20 January, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset Call.
20 Jan 1976: 72436728BC 2/Lieutenant Andries Muller from the School of Armour was critically wounded on 18 January 1976 during a contact with enemy forces in Central Angola during Ops Savannah. A troop of Eland 90’s was sent from Cela along the road between Amboiva and Massanga to deal with a reported enemy presence in that area. On their way back, they had a problem crossing a stream. The Troop commander 2Lt Muller and his gunner were first-in-last out on the narrow track, so they were now at the rear of the troop. While standing in their hatches watching the Elands at the stream trying to rig a tow bar, they suddenly came under heavy enemy small-arms fire. Before he could duck inside and close the hatch, 2/Lieutenant Muller was hit five times in his back but the Gunner was unscathed. He sadly Died of Wounds on 20 January 1976 before he could be evacuated back to the hospital facility at Cela hospital. He was 19.
20 Jan 1979: 74496027BG Trooper Gregory Ernst Raaff from 1 Special Service Battalion died of injuries at Oshakati Hospital after being accidentally crushed between two vehicles at Ruacana. He was 20.
20 Jan 1979: 74842519KV Rifleman Willem Adriaan Nel from the Soutpansberg Commando suffered a fatal heart attack and died while he was attending a weekend camp at the Messina Training Area. He was 56.
20 Jan 1981: 77339554BG Corporal Donald Brooks from 3 SAI Died of Wounds received in action on 03 December 1980 when his company was based at Ondangwa. With only a few days left to serve, two sections of Donald's platoon were ordered to escort one of two buses filled with Permanent Force and Contractor's children on school holiday from the RSA. They picked the buses up from Air Force Base Ondangwa and escorted them to Oshakati. On the return trip in the evening, both Buffel Troop Carriers were ambushed by a large group of SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. An RPG-7 Anti-Tank Rocket hit the roll bar above Donald's head, critically wounding him. The 2nd Buffel took an RPG-7 Anti-Tank Rocket through the side of the vehicle and the rocket passed right through Rifleman J.E. van der Merwe & Rifleman C. van Zyl, killing them instantly before exiting the Buffel on the opposite side. Both drivers, who were never decorated for their bravery, successfully extracted both their Buffel Troop Carriers out the kill zone with all the tyres blown out and full of wounded men. Corporal Brooks Buffel was driven into AFB Ondangwa and Van Zyl's Buffel managed to reach the base in Ondangwa town. A follow up operation was launched immediately at first light and contact was soon made with the insurgent group where a number of SWAPO/PLAN insurgents were either killed or captured in the ensuing contact. Brooks succumbed to his wounds on 20 January 1981. He was 19.
20 Jan 1981: 78514031BG Rifleman Claude Scott Coxen from 4 SAI accidentally drowned, in the swimming pool at the Unit. He was 18.
20 Jan 1981: 05210265PE Warrant Officer Class I Gerrit Hendrik Meyer Lundie from 1 Construction Regiment suffered a fatal heart attack at his home. He was 48.
20 Jan 1982: Three members from 1 Special Service Battalion, two of them twin brothers, were Killed in Action in Northern Owamboland during Ops Handsak while working with elements of 32 Battalion. The Support Troop water bowser had hit a landmine while on patrol the previous day and a TB was established for the night at the site of the incident. Early the following morning, the Twins accompanied by Trooper Fourie went out to take photographs of the damaged bowser when one of them stood on an anti-personnel mine that had been boosted with an anti-tank mine that had been buried at the scene of the incident. All three were killed in the resulting explosion. The casualties in this tragic incident were:
79241576BG Lance Corporal Ockert Petrus Kruger. He was 18.
79308268BG Lance Corporal Pieter Kruger. He was 18.
78471182BG Trooper Hermann Fourie. He was 20.
20 Jan 1983: Two members from the Soutpansberg Military Area were Killed in a military vehicle accident on the Malala Drift Road about 46 km from Messina. They were:
78274552BG Lance Corporal Japie Louis Nel. He was 20.
81537284PE Rifleman Lovemore Phakati. He was 22.
20 Jan 1986: 81891913SCC Rifleman R.M. Kröhne from 102 Battalion SWATF was killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned in Northern Owamboland. He was 19.
20 Jan 1987: 83886697SWH Rifleman P Rutjindo from 102 Battalion SWATF died in Hospital from Malaria contracted during operations in Southern Angola. He was 20.
20 Jan 1989: Two members from Regiment Hillcrest were killed in a military vehicle accident near Swartwater on the Botswana Border. The casualties were:
82379330BT Sergeant Anton Bela van der Merwe. He was 23.
77387959BT Corporal Cornelius Johannes Stroebel. He was 27.
20 Jan 1991: 87484960BG Rifleman Stephanus Johannes Lues from 4 SAI was killed in a private motor vehicle accident on the Witbank Highway while on a weekend pass. He was 19.
20 Jan 2004: Warrant Officer Class Two Jim Reeves (Nome de Guerre) from 5 Reconnaissance Regiment was killed in a military vehicle accident in Burundi while serving with the Peace-Keeping Mission in that Country. He was 44.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.