Stories

I read this with great interest as I was in the armoured cars in question at the recce incident towards the bridge, and in fact was in the Charlie car of the Pappa troop who was the first to cross Bridge 14 when the eve…

I only found out about what happened in 1993 when I went to visit some of the guys that joined on for short Service in 1992. Cpl Mike Land told me that

A LETTER FROM DES BURMAN, ONE OF THE COMMANDERS OF 32 BN, TO HIS CHILDREN "Hi guys I wrote this letter to my kids to try to explain the issue of materialism and that money is not everything in the world. You might want…

Sgt Dirk (or Dick) Retief was the Flight Engineer on a puma that was shot down on the 6 September 1979, whil seconded to the Rhodesian Airforce. The pilot,

Lt Paul Velleman and Co-Pilot, <a href="

Search for Puma Lost at Mapai April 11, 2009 - April 14, 2009 Under the cover of darkness, on the night of the 6th September 1979, I was flown out of the forward admin area of Op Uric, situated deep in the Mozambique bu…

Please see the story posted for <a href="main.php?page=

L/cpl Reyneke was a member of 4 SAI Bn, attached to 53 Bn (Alpha Coy). He was stationed at Etale, 18 km from the Angolan border. In early 1982, Reyneke was assigned to an escort detail that was to protect a Water Works…

Barry Craig Rieder. I cry as I write this for you. I address this to all who knew Barry. I am now 58 and served 6 months on the border in 1976 I recall it was Operation Savanna. That I shall leave for another day. I was…

Hi John, As you can see I have attached the newspaper articles for you. The story does vary a bit ... typical journalism, so I shall write it out for you. This is from my experience of what happened and also thanks to L…

Gnr C. Retief no is <a class="tooltip" title="Gnr C. Retief" href="main.php?page=

Rfn Schonfeldt is <a class="tooltip" title="Rfn Schonfeldt" href="main.php?page=

The photos are: Robin 1 & 2 is the newspaper article on Lt. C. Robin, Rinty 1 & 2 is the newspaper article on Rfn Schonfeldt Rinty 3 is the photo of Scheunfeldt and his dog Rinty Brand is the unveiling of the Gunners Me…

My Story ? Angola War Overview: - I, Frikkie Bekker, commenced my military service in January 1975. From Durban we travelled to our base in Potchefstroom. I was enrolled in 42 Battery, 4 th Field Regiment. During my ser…

On 11 February 1985, a patrol from 32 Battalion's Charlie Company were in the vicinity of the Bale River, when their over-eager company commander took a short cut, against earlier advice from headquarters, and blundered…

I did my National Service at 2 Special Service Battalion in Zeerust. I was called up in July 1974. 2SSB had only one intake a year which was July. During that time Taljaard, Vollgraaf, me and about six others opted to t…

Please see the story posted for <a href="main.php?page=

In the early hours of Thursday 18 February 1982, SAS President Kruger , oldest of the three Type 12 Frigates of the South African Navy, collided with the replenishment vessel, SAS Tafelberg . Both ships were severely da…

In the early hours of Thursday 18 February 1982, SAS President Kruger , oldest of the three Type 12 Frigates of the South African Navy, collided with the replenishment vessel, SAS Tafelberg . Both ships were severely da…

I was in the same platoon as Smittie. <a href="

In the early hours of Thursday 18 February 1982, SAS President Kruger , oldest of the three Type 12 Frigates of the South African Navy, collided with the replenishment vessel, SAS Tafelberg . Both ships were severely da…

Rfn. JJC Stols was a driver in Support Company, 3SAI, January 1982 intake. I do not remember (if I ever knew it) his first name but we knew him by his nickname, "Stollie". There was a tendency for the English and Afrika…

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind:" Ghandi On November 25 1975 a light unarmed Cessna 180D aircraft of the South African Air Force took off from an airstrip near a Catholic missionary station by the name o…

An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind:" Ghandi On November 25 1975 a light unarmed Cessna 180D aircraft of the South African Air Force took off from an airstrip near a Catholic missionary station by the name of…

As sequel to the above, placed on the board by Leon, I, Rowley Medlin, who has been responsible for the search of the missing plane and the remains of Niel Lombard would like to add: After extensive searching, looking f…

An ex-colleague of mine told me a few years ago that he was on that train. I called him earlier today and without referring to the accident, asked him where he was on 25 March 1977. Het asked me "what time" and I said "…

Rifleman P. Uzzel was a member Goudveld Commando. On 6 January 1983 he and a number of others from this unit were on patrol when their vehicle tripped a landmine, killing five of them and injuring the rest. Two of the l…

13 Sep 1970: Six members from 5 SAI and one member from 3 SAI were killed while being transported in a Gladiator Troop Carrier back to Ladysmith Army Camp. Their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a Newspa…

On May 13 1985, a South African Navy strike craft carrying the Recce team as well as a back-up team left Saldanha Bay and traveled to a spot 160 kms off the Angolan coast near its border with Zaire. The mission was to c…

In the early hours of Thursday 18 February 1982, SAS President Kruger , oldest of the three Type 12 Frigates of the South African Navy, collided with the replenishment vessel, SAS Tafelberg . Both ships were severely da…

Operasie Kropduif (die aanval op Eheke) op 28 Oktober 1977, sou die donkerste dag in die geskiedenis van die Suid Afrikaanse Spesiale Magte se bestaan wees. Nadat die Suid Afrikaners aan Angola onttrek het in 1976, sou…

An ex-colleague of mine told me a few years ago that he was on that train. I called him earlier today and without referring to the accident, asked him where he was on 25 March 1977. Het asked me "what time" and I said "…

SKTR J.L Van Der Merwe was saam met SKTR B.J. Du Toit, SKTR F.M. Griessel, SKTR J.H.Diedericks en SKTR P.Uzzel op daai nootlotige dag toe hulle die landmyn met hulle voertuig afgetrap het, hulle het al vyf omgekom en hu…

Hello Riana, First of all, allow me to say how terribly sorry I am for your loss. I knew all the men who died in the Ratel that fateful day. I got to know your dad, Lt van der Westhuizen and brother-in-law, Sktr J.H. Po…

Hi Riana, My name is Craig Dunbar, at the time of your dad's contact I was a driver in one of the follow up groups, based out of Tsintsibis, where some of us had been suconded from 61 Mech. Myself and a handful of Artil…

Paul Velleman was the pilot of a Puma seconded to the Rhodesian Air Force, co-piloted by

Lt Nigel Osborne with flight engineer <a href="

Search for Puma Lost at Mapai April 11, 2009 - April 14, 2009 Under the cover of darkness, on the night of the 6th September 1979, I was flown out of the forward admin area of Op Uric, situated deep in the Mozambique bu…

Hi Karel, Those pics took me back. We were based at Etale base in Owamboland, and there apparently was intelligence that St. Mary?s Mission was supporting SWAPO. I believe that they had info that a group of SWAPO was co…

This story is about Karl Paul Viljoen and Johan Le Roux on that fateful day of the 10/8/1978 at Nkongo. What happened was that we B company 5SAI had spent 7 months at Eenhana and Nkongo.Our last patrols had come out the…