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Basson , Johannes Albertus (J A)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
1277
Service No.
196224
Last Name
First Name
Johannes Albertus
Initials
J A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
27
Death Record
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, by exploding shell near Bardia, North Africa
Military Service
Rank
Private
Regiment
Unknown
Secondary Unit
South African Police
Defence Force
SAP 3,731
South African Police
Location
Locality
Unknown
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Proposed / National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Operation
Operation
Dates
1941-11-18 to 1941-12-30
About
Allied offensive in the Western Desert (Nov–Dec 1941) that relieved Tobruk and pushed Axis forces back from the Egyptian frontier. South African Police Brigade (6th SA Infantry Brigade, 2nd SA Division) fought in the Capuzzo–Bardia–Sollum area.
Notes

Son of Hester Helena and the late William Albertus Basson. Husband of Iris Mabel basson, of 17 Church Street, Mowbray, Cape Province.
Killed by enemy shelling near Bardia (Dec 1941), South African Police. Stegmann (The Lights of Freedom) describes the first Police Brigade shell casualties around the Capuzzo–Bardia front (long-range German guns); he names a comrade “Potgieter” for the first funeral — some memoir names were changed.

Research notes

Stegmann, George. The Lights of Freedom. Just Done Productions / Lulu, 2007 (ISBN 978-1-920169-48-0).

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
by George Stegmann (The Lights of Freedom) on 26 August 2026
Killed by enemy shelling in the Capuzzo–Bardia sector, December 1941, while serving with the South African Police in the Western Desert.

George Stegmann’s The Lights of Freedom describes the demoralising effect of long-range shelling on the same front and the brigade’s early war funerals.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.