A memorial wall listing past members of the SAAF was unveiled by Lieutenant General Roelf Beukes on 6 May 2001, and a Garden of Remembrance, which contains ashes of former SAAF members, opened on 7 May 2004. Any “bone-fides member” of the South African Air Force or the South African Air Force Association can qualify to have his or her ashes stored in a special niche in the garden; the ashes of the member’s spouses or partners may also be stored in an adjacent niche.
Fort Klapperkop had guns mounted on ramparts that could be revolved and fired through numerous openings for maximum firepower in any direction. Trenches and barbed wire further prevented infantry infiltration. The fort harnessed the latest communication systems, which saw the telegraph rooms equipped with telephones. The fort had unique features – it was built with a moat around it and a drawbridge, but the moat was never filled with water. The fort was supplied with running water from a pump station that it shared with Fort Schanskop and electricity was generated by a paraffin engine.
In 1630, the Portuguese “Sao Concalo” ship which got shipwrecked at Robberg in March that year, had been anchored at the mouth of the Piesang River, according to the “Sao Concalo” article in the Sunday Times of 22 June 1924. This shows us that Piesang Valley is mentioned at early as the early 17th century.
