08 December, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
08 Dec 1976: Rifleman Gavin Searle from 5 SAI was accidentally killed when the Bedford Troop Carrier in which he was travelling, overturned at Boshoek near Ladysmith, crushing him underneath. He was 17.
08 Dec 1977: Three SADF members, one from the Citizen Force and two from the Commando’s, were Killed in Action during a contact SWAPO/PLAN with insurgents when their patrol walked into an ambush near Ruacana. The casualties were:
66206756BT Sergeant Johannes Cornelius Badenhorst from Regiment North Natal. He was 28.
70499553KT Lance Corporal Christiaan Rudolf Kotze from West Coast Commando. He was 23.
68201748KT Rifleman Johannes Hendrik Petrus Kruger from Bloemfontein Commando. He was 25.
08 Dec 1987: Two members from the Gordonia Commando were killed when they were run over by a civilian vehicle that failed to stop at a military roadblock near Upington. They were:
70434790KT Rifleman Willem Petrus Burger. He was 23.
65436966KV Rifleman Desmond Reginald van der Merwe. He was 38.
08 Dec 1993: 74206921PE Captain Terence Theodore Phillipson from 8 SAI was killed in a military vehicle accident at Tosca. He was 34.
Their names and sacrifice have not been forgotten.