18 February, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
18 Feb 1961: P/6346 Warrant Officer Class II Phillipus Johannes Rudolph Frick from SAS Good Hope was admitted to 2 Military Hospital on 15 February 1961 suffering from anemia. While at the Hospital, he cut his wrists in the bathroom and unfortunately, by the time he was discovered, he had already died as a result of blood loss. He was 40.
18 Feb 1977: 74363128BA Rifleman Willem Andries Haarhoff from 3 SAI was accidentally killed when a pole fell on him. He was 18.
18 Feb 1980: 70428388BT Gunner Samuel Deon van Aswegen from the Potchefstroom University Regiment was Killed in Action when his Buffel Troop Carrier was hit by an RPG-7 Anti-Tank Rocket during an enemy night ambush at Omindamba in Northern Owamboland. The front Buffel in the convoy was hit by several RPG-7 Anti-Tank rockets and the Kwevoel behind the Buffel that was carrying drums of diesel, carried on driving through the ambush and although the vehicle was shot full of holes, it successfully reached Ruacana. The Buffel at the rear of the convoy continued to engage the SWAPO/PLAN insurgents until they broke contact and withdrew into the night. He was 25.
18 Feb 1982: 79613162BG Rifleman Mark Mason from 1 Parachute Battalion was killed in a friendly fire incident when their patrol was accidentally engaged by a SWATF Infantry Patrol near the Cut-Line. Both patrols had been advised that there were no friendly forces operating in their patrol areas of interest so when they sighted one another, both patrols opened fire immediately and he was mortally wounded. He was 18.
18 Feb 1982: Tragedy struck when the Frigate SAS President Kruger (F150) sank 150 km South West of Cape Point after being involved in a collision with the fleet replenishment ship SAS Tafelberg while conducting Anti-Submarine exercises in the South Atlantic Ocean. The force of the collision buckled the plates and crushed Mess 12 on the President Kruger where the Petty Officers sleeping quarters was located, killing or trapping the majority of those inside. Two members of Mess 12 did however manage to escape. One was washed out of the hole in the ships side and was recovered by SAS Tafelberg while the other managed to wriggle through a crack in the bulkhead into Mess 11 and escaped to the upper deck and abandoned ship with the others.
After all the surviving crew members had been rescued from the water, the following 16 Ratings failed to answer Roll Call. They have no known grave and remain unaccounted for:
05507629 PE Chief Petty Officer Johannes Petrus Booysen
77060150PE Chief Petty Officer Hartmut Wilfried Smit
69443794PE Chief Petty Officer Willem Marthinus Gerhardus Van Tonder
07467392PE Chief Petty Officer Donald Webb
05208145PE Petty Officer Stephanus Petrus Bothma
70351226PE Petty Officer Graham Alexander Frank Brind
65718058PE Petty Officer Robin Centlivre Bulterman
73317695PE Petty Officer Granville Williams De Villiers
66510579PE Petty Officer Evert Koen
08302440PE Petty Officer Hjalmar Lotter
70343553PE Petty Officer Roy Anthony McMaster
72362379PE Petty Officer Roy Frederick Skeates
72265465PE Petty Officer William Russel Smith
75060863PN Petty Officer Michael Richard Bruce Whiteley
72249998PE Petty Officer Coenraad Johannes Wium
80100167PE Able Seaman Gilbert Timothy Benjamin
NOTE: When the order to abandon ship was given, Chief Petty Officer Donald Webb and Able Seaman Gilbert Timothy Benjamin, without his life jacket, were both seen to abandon ship by jumping overboard into the sea. The following morning, the body of CPO Webb was sighted floating in the sea and recovered by SAS Protea. He is buried in the Simonstown (Dido Valley) War Cemetery.
The body of Able Seaman Gilbert Timothy Benjamin was never found. He has no known grave and remains unaccounted for.
18 Feb 1982: 78445582BG Private Daniel Johannes Jakobus Rossouw from 1 Maintenance Unit was killed in a military vehicle accident at Asab. He was 19.
18 Feb 1983: W88653T Constable Anton Delport PCF (Praefecturae Crux Fortitudinis) (South African Police Cross for Bravery) from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) was mortally wounded after receiving gunshot wounds to the upper body during a fierce contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 25.
18 Feb 1983: 76392000PE Sergeant Paul Petrus van Zyl from Western Air Command in Windhoek was killed in a private motor vehicle accident at Olifantshoek while travelling back to Pretoria to take up his new posting at Air Force Headquarters. He was 23.
18 Feb 1983: 76910116SP Sergeant Tema Kanheto from 201 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents at Elundu in Northern Owamboland. He was 23.
18 Feb 1984: 80830458SP Lance Corporal Joao Cambinda from 32 Battalion was found stabbed to death by persons unknown at Buffalo Base. He was 32.
18 Feb 1984: 81026478BG Rifleman Kim Inglis from Hotel Company, Infantry School was accidentally killed after being was struck in the heart by a small piece of mortar bomb shrapnel during a live ammunition fire and movement attack training exercise at Omutiya. He was 19.
18 Feb 1987: 86853227SWH Rifleman C.V. Kavita from 102 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 19.
18 Feb 1989: 81126013BG Bombardier Gerhard Johannes Coetzee from Regiment Potchefstroom University died as a result of a skull fracture sustained in a private motor vehicle accident at Carltonville. He was 23.
18 Feb 1998: 05079000 Lieutenant K.M. Ngobese from the South African Military Health Service died of disease in 1 Military Hospital. He was 34.
18 Feb 1998: 93653095 Rifleman P V Ngubane from the 5 SAI died of disease in the Base Sick Bay. He was 27.
18 Feb 1998: 74794821PE Corporal Stephanus Petrus Pretorius from Air Force Base Waterkloof was killed in a private motor vehicle accident on the N4 Highway. He was 20.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.