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Cloete , John James Hearn (J J H)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
29772
Old ROH no.
226
Service No.
70398417BT
Last Name
First Name
John James Hearn
Initials
J J H
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
23
Death Record
Cause code
ACC 1,584
Accident
Cause of Death
Died in Freak Accident, at Rundu, mortar exploded in Swartland Training area
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1978 Army. Left column. 4th name from the top (Cloete J.J.H.)
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry
Status
Active Citizen Force (Reserve)
Part of
Part of
Originated 1905 as the Transvaal Cycle Corps; became 11th Infantry (Rand Light Infantry) and transferred to the Active Citizen Force in 1913; renamed Rand Light Infantry 1932. Merged with Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles 1942-45 (WWII), re-established as a reserve unit post-war, serving in the Border War.
Notes

Husband of Mrs. J. H. Cloete

Research notes

SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1978 SAA (Castle–Havenga, Mennigke–Wolfgang)". 1978 Army. Left column. 4th name from the top (Cloete J.J.H.). 26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "1 Special Service Battalion" → Rand Light Infantry (SAWGP Regiment, no Unit).
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.
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
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