On 02 July, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
02 Jul 1965: Two members from Air Force Station Swartkop were killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Pretoria when their vehicle hit a tree. The casualties were:
P/53142 Air Mechanic Colin Giraudeau. He was 20.
P2/53183 Air Mechanic Brian Alphonso O'Gorman. He was 19.
02 Jul 1976: 73216491BB Gunner Cornelius Johannes Holtzhausen from 14 Field Regiment was killed in a Military Vehicle Accident at Potchefstroom. He was 18.
02 Jul 1979: 75255448BG Rifleman Daniel Gerhardus van Brakel from 61 Mechanised Battalion Group died from a gunshot wound received as a result of an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle during klaarstaan at Omuthiya. He was 19.
02 Jul 1981: Rifleman Johan Roelof Uys from 7 SAI was killed in a private motor vehicle accident near Gravelotte. He was 19.
02 Jul 1982: Special Sergeant Hilalius Thomas 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 32.
02 Jul 1983: 01211085PE Colonel Dormehl Gerber from Medical Training Command Headquarters suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Pretoria. He was 53.
02 Jul 1984: 82902123SW Rifleman Augistinus Mbambo from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN Insurgents in Southern Angola. He was 23.
02 Jul 1988: 83437632BG Corporal Anton Prinsloo from 203 Battalion SWATF was the Platoon Sergeant of 1 Platoon, Bravo Company attached to a Ratel 90 Armoured Car Squadron. He was killed instantly when he was hit by shrapnel from a Soviet 122mm BM-21 rocket when enemy forces carried out a stand-off artillery bombardment on the Squadron while they were executing a diversionary attack as part of Operation Displace along the Tumpo Minefield on the edge of the Anhara Lipanda, East of Cuito Cuanavale in South Eastern Angola. He was 21.
02 July 1988: Two civilians were killed and 37 others injured when MK operatives detonated a car bomb outside the Ellis Park Rugby Stadium in Johannesburg using a remote control device. The four MK operatives from MK’s Special Operations Unit, including the Unit Commander, were all granted amnesty during 2001. The two casualties in this terror attack were:
Mr Clive Winston Quale Clucas
Mr Linus Mare
02 Jul 1994: 94092863AY Private Wim Simon Khumalo, an ex-MK recruit attached temporarily to the Forces Integration Unit at Walmansthal was shot dead by persons unknown while on leave in Boipatong. He was 19.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.