Darrell Raubenheimer

I'm a Stroke Survivor - What's your Super Power?
Sprinkle with a dash of family & military history

[Mike the Warthog @thyphoidjack]

D-Day 6 June 1944

The majority of South Africans that participated in the Normandy landings on D Day were South African Navy personnel serving on the landing craft. Able Seaman John Barkley was one of those that made the ultimate sacrifice on D Day.

330688 Able Seaman John Barkley, South African Naval Forces, landing craft attached to HMS Copra. KIA 6 June 1944. Buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, France. Son of Michael J. and Harriet J. Barkley, of Southfield, Cape Province, South Africa.

(Photo: CWGC)

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

OTD 31 May 1915: The Kaffrarian Rifles return to East London aboard the ‘City of Athens’ after their role in the SWA campaign. Many then volunteered for 1st South African Infantry Brigade and fought at Delville Wood - where many now rest✝️
@sommecourt @thyphoidjack @RobPadoa

[Dan P @DanielJPhelan_]

A tranquil Maltese cemetery cared for by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, serving as the final resting place of more than 1,000 casualties from the two World Wars, alongside numerous civilian and military memorials.

📍Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery 🇲🇹

[Mike the Warthog @thyphoidjack]

Rome War Cemetery in Italy where 28 South African Souls including 6 POW's who died in captivity now rest.

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

OTD 27 May 1915 Spencer ‘Teddy’ Peacock-Edwards DFC born Kokstad
#Milton School Bulawayo, Rhodesia & #Michaelhouse 🇿🇦
WWII Fighter Ace #BoB One of The Few & Battle of France & Battle of Ceylon
Biography by his son fast-jet pilot Air Commadore (Rtd) Rick Peacock-Edwards CBE

[The Running Mann @runningmann100]

In this article Kendra Stewart, Must Love Hills run crew secretary and Cape Town Marathon employee, learns that people who love in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Another sordid tale of banditry, gaslighting and systemic delinquency: https://t.co/b1WXiFWNLo

#TTOM2026

[Mike the Warthog @thyphoidjack]

The Crash of Pelican 16📷

On 13 July 1994, a South African Air Force Avro Shackleton MR.3, tail number 1716, known as “Pelican 16,” made a forced landing in the Sahara Desert during a long range flight to the United Kingdom. The aircraft had been restored to flying condition earlier that year and was en route to take part in the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford, England.

The planned route from Cape Town to Duxford included stops in Gabon, Ivory Coast, and Portugal. Shortly after departing Abidjan, the crew, comprising active duty SAAF personnel, encountered serious engine problems over the desert.

The first issue involved engine #4, which began overheating and was shut down as a precaution. Power was redistributed to the remaining engines. Soon after, engine #3 emitted sparks and caught fire. The crew managed to extinguish the fire using the onboard suppression system, but the propellers failed to feather and continued windmilling at roughly 150 RPM.

In an effort to maintain altitude, engine #4 was restarted. It quickly overheated again, showing a white hot glow in the exhaust, and was shut down a second time. Its propellers also failed to feather, spinning at approximately 650 RPM.

With two windmilling propellers on the same wing, the aircraft experienced severe asymmetric drag and began losing altitude rapidly. A crash landing became unavoidable. The aircraft came down on a rocky outcrop about 14 km from the border of Western Sahara and Mauritania, skidding roughly 243 m across sand and rock before stopping.

All 19 crew members survived without serious injury. Stranded in a remote desert area within an active conflict zone, they laid out orange flight suits and single-man dinghies to form the message “19 OK” as a distress signal. A French Navy Atlantique II patrol aircraft, operating from Dakar, located them after being dispatched at 04h00 GMT. The crew was subsequently rescued and returned to South Africa.

The investigation pointed to a probable failure in the Translation Unit of engine #3, which controls the contra-rotating propellers. The unit, positioned between the propellers, appears to have failed due to internal mechanical stress following the shutdown of engine #4, although the exact cause was not conclusively determined.

Pelican 16 remains at the crash site in the desert. Its remote location and regional instability have prevented recovery, and the aircraft continues to deteriorate under exposure to the elements.

[Armée de Terre @armeedeTerre]

“Ils furent ici moins de soixante
opposés à toute une armée,
sa masse les écrasa.
La vie plutôt que le courage
abandonna ces soldats français
le 30 avril 1863.
À leur mémoire, la patrie éleva ce monument.”

#Camerone2026 🫡🇫🇷 @LegionEtrangere

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

OTD
30 April 2026 the Foreign Legion commemorates the 163rd anniversary of the Battle of Camerone

Images: Foreign Legion https://t.co/KpkY6dFG80

[🇨🇵 Französische Fremdenlegion (Légion étrangère) @LaLegion]

Bonne fête de Camerone 2026 à tous les légionnaires ! 🫡🇫🇷⚔️🇲🇽🟢🔴

An allen Standorten der Légion étrangère zelebrieren die Offiziere, Unteroffiziere und Legionäre heute mit ihren Familien und Freunden den wichtigsten Feiertag der französischen Fremdenlegion.🍷🎉

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

ANZAC Day
🇦🇺🇳🇿
OTD 111 years ago 25.4.1915 Sgt (later Lt) Frederick Conradi MSM, from Dixons Creek, landed on Gallipoli with the 4th Batt 2nd FA Bde AIF

Later served on Western Front, married Dorothy Colcutt 1919, returned safely to 🇦🇺 1920

#ANZAC #WeRemember #LestWeForget

[Mike the Warthog @thyphoidjack]

The memorial to the 50 Allied Airmen POW's (including 4 South African Airmen) who escaped from Stalag Luft III at Sagań in Poland and who were later re-captured and executed by the Gestapo on the personal orders of Hitler himself.

[Mike the Warthog @thyphoidjack]

The Gaza War Cemetery in the Gaza trip where the Souls of two South African Cape Corps members from World War Two now rest.

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

@RobPadoa "nunc animis" - "Now without fear"

[Rob Heine 💔 🏉🏆🔥 @RobPadoa]

This is my old civilian force regiment the Kaffrarian Rifles, formed in 1876, exercising their right to the freedom of the City of East London back then..a very proud regiment in many wars including WW2...now known as the Buffalo Volunteer Rifles

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

Easter Sunday 1942
OTD Easter Sunday 84 years ago cousins at the Battle of Ceylon (the Easter Sunday raid)
William Henry Emberton KIA 5.4.42 on HMS Cornwall
Spencer 'Teddy' Peacock-Edwards DFC, 258 Sqn RAF, shot down 5.4.42, survived
During BoB Teddy "One of The Few" with 253 Sqn

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

On this day 47 years ago … 24 March 1979 Clare Taylor runs 2:57:26

First South African woman to run a sub-3 marathon; First woman to run sub-3 on African soil; Clare is now probably better known in swimming circles than road running
#Sub3 #Marathon #42km

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

#RLI #TheSaints #Rhodesia

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

Happy birthday Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI)

Formed 1st February 1961, at Brady Barracks, Bulawayo

Image: Rhodesian Services Association (Incorporated) https://t.co/Qr8ur7MW8A

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

Happy birthday Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI)

Formed 1st February 1961, at Brady Barracks, Bulawayo

Image: Rhodesian Services Association (Incorporated) https://t.co/Qr8ur7MW8A

[Darrell Raubenheimer @DarrellRaubs]

@thyphoidjack Ah yes, raised