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Elifas , Phillipus (P)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
30216
Old ROH no.
1780
Service No.
79860433HV
Last Name
Elifas 1
First Name
Phillipus
Initials
P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1960 (±1 yr) 417
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
27 December 1980 92
Cause code
SHOT 546
Shot
Cause of Death
Died in Shooting Incident 289
Died in Shooting Incident, accidentally shot dead in Northern Owamboland (Sector 10) by members of a 53 Battalion patrol who mistook them for SWAPO/PLAN insurgents
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
101 Battalion 97
Formerly 35 Battalion (1980)
Corps
South West African Territory Force 376
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,873
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612
Memorial
1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.
Names on 1980 Army Abel-Ralikwatha
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
1980 Army Abel-Ralikwatha
On the panel
1980 Army. Left column. 39th name from the top (Elifas P.)
Unit History
Part of
SWATF (1977–1989) — Regular Infantry Battalions
Notes

ref. "The Covert War" by Peter Stiff

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 27 Dec 2022: 79860433HV Rifleman Phillipus Elifas, 101 Battalion SWATF, accidentally shot dead in Northern Owamboland by a 53 Battalion patrol who mistook them for SWAPO/PLAN insurgents, age 20. Same incident as Fhilipus E. PN 30313. ROH already had 53 Bn friendly fire in Sector 10; SWAPO/PLAN wording filled.
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.". 1980 Army. Left column. 39th name from the top (Elifas P.).
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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