[Australia]: Operation Ramp

[Owen]

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OPERATION RAMP​

CLASSIFIED AND TOP SECRET​

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Objective:	Evacuate Australian Embassy staff and citizens from Zimbabwe
Date:	8 December 1996 - 20 December 1996
Location:	Zimbabwe
Status:	Success: Australian embassy staff evacuated from Zimbabwe Australian citizens evacuated from Zimbabwe Several New Zealand, European, British, American and Canadian citizens evacuated from Zimbabwe Several Zimbabwean refugees evacuated from Zimbabwe

BELLIGERENTS​

Australia Support: France Belgium Brazil

Zimbabwe

COMMANDERS AND LEADERS​

Paul Keating (Prime Minister) John Faulkner (Minister for Defence) Carmen Lawrence (Minister for Foreign Affairs) Rear Admiral David Campbell (Maritime Commander Australia) Brigadier Mike Hindmarsh (Commander, Special Forces) Air Commodore Roxley McLennan (Commander, Air Lift Group) Kerry Sibraa (High Commissioner to Zimbabwe)

Robert Mugabe (President) Stan Mudenge (Minister of Foreign Affairs) Moven Mahachi (Minister of Defence) Kembo Mohadi (Minister of Home Affairs)

STRENGTH​

Royal Australian Navy: Maritime Command Surface Combatant Group HMAS Manoora (Kanimbla-class Landing Platform Amphibious) (220x Regular Personnel with fully loaded Machine Guns, Chaff and Decoy Launchers and CIWS) HMAS Melbourne (Adelaide-class Frigate) (220x Regular Personnel equipped with 32x RIM-7 Sea Sparrows, 40x RIM-66 Standards and 6x Mark 46 Torpedoes) HMAS Success (Durance-class Tanker) (235x Regular Personnel with 1x Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel and fully loaded Machine Guns and CIWS. Loaded with 8,707 tonnes of diesel fuel, 975 tonnes of aviation fuel, 250 tonnes of munitions, 116 tonnes of water, 95 tonnes of naval stores and 57 tonnes of consumables) Fleet Air Arm 816 Squadron (10x Regular Personnel and 2x Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawks embarked on HMAS Melbourne) 817 Squadron (5x Regular Personnel and 1x Westland Sea King embarked on HMAS Success) Naval Support Command Navy People, Training and Resources Royal Australian Navy Health Services Primary Casualty Reception Facility (50x Regular Personnel embarked on HMAS Manoora) Australian Army: Land Command Headquarters Special Forces Special Air Service Regiment 4th Squadron (150x Special Forces and 8x Long Range Patrol Vehicles embarked on HMAS Manoora) 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) D Company (250x Special Forces embarked on HMAS Manoora) Headquarters Logistic Support Force 10th Force Support Battalion 35th Water Transport Squadron (10x Regular Personnel and 2x LCM-8 Landing Craft Merchanised embarked on HMAS Manoora) 1st Division 16th Brigade (Aviation) 171st Operational Support Squadron (16x Regular Personnel and 4x Sikorsky S-70 Blackhawks embarked on HMAS Manoora) Royal Australian Air Force: Air Command Air Lift Group No. 86 Wing No. 33 Squadron (20x Regular Personnel and 2x Boeing 707-320Cs based at Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport, Mayotte) No. 34 Squadron (12x Regular Personnel and 3x Dassault Falcon 900s based at Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport, Mayotte) No. 36 Squadron (20x Regular Personnel and 4x Lockheed C-130E Hercules based at Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport, Mayotte) Support Command Combat Support Group Health Services Wing No. 3 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (40x Regular Personnel embarked on C-130E Hercules)

Zimbabwe National Army: 15,000x Regular Personnel Zimbabwe Republic Police: 45,000x Police Officers

CASUALTIES AND LOSSES​

None

None

J.Hyde

 

[Owen]

TOP SECRET​

At HMAS Kuttabul, the three ships; HMAS Manoora, HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Success would be prepared and loaded with munitions and in Success's case; supplies. Sailors would begin boarding and taking their positions onboard the ships. The Helicopters and Landing Craft would arrive onboard the ships from HMAS Albatross and Holsworthy Barracks as they were preparing. D Company, 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) would begin loading up onboard HMAS Manoora as well consisting of 250 Special Forces. 50 medics from the Primary Casualty Reception Facility would also load up onto HMAS Manoora as it was docked in Sydney, they would make the short trip across from HMAS Penguin on the north shore of Sydney. Once fully loaded, they would travel out of Sydney Harbor towards the Mozambique Channel, they would be stationed just off the coast of Beira, Mozambique in international waters. This would take them on transit map route: QF -> PF -> OF -> NF -> MG -> LG -> KG. Once in OF they would head to Fleet Base West in Perth, specifically HMAS Leeuwin in Fremantle where HMAS Manoora would pick up 4th Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment consisting of 150 Special Forces and 8 Long Range Patrol Vehicles. The rest of the vehicle storage space that wasnt taken up by the Long Range Patrol Vehicles would be converted into makeshift accomodation with military cots. The PCRF would also provide low level medical attention there but would also set themselves up in the ships surgical theatres.

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The Royal Australian Air Force element would consist of aircraft going to Mayotte to transport people back from Mayotte to Australia and to conduct aeromedical evacuations. The 2 Boeing 707s and 4 C-130 Hercules would leave RAAF Base Richmond in Sydney bound for Mayotte and 3 Dassault Falcon 900s would leave RAAF Base Fairbairn in Canberra bound for Mayotte. The C-130 Hercules would be carrying 10 medics from No. 3 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron each. They would convert the Hercules into aeromedical evacuation configuration. The 707s and Dassault Falcons would be to evacuate non-injured people out of Mayotte and would be loaded with enough food and drinks to distribute inflight. The 707s would consist of 7 RAAF flight attendants and 3 cockpit crew and the Dassault Falcons would have 2 RAAF flight attendants and 2 cockpit crew. The French Government would be alerted of the RAAF's intentions to land at Mayotte (Logan). Qantas would still be evacuating people who would be able to get out of Zimbabwe into South Africa. All aircraft would fly transit map route: QF -> PG -> OG -> NG -> MG -> LH.

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J.Hyde

 

[Owen]

By now all the forces would have arrived in position, the ships just off the coast of Beira, Mozambique just in international waters. The planes would arrive at a crowded Mayotte International Airport. Onboard HMAS Manoora, the Special Forces would begin preparing. All four Blackhawks would take off with 5 Special Forces each from 4th Squadron, SASR onboard in the middle of the night. The two Seahawks onboard HMAS Melbourne would also take off but only with the pilots onboard, this was to give more capacity to pick up embassy staff. This would give a capacity of over 40 which was enough to get all of the embassy staff. Mozambique would be alerted that they were about to violate Mozambiquen Airspace. The risk was considered low as intelligence provided by Defence Intelligence Organisation showed both the Mozambique and Zimbabwe Air Forces to be virtually non-existent and incapable of taking out the helicopters. They would avoid flying over urban areas. On the Blackhawks, which were leading, two M134 Miniguns would be armed on both sides of the helicopters just in case.

The Prime Minister would be watching in the cabinet room with anticipation.

They would enter Zimbabwean airspace from the east.

They would continue heading over Manicaland at a low altitude towards Harare, specifically the Harare Central Prison. Once over the Harare Central Prison they would hover, the ropes would drop down and the SAS would begin sliding down onto the prison grounds. They would be armed heavily with M4A5 Carbines and USP sidearms. They would also have F1 grenades, tear gas and M9 Bayonets. As it was nighttime they would also have night vision goggles on. The prison guards would stand absolutely no match for them. They would begin storming the remand centre, where they were confident based on the intelligence provided that the embassy staff were being held. They would mow down any prison guards that stood in their way. The surrounding neighbourhood would be awoken by the gun fire. They would make their way to the cell where the Australians were being held. They would approach one of the dead prison guards to grab the keys. They would begin unlocking the cells, all 35 embassy staff would be freed. They would then be escorted by the SAS out of the building and onto the prison grounds. The Navy Seahawks would begin landing on the grounds and so would the Army Blackhawks. The embassy staff would begin being loaded into the helicopters. All of the staff would be accounted for. The SAS would continue scanning the area for any Zimbabwean prison guards, police or army. Once all the Embassy staff were onboard the SAS would follow. They would take their positions again on the Miniguns and the 6 helicopters would take off, heading back out towards Mozambique and HMAS Manoora. Once at HMAS Manoora, those embassy staff with injuries or health concerns would be taken to the ships hospital ward and looked after by Primary Casualty Reception Facility medics. The rest would be taken to Mayotte by the helicopters where they would be taken onboard Dassault Falcon 900s bound for RAAF Base Pearce in Perth, Western Australia.

J.Hyde Logan

 

[J.Hyde]

Owen

Strangely, the exterior of the prison was entirely devoid of guards and police, not a soul was in sight in the outbuildings or the guard posts either. Upon breaching the main prison block, they were greeted by the sight of a single police officer who immediately threw up his hands in surrender.

"Don't shoot!" He shouted. "I surrender!"

In the cells next to him were the embassy staff the SASR were searching for. None of them appeared to be wounded or suffering from any exterior signs of abuse or torture. The lone officer present would, if searched, have keys able to open the cells.

 

[Owen]

They would pat down the police officer, making sure he wasn't armed. Taking his keys they would let out the embassy staff. The roleplay would continue as outlined in post 3.

Upon arriving back at HMAS Manoora, everyone would be assesed by the medics onboard and would be deemed okay besides from some psychological injuries. They would be transferred back to the helicopters which would take them back to Mayotte. They would be loaded onto the Dassault Falcon 900s which would take off bound for RAAF Base Pearce in Perth. It would head back the transit route that it came. The helicopters would return to HMAS Manoora and the Special Forces would get a break before moving onto phase two of the operation. The Prime Minister would announce in a press conference that all the Australian Embassy staff in Harare had been freed and were on their way home. It was at that point he had to disclose that there was a Special Forces Operation underway in Zimbabwe.

 

[Owen]

Stage two would now be underway. 40 SAS troops would be airlifted back into Zimbabwe onboard the 4 Blackhawk helicopters, kitted with M4A5 Carbines. This time their destination was the Harare International Airport. Due to the Zimbabwe military collapsing, the resistance would be minimal for the flight in. The helicopters would land on an unused tarmac area of the airport. The Special Forces would unload and begin securing the airport. They would tell Zimbabwean security personnel in the airport to lay down their arms. They would secure not only the perimeter of the airport, but also the terminal. The perimeter was more so their priority than the terminal. The Blackhawks would now change their role, Army Aviation personnel would arm the miniguns on the side of the Blackhawks and they would begin reconnaissance missions around the airport to secure it.

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Near Mayotte, the 250 Commandos and the 110 other SAS troops would be transported to the Mayotte Airport by Seahawks, Seakings and the LCM-8 landing craft. They would begin boarding the Boeing 707s which would take off and head to Harare Airport. The 8 Long Range Patrol Vehicles would also be taken by LCM-8 landing craft and put onboard the C-130s, 2 in each C-130 would transport them also to Harare. The C-130's would also take the 40 RAAF medics. The aircraft would land at Harare without any clearance from ATC. The French had been notified about the Australian Defence Force securing Harare International Airport (Logan) and to not attack it.

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Upon the C-130's and the 707s landing, the troops and the Long Range Patrol Vehicles would be unloaded. SAS troops would now begin patrolling the perimeter of the airport with the LRPVs and a lot more troops would now be on the ground, fully securing the terminal and the entire premises of the airport. RAAF crew would begin processing Australian citizens who arrive at the airport and would board them onto Boeing 707s.

Alerts on all mediums were put out to notify Australian citizens in Zimbabwe that if they make their way to the airport they will be evacuated. British (Jamie), Europeans (except Russians), Brazilian (JakeDorent), New Zealand, Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino, Thai, Indonesian, Bruneian, Mongolian, Papua New Guinean, East Timorese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Taiwanese, Japanese (Suvorov), South Korean (JamieA), Canadian (Alex) and American (John) citizens as well as any Pacific Island citizens would also be given second priority evacuation (after Australians) from Zimbabwe onboard the RAAF flights. All other citizens besides Zimbabweans would be given third priority. No. 3 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron personnel would do a medical assessment on everyone who comes. Anyone who needed a medical evacuation would be done so onboard the C-130s. Zimbabweans who also wished to seek asylum in Australia were also told to come to the airport but priority onboard the planes would be given to Australian citizens followed by the other citizens. The 707s would evacuate people to Mayotte where Qantas flights would take them home before returning to Harare to take more loads of passengers.

J.Hyde

 

[J.Hyde]

Owen

Since all outbound flights had been grounded, and inbound flights were rare, there was little danger of the Australians causing a collision by landing without clearance. Due to security at the airport being provided by the Zimbabwe Republic Police, which had disintegrated, there was no one there to provide security or resist the Australians. The only people present were the workers operating the airport facilities, and members of the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, which had its head office on Level 3 of the main building. All of the Zimbabweans present were more than willing to assist in keeping the airport operating, and assist in the evacuation of foreign nationals that wished to flee the country, even though the threat of a tyrannical dictator had been curbed due to the mutiny of the army and the collapse of the police.

 

[Flying Damascas]

The security staff at the Belgian embassy along with several citizens and non combatants would begin making their way to the recently secured Robert Mugabe International Airport taking heed of Australia's Evacuation protocols which listed Belgians as Europeans. Most of the security personnel were exhausted and ready to go home as were the vast majority of Belgians who had days previously gathered at the embassy seeking refuge from the grim chaos of the streets during the Mugabe regimes suppression of peaceful demonstrations. As a token of appreciation, The Belgian Government would extent its graditude and commend the heroism of Australian forces on the ground for evacuating Belgian nationals.

 

[Strix]

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The Portuguese TAP flight, already on the tarmac with SIS operatives guarding the aircraft's perimeter, would remain in its private terminal. The sight of helicopters making rounds on the Airport would indeed cause alarm for the personnel on the ground but was reassured by the Portuguese government of the Australian intention. An offer would be made to any European citizen as well as embassy staff a straight trip to Europe if the Australian flights were full. Two more flights sponsored by the Portuguese government would be made in order to facilitate demand. This would be made known to the Australians (Owen) and the Belgians (Flying Damascas).

It wouldn't be long until the first few vehicles of the Portuguese convoy carrying Brazilian staff (JakeDorent) would arrive at the airport. After loading the luggage, security personnel, along with 3 SIS operatives would remain at the ground to secure the Portuguese perimeter. Once four hours have passed, the flight would make its way to Lisbon, as two more aircraft land in Harare to aid the Australians (Owen) in humanitarian efforts.

All Zimbabwean Refugees would be allowed on board, where immigration to Portugal would be arranged at arrival.

 

[Owen]

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With the airport secure and no resistance from the Zimbabweans, the Qantas flights to Mayotte will now go directly back into Harare. The crew members would be alerted about possible light arms fire onto their aircraft, but that the risk was low. The Blackhawks would help to guide the Qantas Boeing 747s in once they started to get below 2,000 or so feet and provide security. 5 Qantas 747s would be chartered to fly to Harare and would take people to different parts of the world. The flight numbers would be:

QF1201 - Harare to Perth (for Australians)
QF1202 - Harare to Sydney-Kingsford Smith (for Australians, New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders)
QF1203 - Harare to Singapore-Changi (for designated South-East and East Asian citizens)
QF1204 - Harare to London-Heathrow (for Europeans)
QF1205 - Harare to New York-JFK (for Americans and Canadians)

All passengers onboard would get quality service, meals and entertainment. They would be well looked after by the crew. Once the flights were ready to depart they would taken through their safety briefing and would take off for their destination.

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RAAF personnel would begin manning the Air Traffic Control tower and would take full command of the airspace around Harare.

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[Owen]

By now all Australian citizens in Zimbabwe had been evacuated, including the embassy staff. Many citizens of other nations would also be repatriated back home on the Qantas flights. The Australian forces at Harare Airport would begin withdrawing, the SAS will take flights home onboard the Boeing 707s based at Mayotte. Those who weren't able to fit on the 707s would be taken by C-130 and Blackhawk helicopters back to HMAS Manoora, for C-130s that was back to Mayotte and then LCM-8 landing craft back to HMAS Manoora. The C-130's would also take the Long Range Patrol Vehicles back to Mayotte and then landing craft onto HMAS Manoora. Once all forces had been taken out of Harare Airport, the three ships would head back to Fleet Base East in Sydney and the planes based at Mayotte would head back to RAAF Base Richmond near Sydney. Qantas would finish flying to Zimbabwe, but will continue scheduled flights to Johannesburg. Qantas would indefinitely suspend its Perth to Harare route. Everyone would've been returned home just in time for Christmas.

The Operation would be declared a success and concluded.