Jan Breytenbach

Jan Dirk Breytenbach (* 1932 ) is a former South African officer and author of military non-fiction books. He is considered a co-founder of the country's special forces .

Breytenbach is the older brother of the writer, painter and apartheid opponent Breyten Breytenbach . Jan Breytenbach grew up in a well-off Boer family in Bonnievale . In the early 1950s he served in the Union Defense Force's armored force . In 1955 he joined the British naval aviators, for which he participated as a navigator in airborne operations in the context of the Suez Crisis in 1956 . In 1961 he returned to the South African army as a paratrooper .

Jan Breytenbach was appointed first commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Commando of the South African Army in 1972 , which was set up and trained on the model of the British Special Air Service . It was the first unit of the newly established South African special forces brigade.

In 1975, Breytenbach founded the 32-Bataljon , the first South African combat unit, which consisted of black teams and some non-commissioned officers. He led this unit in the early stages of the Angolan civil war . With covert operations, guerrilla and conventional operations, the 32-Bataljon was the most closely involved unit in this theater of war. In 1978 Breytenbach commanded the 44th Parachute Brigade in a large-scale airborne raid on the SWAPO- held town of Cassinga . He later directed the guerrilla school of the South African army.

In 1987 Breytenbach retired early with the rank of colonel . Since then he has authored several books on military topics.

Publications

• Forged in battle (1986) ISBN 0-79710-025-3
• They live by the sword (1990) ISBN 0-62014-870-5
• Eden's exiles, one soldier's fight for paradise (1997) ISBN 1-87490-124-4
• The plunderers (2001) ISBN 1-91987-401-1
• The Buffalo Soldiers, the story of South Africa's 32-Battalion, 1975-1993 (2002) ISBN 1-91985-407-X
• Eagle Strike: The Story of the controversial airborne assault on Cassinga 1978 (?) ISBN 0-62040-614-3