26 January, let us pause to remember these young men and women from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
26 Jan 1977: 76906510SP Rifleman Sabino Luciano from 32 Battalion was killed in a shooting incident in the residential camp at Buffalo. He was 25.
26 Jan 1977: 73369662BT Rifleman Isak Nel Myburgh from 6 SAI Died of Wounds received in Northern Owamboland. While driving a Unimog vehicle on pipeline patrol, his vehicle detonated two sandwiched Soviet TM-46 Anti-tank mines near Onambutu, approximately 10 km south of Eenhana Base. His liver was ruptured and he lost both his legs in the explosion and sadly succumbed to these grievous wounds while being evacuated by helicopter to the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital at Air Force Base Ondangwa. He was 19.
26 Jan 1978: 73347775KT Rifleman Petrus Wilhelmus Prinsloo from Middelburg Commando accidentally drowned in the Assegai River at Amsterdam. He was 20.
26 Jan 1980: 73447484BT 2/Lieutenant Johannes Lodewicus Buys from 6 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was killed in a Military Vehicle accident near Grootfontein. He was 22.
26 Jan 1980: 77487536BG Rifleman Hendrik Christoffel Janse van Rensburg from SWA SPES was accidentally shot dead during the night at their TB by a guard who mistook him for a SWAPO/PLAN insurgent. He was 18.
26 Jan 1981: 77407856BG Lance Corporal Jacobus Adriaan Smuts Louw from 1 SAI was killed instantly when he detonated a booby-trapped Yugoslavian TMA-3 Cheese Mine while returning from a patrol on the Cut-line. The Platoon had set up three separate ambushes and were in the process of regrouping when he detonated the mine. The sand was soft and wet at the time and it is thought that when he stepped on the anti-tank mine, his body-weight shifted it due to the wet sand and this movement activated a booby-trap anti-lift/tilting mechanism that was attached to the bottom of the mine. He was 19.
26 Jan 1986: Two Members from 5 SAI were killed when their Buffel Troop Carrier overturned in wet weather near Nkurenkuru. The casualties were:
78478922BG Corporal Jan Daniel Schmidt. He was 23.
83462879BG Rifleman Johannes Gerhardus Janse van Rensburg. He was 18.
26 January 1997: 66467127PE Warrant Officer Class 1 Frans Engelbertus Ferreira from Air Force Base Hoedspruit was killed in a military vehicle accident. He was 46.
26 Jan 1999: Three members from the Kakamas Commando were killed in a Military Vehicle Accident near Pofadder after being tasked by Ops Order 15/99 to carry out a vehicle road patrol between Onseepkans and Pofadder during Ops Reward. The casualties were:
91951681KV Lance Corporal Izak Johannes Kamfer. He was 28.
98110844KV Rifleman (Mrs) Shirley Sineta Muller. She was 32.
98110703KV Rifleman Godfrey Armstrong September. He was 26.
Their names and sacrifice have not been forgotten.