with him accept amnesty but are killed. Mobutu takes revenge 

against former gendarmes in Katanga province. Led by Mbumba, the Katangans 

return to exile in Angola.

1967-74 Mobutu consolidates power, ruins economy, and carries out his "authenticity" 

program.

Jul-Aug 75 Mobutu sends the FAZ against Neto's MPLA in Angola. The Cubans and the 

FNLC, formerly the Katangan Gendarmerie, rout the FAZ.

28 Feb 76 Mobutu and Neto sign the Brazzaville Accords, agreeing to end their support of 

opposition groups working against each other. Mobutu continues supporting 

UNITA.

8 Mar 77 The FNLC, led by Mbumba, crosses into Shaba in the first invasion, and the war 

lasts eighty days. The FAZ is still disaster, and the Moroccans come to the 

rescue.

28 May 77 Mobutu claims victory over the FNLC. He purges the FAZ and conducts trials for 

ninety-one persons on various charges.

11 May 78 The FNLC crosses the Zambian border into Shaba, thus beginning Shaba 11. 
The rebels move on Kolwezi.

13 May 78 The FNLC opens its attack on Kolwezi. The FAZ falls apart. The rebels capture 

the French military adviser team, and selected expatriates and locals are selected 

for trial.

First word of the attack reaches the French Embassy. Gras sees Bahia, and the 

311th Airborne Battalion is placed on alert.

14 May 78 Executions of those found guilty of crimes against the "people" are under way in 

Kolwezi. The FNLC is still fairly disciplined. The FAZ still holds its headquarters in 

the new town.

Gras pushes for French troops to encadre the FAZ's 311th and 133d Battalions. 

Mobutu asks for all kinds of help. The 311th and the 133d go to Lubumbashi to 

prepare for an overland drive on Kolwezi. Crisis cells operate in Brussels, Paris, 

and Washington.

15 May 78 Eight to ten expatriates are reported dead in Kolwezi. Morris Knudsen prepares to 

evacuate its camp. Reports coming out via GECAMINES in Lubumbashi.

The French Embassy is on 24-hour watch. Gras contacts the Belgian chargé to 

force a Belgian reaction to the situation. Mobutu calls in Major Mahele and gives 

him the order to drop one company on Kolwezi the next day.

16 May 78 At 0630, the 2d Company, 311th Airborne Battalion, begins its operation in 

Kolwezi and is destroyed. Its attack sets off the massacres in Kolwezi. The 

311th's main body begins an overland march on Kolwezi. Morris-Knudsen delays 

its evacuations.

Gras sets up a planning staff and gets word of the 311th's operations. Combined 

planning begins with the Belgian military mission. Ambassador Ross calls for 

French intervention in cooperation with the Belgians and Americans.

President Carter places the 82d Airborne Division on alert and makes 

announcements to the press. One company of the Belgian Paracommando 

Regiment and three C-130s are on alert under Operation Plan Samaritan. The 

alert is upgraded to the full regiment at midnight.

17 May 78 Sporadic slaughter continues in Kolwezi. Morris-Knudsen conducts its evacuation 

without problems.

The 311th reaches the Kolwezi airport by evening, it is cut off and out of 

ammunition.

Gras continues planning for an intervention and is notified that the 2d R.E.P. is on 

alert for Zaire. The tentative date of the operation is to be the 20th. French pilots 

are authorized to fly combat missions using FAZ Mirage fighters. Gras is placed 

in overall command of French forces.

At 0200, Colonel Depoorter receives orders to plan for a 72-hour operation in 

Kolwezi to evacuate the foreigners. The Paracommando Regiment prepares for 

deployment under Operation Red Bean. At 1900, the government gives a 

conditional "go" to the operation. Deployment is to begin the neat day, with 

execution on the 20th. The Paracommandoe are prohibited from coordinating with 

the French. The Belgian government discloses the Belgian and French movement 

alerts.

At 1030, the French 2d R.E.P. is alerted to be ready to move at 2000. Erulin has 

only a general idea of his mission.

18 May 78 Communications with Kolwezi are lost. Mobutu flies into the airport with news 

media to see Mahele.

Gras completes a plan and gets Paris' approval. Paris requests that the operation 

be moved up, and Gras refuses. Journiac makes the same request, and Gras 

refuses. Gras meets with Belgians and Americans to coordinate the operations. 

The Belgians are evasive, and when Gras is told the rebels have been ordered to 

kill their hostages and retreat, he moves the operation up to the 19th.

At 0220, Erulin is ordered to move the 2d R.E.P. to Solenarza Air Base for 

deployment to Zaire. The first aircraft departs at 1520. Erulin lands at Kinshasa at 

2315 only to learn that the operation is to begin the neat morning.

At 1315, the first C-130 of the Belgian 15th Wing takes off with Colonel Depoorter 
on board. Thirty-six hours later, the entire Paracommando Regiment is closed at 

Kamina.

19 May 78 The FNLC begins departing Kolwezi, leaving around 500 combatants behind 

along with local supporters. By now, most of the killing is over.

At 0330, the 2d R.E.P.'s briefing begins. The first assault wave is to go at dawn. 

Delays and equipment failures force the first wave to wait until 1050 for takeoff. 

The first wave is over Kolwezi at 1540.

The second wave is delayed further at Kamina. Gras cancels its drop until the 

20th.

Erulin reports all objectives are secure before dark on the 19th. The 2d R.E.P. 

continues operations all night.

At 1400, the first Belgian aircraft lands at Kamina. Depoorter learns of the French 

operation and requests permission to conduct an assault landing before dark to 

reinforce the French. Brussels refuses but gives approval for the operation on the 

20th. Depoorter redesigns his mission, and the unit prepares for action.

20 May 78 Erulin opens the day's operation with the 3d Company penetrating Manika. His 

second wave comes in at dawn to take the new town. A firefight breaks out 

between the 3d Company and the Paracommando Regiment.

Depoorter's first wave comes in on schedule at dawn. The 3d Para Battalion 

moves on the old town, followed shortly by the lat Para Battalion. Lead units run 

into a firefight with the French.

Gras lands and grudgingly turns over the European quarters to the Belgians to 

evacuate the expatriates. The French continue to flush out the rebels. The French 

battle a large number of rebels at Metal-Shaba. By day's end, the Belgians have 

evac uated some 2,000 expatriates.

21 May 78 By sunset, Depoorter completes his mission and receives permission to withdraw 

to Kamina. Erulin continues operations. Vehicles arrive from Lubumbashi.

22 May 78 The Paracommando Regiment returns to Kamina and prepares for redeployment 

to Belgium. The l at Para Battalion is detailed to stay behind until relieved by the 

3d on 25 June. The 3d Para Battalion remains until July.

27 May 78 The 2d R.E.P. moves to Lubumbashi, remains three weeks until the lead 

elements of the Inter-African Force arrive, and departs for Corsica.

Contents

APPENDIX C

Organizational Charts of

French and Belgian Units in Zaire
French Units

Belgian Units

Contents
NOTES

Chapter 2

1. Basil Davidson, The Story of Africa (London: Mitchell Beasley Publishers and Mitchell Beasley 

Television, 1984), 278; Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, War in Uganda: The Legacy of Idi Amin

(Westport, CT: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1982); and Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness and The 

Secret Sharer (New York: New American Library, 1983). 

2. The number of volumes concerning this period in Zaire's history is enormous. As a sample, see 

Madeleine G. Kalb, The Congo Cables: The Cold War in Africa-From Eisenhower to Kennedy

(New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1982); Ernest W. LeFever and Wynfred Joshua, United 

Nations Peacekeeping in the Congo, 1960-1964: An Analysis ofPolitical, Executive, and Military 

Control, 4 vols. (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1966); Edward Hymoff, Stig Von Bayer: 

International Troubleshooter for Peace (New York: James H. Heineman, 1965); A. G. Mezerik, 

ed., Congo and the United Nations, 3 vols. (New York: United Nations International Review 

Service, 1960-63); Conor Cruise O'Brien, To Katanga and Back: A UN Case History (New York: 

Simon & Schuster, 1962); Frédéric J. L. A. Vandewalle, L'Ommengang: Odyssée et Reconquête 

de Stanleyville, 1964 (Brussels: Le Livre Africain, Collection Temoinage Africain, 1970); Merwin 

Crawford Young, Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence (Princeton, NJ: 

Princeton University Press, 1965); Merwin Crawford Young and Thomas Turner, The Rise and 

Decline of the Zairian State (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985); and Stephen R. 

Weissman, American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960-1964 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 

1965). 

3. Young and Turner, 255; and Peter Mangold, "Shaba I and Shaba II," Survival 21 (May-June 

1979):109. 

4. See Vandewalle; Fred E. Wagoner, Dragon Rouge: The Rescue of Hostages in the Congo

(Washington, DC: National Defense University, 1980); David Reed, 111 Days in Stanleyville (New 

York: Harper & Row, 1965); Mike Hoare, Congo Mercenary (London: Robert Hale & Co., 1967); 

Lois Carlson, Monganga Paul (New York: Harper & Row, 1966); Jo Wasson Hoyt, For the Love of 

Mike (New York: Random House, 1966); Howard M. Epstein, ed., Revolt in the Cong0, 1960-

1964 (New York: Facts on File, 1965); William Attwood, The Reds and the Blacks: A Personal 

Adventure (New York: Harper & Row, 1967); Gerry S. Thomas, Mercenary Troops in Modern 

Africa (Boulder, CO: Weatview Press, 1984); Homer E. Dowdy, Out of the Jaws of the Lion (New 

York: Harper & Row, 1965); and Thomas P. Odom, Dragon Operations: Hostage Rescues in the 

Congo, 1964-1965, Leavenworth Papers no. 14 (Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, 

U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1988). 

5. See Wagoner; Reed; Vandewalle; Hoare; Dowdy; and Odom. 

6. Young and Turner, 50-54. 

7. Kalb, 89-101. 

8. Ibid., 4-7, 23-24, 175-77. 

9. Young and Turner, 52, 57-58. 

10. Ibid., 2501; and Irving Kaplan, ed., Zaire: A Country Study (Washington, DC: American 

University, 1979), 259-60. 

11. Young and Turner, 57-58, 251, 419. These authors report that Tshombe's kidnapping was 

beyond the capability of the Congolese security services as it required a support network that 

spanned from Africa to Europe. Though accusations have ranged from the CIA to the KGB, the 

perpetrators remain unknown. The same cloud of mystery hangs over the report of Tshombe's 

"heart attack"; that seems fitting considering Tshombe's probable involvement in the equally 

mysterious death of Patrice Lumumba.. Schramme had been involved in the Katanga secession 

and formed his own unit, the Bataillon Leopard. Following Tshombe's surrender, Schramme 
crossed into Angola with 7 mercenaries and 500 Katangans. He and his unit returned at 

Tshombe's call in 1964 and fought in the war against the Simbas. Schramme later published Le 

Bataillon Léopard as an account of his exploits. The book is interesting reading but of doubtful 

value as history. 

12. Young and Turner, 251-53. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., 255. 

15. Kaplan, 218-20. 

16. Kalb, 379-80; and Kaplan,100-101. 

17. Kalb, 379-81. 

18. F. S. B. Kazadi, "Mobutu, MPR, and the Politics of Survival," Africa Report (January-February 

1978):11; and Kaplan, 62-65. 

19. Kaplan, 65-66, 99-101, 260-61; Kalb, 381-82; and Young and Turner, 372-73. 

20. Ibid. 

21. Young and Turner, 253-54,376-78, 448,464. 

22. Ibid., 448. 

23. Ibid., 376-78. Young and Turner point out that Mobutu was gambling on a broad scale. He was 

anti-MPLA because of its Communist backing, not only from the Soviets and the Cubans but from 

the Brazzaville government as well. An MPLA victory in Angola would put Communist countries 

on Zaire's north and south. Mobutu had territorial ambitions on the Cabinda enclave and had 

been supporting the rebel Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave also. Finally, if he could 

pull off the gamble, he would have established himself as the African leader of the day. 

24. Ibid. 

25. Ibid., 254. 

26. Ibid. 

27. Ibid.; Colin Legum, "Zaire," in Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents 1976-

1977, vol. 9 (New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1977), B534-35 (hereafter referred to as ACR 

76-77. For a firsthand account of the CIA operation to funnel money and supplies to support this 

war, see John Stockwell, In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story (New York: W. W. Norton, 1978). 

For a firsthand account of two mercenaries involved with the operation, see Chris Dempster and 

Dave Tomkins, Fire Power (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980).

Chapter 3

1. Kenneth L. Adelman, "Old Foes and New Friends," Africa Report (JanuaryFebruary 1978):5; 

Legum, ACR 76-77, B527-28; and Malutama di Malu, "The Shaba Invasions" (Fort Leavenworth, 

KS: U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1981), 26-30. 

2. Malu, 31-32. 

3. Ibid., 33; and Pierre Sergent, La Légion Saute Sur Kolwezi (Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1978),34-

35. 

4. Malu, 33-34. 

5. Ibid., 35-36. 

6. Ibid., 37-38. 

7. Adelman, 5-6; and Gerald J. Bender, "Angola, the Cubans, and American Anxieties," Foreign 

Policy 31 (Summer 1978):15. 

8. Adelman, 6. 

9. Colin Legum, "Zaire," in Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, 1978-

1979, vol. 11 (New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1980), B572 (hereafter referred to as ACR 78-

79). 

10. Mangold, 109; Adelman, 6-7; and Oye Ogunbadejo, "Conflict in Africa: A Case Study of the 

Shaba Crisis, 1977," World Affairs 141 (Winter 1979):229. 

11. Adelman, 7. 

12. Ibid.; and Thomas A. Marks, "The Shaba Adventure," Africa Institute Bulletin 16 (No. 3,1978). 

13. Adelman, 8; Kaplan, 99; and Ogunbadejo, 226. 

14. Adelman, 8; Mangold,109; and Kaplan, 99-101. 
15. Adelman, 8; and Ogunbadejo, 226-27. 

16. Ibid.; and General Yves Gras, "L'opération Kolwezi," Mondes et Cultures 45 (8 November 

1985):693. 

17. Sergent, 67-68. 

18. Ibid., 26-27; and Gras, 693. 

19. Young and Turner, 374-75; Mangold, 110; and Adelman, 8-9. 

20. Ogunbadejo, 226-27; and Mangold,110. 

21. Adelman, 8-9; Young and Turner, 374-75; and Mangold, 110. 

22. Malu, 38-54. 

23. Young and Turner, 257; and Malu, 72. In Mangold, on page 110, the number of refugees is 

reported at 50,000 to 70,000. 

24. Malu, 72-73; and Kaplan, 67-69. 

25. Kaplan, 75; and Gras, 693. 

26. Mangold, 110-11; Adelman, 10; and Legum, ACR 78-79, B571-72. 

27. Kazadi, 11-12; and Adelman, 9. 

28. Adelman, 9-10; Legum, ACR 78-79, B572; and Kaplan,101. 

29. Mangold, 108; Legum, ACR 78-79, B573; and Adelman,10.

Chapter 4

1. Accounts on the number of FNLC members involved in the invasion range from a high of 5,000 to 

a more conservative 2,000. The same holds true on their route; it is not clear if all the force came 

through Zambia or only a group headed toward Kolwezi. While of interest, the critical issue was 

that the Kolwezi assault group did use Zambia and remained undetected. See Malu, 55; 

"Massacre in Zaire," U.S. News & World Report (5 June 1978):41; Kyenga Sana, "Kolwezi 

Liberated," Brussels Special (29 May 1978):10-12 (translated in JPRS); Rudolf Schmidt, "Zaire 

After the 1978 Shaba Crisis," Aussen Politik, English edition, 30 (let Quarter 1979):88; Legum, 

ACR 78-79, 8574; and Message, AMEMBASSY Lusaka to SECSTATE WASHDC, 01738, DTG 

151203Z May 78, Shaba Incursions: Use of Zambian Territory. 

2. Colin Legum, "Zaire," in Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, 1977-

1978, vol. 10 (New York: Africana, Publishing Co., 1979), B574 (hereafter referred to as ACR 77-

78); Paul Emmanuel, "Disorganization, Corruption in Kolwezi," Brussels Special (21 June 1978) 

(translated in JPRS); and Sergent, 17-18. 

3. Colonel Phillipe Erulin, "Kolwezi," unpublished script to a presentation at the U.S. Army War 

College, Carlisle Barracks, PA, date unknown; Raymond Carroll, James Pringle, and James O. 

Goldeborough, "Massacre in Zaire," Newsweek (29 May 1978):39; Schmidt, 92; Mangold,111; 

and Sergent, 36-37. 

4. Legum, ACR 77-78, B574; Sergent, 36-37; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY 

Kinshasa, 123864, 160120Z May 78, Situation in Shaba as of 1500 (EDT) May 15,1978; Schmidt, 

88; and Emmanuel. 

5. Sergent, 19-22. 

6. Ibid., 22-23. 

7. Ibid., 22-23, 229; Colonel Yves Gras, Chef, Mission Militaire Francaise au Zaire, "Journal de 

Marche du 13 Mai au 15 Juin 1978" (hereafter cited as MMF). 

8. Legum, ACR 77-78, B574-75; Sergent, 53; "Massacre in Zaire"; and Erulin. 

9. Carroll, et al., 35; and Sergent, 28-29. 

10. I have related the narrative from the French perspective for two reasons: first, there are more 

sources available on the French, and second, the French are the dominant actors in this episode. 

Sergent, 28-29; and Gras, 693. 

11. Sergent, 29, 33-35. 

12. MMF; and Sergent, 30. Sergent reports that it was Gras who saw Babia rather than Larzul. I 

relied on the MMF journal as the official record. This is a minor point, but Sergent goes to great 

lengths to emphasize Gras' role. 

13. Sergent, 30-31. 

14. Ibid., 32,35-36; and MMF.
15. Sergent, 31-33; Legum, ACR 77-78, B575; Carroll, et al., 35-, and Emmanuel, 58. Emmanuel 

reported that the failure to warn authorities in Kolwezi was due to pure bureaucratic 

incompetence. 

16. Sergent, 36-37; MMF; and Gras, 693. Again, Sargent reports that Gras went to see Babia when 

the MMF journal indicates Larzul was also present. 

17. Sergent, 37. In examining State Department records on Shaba II, I could not find a single 

message tagged for the crisis before 15 May. As for the American news media, the crisis did not 

make the newspapers before the 15th either. In the case of the Belgians, the situation was 

headline news on the 14th. Unfortunately, I did not have access to the Belgian message traffic. 

However, it appears that both the United States and Belgium waited until the 15th to form crisis 

teams. While I have no information on whether Belgian Prime Minister Tindemans or Foreign 

Minister Simonet telephoned Mobutu on the 13th, I feel secure in saying that President Carter or 

even Secretary Vance probably did not. President d'Estaing's call to Mobutu is just another 

example of his focus on Africa. Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 

122789, DTG 150239Z May 78, Shaba Incursions: Interagency Task Force; and Henri J. G. 

Depoorter, "Kolwezi," Military Review (September 1979):32. 

18. Sergent, 49-51. 

19. Ibid., 49-58. 

20. Ibid., 43-44. 

21. Ibid., 44-45. 

22. Ibid., 45-46; Gras, 694; and MMF. 

23. Sergent, 46; Gras, 694; and MMF. 

24. Sergent, 46-47. 

25. Gras, 693-94; and MMF. 

26. Ibid.; and Sergent, 47-48. It is impossible to establish the exact sequence of meetings on the 

14th, and I have used my own judgment in depicting them. While I am not absolutely sure they 

occurred in the order shown, I am convinced that they did occur. 

27. Message, SECSTATE WASHDC, 122789; Depoorter, 32; Legum, ACR 77-78, B577; Message, 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04793, DTG 151507Z May 78, Shaba Attack: 

Expedited FMS Deliveries; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04785, 

DTG 151343Z May 78, Shaba Attack: W/W AMCITS at Kolwezi; Message, AMEMBASSY 

Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04808, 151946Z May 78, W/W US Citizens in Zaire; 

President Jimmy Carter, Presidential Determination No. 78-11, Memorandum for the Secretary of 

State, Subject: Assistance to Zaire, 18 May 1978. 

28. "Mobutu demands l'aide étrangére pour faire face a l'invasion du Shaba," Le Soir (14 May 

1978):1, 3; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," Forums de la Force Terrestre (September-October 

1978):6. 

29. Sergent, 63-64; MMF; and Gras, 694-95. 

30. Gras, 695; Sergent, 64-65; and MMF. 

31. Gras, 695; MMF; and Sergent, 69-72. 

32. Sergent, 80-81. A darker interpretation of Mobutu's decision to use the 311th was that he 

intended to force the West to intervene in order to save its citizens. As a military man, Mobutu 

must have known the risks involved. Such an interpretation assumes that he saw the dangers 

and deliberately chose to sacrifice the 311th as a means of stimulating a Western response. 

33. Ibid.

Chapter 5

1. Sergent, 82-83; MMF; and Gras, 695. The original plan had been to drop the 2d Company from 

two C-130s. But when one aircraft developed engine problems, Colonel Yeka ordered the drop to 

go in two waves of sixty troops each. It was truly an incredibly stupid operation from its 

conception to its ill-fated end. Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 

04934, DTG 171947Z May 78, Shaba Invasion-SITREP 3 (May 17,1978). 

2. Sergent, 84. Sergent makes some conclusions on this that do not make sense. First, he says that 

the FAZ troops thought the drop was a Cuban operation, and then, he says this caused the FAZ 
to collapse. But other sources speak of the 2d Company survivors making it to the FAZ 

headquarters. I believe the survivors of the airborne operation probably demoralized the FAZ 

headquarters that had been waiting for relief for three days only to see it wiped out. 

3. Ibid., 85-86. Again, Sergent's logic is faulty as to the origin of the slaughter on the 16th. He 

implies that it was caused by a report by the FNLC on the airborne operation to their liaison in 

Brussels. He says that these FNLC politicians changed the wording to reflect a European 

airborne operation and issued a press release claiming to have killed 100 European paratroops. 

Then, Western news agencies picked up the reports and broadcast them as fact. The FNLC, on 

hearing the reports, blamed the Europeans and started killing them. 

All of this is apparently true, but the reports did not get out until the 17th, and Sergent reports the 

massacres began on the 16th. He further claims that the Cuban advisers to the FNLC departed 

after the drop, and this loss of control allowed the FNLC's discipline to fail.

I do not support either claim. It appears that the FNLC was already apprehensive and upset when 

the 2d Company jumped. The rebels probably turned on the expatriates out of fear and 

resentment. They probably believed a major counterattack was in progress and began killing the 

Europeans in response.

Legum has difficulty explaining the killings. First, he accuses the FAZ of using the expatriates as 

hostages against rebel attacks. On the other hand, he also suggests, based on refugee reports, 

that the French training mission that jumped with the 2d Company started the killings. The reports 

of the survivors of the massacre do not support the first claim, and the MMF journal and Gras 

document that the 311th went to Lubumbashi without its advisers. Legum, ACR 77-78, B574-75. 

4. Sergent, 88-90. 

5. Ibid., 91; Gras, 695-96; MMF; and Malu, 58-59. Once again, I have to break with Sergent's 

account. Out of all the sources, he is the only one who states that Major Mahele made it to 

Kolwezi on the 16th. He also states that Mobutu flew into the airfield on the 17th. All sources say 

that Mobutu made a news media event of the trip on the 18th. Had Mahele taken the airfield on 

the 16th, I do not believe Mobutu would have waited until the 18th. 

6. Gras, 695-96; MMF; and Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Paris, 123886, DTG 

160836Z May 78, Discussion With French and Belgians on Shaba.

7. Gras, 695-96; MMF; and Sergent, 75-76, 80-81. If Mobutu had staged the 311th's operation in 

order to stimulate a Western intervention, I believe he would have notified the Western officials at 

this interview. Instead, he waited until the news of the operation came in, and he still maintained 

that it had been a success. 

8. Sergent, 76-77; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC Info AMEMBASSY Monrovia, 123870, DTG 

160125Z May 78, Shaba Invasion SITREP 1 (May 15, 1978). According to this message, the 

rebels had tried to consolidate the expatriates on the 13th but had given up after learning that 

there were 3,000 in Kolwezi. According to Sergent, Ross' cable resulted in another phone call by 

d'Estaing to Mobutu, who repeated his earlier assertion that all was going well. 

9. Sergent, 77-78. 

10. Ibid., 79; Gras, 695-96; and MMF. 

11. Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to AMCONSUL Lubumbashi, 04811, DTG 160110Z May 78, 

Shaba Invasion: Evacuation of CIS Personnel From Kolwezi; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 123864; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 

124005, DTG 161610Z May 78, Shaba SITREP NO. 3 as of 1000 Hours GMT, May 16; Message 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04863, DTG 161733Z May 78, Shaba Attack: 

Evacuation of CIS Personnel From Kolwezi; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE 

WASHDC, 04865,161753Z May 78, Shaba Attack: Conversation With Mobutu; Message, 

AMEMBASSY Paris to SECSTATE WASHDC, 15476, DTG 161737Z May 78, Discussions With 

French on Shaba; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Paris, 123886, DTG 

160836Z May 78, Discussion With French and Belgians on Shaba; Message, AMEMBASSY 

Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04841, DTG 161257Z May 78, Shaba Invasion (SITREP2)-
Map 16, 1978; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 125209, DTG 

171230Z May 78, Shaba SITREP NO. 4: 2300 GMT May 16; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa 

to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04844, DTG 161413Z May 78, Consolate Lubumbashi Input to Shaba 

Invasion SITREP 2; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04880, DTG 

170027Z May 78, Shaba Attack: Evacuation of CIS Personnel From Kolwezi; "U.S. Set to 

Evacuate 73 Citizens in Zaire," The New York Times (17 May 1978): A1, A8; and Message, 

SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Paris 125187, DTG 1703072 May 78, Shaba Incursion: 

Possible Rescue Effort. 

12. Odom, 54. 

13. Ibid.; and Depoorter, 30-31. 

14. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 12-13; and Emile Genot, Berets rouges, Bérets verts ... 50,000 

Paracommandos (Brussels: Gutenberg Editions, 1986), 266. 

15. Depoorter, 32; Genot, 264-65; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 6-7; and Message, AMEMBASSY 

Brussels to SECSTATE WASHDC, 09311, DTG 1618162 May 78, Shaba Incursions: Belgian 

Reaction. 

16. Ibid. 

17. Sergent, 91-95; Malu, 58-59; MMF; and Gras, 696. It appears that the company of the 1334 was 

at the bridge to protect it as originally planned by Gras. However, Gras and Mahele did not know 

that it was there. Malu reports that Mahele took the company with him to Kolwezi as does the 

MMF journal and Gras. Sergent reports that Mahele told the company commander to hold or die. 

18. Ibid. 

19. Carroll, et al., 35; Sergent, 89; "Massacre in Zaire," 41-42; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to 

SECSTATE WASHDC, 04946, DTG 1811132 May 78, Shaba II SITREP, 18 May 1978; Message, 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04943, DTG 1809552 May 78, Shaba AttackSITREP 4 (May 18,1978); Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04919, 

DTG 1715002 May 78, Shaba Attack: Status Report on CIS Evacuation of Kolwezi Base Camp: 

1230 ZULU May 17; Paul Emmanuel, "We Will Return to Kolwezi," Brussels Special (14 June 

1978):50-53 (translated in JPRS). 

20. Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04880; Message, SECSTATE 

WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Paris, 125187; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE 

WASHDC, 04882, DTG 1708172 May 78, Status Report on CIS Evacuation of Kolwezi Base 

Camp; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04899, DTG 1710282 May 

78, Status Report CIS Evacuation of Kolwezi Base Camp as of 0939 ZULU; Message, 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04902, DTG 1711292 May 78; Shaba Attack: 

Status Report of CIS Evacuation of Kolwezi Camp, 1030 ZULU; Message, AMCONSUL 

Lubumbashi to AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 00489, DTG 1713052 May 78, E and E Plan; Message, 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04919; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 125218, DTG 1714152 May 78, Shaba SITREP No. 5 as of 1000 GMT, 

May 17; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC 04921, DTG 1715272 May 

78, Shaba Attack: Status Report on CIS Evacuation of Kolwezi Base Camp, 1430 ZULU. 

21. Sergent, 107-8. 

22. MMF. 

23. Message, AMCONSUL Lubumbashi to SECSTATE WASHDC, 00482, 1710442 May 78, Shaba 

Attack: Why Kolwezi? 

24. Gras, 697; and Sergent, 110-11. 

25. Ibid.; and MMF. 

26. Sergent, 101-2; Colonel Phillipe Erulin, Commandant le 2éme Regiment Etranger de 

Parachutiates, a Monsieur le General, Commandant la 11éme Division Parachutiate, "Objet: 

Opération Bonité," Calvi, France, 24 June 1978; Colonel Phillipe Erulin, "Mission Accomplie: 

Entretien aver le colonel Erulin, commandant le 2éme R.E.P.," Armées Aujourdhui (July-August 

1978):14; and Colonel Phillipe Erulin, Zaire, Sauver Kolwezi: Un reportage photographique

(Paris: Eric Baschet Editions, 1979),1. 

27. Pierre Vandervoorde, Paras du Monde Entier (Namur, Belgium: Wesmael-Charlier, 1981), 221-

23. 

28. Erulin, "Objet: Operation Bonité"; Erulin, "Mission Accomplie," 14; and Sergent, 102, 240. 
29. Sergent, 101, 104-6; Erulin, "Objet: Operation Bonité"; and Lieutenant Colonel Jacques Hatte, 

"Kolwezi: An Airborne Assault," Infantry (May 1979):25. 

30. Gras, 696-97; and Sargent, 111. 

31. The Belgian government came under fire from the Belgian press over its handling of the crisis. 

Mobutu also took advantage of the situation to blast Brussels for its slow response while at the 

same time he asked for more aid. The Belgian public apparently approved the action finally taken 

but was equally sure that the response had come too late. Despite Simonet's statement on it only 

being a difference in perspective, he later referred to the French action as a form of colonialism. 

At the same time, however, he admitted the 2d R.E.P. had been decisive in saving lives. Prime 

Minister Tindemana made the link with 1964 when he said the deployment of the paras could 

have started new massacres. Jacques Cordy, "Voler au secours de Mobutu? La France hésite. . . 

," Le Soir (17 May 1978): page number unknown; Jx.C., "Vintervention belge à Stanleyville en 

novembre 1964," Le Soir (17 May 1978): page number unknown; Robert Falony, "La plus grande 

prudence," Le Peuple (17 May 1978):1; Susa Nudelhole, "Gendarmes," le drapeau rouge (17 

May 1978):1; "Inquiétude sur le sort des Européens a Kolwezi," La Libre Belgique (17 May 

1978):1, 4; "S'il fact sauver lea Européens bloqués à Kolwezi, lea mesures nécessaire ont été 

prises," Le Soir (18 May 1978):1, 3; "Preoccupation no. 1: l'évacuation éventuelle des 

Occidentaux de Kolwezi," Le Soir (18 May 1978):3; "M. Henri Simonet à la Chambre: il ne 

s'agirait pas d'une immixtion," Le Soir (18 May 1978):3; Jacques Cordy, "La France n'entend pas 

se faire 'pieger' au Zaire, mais se la 'guerre' du Shaba devait a'aggraver. . . ," Le Soir (18 May 

1978):3; Jean-Paul Vankeerbergen, "La canonniére," La drapeau rouge (18 May 1978); Alain de 

Foz, "Are We Prepared?" Brussels Special (12 June 1978):10-12 (translated in JPRS); "Belgian 

Public Opinion Poll Approves Shaba Intervention, Brussels Special (14 June 1978):8-9 

(translated in JPRS); "Commentary on Shaba Military Intervention," La Libre Belgique (24 May 

1978) (translated in JPRS); "Des paras belges et francais sont partia, mais une solution pacifique 

reste possible," Le Soir (19 May 1978):1-3; "Pares belges et francais au Zaire; Pour la France le 

sauvetage concernerait aussi lea Zairois," Le Soir (19 May 1978):3; Frédéric Kiesel, "Des soucia 

ambigus," La Cite (18 May 1978):1; "L'operation de sauvetage des Européens de Kolwezi sera-telle nécessaire?" La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978):1; "Le Fil des Evénements, Rue de la Loi," La 

Libre Belgique (19 May 1978): page number unknown; "Irritation zairoise contre M. Simonet," La 

Libre Belgique (19 May 1978): page number unknown; D. de M., "Paris: Is gouvernement veut 

garder son sang-froid," La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978):3; "Lee Européens de Kolwezi prig dans 

lee combats et poursuivis par la haine des ex-gendarmes," La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978): 

page number unknown; "La situation au Shaba prime toutes leg autres préoccupations 

gouvernementales," Le Peuple (19 May 1978):1; "Shaba: C'est L'aventure Neo-Coloniale," Le 

drapeau rouge (19 May 1978):1; and "Paras belges et francais ont commencé une opéaration de 

sauvetage," La Derniére Heure (19 May 1978):28. 

32. Legum, ACR 77-78, B576; Message, AMEMBASSY Paris to SECSTATE WASHDC, 15662, DTG 

171734Z May 78, Shaba Incursion: Possible Rescue Effort; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to 

SECSTATE WASHDC, 04935, DTG 172004Z May 78, Shaba Attack: Zairian Government 

Request for U.S. Assistance in International Contingency Operation; Message, SECSTATE 

WASHDC to AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, 126030, DTG 180138Z May 78, Situation in Shaba as of 

2000 Hours (GMT, May 17, 1978 (No. 6); Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to AMEMBASSY 

Kinshasa-Flash 126065, DTG 180609Z May 78, Shaba Incursion Zairian Government Request 

for U.S. Assistance in International Contingency Operation; Message, SECSTATE WASHDC to 

AMEMBASSY Kinshasa, Flash 126070, DTG 180743Z May 78, Shaba Incursion Zairian 

Government Request for U.S. Assistance in International Contingency Operation; "Most 

Americans Said to Leave War Zone," The New York Times (18 May 1978):A3.

Chapter 6

1. Sergent, 117-18; Gras, 698; and MMF. 

2. Sergent, 128-29; Gras, 698; and MMF. 

3. Gras, 699; MMF; and Emmanuel, "Disorganization, Corruption in Kolwezi." 

4. MMF. 
5. Gras, 699. Gras says that the Belgians' decision to fly into Kamina made a cooperative venture 

impossible. Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 04993, DTG 182127Z 

May 78, Shaba Attack: Airborne Operations Planning; and MMF. 

6. Gras, 699; MMF; and Sergent, 130-31. 

7. Sergent, 121-23; Erulin, "Objet: Operation Bonité"; Erulin, "Mission Accomplie," 14-15; and Hatte, 

25. 

8. Sergent, 122-26; Erulin, "Objet: Operation Bonité"; Erulin, "Mission Accomplie," 14-15; and Hatte, 

25. 

9. Erulin, "Objet: Operation Bonité"; Sergent, 135-36; and Erulin, "Kolwezi." 

10. 10. Ibid. 

11. Sergent, 137-38. 

12. 12. Ibid. 

13. Ibid., 139- 40; and Gras, 700. 

14. "Ordre Initial D'opération Concernant L'engagement du 2éme R.E.P. à Kolwezi Par O.A.P. le 19 

Mai 78," Kinshasa, Zaire, 19 May 1978 (0400A); and Gras, 700. 

15. "Ordre Initial D' opération. . . ." 

16. Ibid. 

17. Ibid. 

18. Ibid. 

19. Ibid.; and Erulin, "Kolwezi." 

20. Sergent, 118-19. 

21. Ibid., 140-44; Gras, 700; MMF; and Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

22. Sergent, 142-46; Gras, 700; MMF; and Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

23. Sergent, 148-50; Hatte, 26-27; and Paul Fanshaw, "Target Kolwezi" Soldier of Fortune

(December 1983):51-52. 

24. Sergent, 152-53, Fanshaw, 52; Hatte, 27; Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité"; and Erulin, "Kolwezi." 

25. Sergent, 155-57. 

26. Ibid., 157-58; Fanshaw, 52-54; and MMF. 

27. Sergent, 159-60. 

28. Ibid. 

29. Ibid., 160-61. 

30. "Ordre Initial D' opération. . ."; and Legum, ACR 77-78, B576. 

31. Sergent, 163-64. 

32. Ibid., 164-68. 

33. Ibid., 169-72. 

34. Ibid., 173-77. 

35. Ibid.; Gras, 701; Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité"; and MMF. 

36. Sergent, 169, 181-82; and Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

37. Sergent, 182-84; and Erulin, "Objet Opération Bonité." 

38. Ibid. 

39. Ibid.

Chapter 7

1. Depoorter, 32; Genot, 264-66; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 7. 

2. Depoorter, 32; Genot, 264-66, 284; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 5-7,12-13. 

3. Major Henrot, "Des vérités bonnes à dire," Monde (month unknown, 1978):48-51. Major Henrot, 

serving in Red Bean as a liaison officer, was the last Belgian officer on the ground in the 

withdrawal from Paulis. Genot, 284; Odom, 140-44; and "Somma re: Kolwezi 78," 24. 

4. Genot, 266; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 7-8; and Depoorter, 32. 

5. Mr. Vanden Boeynants later defended the disclosure as being necessary to let the rebels know 

that the Paracommandos were coming to conduct an evacuation and thereby to avoid possible 

misunderstandings. "Commentary on Shaba Military Intervention"; Depoorter, 32; Lieutenant 

Colonel BEM P. Malherbe, Letter to Colonel Depoorter Concerning Kolwezi, March 1981. 

6. Depoorter, 32; Genot, 266-67; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 7-10,12. 
7. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 10-11; and Genot, 266-67. 

8. Ibid. 

9. Genot, 268-69; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 11-12; and Depoorter, 32-33. 

10. Depoorter, 32-33; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 11-13; Genot, 268-69; Major BEM P. Malherbe, 

"Noun sommes fiers de nos hommes et de notre operation," UN Officer Supérieur Belge 

Témoigne our Kolwezi: Nous sommes fiers de nos hommes et de notre opération," newspaper 

article from unknown Belgian paper, date unknown; Malherbe, Letter to General Depoorter; and 

Henrot, 50. 

11. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 13; and Genot, 270. 

12. Ibid.; and Depoorter, 33. 

13. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 13. 

14. Sergent, 187. 

15. Ibid., 187-88. 

16. Ibid., 188. 

17. Ibid., 189. 

18. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78,'14; Genot, 272; and Depoorter, 33. 

19. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 15-16; Genot, 272; and Depoorter, 33. 

20. Sergent, 185-86; and Hatte, 28-29. 

21. Sergent, 185-86. The Belgians claim that their units, rather than French unite, discovered the 

slaughterhouse. I do not doubt that the Belgians found the site, but I believe that it was well after 

the French had found it. The Belgians make no mention of any survivors, a fact that indicates the 

French had been there ahead of them. In addition, the Belgians report that the unit that found the 

massacre was attached to the lot Para Battalion, which had not moved off toward the new town 

until well after the 4th Company, 2d R.E.P., had jumped. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 17; and Genot, 

275. Genot mentions a "Mr. Radu" and describes how this individual, though wounded, had 

hidden under the bodies and then in a toilet. It seems this is a summary of the experiences of Me. 

Radu, Mr. Jurmann, and Mr. Michel. 

22. MMF; Genot, 272; "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 16; Sergent, 192; and Gras, 701. 

23. Sargent, 189-90; and Genot, 284. 

24. Sergent claims that the Belgians opened fire on the 3d Company. Erulin mentioned it in his afteraction report, but he did not make any specific accusations. Major Couwenberg, the 3d Para 

Battalion commander, claims the French fired on his lead units, a claim supported by Depoorter, 

Malherbe, and Genot. Colonel Malherbe told me that the French were attempting to intimidate the 

Paracommando Regiment into stopping the evacuation. I believe it was more likely to have been 

a natural result of attempting to conduct the operations independently. Sargent, 190-91; Erulin, 

"Objet: Opération Bonité"; Genot, 273; A. Couwenberg, "Belgians at Kolwezi-Infantry Letters," 

Infantry (July-August 1980):55; and Colonel BEM P. Malherbe, commander, Belgian 

Paracommando Regiment, Interview with author, Everberg, Belgium, 24 November 1988. 

25. MMF; Sargent, 192; Gras, 701; Genot, 272-73; Depoorter, 34; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 17. 

26. MIFF Sargent, 192-93; Gras, 701-702; Genot, 273-76; Depoorter, 34; and Erulin, "Objet: 

Opération Bonité." 

27. Sargent, 191-92, 191-92, 203; MW; and Gras, 702. 

28. Ibid. 

29. Sargent, 203-6. 

30. MMF; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 17-18. 

31. "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 17-18; and Carroll, et al., 34-40. 

32. Ibid., 24-25; Genot, 276-78; Depoorter, 35; and Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE 

WASHDC, 05096, DTG 202137Z May 78, Shaba Attack: Military SITREP 2030Z May 20. 

33. MMF; Gras, 701-2; Hatte, 29; Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 

05096; and Message, AMEMBASSY Kinshasa to SECSTATE WASHDC, 05090, DTG 201712Z 

May 78, Shaba Attack: Military SITREP, 1110Z 20 May. 

34. MMF; Gras, 702; Sargent, 211-22; Fanshaw, 110; and Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

35. Depoorter, 35; Genot, 278; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 30. 

36. Ibid.; Legum, ACR 77-78, B576-78; and Mangold, 111. 

37. Legum, ACR 77-78, B578-82; Mangold, 111-12; "Saving a Country From Itself," Time (19 June 

1978):34; and "U.S. Cobalt Price Jumps," Aviation Week & Space Technology (29 May 1978):22. 
38. Legum, ACR 77-78, B579; Mangold, 113-14; "Zaire Raiders Intent on Mobutu's Ouster," The New 

York Times (24 May 1978); and James Pringle, "Zaire: Signs of Life," Newsweek (19 June 

1978):49-50. In fact, the FNLC made several more appearances in the region during the 

remainder of 1978 and into 1979. The loyalty of the province's inhabitants, never very strong, 

dropped even further with the FAZ's actions after the war was over. The Belgian Paracommando 

Regiment repeated its deployment the following year by sending a battalion to Kitona to comfort 

expatriate fears of further unrest. 

39. "French Troops Land in Zaire Battle Zone; U.S. Sees Cuban Role," The New York Times (20 May 

1978):1, 4; "Belgian-French Rift Over Zaire Reflects Differences in Interests," The New York 

Times (21 May 1978); "Belgians Fear French Intervention in Zaire Is to Expand Influence," The 

New York Times (23 May 1978); and Ronald Koven, "Zaire, Belgium Settle Differences at 

Surprise Paris Talks," The Washington Post (25 May 1978):A4. 

40. Mangold, 108-11; and "Carter Criticizes Hill Restraint on U.S. Role Abroad," The New York Times

(17 May 1978): Al, A25. 

41. Crawford Young, "Zaire: The Unending Crisis," Foreign Affairs (Fall 1978):181-82; Schmidt, 90; 

"Saving a Country From Itself," Time (29 June 1978): 34-35; Mangold, 108-9; Carroll, et al., 39; 

Legum, ACR 77-78, B578; "French Official: Soviet, Cuban Advisors Aiding Zaire Rebels," The 

Washington Post (20 May 1978):A10; Gras, 712-13; "Turmoil in Africa, Will Carter Act?" U.S. 

News & World Report (29 May 1978):17-18; "Castro, Russia's Cat's-Paw," U.S. News & World 

Report (12 June 1978):20-23; "Andrew Young on Africa: Still the Voice of Dissent," U.S. News & 

World Report (12 June 1978):24-25; Joseph Fromm, "Tug of War Over Foreign Policy," U.S. 

News & World Report (19 June 1978):37-40; Raymond Carroll, Paul Martin, and Lars-Erik 

Nelson, "The Africa Korps," Newsweek (19 June 1978):44; "Talking Tough to Moscow," Time (19 

June 1978):32-33; Angus Deming, Scott Sullivan, Eleanor Clift, and Fred Coleman, "Strong 

Words for Moscow," Newsweek (19 June 1978):41-44; Arnaud de Borchgrave, "Designs on 

Africa," Newsweek (19 June 1978):50. The problem that Carter ran into was one of degree of 

credibility. The French and, to a lesser extent, the Belgians had supported Mobutu's charges that 

the Cubans had been involved in the operation. Some had even claimed that the Cubans had 

been with the FNLC during the operation, a claim never documented. Most observers were willing 

to accept that the Cubans had provided training to the rebels, who after all had fought with the 

Cubans and the MPLA during the Angolan Civil War. Where the Carter administration ran into 

problems was when it seemed to begin equating one form of support with the other without 

bothering to specify which it was talking about. A skeptical Congress demanded hard evidence 

before it would support the president in what appeared to be a potential end to détente. The 

president was not able to satisfy those who questioned the charges. Later, evidence indicated 

that if any Eastern bloc advisers had been involved, they were probably East Germans.

Chapter 8

1. Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

2. Malherbe, Letter to General Depoorter. 

3. Erulin, "Mission Accomplie," 15. 

4. Hatte, 29. 

5. Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité." 

6. "NATO Airlift Deficiencies Seen in Zaire Evacuation," Aviation Week & Space Technology (29 

May 1978):22; Erulin, "Objet: Opération Bonité"; and "Sommaire: Kolwezi 78," 12-13.

Contents
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books: Primary Sources

Dempster, Chris, and Dave Tomkins. Fire Power. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.

Erulin, Phillips, Colonel. Zaire, Sauver Kolwezi: Un reportage photographique. Paris: 

Eric Baschet Editions, 1979.

Hoare, Mike. Congo Mercenary. London: Robert Hale & Co., 1967.

Stockwell, John. In Search of Enemies: A CIA Story. New York: W. W. Norton, 1978.

Vandewalle, Frédéric J. L. A. L'Ommengang. Odyssee et Reconquête de Stanleyville, 

1964. Brussels: Le Livre Africain, Collection Temoinage Africain, 1970.

Books: Secondary Sources

Attwood, William. The Reds and the Blacks: A Personal Adventure. New York: Harper & 

Row, 1967.

Avirgan, Tony, and Martha Honey. War in Uganda The Legacy of Idi Amin. Westport, 

CT: Lawrence Hill & Co., 1982.

Carlson, Lois. Monganga Paul. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.

Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer. New York: New American 

Library, 1983.

Davidson, Basil. The Story of Africa. London: Mitchell Beasley Publishers and Mitchell 

Beasley Television, 1984.

Dowdy, Homer E. Out of the Jaws of the Lion. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.

Epstein, Howard M., ed. Revolt in the Congo, 1960-1964. New York: Facts on File, 

1965.

Gran, Guy, with Galen Hull, eds. Zaire: The Political Economy of Underdevelopment. 

New York: Praeger, 1979.

Genot, Emile. Berets rouges, Bérets verts ... 50,000 Paracommandos. Brussels: 

Gutenberg Editions, 1986.
Hoyt, Jo Wasson. For the Love of Mike. New York: Random House, 1966.

Hymof, Edward. Stig Von Bayer: International Troubleshooter for Peace. New York: 

James H. Heineman, 1965.

Kalb, Madeleine G. The Congo Cables: The Cold War in Africa-From Eisenhower to 

Kennedy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1982.

Kaplan, living, ed. Zaire: A Country Study. Washington, DC: American University, 1979.

LeFever, Ernest W., and Wynfred Joshua. United Nations Peacekeeping in the Congo, 

1960-1964: An Analysis of Political, Executive, and Military Control. 4 vole. Washington, 

DC: Brookings Institution, 1966.

Legum, Colin. "Zaire." In Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, 

1976-1977. B534-35. Vol. 9. New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1977.

______. "Zaire." In Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, 1977-

1978. B574-90. Vol. 10. New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1979.

______. "Zaire." In Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents, 1978-

1979. B574-90. Vol. 11. New York: Africana Publishing Co., 1980.

Mezerik, A. G., ed. Congo and the United Nations. 3 vols. New York. United Nations 

International Review Service, 1960-63.

O'Brien, Conor Cruise. To Katanga and Back: A UN Case History. New York: Simon & 

Schuster, 1962.

Odom, Thomas P. Dragon Operations: Hostage Rescues in the Congo, 1964-1965.

Leavenworth Papers no. 14. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, U.S. 

Army Command and General Staff College, 1988.

Reed, David. 111 Days in Stanleyville. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.

Sergent, Pierre. 2eme R.E.P.: Algérie, Tchad, Djibouti, Kolwezi, Beyrouth. Paris: 

Presses de la Cité, 1984

______. Histoire Mondiale des Parachutistes. Paris: Société de Production Littéraire, 

1974.

______.La Legion. Barcelona, Spain: SIC SA, 1985.

______.La Legion Saute sur Kolwezi. Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1978.

______.Paras-Légion: Lé 2eme B.E.P. en Indochine. Paris: Presses de la Cité, 1982.
Thomas, Gerry S. Mercenary Troops in Modern Africa. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 

1984.

Vandevoorde, Pierre. Paras du Monde Entier. Namur, Belgium: Wesmael-Charlier, 

1981.

Wagoner, Fred E. Dragon Rouge: The Rescue of Hostages in the Congo. Washington, 

DC: National Defense University, 1980.

Weissman, Stephen R. American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960-1964. Ithaca, NY: 

Cornell University Press, 1965.

Young, John Robert. The French Foreign Legion: The Inside Story of the WorldFamous Fighting Force. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1984.

Young, Merwin Crawford. Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence. 

Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.

Young, Merwin Crawford, and Thomas Turner. The Rise and Decline of the Zairian 

State. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.

Documents: Primary Sources

2eme Régiment E`tranger de Parachutistes, Etat-Major/3éme Bureau. "Ordre Initial 

D'opérations Concernant L'engagement du 2éme R.E.P. A Kolwezi Par O.A.P. le 19 

Mai 78." Kinshasa, 19 May 1978 (0400A).

Erulin, Phillipe, Colonel, Commandant le 2éme Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes, a 

Monsieur le Général, Commandant la 11éme Division Parachutists. "Objet: Opération 

Bonité." Calvi, France, 24 June 1978.

Gras, Yves, Colonel, Chef, Mission Militaire Francaise Au Zaire. "Journal de Marche du 

13 Mai au 15 Juin 1978."

Lacaze, Général de Division, Commandant la l 1éme Division Parachutiste et la 44éme 

Division Militaire Territorial a Monsieur Is Général Chef d'Etat-Major de l'Armée de 

Terre. "Objet: Opération Bonité" and "Annexe Réflexions sur L'Opération Bonité." 7 July 

1978.

U.S. Department of State. Historical Files: Shaba, Kolwezi, 15-18 May 1978 

(approximately 100 messages), Washington, DC.

U.S. European Command, Lessons Learned From the Logistic Support for the Zaire 

Crisis, 1978,148-49.

Documents: Secondary Sources
Burkard, Dick J. Military Airlift Command: Historical Handbook, 1941-1984. Scott Air 

Force Base, IL: Military Airlift Command, U.S. Air Force, 1984.

Malu, Malutama di, Major, Zairian Army. "The Shaba Invasions." Fort Leavenworth, KS: 

U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1981.

Matthews, James K., and Thomas P. Ofcansky. Military Airlift Command Operations in 

Subsaharan Africa, 196(1-1985: A Case Study of Airpower in the Third World. Scott Air 

Force Base, IL: Military Airlift Command, U.S. Air Force, June 1986.

U.S. Congress. House. Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on International 

Relations. Hearing on United States-Angolan Relations. 95th Congress, 2d Session. 25 

May 1978.

U.S. Congress. House. Subcommittee on International Security and Scientific Affairs of 

the Committee on International Relations. Hearing an Congressional Oversight of War 

Powers Compliance: Zaire Airlift. 95th Congress, 2d Session. 10 August 1978.

Periodicals: Primary Sources

Chatillon, Christian, Captain. "L'Opération Zaire." Armées dAujourdhui (July-August 

1978):16-17.

Couwenberg, A. "Belgians at Kolwezi-Infantry Letters." Infantry (July-August 1980):55.

Depoorter, Henri J. G., Major General, Belgian Army. "Kolwezi." Military Review

(September 1979): 2945.

Erulin, Phillips, Colonel. "Mission Accomplie: Entretien avec Is colonel Erulin, 

commandant le 2éme R.E.P." Armées dAujourdhui (July-August 1978):14-15.

Fanshaw, Paul. "Target Kolwezi." Soldier of Fortune (December 1983):48-55,108-12.

Gras, Yves, General. "L'opération Kolwezi." Mondes et Cultures 45 (8 November 

1985):691-715.

Henrot, Major. "Des vérités bonnes à dire." Monde (month unknown, 1978):48-51.

Malherbe, BEM P., Major. "UN Officer Supérieur Belge Temoigne sur Kolwezi: Nous 

sommes fiers de nos hommes et de notre opération." Newspaper article from unknown 

Belgian paper, date unknown.

"Sommaire: Kolwezi 78." Forum de la Force Terrestre. 8éme Année, No. 3 and 4, 

September-October 1978.

Periodicals: Secondary Sources
Adelman- Kenneth L. "Old Foes and New Friends." Africa Report (January-February 

1978): 5-10.

"Andrew Young on Africa: Still the Voice of Dissent." U.S. News & World Report (12 

June 1978):24-25.

"Belgian-French Rift Over Zaire Reflects Differences in Interests." The New York Times

(21 May 1978):1.

"Belgian Public Opinion Poll Approves Shaba Intervention." Brussels Special (14 June 

1978) (translated in JPRS): 8-9.

"Belgians Fear French Intervention in Zaire Is to Expand Influence." The New York 

Times (23 May 1978):1.

Bender, Gerald J. "Angola, the Cubans, and American Anxieties." Foreign Policy 31

(Summer 1978):3-30.

Bourchgrave, Arnaud de. "Designs of Africa." Newsweek (19 June 1978):50.

Carroll, Raymond, James Pringle, and James O. Goldaborough. "Massacre in Zaire." 

Newsweek (29 May 1978):3-40.

Carroll, Raymond, Paul Martin, and Lara-Erik Nelson. "The Africa Korps." Newsweek

(19 June 1978):37-40.

"Carter Criticizes Hill Restraints on U.S. Role Abroad." The New York Times (17 May 

1978): Al, A25.

"Castro: Russia's Cat's-Paw." U.S. News & World Report (12 June 1978):25-23.

Champagne, Jacques. "Londres 's' interesse' a l'opération, mail n'y participe pail." Le 

Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978):3.

The Christian Science Monitor (16,18, 22 May 1978).

Clerq, Willy de. "Shaba." Le Soir [Brussels] (4-5 June 1978) (translated in JPRS): 1.

"Commentary on Shaba Military Intervention." La Libre Belgique (24 May 1978) 

(translated in JPRS):1-4.

Cools, Andre. "Shaba." Le Soir (Brussels] (20-21 May 1978) (translated in JPRS): 1.

Cordy, Jacques. "La France n'entend pas se faire 'pieger' au Zaire, mail se la 'guerre' du 

Shaba devait s'aggraver. . ." Le Soir (Brussels] (18 May 1978):3.
______. "Voter au secours de Mobutu? La France hésite. . ." Le Soir [Brussels] (17 May 

1978): page unknown.

Crocker, Chester A. "Comment: Making Africa Safe for the Cubans."Foreign Policy 31 

(Summer 1978): 31-33.

D. de M. "Paris: le gouvernement veut garder son sang-froid." La Libre Belgique (19 

May 1978):3.

Delister, Pierre. "Zaire: On a Medium or Long Term Basis." Brussels Special (14 June 

1978) (translated in JPRS): 6-7.

Deming, Angus, Scott Sullivan, Eleanor Clift, and Fred Coleman. "Strong Words for 

Moscow." Time (19 June 1978):41-44.

"Des pares belges et francais sont partis, mais une solution pacifique reste possible." 

Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978): 1-3.

"Des soucis ambigus." La Cité [Brussels] (18 May 1978):1.

"Embarrassant et Dangereux." La Libre Belgique (16 May 1978): 1,4.

Emmanuel, Paul. "Disorganization, Corruption in Kolwezi." Brussels Special (21 June 

1978) (translated in JPRS): 58-59.

______."We Will Return to Kolwezi." Brussels Special (14 June 1978) (translated in 

JPRS): 50-53.

Falony, Robert. "La plus grande prudence." Le Peuple [Brussels] (17 May 1978):1.

Fooz, Alain de. "Are We Prepared?" Brussels Special (12 June 1978) (translated in 

JPRS ):10-12.

"French Official: Soviet, Cuban Advisors Aiding Zaire Rebels." The Washington Post (20 

May 1978):A10.

"French Troops Land in Zaire Battle Zone; U.S. Sees Cuban Role." The New York 

Times (20 May 1978):1, 4.

Fromm, Joseph. "Tug of War Over Foreign Policy." U.S. News & World Report (19 June 

1978):37-40.

Haquin, Rene. "Melbroeck: une larme au fusil." Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978):3.

Hatte, Jaques, Lieutenant Colonel, French Army. "Kolwezi: An Airborne Assault." 

Infantry (May 1979):25-29.
"How African War Is Hitting Home in Cuba." U.S. News & World Report (19 June 1978): 

45-47.

"Inquidtude sur le sort des Européens a Kolwezi." La Libre Belgique (17 May 1978): 1,4.

"Irritation zairoise contre M. Simonet." La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978).

"Jump Into Shaba!" Translated from Kept Blanc, Soldier of Fortune (February 

1979):5658.

J, v. C. "L'intervention belge à Stanleyville en novembre 1964." Le Soir [Brussels] (17 

May 1978).

Kazadi, F. S. B. "Mobutu, MPR, and the Politics of Survival." Africa Report

(JanuaryFebruary 1978):11-16.

Kiesel, Frédéric. "Des soucis ambigus." La Cité (Brussels] (18 May 1978):1.

Koven, Ronald, "Zaire, Belgium Settle Differences at Surprise Paris Talks." The 

Washington Post (25 May 1978):A4.

"La bataille pour Kolwezi: un enjeu vital pour le gouvernement zairois." Le Soir

[Brussels] (14-16 May 1978):3 (in each edition).

"L'aeroport de Kolwezi: declass.. . ." Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978):3.

"La situation au Shaba prime toutes lea autres préoccupations gouvernementales." Le 

Peuple [Brussels] (19 May 1978):1.

"Le drams de Kolwezi met le gouvernement a l'épreuve." Le Soir [Brussels] (20 May 

1978):2.

"Le Fil des Evénements, Rue de la Loi." La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978).

Legum, Colin. "It's Germans, Not Cubans." The New Republic (June 1978):8.

______. "The African Crisis." Foreign Affairs: America and the World (1978):633-51.

"Les C-130: des appareils a tous usages." Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978):3.

"Les Européens de Kolwezi pris dans lea combats et poursuivis par la haine des 

exgendarmes." La Libre Belgique (19 May 1978).

"L'opération de sauvetage des Européens de Kolwezi sera-t-elle nécessaire?" La Libre 

Belgique (19 May 1978):1.
Malumo, Siyanga. "Another Close Shave for Mobutu." Africa (No. 83, July 1978):50-52.

Mangold, Peter. "Shaba I and Shaba U." Survival 21 (MayJune 1979):107-15.

Marks, Thomas A. "The Shaba Adventure." Africa Institute Bulletin 16 (No. 3, 

1978):111-15.

"Massacre in Zaire." U.S. News & World Report (5 June 1978):41-42.

"M. Henri Simonet k la Chambre: ii ne s' agirait pas d'une immixation." Le Soir

[Brussels] (18 May 1978):3.

"Mobutu demands l'aide étrangére pour faire face a l'invasion du Shaba." Le Soir

[Brussels] (14-16 May 1978):1, 3 (in all editions).

"Most Americans Said to Leave War Zone." The New York Times (18 May 1978):A3.

"M. Simonet: pas d'intervention militaire belge." Le Soir [Brussels] (14-16 May 1978):3 

(in all editions).

"NATO Airlift Deficiencies Seen in Zaire Evacuation." Aviation Week & Space 

Technology (29 May 1978):22.

The New York Times (15-24, 26 May; 1, 3, 5-7,10,16 June; 11 July 1978).

Nudelhole, Susa. "Gendarmes." Le drapeau rouge (Brussels] (17 May 1978):1.

Ogunbadejo, Oye. "Conflict in Africa: A Case Study of the Shaba Crisis, 1977." World 

Affairs 141 (Winter 1979): 219-34.

"Pares belges et francais au Zaire; Pour la France le sauvetage concernerait aussi lea 

Zairois." Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978):3.

"Pares belges et francais ont commencé une opération de sauvetage." La Derniere 

Heure (19 May 1978):28.

"Paris: le gouvernement veut garder son sang-froid." La Libre Belgique (19 May 

1978):3.

"Political Party Positions (Summary)." La Libre Belgique (24 May 1978) (translated in 

JPRS): 4.

"Préoccupation no. 1: l'évacuation éventuelle des Occidentaux de Kolwezi." Le Soir

[Brussels] (18 May 1978):3.

Pringle, James. "Zaire: Signs of Life."Newsweek (19 June 1978):49-50.
Sana, Kyenga. "Kolwezi Liberated." Brussels Special (29 May 1978) (translated in 

JPRS): 10-12.

Sauldie, Madan. "France's Military Intervention in Africa." Africa (No. 77, January 

1978):43-49.

"Saving a Country From Itself." Time (19 June 1978): 34-35.

Schmidt, Rudolf. "Zaire After the 1978 Shaba Crisis." Aussen Politik, English edition 30 

(let Quarter 1979):88-99.

"Shaba C'est L'aventure Néo-Coloniale." Le drapeau rouge [Brussels] (19 May 1978):1.

"S'il faut sauver lea Européens bloqués à Kolwezi, lea mesures nécessaires ont été 

prises." Le Soir [Brussels] (18 May 1978):1, 3.

"Strong Words for Moscow." Newsweek (19 June 1978).

"Talking Tough to Moscow." Time (29 June 1978):32-33.

"Toute l'Afrique concernée par le Shaba." Le Soir [Brussels] (17 May 1978):3.

"Turmoil in Africa: Will Carter Act?" U.S. News & World Report (29 May 1978):7-19.

"Une extréme préoccupation." Le Soir (Brussels] (18 May 1978):3.

Unwin, Francis. "Des pares belges et francais sont partis, mais une solution pacifique 

reste possible." Le Soir [Brussels] (19 May 1978): 1-3.

"U.S. Cobalt Price Jumps." Aviation Week & Space Technology (29 May 1978):22.

"U.S. Set to Evacuate 73 Citizens in Zaire." The New York Times (17 May 1978):A2, 

A8.

Vankeerbergen, Jean-Paul. "La canonniére." Le drapeau rouge [Brussels] (18 May 

1978):4.

Van Nieuwenhuyse, Henri. "Decision au Shaba, Devant l'inevitable." La Dernieére 

Heure [Brussels] (19 May 1978):1.

______. "Les tenailles sovietiques." La Derniére Heure [Brussels] (17 May 1978):1.

The Washington Post (15-22, 24-26, 29 May 1978).

Young, Crawford. "Zaire: The Unending Crisis." Foreign Affairs (Fall 1978):169-85.
"Zaire: Foreign Legion Intervenes in Shaba." Africa (June 1978):27-29.

"Zaire Raiders Intent on Mobutu's Ouster." The New York Times (24 May 1978): Al.

Other Sources

Erulin, Phillipe, Colonel. "Kolwezi." Script to a presentation at the U.S. Army War 

College, Carlisle Barracks, PA, date unknown.

Malherbe, BEM P., Colonel. Commander, Paracommando Regiment, Belgian Army. 

Interview with the author, Everberg, Belgium, 24 November 1988.

______. Letter to General Depoorter Concerning Kolwezi, March 1981.

* U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1993__7 5 5 _ 0 0 1 /8 2 0 0 2

Lieutenant Colonel

Thomas P. Odom

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom is currently in 

attaché training at the Defense Intelligence 

Agency, preparing for assignment to Zaire. He 

received a bachelor's degree in history from Texas 

A&M University, a master's degree in national 

security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate 

School, and an M.M.A.S. from the U.S. Army 

Command and General Staff College. Trained in 

both Arabic and French at the Defense Language 

Institute, Foreign Language Center, he has served 

as a detachment commander in Turkey; a foreign 

area officer in the Sudan; and a military observer in 

Lebanon and Egypt with the United Nations Truce 

Supervisory Organization. For the past three 

years, he has served as the Middle East current 

intelligence officer with the Office of the Deputy 

Chief of Staff for Intelligence. While serving with 

the Combat Studies Institute, he authored 

Leavenworth Paper No. 14, Dragon Operations: 

Hostage Rescues in the Congo, 1964-1965. He is 

also the coauthor of Certain Victory: The U.S. 

Army to the Gulf War.
COMBAT STUDIES INSTITUTE

Missions

The Combat Studies Institute was established on 18 June 1979 as a department 

level activity within the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort 

Leavenworth, Kansas. CSI has the following missions:

• Prepare and present instruction in military history at USACGSC and assist other USACGSC departments 

in integrating military history into their instruction. 

• Publish works in a variety of formats for the Active Army and Reserve Components on historical topics 

pertinent to the doctrinal concerns of the Army.

U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas