05 January, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
05 Jan 1963: Air Sergeant Edward Leslie Bruigom from the Air force Gymnasium died as a result of a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain sustained while traveling as a passenger in a private motor vehicle accident when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it collided with a tree near the Fountains Drive-In Theatre in Pretoria. He was 20.
05 Jan 1968: Staff Sergeant William Drummond Wyllie from the Technical Service Corps, was serving in the Stores Identification Section at Army Headquarters when he was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Pretoria. His Step-Mother, Mrs G.M. Groenink was critically injured in the same accident and later died from her injuries in hospital. He was 50. Staff Sergeant Wyllie served with the SAAF in the Western Desert during World War Two and again with 2 Squadron SAAF in Korea during the Korean War.
05 Jan 1978: 66248139PE Corporal Gert Jacobus Erasmus Goosen from 11 Supply and Transport Depot was killed in a Military Vehicle Accident while on his way to Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. He was 27.
05 Jan 1981: 78555117BG Lance Corporal Pieter Swanepoel from the SWA SPES Bike Squad was Killed in Action in Northern Owamboland when his motorcycle detonated a boosted Yugoslavian TMA-3 Cheese Mine. He had just transported a tracker (Kevin O'Neill) over to the mounted infantry who had located a "spoor" near Oom Willie se pad and was returning to his Section when his motorcycle detonated the mine. He was 19.
05 Jan 1981: 76914878PE Rifleman Katinga Dahanga from 201 Battalion SWATF died from tuberculosis in the Hospital at Rundu. He was 36.
05 Jan 1981: 05204763PE Warrant Officer Class I Jacobus John Groenewald from 1 Air Depot died in 1 Military Hospital as a result of liver and subsequent heart failure. He was 55.
05 Jan 1982: Three members from 19 & 31 Squadron were Killed in Action when their Aerospatiale SA330H Puma, Serial No.168 was shot down not long after crossing the cut-line into Southern Angola. Their Puma Helicopter had just dropped off troops in an unprepared Landing Zone and shortly after taking off again en-route to Ongiva, the Helicopter was hit by hostile small-arms fire and a single AK-47 bullet ruptured a hydraulic pipe to one of the main rotor servo’s. The leaking hydraulic fluid was ignited by the engine exhaust and the flame cut away a rotor actuator rod causing the Pilot to lose control. The Puma helicopter struck the ground inverted approximately 15 km North East of Namacunde. There were no survivors. The Helicopter Co-Pilot was the only son of Lieutenant General Denis John Earp SSA SD SM SOE who later became Chief of the South African Air Force.
CREW:
70535448PK Captain John Allen Robinson (Pilot and Aircraft Commander). He was 27.
71423784PE Lieutenant Michael John Earp (Co-Pilot). He was 26. (From 31 Squadron)
71348015PE Flight Sergeant Kenneth George Dalgleish (Flight Engineer). He was 26.
05 Jan 1983: Warrant Officer Class 1 Leonard Philip Rodney from the 1 Military Town Management Fire Department in Voortrekkerhoogte collapsed and died after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was 47.
05 Jan 1984: Special Sergeant Benfried Markus from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K (Koevoet) was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 27.
05 Jan 1985: 80351729BG Private Gregory Grant Swain from Northern Transvaal Medical Command was killed instantly while on Guard Duty in Pretoria when he was shot through the heart as a result of an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier’s rifle. He was 20.
05 Jan 1987: Special Sergeant Uatuapeke Kandjii from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K (Koevoet) was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 29
05 Jan 1988: 84530575BG Lance Corporal John Adam Lotriet from 8 SAI was killed in Northern Owamboland after being struck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier’s rifle. He was 19.
05 Jan 1991: 78122009PB Staff Sergeant Pitso Josias Mosoale from 21 Battalion died of acute pancreatitis in 1 Military Hospital. He was 38.
05 Jan 1992: 91718635HG Rifleman Sipho Richard Nsele from 121 Battalion died from blood loss as a result of an accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound to the upper leg with his R4 rifle near the Ntshakele High School in Ingwavuma. He was 24.
05 Jan 1993: 86742855HF Rifleman Aaron Sidivane Mabuza from 111 Battalion collapsed and died after suffering a fatal heart attack in Carolina while on official vacation leave. He was 32.
05 Jan 1998: 72087299 Pioneer Henry Weber from the Castle in Cape Town died from heart failure in 2 Military Hospital. He was 44.
05 Jan 1999: 68595370PE Sergeant Joachim Marthinus Grobler from Air Force Base Louis Trichardt was accidentally killed by a grader. He was 53.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.