Identity
Person No.
29672
Old ROH no.
186
Service No.
75244400BG
Last Name
First Name
Paul Stephanus
Initials
P S
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1979 Army. Left column. 12th name from the top (Buys P.S.)
Unit History
Role at time of death
Armour (Armoured Car)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Resuscitated as a Permanent Force unit in 1946, when the South African Armoured Corps was officially proclaimed and the Special Service Battalion was included in it as the corps's only full-time unit, its symbols and colours being incorporated. Same lineage as the Special Service Battalion (OrgEntityID 5278); "1 Special Service Battalion" is the specific numbered battalion within that Permanent Force unit.
SOURCE CONFLICT, recorded rather than resolved: the 1 SSB article says the post-war reorganisation produced "1 Special Service Battalion and 1 South African Infantry Battalion", which would make 1 SAI the other battalion from the start. The Special Service Battalion and 2 SSB articles instead have the second battalion carrying the name 2 SSB until 26 January 1951, when it was renamed 1 SAI. The two accounts cannot both be right about when the name 1 SAI appeared. NO OrgEntityAlias is recorded for 2221 on the strength of either.
Border War service falls in this era: South West Africa and Angola, with squadrons detached to battlegroups rather than the regiment deploying whole -- among them 63 Mechanised Battalion Group, on Operations Merlyn and Agree in 1989. Equipped with the Eland 60 and Eland 90. All but three of the men on this roll who point at 2221 died in this period.
The Union Defence Force became the South African Defence Force in 1957, part-way through this era; no man on this roll attached to 2221 died before 1964, so the change affects none of them.
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Mr. C. M. Buys.
Research notes
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1978 SAA (Hitchens–Human, Wolmarans) to 1979 SAA (Akaando–Djolomien, Maarman–Saal)". 1979 Army. Left column. 12th name from the top (Buys P.S.). 26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "6 LAA Regiment" → 1 Special Service Battalion (SAWGP Unit).
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour, pages 36-41: unit given as "1 Special Service Battalion" vs ROH "6 LAA Regiment" (SN 75244400BG matches exactly) — confirmed match, not overwritten.
Stories 1
Paul was killed on the Oshikango border post by a booby trap/land mine(s). This was just before the usual 40 days to complete our 2 years national service. Paul was one person who just got on with everyone. He was in my bungalow for some time. Paul was a replacement driver as the regular driver for this Eland had gone down to Grootfontein to write an exam. I was a gunner in the 32Charlie car on the same operation and we dislodged a landmine by riding over the edge as we crossed over into Angola. We found this out later...Tough day!!
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.