Bravery in the DRC, A Zimbabwean fighter pilot recounts

FIGHTING a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of miles away from their homeland and sharing trenches with unpredictable allies who crossed the floor in the heat of the storm, Zimbabwean soldiers went through an experience that exposed them to the dynamics of modern warfare.

Unlike the Mozambican campaign and other regional missions that pitted them against bandits, without disengagement on either side or fighters crossing the floor, the DRC mission gave them a new insight into the complexities of ethnic conflict.

In the heat of the fight, some undecided members of the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC), would cross the floor to the rebels' side as they supped with whoever seemed to be winning the battle.

Some of the outstanding battles of the DRC war occurred in the late President Laurent Kabila's homeland, where some of the FAC troops, stuck in a riddle of taking sides in a tribal conflict, kept changing sides, jumping to whichever side seemed to have an upper hand.

One award-winning Air Force of Zimbabwe combat pilot, Squadron Leader Ishmael Kadenga, who won the grand Gold Cross of Zimbabwe for an extraordinary show of bravery during a siege at Manono Airstrip, gave an excerpt of his experiences during the war.

The citation of his feat during one daring casualty evacuation exercise at the airstrip reads more like an excerpt from the blockbuster war movie, Black Hawk Down, based on the tragic US Air Force mission in Mogadishu, Somalia.

At least 130 Zimbabwean and FAC troops had been surrounded by Rwanda-backed rebels at an airstrip in the small town of

Manono in Eastern DRC, and were on the brink of being cut off from ammunition and food supplies.

Rebels showering anti-aircraft artillery and missiles at the control tower made it difficult for the allied air-force to resupply troops or evacuate casualties, leaving the only chances to the brave.

Sqn Ldr Kadenga made his first attempt to land at the heavily defended airstrip on the 28th of May 1999, but retreated after realising that the rebels had launched a fierce offensive targeted at cutting off supplies and evacuations to suffocate the allied troops.

The next day, on the 29th of May, he made a surprise descent on the strip, quickly resupplying the troops and evacuating casualties before the enemy had realised it, and took off.

Three days later, on the 2nd of June, enemy fire had intensified on the strip and landing became more difficult as the element of surprise had lost currency.

He made a sacrifice descent on the besieged strip with his AB412 Bell helicopter, escorted by three Russian manned Mi-35 helicopters, which could not land.

The enemy relentlessly pounded the strip with artillery fire and, in an attempt to hit the helicopter before it took off, a 60mm mortar bomb hit the control tower, which had provided cover for the aircraft.

"I was the target but they hit the control tower, and debris from the tower plus fragments from the bomb affected my hydraulics," said the Sq Ldr Kadenga, recounting his experience.

After uplifting 16 casualties on an aircraft with a limitation of only eight fully-kitted men, Sq Ldr Kadenga took off and it was only after he was airborne that he realised that he had completely lost his hydraulics and had to literally "carry" the aircraft.

He had to handle all of its controls manually, with stiffened controls.

The helicopter had taken off on residual hydraulic fluid, with most of it having drained out after debris from the tower ripped the pipes, and while the manual prescribed that he had to land the aircraft within one minute, he flew it out of enemy fire.

"I had two choices, either to crash-land in the middle of the jungle with the casualties, never to take off, and go for at least two days without rescue or continue to ‘carry' the aircraft."

The casualties had to be taken to the next base, at least 200km away, and he battled with the stiff aircraft controls and cruised for the next 45 minutes, covering 100 nautical miles before getting to the next airstrip, marking the beginning of another struggle.

Sq Ldr Kadenga had to land the aircraft, but the Kikongo airstrip on which he landed was a virtual dust bowl and his overloaded helicopter hovered in the cloud of dust stirred up by its mighty rotors, as he struggled to find a safe landing spot in the blinding dust.

"I could not crash-land the aircraft, with casualties and other passengers on board and had to fight with the controls and land it safely." He did, and after safely delivering the troops and disembarking, he was rescued by a CASA 212 transport aircraft.

Mission accomplished!, almost. The troops at Manono, who had fought a bitter material and psychological battle for two months, left the trenches and made their withdrawal the next day, with sufficient supplies and swelling morale.

The Gold Cross of Zimbabwe followed, the second given to a serviceman in the DRC war after one awarded to Group Captain Charles Dhabha in 2001 for an extraordinary show of courage during an operation in Kabinda in the DRC.

"To say the least, I was very excited but my excitement does not go without a lining of gratitude to the whole command element of the ZDF, from the then commander Vitalis Zvinavashe to my most immediate boss," he said.

Having risen from his graduation from the Allouette 3 helicopter in 1991, Sq Ldr Kadenga rose through the ranks and flew in humanitarian missions at home, in Namibia, Zambia and Lesotho before his outstanding combat mission in the DRC.

Many other troops who served in the DRC have varied tales, with some wearing medals of honour and others, memories of courage and sacrifice from the trenches.