08 October, let us pause to remember these young men from our Generation who answered the Sunset call.
08 Oct 1954: P1/42131 2/Lieutenant John James Marais from 1 Squadron was killed when he ejected from De Havilland Vampire Vampire FB.Mk 52 233. The aircraft crashed on the farm of Mr. D. J. Opperman in the Rietfontein area between Krugersdorp and Pretoria. He was 25.
08 Oct 1960: Sergeant Herbert Eric Mackenzie from the South African Army suffered a fatal heart attack in Pretoria. He was 55.
08 Oct 1963: P/15347 Sergeant Karel Wilhelm Janse van Rensburg from the South African Corps of Military Police was found hanged at his home in Pretoria. No foul play was suspected. He was 38.
08 Oct 1965: Warrant Officer Cass II Renier Niklas Hattingh from the Army Headquarters suffered a heart and later died in 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He was 61.
08 Oct 1977: 74449182BA Private Hendrik Carl Gouws from Air Force Base Swartkop died after he was accidentally electrocuted at Hartebeespoort while on a weekend pass. He was 19.
08 Oct 1980: 75473777BG Rifleman Gert Johannes Alwyn Barnard from 4 SAI attached to 37 Battalion suffered severe heat exhaustion and was to be medically evacuated that night from Ruacana. He was loaded aboard Atlas C4M Kudu 986 flown by Lieutenant Mel Pienaar after the aircraft had been refueled. Shortly after take-off, the aircraft suffered total engine failure and crashed. He was fatally injured and died 30 minutes later. The critically injured Pilot was evacuated to 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria and survived. It was later established that during the refueling process at Ruacana, AVTUR was accidentally used to refuel the Kudu aircraft instead of AVGAS and this caused the aircraft engine to fail. He was 20.
08 Oct 1982: 80000987PP Captain William Robert McIntosh from 4 Reconnaissance Regiment was accidentally killed when his parachute failed to open during a practice jump at Langebaan. He was 30.
08 Oct 1983: 82902610SWK Rifleman Klaas Hausiku from 202 Battalion SWATF was Killed in Action during a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents. He was 21.
08 Oct 1987: 837771490BG Gunner Anthony Wayne de Villiers of 4 SAI attached to "Q" Battery was accidentally killed during Ops Modular in Southern Angola. The battery was operating just north of the Lomba River and earlier in the day, De Villiers had been sent out to find a suitable alternate site for the battery. The battery was involved with artillery support until late in the night before packing up and re-locating. It appears that De Villiers had fallen asleep next to a tree that was in the path of the oncoming vehicles and guns and was accidentally driven over by one of the vehicles as his body was discovered the following day lying in the tracks left by the convoy. He was 20.
08 October 1987: 83472712BG Trooper Frederick de Jager from 61 Mechanised Battalion Group was Killed in Action during Ops Modular. The South African armoured column had penetrated deep into Angola and had just formed into a laager to take bearings on their position and objectives when two Angolan MiG-23 fighter jets spotted the column and after initially making a low pass, they turned and came in for the attack. Each aircraft dropped a 500 pound parachute retarded bomb. The first bomb landed just behind Ratel 33C literally driving the back axle into the ground and igniting the Ratel's 90mm ammunition. The second bomb landed and exploded just next to the Ratel. Frederick was the Ratel driver and was resting in the back of the Ratel when the bombs detonated. He was critically wounded when the Ratel ammunition exploded and he succumbed to his injuries a short while later. He was 19. Another crewman, Trooper Gary Pearman White lost a leg in this same incident but was evacuated and survived.
08 Oct 1988: 86723277HM Rifleman Moleko Ivan Khumoeng from 21 Battalion was killed in a private motor vehicle accident. He was 25.
08 Oct 1998: 96205372 Trooper M J Motshabi from the School of Armour went Absent Without Leave (AWOL) from his Unit and was later found dead in Mafikeng with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was 23.
Their names and sacrifices have not been forgotten.