03 April, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
03 April 1954: Second Lieutenant Nicolaas Francois Pretorius from 1 Squadron was killed when his Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXE 5622 suffered engine failure and crashed near Swartkop. He was 19.
03 April 1964: P/8340 Warrant Officer Class I Schalk Willem Augustyn from 1 Air Depot died in 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He was suffering from cancer. He was 52.
03 April 1974: 71381495E Seaman Leonard Arthur Farmer from SAS Saldanha died of injuries sustained during basic training while doing pole PT. He had to hold the pole behind his head and do press-ups. The pole slipped and fell on his head and he was severely injured. He succumbed to his injuries a short while later. He was 18.
03 April 1977: 76848209KV Rifleman Carel Hendrik Kotze from the South Coast Commando was accidentally killed during training manoeuvres at Umtentweni. He was 32.
03 April 1978: 72594484BG Rifleman Steven Dennis Oscar Pearson from 5 SAI Died of Wounds received when his patrol was ambushed by SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. He was part of a patrol that was going to be extracted at a RV near the Chandelier road. There were stray donkeys in the area and some of the troops tried to catch and ride some of them. Later in the day the patrol formed up into an open area formation and crossed the Shona from North to South. Hostile fire was immediately drawn from the patrol’s left flank and the patrol immediately formed into an attacking formation and engaged the insurgent force. Rifleman Pearson was seriously wounded in the groin and died before the casevac helicopter reached his location. He was 21.
03 Apr 1979: 67090001PC Corporal David Ontong from 5 Vehicle Reserve Park died of stomach cancer in 2 Military Hospital in Wynberg. He was 18.
03 Apr 1979: 75012450PR Sergeant Coenraad Christoffel Swart from 35 Engineer Support Regiment suffered a heart and died later in 1 Military Hospital. He was 59.
03 Apr 1979: 76440486BG Lance Corporal Cornelius Johannes van der Merwe from 3 SAI was killed as a result of an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head while playing Russian Roulette Mariental. He was 19.
03 April 1980: 05535166PE Staff Sergeant Johan Anton Blake from 61 Base Workshop, Technical Service Corps died after being admitted to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on 03 April 1980. He had been suffering from cancer. He was 33.
03 April 1981: 79524755BG Rifleman Hendrik Kasper Jordaan from SWA SPES Equestrian Unit SWATF was Killed in Action while attached to a 53 Battalion patrol north of Etale. While returning to base, the patrol crossed Oom Willie se Pad where his horse detonated a Soviet TM-57 Anti-Tank mine, killing him and his horse instantly. He was 20.
03 April 1982: 76426378PE Rifleman Lourens Maritz Bieldt from Infantry School was killed when the front wheel of his Buffel Troop Carrier got caught up in a roll of wire, causing the vehicle to overturn approximately 20 km outside Oshakati. He was 21.
03 April 1982: 67485474PE Captain Michael Norman Amos Giani from Army Intelligence, attached to 72 Motorised Brigade, was killed in a military vehicle accident at Muldersdrift. He was 30.
03 Apr 1982: 78369931BG Airman Gerald John Skinner from Air Force Gymnasium was killed in a private motor vehicle accident on the Ben Schoeman Highway, near Halfway House just outside of Pretoria. He was 20.
03 April 1985: 81952004HV Rifleman Heilia Mikael from 101 Battalion SWATF was killed in Southern Angola when a Casspir accidentally drove over him while he was asleep. He was 19.
03 April 1985: Special Constable Johannes Tjiposa 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 26.
03 April 1986: 78421898BT Lance Corporal Jan Hendrik Labuschagne from 71 Field Workshops, Technical Service Corps, was accidentally killed when he fell off of a stationary Buffel while busy with township patrols in Kwazikele, Port Elizabeth. He was taken to hospital but was declared dead on arrival. He was 23.
03 April 1986: 82392879BG 2/Lieutenant Izak Johan Lourens from 911 Battalion SWATF died from Meningitis and Malaria in the Opuwa Hospital. He was 19.
03 April 1989: 84588185PE Lieutenant Christiaan Phillipus Els from 1 Special Service Battalion Died of Wounds in Hospital at Ruacana on 03 April 1989. He was critically wounded in the head during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents near Ongandjera during Ops Merlyn and succumbed to his wounds at Ruacana later the same evening. He was 20.
03 April 1989: W410679E Constable Daniel Johannes Jacobus Fourie from the SWA Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) was killed in Action as fighting raged on in Northern Owamboland when heavily armed SWAPO/PLAN insurgents continued to press on with mass infiltrations into the area and the Ops-K Division (Koevoet) Combat Teams continued to intercept and engage them. He was 25.
03 April 1998: 95717674 Rifleman B Magabuka from 21 Battalion was shot dead by persons unknown while off duty. He was 24.
03 April 2016: W640806 Constable Jacobus Johannes Fourie a former member of the South African Police Counter Insurgency Unit suffered a fatal heart attack and died at his home. He was 60. He was initially stationed in Northern Owamboland and later at Messina.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.