06 March, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
06 Mar 1951: Two members from 12 Squadron were killed when Avro Anson 4473 broke up in flight while they were spraying for tsetse fly near Mtubatuba. The casualties were:
Captain Percy Gordon (Bill) Bodley. He was 35.
P/6859 Air Sergeant Gordon Charles Ross. He was 28.
06 Mar 1954: P/9408 Staff Sergeant Malcolm Archibald Macdonald from the Administrative Service Corps attached to 61 Base Workshops, Technical Service Corps died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head using his .303 rifle. He was 40.
06 Mar 1960: P/19123 Corporal Stephanus Johannes Bothma from the South African Artillery was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Potchefstroom. He was 22.
06 Mar 1963: P/21785 Captain Cyril Charles Knottenbelt from Air Force Base Waterkloof died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 47.
06 Mar 1971: 70283171 Private Francois Nel from the Army Service Corps was killed in a private motor vehicle accident in Pretoria. He was 16.
06 Mar 1976: 64272776BT Sergeant Trevor Walter August Booysen from Regiment Westelike Provinsie was killed when he accidentally fell off the back of a moving vehicle at Calueque and broke his neck. He was 29.
06 Mar 1978: 74311606BG Rifleman Ivor Roland Harris from 11 Commando Regiment was killed in a private motor vehicle accident on Van Reenen's Pass while on a weekend pass. Four other members were injured in the accident. He was 20.
06 Mar 1980: 76385905BG Lance Bombardier Matthew Johannes Naus from 14 Artillery Regiment died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head using his R1 rifle. He was 19.
06 Mar 1981: 77506401BG Candidate Officer Riordan Charles Durney Kearns from Army Battle School was killed when his private motor vehicle overturned 20 km from Delareyville. He was 19.
06 Mar 1981: 79514089BG Trooper Hendrik Jacobus Schultz from 1 Special Service Battalion was killed in a private motor vehicle accident at Carletonville. He was 27.
06 Mar 1983: Two former members from 1 Medium Battery, 4 Field Regiment that had been transferred to 61 Mech Battalion as part of Sierra Battery. They were both Killed in Action during Ops Phoenix while on guard duty on a game farm located on the edge of the Etosha Pan and situated partly inside the “Red Line”. The two men had Orders to remain inside the farm perimeter fence and the German game farmer was informed to provide them with suitable living quarters located inside the farm perimeter fence. However, when a hunting party arrived from Germany, the farmer was in need of an extra room and subsequently moved the two men to a hut that was located outside the farm perimeter fence. This was only discovered when a Lieutenant visited the property to check up on the men and deliver mail and rations to them. The farmer was duly instructed to immediately make arrangements to accommodate the men in suitable quarters located within the farm perimeter fence. The Officer took the farmers word that this instruction would be complied with the following morning but unfortunately, that same evening, a small group of SWAPO/PLAN insurgents passed the farm and saw the two men sitting outside their hut wearing shorts while drinking a soft drink. They immediately attacked the hut and shot both men at point blank range after which, they took the men’s rifles and departed the scene. This very same group of insurgents was later intercepted by South African Security Forces and were all shot dead in the subsequent fire-fight. Both men who were Orphans, had earned Western Transvaal Colours in Cricket and Rugby and had grown up together as best friends in the Abraham Kriel Children’s Home in Potchefstroom. The casualties in this incident were:
79576542BG Gunner Christo Francois Bezuidenhout. He was 20.
80526940BG Gunner Jameson Bosse. He was 20.
06 Mar 1983: 69482305PE Flight Sergeant Sarel Jacobus Roos from Central Flying School Dunnottar died after suffering a fatal heart attack while driving his private vehicle in Nigel. He was 29.
06 Mar 1985: Special Constable Matheus Oukongo from the South West Africa Police Counter-Insurgency Wing: Ops-K Division (Koevoet) was Killed in Action in a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Northern Owamboland. He was 28.
06 March 1986: 82309808BG Private Dawid Johannes Retief from 6 Maintenance Unit accidentally drowned in the operational area when his Military vehicle skidded off the road and landed in a river, leaving him trapped inside the vehicle. He drowned before he could be rescued. He was 19.
06 March 1986: 81345688BG Corporal Pieter Jeremias Smith from the State Presidents Guard died in the Tygerberg Hospital from multiple shrapnel wounds sustained in an accidental mortar bomb explosion while in the training area. He was 21.
06 Mar 1988: 75011296PE Sergeant Walter Alexander Robinson from 61 Base Workshop, Technical Service Corps died in his sleep in the Single Quarters at TEK Base after apparently suffering a fatal heart attack. He was 47.
06 Mar 1994: 80894363HB Pioneer Charles Madimetja Ledwaba from the Witwatersrand Command Workshops died after being fatally stabbed by his wife while at his private residence. He was 34.
06 Mar 1998: 67866301PE Lieutenant Colonel D I Stead from Air Force Headquarters was critically injured in a private motor vehicle accident. He was rushed to 1 Military Hospital where he sadly succumbed to his injuries. He was 47.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten.