South Africa's first large-scale airborne assault, Operation Reindeer. Prior to this, parachute operations by 1 Parachute Battalion had been rare, consisting mostly of platoon, or sometimes company size. This time the operation called for an assault on a SWAPO base and refugee camp 250 kilometers inside Angola by 367 paratroopers. The brigade mobilised companies from 2 and 3 Parachute Battalions. These were supplemented by mortar, anti-tank elements as well as a rifle platoon from 1 Parachute Battalion. The composite force of a battalion minus, Commanded by Col Breytenbach carried out the first-light parachute assault on a SWAPO base code-name "Moscow", at Cassinga in Angola. The force was closely supported throughout by the South African Air Force, and inflicted heavy losses on enemy, with only four paratroopers being lost in the action during the operation. An orderly extraction of the remaining half of the paratroopers went awry with the appearance and counterattack by a Cuban armored column. With the planned landing zones under fire, the paratroopers were forced to execute a 'hot extraction' by helicopter troopships. The initiative and perseverance of the leadership resulted in a successful extraction, minimizing of loss and the objective being achieved. An analysis of the operation revealed certain deficiencies and shortcomings, namely the need to deploy a pathfinder unit to ensure that drop zones were marked and measured accurately, that the aerial photography was properly analyzed and that the principle of "Unity of Command" be adhered to. The importance of forming a parachute brigade had also been clearly demonstrated. This event is remembered in Namibia as the Cassinga massacre, the subject of much continued controversy covered in part during the Truth and reconciliation commission in South Africa. It has emerged that the village was used as a defended refugee camp at the time and that during the assault 159 men, of whom 12 were soldiers, 167 women (number of those designated 'soldiers' not specified), and 298 teenagers and children. Operations on the increase: 1979–1982 During the early eighties 1 Parachute Battalion had grown in size to the extent that it had eight full-time rifle companies on strength. A permanent Paratrooper Base had been established alongside the Ondangwa Airfield in Owambo, Northern South West Africa, and a company was always on strength and deployed there. At times Citizen Force Parachute Companies would relieve the 1 Parachute Battalion Company for the purposes of rotation and furlough but usually