20 April, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
20 April 1974: 5681 Flight Sergeant (Tech Armaments Fitter) Roger Stephen Andrews, a South African National serving with 4 Squadron Rhodesian Air Force, was Killed in Action when his Trojan R3244 was shot down by a Soviet SA-7 Grail shoulder-launched Surface-to-Air Missile North of Cahora Bassa in Moçambique while searching for another downed aircraft that had been camouflaged by the enemy. He was 27. The Rhodesian Air Force Pilot, Air Lieutenant Robert John Wilson age 27, was also Killed.
20 April 1976: Two members from Regiment President Steyn and one member from the South African Police were killed when their Eland Armoured Car was involved in a head-on collision with a South African Police vehicle 5km South of Ruacana. They were:
71277651BT Staff Sergeant Leon Blaauw. He was 21
70430277BT Trooper Denis Aden Naude. He was 22.
W63759R Constable Coenraad Hermanus Dreyer (South African Police). He was 21.
20 April 1979: 01556737PE Lieutenant Commander Dennis Mallalieu from the Simonstown Naval Base died after suffering a fatal heart attack while on the Base. He was 57.
20 April 1979: 77121853PD Rifleman Simon Stumbo from 201 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola. He was 18.
20 April 1981: 74496654BT Leading Seaman Peter James Henderson from SAS Inkonkoni accidentally drowned in Durban during a diving training exercise. He was 22.
20 April 1982: 79469086BG Rifleman Gerhardus Petrus Cornelius Hattingh from 1 SAI, attached to 61 Mechanised Battalion Group was accidentally killed at Tsumeb when a Ratel Infantry Fighting Vehicle drove over him. He was 20.
20 April 1982: W83896R Sergeant Frederick Albertus Francois Claasen from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) Died of Wounds received on 10 April 1982 during Operation Yahoo while flying as the spotter and air co-ordinator in a PA28-235 Cherokee Pathfinder aircraft, Registration ZS-EXT flown by Major H.A. Kessler from 1 SWA Commando Squadron. The aircraft was operating in support of Koevoet counter insurgency operations in the Elundu area when the aircraft suffered engine failure due to a bent valve and carried out a forced landing in a mahangu field. Unfortunately, the aircraft undercarriage dug into the furrows and the aircraft flipped over causing primed grenades inside the aircraft to fall out of their launch tube and explode. Major Kessler was killed instantly but the grievously burned Claasen was successfully extricated from the wrecked aircraft. He sadly succumbed to his injuries in hospital on 20 April 1982. He was 25.
20 April 1987: 86090826CK Rifleman Wilson Adams from the South African Cape Corps was accidentally shot dead by a fellow soldier while standing guard at the Van Der Stel Shooting Range. He was 17.
20 April 1988: 84572890BG Corporal Edward Clive Yeo from the South African Engineer Corps, attached to 101 Battalion SWATF, was Killed in Action while disarming an anti-tank mine that was booby-trapped with an anti-lifting and/or tilting device. The mine detonated the instant it was disturbed and he was killed in the resulting explosion. He was 20.
20 April 1991: 85572360BG Rifleman Christo Cyril Durrheim from 8 SAI was killed in a private motorcycle accident 7 km from Fort Beaufort while on a weekend pass. He was 21.
20 April 1992: 86761020PB Lance Corporal Tshenuwani Babala from 116 Battalion died of liver cancer in the Pietersburg Hospital. He was 26.
20 April 1994: 92728252PK Rifleman Mduduzi Abraham Hlope from Eastern Transvaal Command was admitted to 1 Military Hospital suffering from malaria where he sadly he succumbed to the disease after suffering acute respiratory failure. He was 22.
20 Apr 1996: 94209467PV Gunner Vickie van Staden from 61 Mechanised Battalion Group was killed after being struck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle while he was on guard duty at Infantry School. He was 22.
20 April 1998: 95654836PV Sapper Tumelo Lapeli from 1 Engineer Regiment was killed in a military vehicle accident at Dundee. He was 21.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.