Planet Rugby Forum

two days ago South Africa’s last surviving D-Day fighter pilot fell down a flight of stairs and nearly missed out on a Cape Town award ceremony in his honour on Tuesday.

But General Albert Richard Götze, born in Prieska in the Northern Cape, is not easily defeated: sporting a bandaged arm and forehead, and eyes overflowing with 95 years, he received the Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight in the Legion of Honour) with a firm handshake on Tuesday from the French ambassador to South Africa, Christophe Farnaud.

Asked about his bruised appearance after falling down 13 steps earlier this week, Götze just smiled: “You should see the other guy,” he said.