1. Shot down at Mapai, Mozambique 6 September 1979
Name list
Date: 21 Jun 2010
Contributed by: Neill Jackson, Rick van Malsen and Leon Bezuidenhout
Views: 4113
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2. Unmarked graves
Date: 11 Nov 2010
Contributed by: Neill Jackson, Rick van Malsen and Leon Bezuidenhout
Views: 900
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3. To brave men
Marker placed by the search party in 2009
Date: 11 Nov 2010
Contributed by: Neill Jackson, Rick van Malsen and Leon Bezuidenhout
Views: 1511
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4. Memorial to those who died in Operation Uric
List of names
Date: 13 Oct 2012
Contributed by: Johan Viktor
Views: 1083
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Recent comments
The Crew of Puma 17
| show fullshow summaryShot down at Mapai, Mozambique 6 September 1979
With the complete withdrawal of Frelimo and ZANLA troops from the Mapai area, the local headmen decided to bury the bodies of the fallen men where they lay, and placed them in two large...
Shot down at Mapai, Mozambique 6 September 1979
With the complete withdrawal of Frelimo and ZANLA troops from the Mapai area, the local headmen decided to bury the bodies of the fallen men where they lay, and placed them in two large graves, next to each other.
These graves remained unmarked and unkept for thirty years, their whereabouts unknown to all but the local population, who treated the crash area with reverence and respect, and no-one ventured anywhere near the grave site.
On Saturda
y 12 April 2009, a small search party led by former RLI Lieutenant Rick van Malsen discovered the crash site of Puma 164, and the graves of the seventeen brave men who died there. These men were finally laid to rest by their comrades-inarms, with a short service, and the placing of a memorial cross on the larger of the two graves.
The Roll of Honour of the fallen men was read out, whilst the haunting sounds of The Last Post rang out over the silent African bush.
Posted by eGGSA on Thu 11 Nov 2010 12:25:21 UTC