Wilhelm Friedrich Ratte (born 14 February 1948) is a former member of the elite Rhodesian Special Air Service of the Rhodesian Army, and former lieutenant colonel in 32 Battalion, the most decorated unit in the South African Defence Force. He is the youngest son born to a South African mother and German father.
Early life
Wilhelm Friedrich Ratte was born on 14 February 1948 in Paarl, a town located 60 kilometers east of Cape Town, to a South African mother of German descent, Hertha Stoltz and a German father, Wilhelm Joseph Ratte from Recklinghausen. He was the youngest son and attended school in Germany and South Africa. Wilhelm Ratte was named after his grandfather and lived with his foster parents Heinrich and Maria Ratte while attending school in Germany. He graduated from high school in South Africa in 1964. In 1972 he became a school teacher and moved to Namibia where he taught at a German school in Windhoek.
Military career
Ratte volunteered to join the Rhodesian Army in 1973 and was in the Rhodesian Light Infantry and later transferred to the elite Rhodesian Special Air Service. After six years in the Rhodesian Army and before the 1980 disbandment of the Rhodesian Special Air Service, Ratte left and joined the South African Defence Force. He was transferred to the elite 32 Battalion in 1979 with the rank of lieutenant. His command and reconnaissance skills during reconnaissance operations such as "Project Spiderweb" earned him a promotion in 1984 to the rank of captain and in 1985 promoted again to the rank of major. In 1990 he was again promoted, this time to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He resigned in 1991.
Awards
Post-military
Disbandment
The mainly San 31 Battalion was disbanded on 7 March 1993 shortly before 32 Battalion was disbanded on 26 March 1993. Willem Ratte and his men wanted to hand over 30 one rand coins to President F.W. de Klerk in parliament as a symbol of what was described as "Judas treachery for the total disbandment of former black Portuguese speaking soldiers who fought Marxism" in the South African Border War. The bag of coins and list of fallen 32 Battalion members could not be handed over directly in parliament and was given to Dr Willie Snyman the leader for the Conservative Party for Pietersburg. President de Klerk refused to accept the bag and the list from him and it was seized and held in parliament.
Fort Schanskop – 1993/1994
On 16 December 1993 Willem Ratte led the paramilitary "Pretoria Boere Commando" to occupy Pretoria's Fort Schanskop, an old German designed Fort completed in 1897, to mark the anniversary of the Day of the Vow. The armed protest and occupation was their objection to a multi-racial government at the cost of Boer and Afrikaner heritage. Fort Schanskop being symbolic of their heritage as it was built to ward off the British by the Boers and Afrikaners in 1899 before the Anglo Boer War. While the Fort was being occupied by Willem Ratte and the Pretoria Boere Commando, the government called in General Constand Viljoen and Kobus Visser to end the occupation and to get them to surrender. Ratte and 2 others of the Pretoria Boere Commando refused to surrender and escaped from the Fort that night even while encircled by the South African National Defense Force and South African Police. Those who chose to hand themselves over had not been arrested on weapons charges as all their firearms had been licensed. Two days later Willem Ratte broadcast from Radio Donkerhoek stating that he would not surrender. A few days after the incident at Fort Schanskop a locked door was forced open by police and explosives found. During the subsequent trial the police could not connect Willem Ratte to the explosives. They were all later tried and convicted for the illegal armed occupation. Ratte refused to acknowledge the validity of the court and did not speak in his defense. Judge M.C. De Witt, sentenced him to 20 years, of which 15 years were suspended. Reaction from the South African media was mixed. The issue of heritage was repeated in the speech given by Willem Ratte in 1995 with regards to the illegal armed occupation of Fort Schanskop when he pointed to the English speaking press saying: