SOUTH-AFRICA-L Archives

Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 2004-06 > 1086123767


From: "Becky Horne" <>
Subject: Re: [ZA] Re: Military and Radio Ham research in South Africa
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 23:03:52 +0200
References: <5.2.1.1.2.20040601093302.00bcc130@pop1.sympatico.ca>


Hi Anne

Thank you for a great leap.

I did a search on Google Katima Mulilo+Wenela+Mapacha+23 August 1978.
Found a site Military Chronicle of South West Africa
http://home.wanadoo.nl/rhodesia/swatf.htm
Unfortunately the site has exceeded the maximum amount of traffic for the
day and I cannot gain access. Ironically it takes me straight to a German
site, http://www.wanadoo.nl/ that does not translate to English, so no go on
this link yet.

I did another search and found this site.
http://uk.geocities.com/sadf_history1/ferdivz.html
Has very interesting stories and here is an extract of one of them.

>>When I woke up the next morning, it was 6 January 1978 and I had a sick
feeling that the two years were going to be a very long time. After
breakfast we were marched off for our medical examinations. Although this
took a whole day, most of us ended up anyway as G1K1. Blood samples were
taken to determine our blood types but one month later we had to go again
because the samples were missing, AWOL or spoiled. Samples were taken again
and even that turned into a disaster because one of the recruits passed out
when he saw the blood. As he fell he smashed into the trolley with the blood
samples and many of the vials were destroyed. Luckily for him it was in the
days before anyone worried about blood infected with AIDS. Unlucky for me,
mine was one of the smashed vials and I had to stand in line again for
another blood sample. The nurses were not very pretty and they treated us
like cattle. What we did not know at that stage was that by the end of
basics we would be turned into drooling idiots after catching just a
fleeting glimpse of one of them.>>

Thanks once again for the confirmer. At least I now have a date to work on.

Best wishes
Becky


This thread: