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Britz , Roelof Nicolas (R N)

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Photo of Britz
Identity
Person No.
29608
Old ROH no.
162
Service No.
71387971BA
Last Name
Britz 35
First Name
Roelof Nicolas
Initials
R N
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1955 (±1 yr) 397
Age at Death
23
Death Record
Date of Death
14 November 1978 108
Cause code
ACC 1,585
Accident
Cause of Death
Died in Freak Accident 255
Died in Freak Accident, at Kavango, killed by crocodile while swimming in the river
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Regiment
32 (Buffalo) Battalion 275
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,342
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
452 Parachute Battalion
Defence Force
SADF 3,817
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,850
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926
Grave Reference
Body not recovered 79
Memorial
Memorial
SADF Wall of Remembrance
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Notes

Son of Mrs. J. M. Herbst, of Victoria West.

Research notes


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
by Dion Rossouw on 24 January 2007 · via source
2 Lt Roelie Britz from 32 Bn Gp was killed by a crocodile on the night of 14 November 1978 when he went for a swim in the Kavango River. His body was never recovered. Information from Louis Bothma's book, Die Buffel Struikel.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.