The South African operation consisted of an assault by 2 South African Infantry Battalion on two South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) base complexes, Chetequera and Dombondola, near to the then-South West Africa/Angola border; an assault by the elite 32 Battalion on SWAPO's Omepepa-Namuidi-Henhombe base complex around 20 km east of Chetequera; and finally, the attack the operation is most known for — a controversial airborne assault by paratroopers on Cassinga, a refugee camp and SWAPO's regional headquarters, 260 km inside Angola.

Early in 1978, planning had begun for Operation Bruilof which involved a combined mechanised infantry and airborne attack on SWAPO bases around the town of Chetequera, 25 km inside Angola.

The plan involved three stages, an aerial attack by SAAF fighter bombers, followed by a parachute drop led by Colonel Jan Breytenbach, and lastly the withdrawal of paratroops by helicopter.

They headed east past Dombondola to assemble north of Chetequera but arrived 90 minutes late due to the condition of the Angolan bush and road tracks.

Due to radio delays between Combat Team Juliet's forward air controller, the attack by ground forces started late giving PLAN time to prepare.

Thick bush and maize fields interrupted the effectiveness of the mechanised infantry and individual units found themselves fighting on their own at close quarters in the trenches with rifles and grenades.

Due to the delay in the start of the operation, Juliet spent the night in defensive positions in the Angolan bush and returned to the SWA border the next day.

Due to the heavy fighting at Chetequera, the SADF decided to use artillery to bombard the PLAN bases at Chatu and Dombondola 1 & 2.

Due to an error in the calibration of the artillery pieces, the 32 Battalion units were shelled by their own side resulting in one death and eighteen wounded.

Though the operation officially ended on the 10th of May, the last base was attacked in the early morning of 11 May with all SADF forces back over the border by 10h00.

[4]: 161  During that day Radio Moscow was reporting a raid on a refugee camp and by that evening a special session of the UN Security Council was convened at the request of Angola.

[4]: 164  By 8 May, SWAPO and its leader Sam Nujoma had left the talks in New York due to a belief that negotiations for a settlement to the SWA/Namibia question would serve no purpose at this stage.