Today, 6 January, 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
06 January 1973: 05570593E Captain Rudolf Albert Hammann from Air Force Headquarters died in 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He was suffering from Cancer. He was 26.
06 Jan 1977: 4042 Squadron Leader Peter Arthur Barnett DMM, an South African National and ex South African Air Force Pilot who was serving in 3 Squadron Rhodesian Air Force, was killed when his C-47 Dakota R7034 hit power cables straddling the Lundi River after taking off from Buffalo Range (Forward Air Field No.7) during Ops Repulse for a parachute re-supply drop. He was 32. Also killed was Rhodesian Air Force Co-Pilot 4382 Flight Lieutenant David Edwin Mallet and Air Despatcher PR64232 Corporal Anthony Bradley.
06 Jan 1980: 77313844BG Rifleman Jan Pieter Uys from 1 Parachute Battalion was killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned in Northern Owamboland, crushing him under the vehicle. He was 18.
06 Jan 1983: Eight men from Group 34 were Killed in Action or later Died of Wounds when their Buffel Troop Carrier detonated a double boosted anti-tank mine near the Okangwati Military Base while on their way to Sodeliet base. One of the mines used was an old British Mk 8 Anti-Tank Mine and the metal plug on top of this mine, penetrated the bottom of the Buffel exactly on the welded seam of the Buffel’s V-Shaped Hull, igniting the diesel tank and a box of white phosphorus grenades inside the vehicle, causing them to explode. The casualties were:
- 71375679KT Corporal Richard Alexander Ede (Brakpan Commando attached to Group 34). He was 27.
- 76524644KT Rifleman Abraham Aboud (Virginia Commando attached to Group 34). He was 22.
- 74420910KT Rifleman Johannes Hermanus Diedericks (Goudveld Commando attached to Group 34). He was 24.
- 72477734KT Rifleman Barthlomeus Jacobus Du Toit (Goudveld Commando attached to Group 34). He was 26.
- 72459506KT Rifleman Floris Marthinus Griesel (Goudveld Commando attached to Group 34). He was 27.
- 71291868KT Rifleman Johannes Lodewikus van der Merwe (Goudveld Commando attached to Group 34). He was 26.
- 70256961KT Rifleman Gerald Pereira Da Silva (Sandriver Commando attached to Group 34). Critically wounded, he was evacuated to the RSA but unfortunately, succumbed to his wounds at 1 Military Hospital on 7 January 1983. He was 28.
- 72241417KT Rifleman Peter Uzzel (Goudveld Commando attached to Group 34). Critically wounded, he was evacuated to the RSA but unfortunately, succumbed to his wounds at 1 Military Hospital on 8 January 1983. He was 26.
(Note: As a result of this incident, all the Buffel Troop Carrier “V” Shape hulls were modified to make the metal at the bottom of the Hull overlap and the seam was then welded higher up).
06 Jan 1984: 80469539BG Rifleman Raymond Frederick Hildebrandt from Special Forces Headquarters was killed instantly while on guard duty at the Headquarters when he was struck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge from an R4 assault rifle that a fellow soldier was in the process of making safe. He was 19.
06 Jan 1985: Candidate Officer (Miss) Shirley Louise Mansfield from Air Force Base Pietersburg was accidentally killed in a civilian sky-diving incident in Pietersburg when her parachute failed to open during a Sunday practice jump. She was 19.
06 Jan 1985: 82911835SWHK Rifleman Valentinus Sikerete from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. He was 24.
06 Jan 1986: Special Constable Simon Fillipus 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 34.
RHODESIAN BUSH WAR
TBC
† Their names and sacrifices have not been forgotten †
1
I was also on this camp with Group 34 but based at Okangwati. This was a two Buffel patrol. The first Buffel stopped at a village and the second Buffel passed and a short distance later went down into a dry stream. When the front left wheel was in the embankment the mine went off and the blast hit the flat side of the “V” of the Buffel and penetrated. This happened two weeks before uitklaar of the camp. I was part of the escort with the recovery effort a week later to prevent the opportunity for propoganda photographs – not a nice trip so close to uitklaar.