Thompson, Eric Brian (E B)

My brother Eric Bryan Thompson went missing in Angola on the 25 November 1975. He was a pilot and flew for 11 Squadron (Cessna 182) He went missing with Lt Williamson (pilot) and Capt Taljaard (SA Army). There has been various stories about the disappearance of these three young men. It will be appreiciated if anyone has information that can help, so that my family and myself can get final closure Robert

It long overdue for the TRUTH to be told K Thompson

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 Cela in the heart of central Angola and only about 250 kilometers from Luanda. On board was an Infantry officer, a Captain JD (Tallies) Taljaard and two Air Force pilots, both young and newly qualified but excellent pilots. They were 2nd Lieutenant Keith Williamson and 2nd Lieutenant Eric Thompson. They were on an authorized reconnaissance mission with very open-ended instructions. Captain Taljaard, who was one of the Brigade?s Operational Staff Officers, was ?to conduct a visual air reconnaissance of the brigade?s operational area? while the pilot, Lieutenant Williamson had ?to assist him on this reconnaissance, but if the weather tuned bad, he was to return.? Due to the fact that Lieutenant Williamson was unfamiliar with one of the areas they would be flying over, he requested that his friend, Lieutenant Thompson accompany them. The air liaison officer acceded to this request. The three men were taken to the airfield at Cela constructed by the now departed Portuguese where the plane was refueled, taking on board a full load of fuel which, depending on how and at what height they were to fly at, would give the plane a flying time of four and a half to maximum of six hours flying time. They took of at 11:05. Due to the flight being ?a mission? no flight plan was lodged and neither was radio communications established and maintained between the plane and the Headquarters at Cela. Therefore throughout the day, no one at the Headquarters had any knowledge of where the reconnaissance plane was at any given time. It was only when the fuel time became critical that the liaison officer became worried and tried to establish communications. When this failed, he requested the ground forces to report if anyone had seen the plane during the day and to ask amongst the local inhabitants if they knew or had heard anything of the plane. On November 27th The SA Defence Force? intelligence, monitoring all enemy radio frequencies, intercepted a message from the Cuban Brigade Headquarters at Quibala to the Supreme Headquarters of the Cuban Military Mission in Angola, situated in Luanda, that Cuban anti-aircraft guns had shot down a light aircraft over the Ebo district, killing the three occupants. The following day, 28th, o

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 for the wreck of a plane in an area "surrounding the Town of Ebo, in the heart of the Cuanza Sul Province, Angola." I was using a series of aerial photographs taken 2 weeks after the plane went missing. They covered the whole road from Ebo to the town north of Ebo, Cond?, which would have been the next (minor) objective of the Battle Group. A Canberra Aircraft of the SAAF took this photograph at a very high altitude so although it covered the "road" (Ebo/Cond?,) it also covered a large area on both sides of the road. I took it to JARIC who were the boffens on photo-interpretation in the SANDF and asked then to examine the series. They explained the difficulties in examining the whole series as "about a two millimeters square on the photo filled a screen. I would have to narrow my search area. I then concentrated on the feedback I had received from the "Old Boy's Net" and from the Affidavits I had obtained from the Supreme Court. Here, I started to realize that at the order group held on the morning of the November 25th 1975 at the Military Headquarters at Cela, No definite instructions or orders were given to Captain Taljaard or to the pilot, 2 Lieutenant Keith Williamson. Basically (According to the court papers and interviews the instruction was "to conduct an aerial reconnaissance of the "operational Area." I futher put together that the withdrawal of the Battle Group Foxbat had definitely not gone according to "the book." as some accounts told me that after the order was given to disengage with the enemy at approximately midday on the 23rd, There was a unholy retreat with the guns leading the retreat the infantry, or what was left of it followed in drips and drabs. Some boys had stopped to pick up the dead and wounded. "I saw two "groentelorries" come past piled high with bodies and a few wounded lying on top" was one account. Once the retreating force past through Ebo, it was a case of each man or vehicle to himself taking any route southward until they ran out of fuel or until the encountered friendly forces. The following day (24th) the commander of Foxbat and the headquarters staff of the Military headquarters tried to make contact or communications with these missing elements. I deducted tha

To a brother and son that we are so proud of, we have not forgotten and are still trying to find out where you are. We will bring you home Robert

Eric was my school mate at Edenvale High for many years.He was a fine chap.He came from one of the nicest families I have ever known.We need to know what happened.I often think about this.There are too many issues from that era that need to be resolved Go well Eric.You are not forgotten.Your friend Mark.

I would like to thank Mr Medlin and everybody who assisted in locating Eric, Keith and Danie. Hopefully all three will be home soon. Robert (brother)

To my uncle that i never had a chance to meet Our family, my family has told me so much about you. They are extremely proud of you!!! No one will ever forget you. We all just want to bring you home and lay you to rest. Ouma (your mom) has shown me so many pictures of you. Everytime we look at them, her face lights up and you can see in her eyes how proud she is of you. Your brothers and mom miss you immensely and are doing their best to bring you home Even though i never had the chance to meet you, i am extremely proud to have you as my uncle Rest in peace, Eric All my love Shan Your Niece - Shanna Thompson