Identity
Person No.
15438
Service No.
4568
Last Name
First Name
Herbert Philip
Initials
H P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
30
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, at Point 204. This little-known clash occurred in the Alem Hamza area of the Gazala Line. The single company involved suffered heavy casualties in a clash with Italian troops, six were killed
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Natal Carbineers 221
Later renamed
Natal Carbineers
(1961)
Unit
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Memorial
Memorial
Location
El Alamein, Matruh Governorate, Egypt
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Column 119.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry (1st Bn); 2nd Bn converted to armour 1939-45 as 6th Reconnaissance Regiment, SA Tank Corps (Egypt)
Status
Active Citizen Force
WWII-only split: 1st Battalion fought as infantry; 2nd Battalion converted to armour, later amalgamated with 4th Armoured Car Regiment as 4th/6th ACR. Not a permanent whole-regiment Corps change. No SADF-era (1974-92) brigade attachment found in available sources -- left unrecorded rather than guessed.
Notes
Son of Mr. Harry Masterton-Smith, of Alexandra Terrace, Harfield Road, Claremont, Cape Province. Born in Bergville, Natal. An advertising copywriter. Phil Masterton-Smith, nicknamed "Unogwaja" meaning hare in Zulu (as in the animal) became the youngest ever Comrades Marathon winner, aged 19 in 1931 when he defeated Noel Buree in a close finish to the line. In 1933 he couldn't afford the train fare from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg. Instead of giving up and not running that year, he cycled the distance (around 1,700km). He made it and finished 10th in the Comrades. In 2011, 4 men set out to emulate his feat of 1933; the Unogwaja Challenge was born.
Citations
Unknown
External References
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