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Stephen , Herbert Norman Vernon (H N V)

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Photo of Stephen
Identity
Person No.
24090
Service No.
93290
Last Name
Stephen 11
First Name
Herbert Norman Vernon
Initials
H N V
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1917 (±1 yr) 539
Age at Death
25
Death Record
Date of Death
10 May 1942 160
Cause code
SEA 815
Lost at sea
Cause of Death
Lost at sea 567
Lost in H.M. Hospital Ship Ramb IV
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Durban Light Infantry 161
Later renamed Durban Light Infantry (1961)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
2nd Bn. 451
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Egypt 2,947
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
ALAMEIN MEMORIAL 1,284
Grave Reference
Column 123. 17
Coordinates
30.83823, 28.94696 OSM
Memorial
Roll of Honour of the Royal Durban Light Infantry, 1939-1945 (panel 2 of 2) Source: kznpr.co.za (KZN: A Photographic Historical Record)
Names on WWII Roll of Honour
Memorial
Durban Light Infantry Chapel (Chapel of St Michael & St George)
Location
Durban Light Infantry Headquarters, Durban
Address
5 DLI Avenue, Durban, South Africa
Coordinates
-29.84722, 31.01583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
WWII Roll of Honour
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Memorial
Memorial for South African soldiers who died at El Alamein, 1942. Photo: Farawayman, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_African_Memorial_El_Alamein.jpg)
Names on Alamein Memorial (Missing)
Memorial
El Alamein War Cemetery and Memorial
Location
El Alamein, Matruh Governorate, Egypt
Address
El Alamein, Matruh Governorate, Egypt
Coordinates
30.83819, 28.94707 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Alamein Memorial (Missing)
On the panel
Column 123.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry
Status
Active Citizen Force
"Royal" dropped 1961 on Republic formation.
Notes

Son of Vernon Otto and Martha May Stephen, of Tweespruit, Orange Free State, South Africa. Born Thaba Nchu. A blacksmith with South African Railways by profession

Research notes


K.M. Jordan, Royal Durban Light Infantry WWII Roll of Honour ("working document", Aug 2026 draft; email to John & Bobby, 4 Sep 2026, marked "not 100% correct"): STEPHEN, Herbert Norman Vernon (Son of Vernon Otto & Martha May (nee Harley) Stephen, of Tweespruit, OFS.) 93290 Private Royal Durban Light Infantry Born Thaba 'Nchu. OFS 10/2/1917; a blacksmith with South African Railways before enlistment; served with the 2nd Battalion RDLI in North Africa; died / drowned when the (former Italian) hospital ship Ramb IV sank, after being bombed & set on fire by German aircraft off Alexandria, Egypt. (Body never recovered.) Alamein Memorial to the Missing, El Alamein War Cemetery, Egypt. (Also, on the Royal Durban Light Infantry WWII Memorial.) Not on Durban Cenotaph WWII Memorial. 10/05/1942 K8BP-MHH 25

Citations
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