campaign, Cold War

Operation Reindeer

Name: Operation Reindeer
Location: Angola

Operation Reindeer was a campaign fought in 1978 at Angola. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Angola. It was part of the South African Border War, which ran from 1966 to 1990. The recorded result: South African victory. Recorded strength: Unknown against 2,200+.

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Fought1978

WhereAngola12.350S, 17.350E, placed at the location, approximate

OutcomeSouth African victory

BelligerentsSouth AfricaagainstSWAPO

Part ofSouth African Border War1966 to 1990

Where it sits in the South African Border War

4 placed engagements of the South African Border War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date	1978 (year precision) to 1978
Place	Angola 12.350S, 17.350E
Kind	Campaign, Cold War
Strength	Unknown	2,200+
Casualties and losses	7 killed; 39 wounded	SWAPO claim: 582–624 killed; 400–611 wounded; South African claim: 1,000 killed; 200 captured
Commanders	BJ Vorster Constand Viljoen Ian Gleeson P. W. Botha Jan Breytenbach

Placed at Angola; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Battle of Cassinga 1978, 337 km SW
Battle of Ongulumbashe 1966, 337 km SW
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale 1987, 370 km SE
Battle of Mufilo 1907, 556 km SW
Battle of Quifangondo 1975, 586 km NW

In the same war

Before: Battle of Cassinga 4 May 1978
After: Operation Klipklop 1980
All 4 engagements of South African Border War

Elsewhere in 1978

South Lebanon conflict Lebanon
Battle of Kolwezi Democratic Republic of the Congo
Operation Sovereignty Chile
Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport Cyprus
Battle of Kaukaba Lebanon

Operation Reindeer is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 29 in present-day Angola.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q1662504, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Operation Reindeer, revision 1370698985, read 2026-11-15, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.