07 August, let us pause to remember these young men from our generation who answered the Sunset call.
07 Aug 1951: P1/10099 Major Brian Brain, Acting Officer Commanding Air Force Station Ysterplaat died in 2 Military Hospital after suffering a Cerebral Haemorrhage. He was 34.
07 Aug 1973: Three members from 2 SAI were killed while undergoing Driver and Maintenance training when their Bedford truck overturned after colliding with an Eland Armoured Car on a narrow bridge on the Walvis Bay to Windhoek road. The casualties were:
71537872N Rifleman Kenneth Frampton Beghin. He was 18.
71409148N Rifleman Christos Constatinou. He was 18.
71438121N Rifleman Ralph George Leggett. He was 18.
07 Aug 1974: Staff Sergeant Manie Botes from the South African Medical Corps was accidentally killed together with his wife while staying on a farm belonging to a relative. The couple, who were staying overnight in the farmhouse while returning from holiday, were overcome by gas while asleep in their room due to a gas leak in the building. He was 35.
07 Aug 1976: 73118127KT Lance Corporal Charles Henry Hendersen from the Cradock Commando was Killed in Action when he stepped on a landmine while on foot patrol near Oshikango. He was 29.
07 Aug 1981: 76362060BG Lance Corporal Jan Mathys de Beer from Air Force Base Waterkloof died in the H.F. Verwoerd Hospital in Pretoria after being critically injured in a private motor vehicle accident. He was 21.
07 Aug 1983: Two members from 202 Battalion SWATF were Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. The casualties were:
83894089SWK Rifleman S. Kavarata. He was 21.
82901182SWK Rifleman A.H. Katanga. He was 22.
07 Aug 1984: 81265829BG Rifleman Johannes Hendrik Strydom from Infantry School died from a gunshot wound sustained as a result of an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle while at the De Brug Training Area. He was 19.
07 Aug 1987: Two members from 121 Battalion were killed when their Buffel Troop Carrier overturned at Ngwavuma near Pongola. They were:
86107158HG Rifleman Sikhumbuzo Eric Mbambo. He was 21.
86106812HG Rifleman Alpheus Dumdum Mbambo. He was 24.
07 Aug 1989: 86403094BG Rifleman Jacques Stefan Barkhuizen from Infantry School was killed in a private motor vehicle accident at Hopetown while on route to an SADF tug of war competition. He was 19.
07 Aug 1991: 70000880PE Commandant Frederick Marthinus Ferreira from Eastern Province Command was killed when his military vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a civilian vehicle 40 km from Grahamstown while returning to Port Elizabeth after attending a military law course in Bisho. He was 51.
07 Aug 1994: 92670579PY Rifleman Phuthumani Christian Dywili from 21 Battalion died as a result of multiple injuries sustained after being assaulted at Mcula, Transkei by persons unknown. He was on official leave at the time of the incident. He was 24.
Their names and sacrifices will not be forgotten