Ross, Brian Alan (B A)

I went to South Africa from England in 1974. I met Brian and we became firm friends. We did everything together until he had to do his National Service. He was 19 I think when he was killed. He was killed by a landmine. Rest in peace buddy ray g

I was with Brian when he died. We were members of a patrol (10 guys) in charge of a few kilometers of the Yati. Days were spent laying claymores and burying animals that had walked into them. In our area of responsibility was a watering hole, a miserable little hole with brackish brown water. But we were given only one fresh water bottle a day so we were very happy with our watering hole. Some days we swam, whilst one or two of the guys kept watch. One day Gary and Brian were on watch. We were swimming and very close to us there was a huge explosion and dust. We flew out of the water and found Gary going in circles on all fours and Brian lying unconscious. They had wandered off for some reason and, I believe, walked into one of our own claymores, one that we had laid. We soon saw that Gary was not fatally hurt but that Brian was in trouble. He was unconscious. I do not believe that he was in pain or had any awareness of his situation. His wounds were not such that we could do anything, by that I mean he had small puncture wounds that were not bleeding profusely. We did mouth-to-mouth until the chopper arrived. I am sorry this all happened, so wasteful. Brian was a quiet, modest guy. We liked him.