Identity
Person No.
24857
Service No.
589430V
Last Name
First Name
Robert Percy Howden
Initials
R P H
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
22
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during heavy shelling of the Regiment's positions in the vicinity of Monte Pezza, Italy
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Royal Natal Carbineers 221
Later renamed
Natal Carbineers
(1961)
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Grave Reference
Coordinates
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 John Campbell Taylor (dynamite worker at Modderfontein Dynamite Factory South Africa) and Mary Law Taylor (nee Stevely), of 25A Central Avenue, Kempton Park, Johannesburg. Robert was 5'10'' tall, fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair. He had a scar on the left knee and his forehead. He was the youngest of six children. Robert was first posted at TPR, S.A.A.C. Kafferskraal on the 13 April 1943. He AWOL'd a few times. He was admonished for one time then, given 7 Days C.B. on another occasion. A lorry driver and handyman.
Citations
Unknown
External References
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Dedications
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