[4] Breytenbach attended the Army Gymnasium in 1950, and was awarded the Sword of Peace in 1953 and joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm after serving in the Armoured Corps and saw service in the Suez Crisis in 1956.

In 1975 Breytenbach led Operation Savannah, the SADF's covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War.

In 1978, led the SADF air assault on Cassinga, and has continued to the present day to contest opposing versions of the event in the press.

Cloete, who took an iconic photograph of Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu on Robben Island in July 1964 after being given permission to do so by then-South African Prime Minister John Vorster, died in 2019.

[7][8] Breyten and Jan Breytenbach held strongly opposing political viewpoints, as his brother opted for a left-wing approach.