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Boshoff , Arthur Hendrik (A H)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
29514
Old ROH no.
122
Service No.
78576055BT
Last Name
Boshoff 42
First Name
Arthur Hendrik
Initials
A H
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1963 (±1 yr) 330
Age at Death
21
Death Record
Date of Death
20 June 1984 188
Cause code
DROW 1,200
Drowned
Cause of Death
Died in Freak Accident 255
Died in Freak Accident, drowned near the Epupa Falls on the Cunene River. Rifleman Boshoff and Wasas were on the Angolan side, trying to get back to the Namibian side. The log they had used to get to Angola from Namibia had disappeared down through the rapids. Wasas entered the river and got pulled through the rapids and most likely hit his head on a rock, losing consciousness. Boshoff and the section leader ran alongside the embankment of the river, past the rapids until they found a more calm spot and proceeded to swim across. When the section leader reached the Namibian side he could see Boshoff battling to keep his head above the water. He threw his arms in the air and got pulled under and disappeared. The section leader maintains he was pulled under by a whirlpool. Both bodies were found about 25 kms down the river. Boshoff 6 days later and Wasas 7 days later by a group of men in a boat who were sent to search for them
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
2 Transvaal Scottish 2
Unit
"C" Coy. 20
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,817
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,850
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
CAPE TOWN (MUIZENBURG) CEMETERY 31
Grave Reference
Grave 11082, Dutch Reformed Section 1
Coordinates
-34.09048, 18.48016 OSM
Notes

Son of Mr. and Mrs. G. J. Boshoff

Research notes

DATE DISCREPANCY 25 Aug 2026: pantser.cmvo.org.za's SADF deaths PDF gives this person's Sterf (date of death) as "21 06 84" (DD MM YY) against the same ServiceNo (78576055BT) and name -- differs from this record's DateDeath (1984-06-20). Not overwritten, flagged for reference.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
on 18 August 2010 · via source
Rfn Boshoff drowned while crossing the Kunene River between Namibia and Angola on the 20th or 21st June 1984. He, Rfn. L. Wasas and myself went across on a log to Angola and had to swim back to Namibia as the log had disappeared downstream. They both drowned and were found 26KMs downstream 6 days later. In my opinion Rfn. Boshoff was exhausted and appeared to have been sucked under by a whirlpool effect and Rfn. Wasas went through an area of rapids and was possibly knocked unconcious. I was their section leader Cpl. T.W.White. Cpl. T.W.White
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.

Source: https://rohsa.co.za/person.php?PersonNumber=29514&pdf=1

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South African Roll of Honour — Remembering those who served and fell. Lest We Forget.