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Engel , Patrick Cornelius (P C)

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Photo of Engel
Identity
Person No.
30237
Old ROH no.
426
Service No.
80286958BG
Last Name
Engel 1
First Name
Patrick Cornelius
Initials
P C
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1964 (±1 yr) 296
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
05 April 1983 144
Cause code
MVA 2,660
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in motor vehicle accident 1,764
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, at Oshivello, when his Withings Recovery Vehicle drove into the rear of a stationary vehicle
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Unknown
Corps
South African Ordnance Services Corps 95
Later renamed South African Ordnance Service Corps
Unit
16 Maintenance Unit 25
Defence Force
SADF 3,874
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,879
Locality
Northern Cape 808
Cemetery
KIMBERLEY (WEST END) CEMETERY 425
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 6
Coordinates
-28.73608, 24.73764 OSM
Notes

Son of Mr. and Mrs. V. T. A. M. Engel

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 05 Apr 2026: 80286958BG Private Patrick Cornelius Engel, 16 Maintenance Unit, killed when his Withings Recovery Vehicle drove into the rear of a stationary vehicle at Oshivello, age 19.
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 "Air Force" was CLEARED. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word, and it CONTRADICTED this record's own Branch, "Army". Across the roll 787 records carried such a contradiction; judged against Corps and Regiment -- independent of both columns -- the evidence backed Branch 744 times and Unit2 not once. Branch is therefore kept and the contradicting word removed. Nothing is guessed: this man's branch of service is already recorded, and his sub-unit, if any, is simply not known.

Citations
Unknown
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