Operation Royal Amethyst

Operation Royal Amethyst was a military operation carried out by the Portuguese Guinean Battalion of Commandos, which was held on 8 May 1973 in the course of the Colonial War in Guinea-Bissau, which had the purpose of "annihilating or at least dismantling the organisation of the guerrillas in the region of Guidaje-Bigene".

Operation Royal Amethyst
Part of Portuguese Colonial War
Date19 May 1973
Location
Guidaje, Portuguese Guinea
Result Portuguese victory
Belligerents
 Portugal PAIGC
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Almeida Bruno
Cap. António Ramos
Cap. Matos Gomes
Cap. Raúl Folques		 Unknown
Units involved

Forças Armadas

 Unknown
Strength
450 soldiers
1 LDG
2 LFDs		 Unknown
Casualties and losses
10 killed
22 wounded
3 missing		 67 guerrillas killed (2 Cubans and 4 Mauritanians)

Background

The operation divided the battalion into three groups:

  • "Romeu Grouping"-1st Company of Commandos- Captain António Ramos
  • "Bombox Grouping"-2nd Company of Commandos- Captain Matos Gomes
  • "Centauro Grouping"-3rd Company of Commandos- Captain Raul Folques

After embarkation of the Battalion of Commandos onto a Large Landing Craft (LDG), which was then escorted by two LFDs the unit landed in Ganturé and attended a briefing in Bigene.

The Operation

The operation began at 11:50 pm north. The first contact with the forces of the PAIGC was triggered by the Bombox Group after initial aerial bombardment by Fiat G.91 aircraft.

At 5:30 am on 19 May, the column's head reached the route that supported the Cumbamori base, the main objective of the operation. The Bombox Group passed north of the road, the Centauro Group occupied positions to the south and the Grouping Romeu was installed in the rear, in a small town.

At 8:00 am and 8:00 pm, air strikes were conducted by Fiat G.91 fighter-bombers, which destroyed the base's bunkers, and the guerrillas munitions were on fire for a period of time.

At 9:05 am the Bombox Group performed the initial assault, causing the first contact with the PAIGC forces. This fighting took place from the 14th and 10th, when the commander of the operation ordered the Centauro Group to support a rupture of contact between its forces and those of the PAIGC. It was an operation of great difficulty, because the fighters on both sides were very close to each other. The Centaur Group commander was wounded.

At 14:30, the Commando Battalion began to move to the collection base, and at 6:20 pm its first elements arrived in Guidaje. On 20 May the battalion left Guidaje for Sinta, on foot, leaving there their wounded and the military who were not in conditions to continue the march. In Sinta, the battalion embarked on an LDG to return to Bissau.

Aftermath

During the operation, the Battalion suffered ten troops killed, twenty-two troops seriously wounded, and three troops missing, estimated to have caused sixty-seven deaths, among which, according to information later obtained in Senegal, a Cuban physician and surgeon and four Mauritanians.

References
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