07 February, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
07 Feb 1953: P1/40170 2/Lieutenant Harold Bruce Michael Leon from 3 Squadron, operating out of Baragwanath Airfield, was killed when his Harvard aircraft, Serial 7414 was involved in a mid-air collision with another 3 Squadron Harvard, Serial 7073, flown by Lieutenant Steward while they were carrying out Battle Formation practice. The propeller of Harvard 7073 struck the front cockpit section of Harvard 7414, sending this aircraft crashing into the ground near the Airport. He was 24.
Lieutenant Steward successfully managed to land his damaged Harvard 7073 back at Baragwanath.
07 Feb 1965: P/23776 Private Brian Brundrett Kitchener from 61 Base Workshop died from liver cancer in 1 Military Hospital. He was 23.
07 Feb 1968: 65416976PE Air Mechanic Phillip Johannes Joubert from 24 Squadron was shot dead while on guard duty when he was struck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier’s rifle. He was 19.
07 Feb 1973: Two Instructors from the Infantry School Staff were killed instantly in Oudtshoorn when a stockpile of old unstable explosives accidentally detonated while they were preparing these explosives for demolition. The casualties were:
05074414E Warrant Officer Class 1 Lukas Petrus Jacobus Steenkamp. He was 45.
05477799E Staff Sergeant Pieter Paul van Jaarsveld. He was 30.
07 Feb 1975: 72467574BT Able Seaman Sarel Du Plessis from SAS Saldanha was killed in a military motor vehicle accident. He was 19.
07 Feb 1978: 76455690PE Gunner Abraham Hattingh from 4 Artillery Regiment was killed instantly at Potchefstroom during a violent thunderstorm when lightning struck the electric floor polisher that he was using to polish the barracks floor. He was 17.
07 Feb 1979: 74281080BG Gunner Rolf Eduard Ortmann from 10 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was killed after he lost control of the military ambulance while driving at high speed, causing the vehicle to overturn and burst into flames at Wynberg, Cape Town. He was 20.
07 Feb 1987: 83342097BG Trooper Johann Labuschagne from 61 Mechanised Battalion was accidentally killed during a two week Cross-Training Infantry course at Oshivello. The Armour troops were taught how to do basic fire and movement as an infantry section in a “V” formation. The accident happened as the troops finished a live exercise when a MAG gunner was in the process of making his machine gun safe. There was still a round in the chamber and when he moved the breech-block mechanism forward, a shot went off and Labuschagne, who was in the “V” formation directly ahead him, was struck in the back of the head by the bullet and mortally wounded. Despite the Medic’s best efforts to keep him alive, when the Medical Doctor arrived, Labuschagne was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 19.
07 Feb 1989: 85356046BG Sapper Ian Steward Hanslo from the School of Engineers was killed when he was accidentally run over by a 10-ton truck while carrying out guard duty at the Regiment main gate. He was 19.
07 Feb 1993: 87263547PE Lieutenant Willem Tobias Oosthuizen from the School of Armour was found dead in the veld behind the Free State Joint Club with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head administered with his 9mm service pistol. He was 21.
07 Feb 1998: 95099503 Warrant Officer Class I D B Zungu from 121 Battalion died of disease in St Aidens Hospital in Durban. He was 37.
Their names and sacrifices won't be forgotten.