Iraq: SA man died in chopper

2003-03-24 07:34

Ziegfried Ekron

Cape Town - A young South African, who fought as a member of the British special forces in Iraq, has become one of the first casualties of the war.

Sholto Hedenskog, 27, was one of the 12 soldiers who died on Friday morning when a helicopter of the American navy crashed in Kuwait.

Hedenskog, seven other marines of the 3rd Commando Brigade and four American air force personnel were in the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, on its way to the Al-Faw peninsula, when it crashed about 16km south of the Iraqi border.

Lieutenant colonel Bill Curry of the British defence force said the accident was caused by a mechanical problem. There are no indications that Iraqi soldiers shot down the helicopter.

Bruce Hedenskog, Sholto's uncle, said the young man joined the British marines in November 2000.

"It wasn't a political decision. He was still a South African citizen and had no intention of giving that up. Since he was 14 years old, he had dreamt of becoming a marine.

"We all knew he was in the Gulf, but he reminded his family that he was living his dream.

"He spoke to his parents on Tuesday night and said he and his colleagues were preparing to invade Iraq," said Bruce Hedenskog.

Realised his army dream

Sholto was born and raised in Pretoria. He went to Valhalla Primary and matriculated from Sutherland High in Centurion.

He studied at Rhodes University in Grahamstown and completed a B Sc degree in biokinetics in 1998.

"He focused on realising his army dream. He gained a lot of experience in the relatively short time he was attached to the British army.

"He was already something of a veteran, having done a tour in Afghanistan, among other things," said his uncle.

He said Sholto was part of an elite group of marines, known as the Y-Troop.

"This is a specialist brigade that always deploys in groups of eight. This is why eight marines died in the crash.

"We obviously had thought about him a lot during the past couple of days and when we heard about the accident, we were very worried.

"One hopes and prays, nonetheless, that your family is not affected by it."

He said the air force attaché of the British high commission in Pretoria flew to Cape Town on Friday to tell the family.

"They and the British marines helped us a lot. Their support has truly been wonderful," said Sholto's uncle.

Sholto leaves his parents, Nick and Tertia Hedenskog, and two sisters, Megan, 24, and Eva, 19.

Arrangements for the memorial service have not been made. The family is not planning to wait for Hedenskog's remains to be returned to South Africa.

In another incident, six British and an American soldier died on Saturday morning when two helicopters of the British navy collided.

One of the helicopters had just taken off from the HMS Ark Royal, the largest British aircraft carrier. The other was on its way back from a mission when the two collided about 84 km from the ship.

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- Die Burger