Identity
Person No.
29755
Old ROH no.
215
Service No.
79526935BT
Last Name
First Name
Keith
Initials
K
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, Ops Askari, ten members that were part of an Anti-Aircraft team deployed near Caiundu in Southern Angola were killed during a fierce fire-fight when their position was attacked by a numerically superior enemy force of more than 200 FAPLA troops. Sergeant Hendrik Albertus Oosthuyse volunteered to remain behind armed with a MAG machine-gun and due to his heroic actions, he delayed the enemy advance sufficiently to allow the remainder of the team to successfully evade capture
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
Unit
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,815
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Operation
Operation
Dates
1983-12-09 to 1984-01-19
About
Major SADF operation into southern Angola against SWAPO and, for the first time on this scale, directly-engaged FAPLA forces around Cuvelai and Cahama; unexpectedly heavy FAPLA/Cuban resistance and losses on both sides contributed to the diplomatic track that produced the February 1984 Lusaka Accord.
Unit History
Home Unit
Attached To
Role at time of death
Infantry, later Armour
Status
Active Citizen Force (Reserve)
Part of
Part of
Pretoria Regiment, formed 1 July 1913 as an Active Citizen Force infantry battalion. Converted to armour 1943 (Italian Campaign, RAC depots in Egypt). Renamed Pretoria Armour Regiment 2019; one of 52 Reserve Force units renamed that year.
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 WO2 and Mrs. H. W. Claassen, of Pretoria. This was his second 3 month stint as a Platoon Leader.
Research notes
MERGE 25 Aug 2026: PersonNumber 48801 ("Claasen") deleted as a duplicate of this record -- identical ServiceNo (79526935BT) and DateDeath (1983-12-18), surname a spelling/OCR/case variant, confirmed via the pantser.cmvo.org.za SADF deaths PDF cross-check. Same class of error as the Sekonjela/Sekonyela merge earlier the same day. 26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "Infantry School Oudtshoorn" → Pretoria Regiment (SAWGP Regiment, no Unit); attachment attd. 202 Battalion.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
Stories
No stories have been added yet.
Dedications 3
From his gravestone in VTH Cemetery: "Jou plig vervul - Slaap rusting Seun. Jou Ouers, Broer en Suster." John Dovey
Keith, nagte saam onder die sterre, saam n waterbottel deel, saam lag, saam verlang na mense ver van ons... en nou mis ek jou my vriend. Jy was n ROTS in die laaste geveg, dit is ongelooflik wat jy vermag het teen die oormag net om jou makkers te red. Wees rustug my maat....soos die aandster!!
Keith, After all these years, you are still in my thoughts and prayers. What a great friend you were. All those games of Canasta we played when you were in base camp. All the laughter and fun. You will always be part of my "Good" army memories.