01 August, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
01 Aug 1969: Lieutenant Sidney Edward Watts from 1 South West Africa Squadron SWATF was killed when his private Cessna 182 aircraft, Registration ZS-FLE, crashed at Eros Airport outside Windhoek during Squadron night flying exercises. He was 28.
01 Aug 1978: Corporal Charles Anthony Peter Smith from the Air Force Gymnasium was accidentally killed when a gas cylinder that was being loaded onto a truck, slipped and fell, hitting him on the head. He was 19.
01 Aug 1981: 79469367BG Private Rocco Bernard Du Plooy a Dog Handler from 2 Squadron was accidentally killed we he struck his head on a concrete block while traveling in the back of a Bedford truck. He was 17.
01 Aug 1987: 84594704BG Sapper Christoffel Francois Louw from 1 SWA Engineer Regiment SWATF was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Windhoek while on a weekend pass. He was the passenger in the vehicle when one of the front tyres suffered a blow-out causing the vehicle to overturn. He was 18.
01 Aug 1987: 85901262BG Corporal Marius Albertus van Zyl from Infantry School was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Oudtshoorn while on weekend pass. He was 20.
01 Aug 1987: 79860748HV Rifleman Petrus Willipard from 101 Battalion SWATF was killed in a private motor vehicle accident when his vehicle collided with a buffalo standing in the road near Ondangwa. He was 27.
01 Aug 1988: 84582733BG Seaman Willem Schalk van der Merwe from SAS Rand was killed in a military bus accident in Durban. He was 19.
01 Aug 1990: Two members of the Cape Regiment were killed in a military vehicle accident at Hammersdale. The casualties were:
82071812BW Rifleman Johannes Jacobus Lourens. He was 27.
88066451BW Rifleman Cupido Johannes Mentoor. He was 21.
01 Aug 1991: 75080622HW Pioneer Stanley Edward Mitchell Stationed at Witwatersrand Command Headquarters Unit died of heart failure in 1 Military Hospital. He was 66.
01 Aug 1992: 89959043CK Corporal Michael Paul Blankenberg from Group 39 was shot dead by a fellow soldier in Queenstown. He was 21. The soldier who carried out the shooting then committed suicide. He was 21.
01 Aug 1993: Two members from 3 SAI were killed when their Mamba Armoured Personnel Carrier overturned near Table Mountain outside Pietermaritzburg. The casualties were:
92067248BG Lance Corporal Lukas Paul Petersen. He was 19.
91096768BG Lance Corporal Johnathan Mervin Thomas. He was 20.
01 Aug 1998: 97256564 Gunner M B Mere from the School of Artillery was shot dead by a member of the South African Police Service at Potchefstroom. He was Absent Without Leave (AWOL) at the time of the incident. He was 19.
01 Aug 1998: 93477685 Private G M May from the South African Army was killed at Postmasburg after being stabbed by persons unknown. He was 27.
01 Aug 2000: 96720198PF Able Seaman (Miss) Kholeka Maria Mavis Mofo from SAS Wingfield collapsed and died on the Johannesburg Station after suffering a fatal heart attack. She was 29.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten