Memorial service for medalled Amanzimtoti Special Forces soldier
The memorial service, is being held at 11am on Saturday, 12 January.
AN Amanzimtoti Special Forces soldier is to be honoured at his memorial service on Saturday by military men, masons and members of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (Moths).
Peter Cole (78) died suddenly at the Life Westville Hospital just before Christmas, almost a month after being transferred from Netcare Kingsway Hospital.
A former British Parachute Regiment soldier who saw service with the United Nations, he later joined C Squadron, the Rhodesian Special Air Service (SAS) and was commissioned from the ranks. He was second-in-command of a squadron, was wounded in action three times and awarded the Defence Forces Medal for Meritorious Service. His citation, which told of his high level of professionalism and devotion to duty, noted that his coolness and presence of mind during the many and various special operations which imposed great responsibility and danger on small groups of men, was “a fine example and inspiration to the men who served with him”.
At the end of the bush war, he moved to South Africa and joined the Reconnaissance Commando at the Bluff, later accepting a position as a military advisor with the Transkei Defence Force’s Special Forces, where he rose to the rank of Major.
During this time, he helped his journalist wife Barbara with her acclaimed book “The Elite, the Story of the Rhodesian Special Air Service,” which is due for re-release this year.
Following a coup in the Transkei, he swapped his camouflage for pin-stripes and worked in the private security industry in London. Retiring in Toti, he was an active Mason and a past master of Amanzimtoti Lodge who was involved at district level. He was a member of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (Moths) Picardi Bazooka Shellhole.
The couple’s daughter, Louise, is flying in from England for the memorial service, which is being held at C Squadron SAS Memorial, Garden of Remembrance, Flame Lily Park, 565 Stella Road, Malvern, Queensburgh at 11am on Saturday, 12 January.
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