12 January, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
12 Jan 1965: B/70291 Lieutenant Richard Johannes Oltman from 5 Squadron was killed when his AT-6 Harvard, Serial No. 7713 crashed near Bulwer during a night cross country flight. He was 30.
12 Jan 1974: 70533245N Corporal Willem Jacobus Reynolds from 2 SAI was accidentally killed at Ondangwa when he was struck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier’s rifle. He was 19.
12 Jan 1977: 780749 Captain Robert Sidney Stanley Warraker SCR, a South African National serving in the Selous Scouts, Rhodesian Army, was Killed in Action together with the aircraft crew while flying as a passenger in a 5 Squadron Rhodesian Air Force Canberra B2, Serial Number R2514 during Operation Manyatela. The aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Malvernia while en-route to carry out a formation night bombing attack on a ZANLA Base at Madulo Pan in Moçambique. Both he and the crew have no known grave and remain unaccounted for. Captain Warracker was awarded the Silver Cross of Rhodesia (SCR) for Conspicuous Gallantry on 29 October 1976. He was 32.
The Rhodesian Air Force Aircraft Crew Casualties were:
4319 Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) Ian Hylton Donaldson.
4339 Air Sub-Lieutenant (Navigator) David Hawkes.
12 Jan 1979: Two members from 5 SAI, both attached to 54 Battalion were Killed in Action when their Buffel Troop Carrier detonated two Yugoslavian TMA-3 Cheese Mines that were boosted with a Soviet TM-57 Anti-Tank Mine while they were traveling from Eenhana to Ondangwa. The casualties were:
75431932BG Rifleman Charles Deon Bekker. He was 19.
74486051BG Rifleman Christo Gerhardus Krog. He was 20.
12 Jan 1981: 79539565PE Lance Corporal Benjamin Karl Steenkamp from the Personnel Service Corps attached to Southern Cape Command Headquarters was killed in a military vehicle accident near Peddie in the Eastern Cape. He was 18.
12 Jan 1988: 76233832BT Gunner Kevin Alan Roberts from the Artillery School in Potchefstroom was killed in a Military Vehicle Accident between Vereeniging and Johannesburg. He was 27.
12 Jan 1988: Airman Stefan Oliver Jedlika from 3 Satellite Radar Station at Klippan, Mafeking, died after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage. He was 19.
Their names and sacrifice have not been forgotten.