21 May, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
21 May 1976: 73253650BA Private Adriaan Johannes van der Merwe from 4 Provost Company, South African Corps of Military Police, was killed in Military Vehicle Accident at Grootfontein. He was 19.
21 May 1977: 05079934 Warrant Officer Class 1 Willem Johannes Bothma from the Western Province Command Workshop, Technical Service Corps, collapsed and died after apparently suffering a fatal heart attack while at his home in Bettysbaai one month before he was due to go on pension. He was 54.
21 May 1980: Fifteen members from 32 Battalion were Killed in Action during heavy close-quarter fighting against a vastly numerically enemy force of approximately 600 FAPLA troops during an attack on the enemy base complex at Savate in Southern Angola during Operation Tiro a Tiro. Despite being heavily outnumbered by the enemy, the 32 Battalion element accounted for at least 200 enemy troops killed with many more wounded and captured. This Operation was launched in support of UNITA Forces. The 32 Battalion casualties in this desperate action were:
67280552PE Captain Andre Erasmus. He was 28
72419369PE Lieutenant Charl de Jongh Muller. He was 23.
77316404BG 2/Lieutenant Timothy Simmons Patrick. He was 18
76490556BG 2/Lieutenant Johannes Mattheus Heyns Muller. He was 19
76487503PF Corporal Eduard Coetzee Engelbrecht. He was 19
80016520PP Lance Corporal Andrew Jeremy Falkus. He was 20
76910528SP Lance Corporal Joao Kaumba. He was 21
76919109SP Rifleman Rodrigues Alberto. He was 27
76908029SP Rifleman Benedito Albino. He was 25
76907641SP Rifleman Sebastiao Angelo. He was 22
77880912SP Rifleman Manuel Augusto. He was 26
79830965SP Rifleman Antonio Caliango. He was 31
76926674SP Rifleman Abel Livingue. He was 23
76924674SP Rifleman Casto Marcelino. He was 24
76910611SP Rifleman Joaquim Matamba. He was 22
21 May 1981: 75343251BG Lance Corporal Heine Jonck from 3 Satellite Radar Station at Klippan near Mafeking, was critically injured in a private motor vehicle accident between Slurry and the Radar Base on 12 May 1981. He was admitted to 1 Military Hospital but sadly succumbed to his injuries on 21 May 1981. He was 21.
21 May 1983: 05484902PE Flight Sergeant Jacobus George Raap from the South African Air Force collapsed and died after suffering a fatal heart attack while at 1 Military Hospital. He was 38.
21 May 1983: Airman John Linden Nel from the Air Force Gymnasium was accidentally killed after suffering a fractured skull in an accident at Richards Bay while hitch hiking home to Merensee on a weekend pass. He was 20.
21 May 1985: Three members from the Air Force Base Waterkloof Fire Section were Killed in Action after being called to assist the Pretoria Fire Department in extinguishing a massive blaze at the SASOL Bulk Storage Depot in Pretoria West. The crew were inside their Pathfinder fire tender vehicle busy dousing the flames when one of the large fuel storage tanks exploded in a huge fire-ball that engulfed the Pathfinder Fire Tender, incinerating the SAAF crew inside. The casualties were:
71423008PE Sergeant Wynand Jacobus Hawkins. He was 30
78306057PE Sergeant Donald Graham Clench. He was 22
77334084BT Airman Michael Sydney Knoetze. He was 23
21 May 1985: Two members from 4 Reconnaissance Regiment were initially Reported Missing in Action during Operation Argon, a Reconnaissance Operation carried out near Malongo in the Northern Angolan Province of Cabinda. Photographs of their bodies later appeared on a FAPLA propaganda leaflet confirming their deaths. Their remains were eventually returned to South Africa after protracted negotiations with the Angolan Authorities. The casualties were:
76465673PK Corporal Rowland Ridgard Liebenberg. He was 25
77527224PE Corporal Louis Pieter van Breda. He was 25
21 May 1985: Three members from 101 Battalion SWATF were killed when their Casspir Vehicle overturned at Ondangwa. They were:
81804023SH Rifleman Josia Kandjii. He was 27
Rifleman Mario Domingos. He was 26
Rifleman Joao Felosiano. He was 25
21 May 1986: 85265924BG Rifleman Gabriel Gerhardus Malan from 7 SAI was killed in a Military Vehicle Accident at Kwandebele. He was 19.
21 May 1986: 76901495PD Corporal Domingos Mauriocu from 5 Reconnaissance Regiment was Killed in Action during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola. He was 24.
21 May 1993: Two Senior Officers from Army Headquarters were killed after suffering multiple injuries in a private motor vehicle accident on Ben Schoeman Highway near Pretoria while returning home after attending a retirement function. The casualties were:
78257904PE Commandant Mark Terence Brown. He was 30.
67482547PE Commandant Willem Henry Van Ryneveld. He was 41.
21 May 1998: 86060508PE Chief Petty Officer Herman Ernst Carstensen from Naval Base Simonstown suffered a fatal heart attack at his home in Bellville. He was 36.
21 May 1998: 95651907 Rifleman S D Selala from the Army Intelligence Corps died of disease in the Middelburg Hospital. He was 21.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.