Today, 1 April, we salute and honour the following men & woman who sacrificed their lives whilst standing in the defence of what they held dear at the time and against evil and tyranny.
SOUTH AFRICAN BORDER WAR
01 April 1982: 78243524BG Private Willem John Theron Pretorius from the Army Catering Corps was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Pretoria. He was 19.
01 April 1985: 83890251SWK Rifleman D. Haupindi from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. He was 21.
01 April 1986: Special Constable Andrek Mwandinovanhu from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 27.
01 April 1989: As the Bush War and South Africa’s involvement in South West Africa started to wind down, SWAPO/PLAN began mass infiltrations of large and extremely heavily armed insurgent groups into Northern Owamboland and the Ops K Division (Koevoet) Units in the field initially bore the brunt of the fierce close-quarter engagements that raged throughout Northern Owamboland. Five members from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) were Killed in Action during first of these initial heavy contacts. The casualties were:
- Special Constable George Dawid. He was 24.
- Special Constable Mathais Lukas. He was 29.
- Special Constable Uutafehe Rjiposa. He was 27
- Special Constable Daniel Sakaria. He was 28.
- Special Constable Zaako Uaapulatena. He was 25.
RHODESIAN BUSH WAR
1977 – DSA Felix CHIGWEDZA, Keep Protection, Intaf, died on active service.
1977 – Pte M. TADIOS, Regular Army, died on active service.
1978 – Pte G. CHIRAMBA, Regular Army, died on active service.
1978 – Keep Sgt B. Liwa, 5 Group Guard Force, was killed on active service in the Mrewa area.
1979 – Smn Trevor Louis BASSON, RhSigs, died in a motorcycle accident in the Matopos, near Bulawayo.
1979 – Flt Lt John FOX, RhAF, died on active service.
1979 – Gd T. MADODA, Protected Village Protection Group, Guard Force, died on active service.
1979 – Sgt Maj Fanie Bonga MAZARIRE, Support Unit, BSAP, died in a vehicle accident in the Op Grapple area, aged 40 years.
1979 – Cst Edward MUBANGA, Support Unit, BSAP, was killed in an accident.
† Their names and sacrifices have not been forgotten †
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