01 April, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
01 Apr 1951: P/2949 Warrant Officer Class II Petrus Paulus van den Berg from the 3/6 Coastal Regiment, South African Artillery, died from stomach cancer in 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte. He was 47.
01 Apr 1978: 77894186SB Rifleman Hans De Klerk from 41 Battalion (Later 911 Battalion SWATF) was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Windhoek. He was 25.
01 Apr 1978: 05463013PE Warrant Officer Class II Daniel Wilhelmus Schoeman from Witwatersrand Command died of cancer in 1 Military Hospital. He was 57.
01 Apr 1979: 72347735BT Lance Corporal Johannes Stefanus Flemming from the North West Command Signal Unit was killed in a private motor vehicle accident. He was 20.
01 Apr 1979: 76431220PE Rifleman Barend Jacobus Petrus Venter from Natal Command Headquarters was killed in a private motorcycle accident near Umhloti in Natal. He was 19.
01 Apr 1981: 78437159BG Lance Corporal Sarel Potgieter from 1 Maintenance Unit was killed in a private motorcycle accident in Kimberley. He was 18.
01 Apr 1981: 74011107PE Flight Sergeant Pieter Cornelius Phillipus Wahlstrand from Air Force Station Snake Valley suffered a heart attack and died in 1 Military Hospital. He was 39.
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: 83890251SW Rifleman Daniel Aupindi from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed when he was struck by a bullet as a result of an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle. He was 22.
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.
01 Apr 1991: 86635810BT Private David George Cullum from 16 Q & T Stores Depot at North West Command died in the Garden City Clinic from injuries sustained in a private motor vehicle accident while on a weekend pass. He was 21.
01 Apr 1992: 90708371HJ Rifleman Daniel Maborala from 117 Battalion was killed when his military vehicle overturned near Soekmekaar. He was 23.
01 Apr 1998: 94090024 Rifleman R E Malimela from the 121 Battalion died from disease in 1 Military Hospital. He was 30.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.