Identity
Person No.
29986
Old ROH no.
310
Service No.
83302422BG
Last Name
First Name
Matthys Michael
Initials
M M
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action. Due to tactical circumstances, the troop got stuck in the mud of a shona near the Lomba River during a tank fight, and the Ratel 90 was destroyed at point blank by a T55 tank. The commander, 2Lt Alves, his crew as well as 32 Bn members were killed instantly. The tank round penetrated the Ratel through the side door, detonated in the main ammunition storage container and resulted in an explosion causing the vehicle to catch fire. (Operation Modular)
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
32 (Buffalo) Battalion 275
Later renamed
32 Battalion
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
111 Harbor Protection Unit
Defence Force
SADF 3,821
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Within the Voortrekker Monument heritage precinct, Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
No. 127
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Cuito Cuanavale, Cuando Cubango province, Angola
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Operation Moduler
Operation
Operation
Dates
1987-08-01 to 1987-11-15
About
Operation launched to support UNITA against a major FAPLA offensive aimed at capturing UNITA's stronghold of Mavinga. Culminated in the Battle of the Lomba River (September-October 1987), where SADF mechanised and artillery forces, fighting alongside UNITA, halted and largely destroyed FAPLA's 47 Brigade attempting to cross the river — the action in which several ROH records on this site (Alves, De Klerk, Kuyler, McCallum, Mananza, Tchipango and others) were killed when their Ratel 90 was destroyed at point-blank range by a T-55 tank.
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. and Mrs. J. J. de Klerk
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 13 Sep 2026 / Bushwar Books Lest We Forget 13 September (https://www.warbooks.co.za/posts/lest-we-forget-13-september/ 83302422BG Lance Corporal Matthys Michael De Klerk, 32 Battalion, same Ratel 90 incident, age 20. Exact match.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Bushwar Books - Lest We Forget
open source ↗
Lest We Forget 13 September
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Graham Last Post 13 Sep 2026
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 66-76 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 1
13 Sep 1987: Six members of 32 Battalion were Killed in Action in a single incident during Ops Modular in Southern Angola. A 32 Battalion Anti-Tank Ratel 90, Callsign 13, Commanded by 2/Lieutenant Jose Raymond Alves became bogged down in a muddy shona while engaging FAPLA manned Soviet T-55 tanks. Before the men could extricate themselves, their Ratel 90 was hit and destroyed at point blank by a Soviet T-55 tank shell. The tank round penetrated the Ratel through the side door and detonated inside the main ammunition storage container. This resulted in an explosion within the Ratel causing the vehicle to catch fire. The Ratel crew and passengers were all killed instantly in the explosion. The burnt out Ratel was later destroyed by SADF Engineers to prevent its capture. Captain Alfred Desmond McCallum was the Commanding Officer of Foxtrot Company. Those Killed in Action were: 74316175PK Captain Alfred Desmond McCallum. He was 28 83502815BG 2/Lieutenant Jose Raymond Alves. He was 20. 83302422BG Lance Corporal Matthys Michael De Klerk. He was 20. 832441178BG Trooper Marthinus Johannes Kuyler. He was 20. 81533671SP Lance Corporal Joao Rodrigues Mananza. He was 33. 76928621SP Lance Corporal Waite Tchipango. He was 31
Dedications 2
from all of us at 32 battalion anti tank sqd 1987 you will always be in our thoughts 32 Battalion anti-tank sqd 1987
al B-Eskadron 1986-87 lede sal ons jou nooit vergeet nie van my af, ons het al die opleiding deur gemaak rus in vrede my friend fj van vollenstee lkpl (vollie)