Today, 28 December, 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
28 Dec 1971: 69210524 Ordinary Seaman Johannes Petrus Gerhardus Botha from SAS Simonsberg was killed in a private motor vehicle accident between Reddersberg and Bloemfontein when his vehicle struck a bridge and overturned. He was 18.
28 Dec 1983: 82475815BG Trooper Norman Walter Niemand from 1 Special Service Battalion attached to 61 Mechanised Battalion Group, was Killed in Action in Southern Angola when his Ratel 20 was struck by a Soviet 122mm BM-21 Katyusha Rocket during an enemy bombardment whilst in laager with an Artillery Section during Ops Askari. He was 19.
RHODESIAN BUSH WAR
1977 – Cst Stanislous Chinyuku, Uniform BSAP, DOAS of meningitis at Tomlinson Depot.
1979 – Tpr Gary Banks, Spt Cdo, 1st Bn RLI, DOAS from cerebral malaria, contracted during an external op in Zambia.
† Their names and sacrifices have not been forgotten †
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