15 January, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
15 Jan 1979: 56110471PE Sergeant Nicolaas Lodewyk Pretorius from 35 Engineer Support, Unit was found dead in Kroonstad with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head using his 9mm pistol. He was 39.
15 Jan 1979: 76574821BG Private Rodney Herbert Shaw from 5 Military Works Unit Stationary Department was found hanged at the Unit. No foul play was suspected. He was 19.
15 Jan 1981: Two members from 1 Parachute Battalion were Killed in Action during a fierce fire-fight with a numerically superior FAPLA and SWAPO/PLAN force during the Battle of Cuamato in Southern Angola. The Paratroopers had retired in order to re-group when they were again subjected to heavy enemy mortar and small arms fire. Rifleman Truter was mortally wounded in the neck by shrapnel and died in his mate’s arms while Sergeant Wessels was killed instantly when shot from a trench by a SWAPO/PLAN insurgent using a Soviet RPD Light Machine Gun. The casualties were:
75339440PE Sergeant Louis Theodorus Hermanus Wessels. He was 21.
73484347BG Rifleman Leonard Truter. He was 23.
15 Jan 1982: 81956807HK Rifleman Faustinus Mushanambango from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. He was 25.
15 Jan 1982: Two members from “B” Company 8 SAI were Killed in Action while their platoon was camping at a watering hole and radioing in false Grid References, pretending to be on patrol. Late on the afternoon of 15 January 1982, an Owambo local (who was in fact a SWAPO/PLAN Recce Scout) arrived with a bucket to "dig sand out of the watering hole". An hour later, the patrol was ambushed by a group of approximately 45 SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. Most of the troops were not even close to their rifles when the attack started. In the process of reaching for his rifle, one soldier was shot dead and another, who was critically wounded in the attack, was apparently kicked to death by a SWAPO/PLAN insurgent. The remainder of the patrol managed to collect their weapons and started returning fire. Reinforcements soon arrived on Buffel Troop Carriers and successfully engaged and killed a number of the insurgents before they broke off contact. A 32 Battalion Combat Team that was at Ombalantu at the time, also set out and successfully intercepted, tracked down and eliminated all the remaining SWAPO/PLAN insurgents from this group. The casualties in this incident were:
76301407BG Rifleman Jonathan Raymond Spencer Drake. He was 22.
75587519BG Rifleman Bruce Allen White. He was 22.
15 Jan 1984: 81122756BG Gunner Gilderoy Kruger from 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment Died of Wounds accidentally sustained at Oshivello. While cleaning 20mm Anti Aircraft cannon after returning from Ops Askari, a High Explosive round was found to be stuck in the breech of one of the cannons. During efforts to remove it, the round exploded, fatally wounding him in the stomach. He was 18.
15 Jan 1987: Two members from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K (Koevoet) were Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. They were:
Special Constable Mathais Fesinago. He was 27.
Special Constable Shivelekeni Dhilimbulukweni. He was 29.
15 Jan 1993: 84726918PJ Corporal George Marienuthoo Kanthan from Army Catering Corps attached to the Army Gymnasium was walking in Johannesburg when he suddenly collapsed after suffering a heart attack. He was admitted to the Hillbrow Hospital where he later died. He was 63.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.