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 Jan 1980: 77313844BG Rifleman Jan Pieter Uys from 1 Parachute Battalion was killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned in Northern Owamboland. He was crushed under the vehicle. He was 18.
06 Jan 1983: Seven men from Group 34 were Killed in Action or Died of Wounds when their Buffel Troop Carrier detonated a double boosted anti-tank mine with a shaped charge near the Okangwati Military Base while on the way to Sodeliet base. The mine penetrated the Buffel’s V-Shaped Hull and ignited a box of white phosphorus grenades inside the vehicle, causing them to explode. The casualties were:
- 71375679KT Corporal Richard Alexander Ede (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.
- 71375679KT 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 Pereiro 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.
06 Jan 1984: 80469539BG Rifleman Raymond Frederick Hildebrandt from Special Forces Headquarters was killed instantly while on guard duty at the H.Q. 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: 82911835SWHK Rifleman Valentinus Sikerete from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with 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 PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 34.
06 Jan 1995: Private Mornay van Deventer from the South African Corps of Military Police died in 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria after being admitted in a coma resulting from multiple injuries received due to apparent mistreatment by members of the Staff while being held in the Detention Barracks in Boksburg. He was 24.
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.