Identity
Person No.
30240
Old ROH no.
1724
Service No.
76487503PF
Last Name
First Name
Eduard Coetzee
Initials
E C
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during special operation in support of UNITA at Savate, Angola, in a contact with the enemy. (Operation Tiro a Tiro)
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Corporal
Regiment
32 (Buffalo) Battalion 275
Later renamed
32 Battalion
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,823
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Within the Voortrekker Monument heritage precinct, Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
No. 47
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Savate, Cuando Cubango (Cubango) province, Angola
Coordinates
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Killed at Savate, 21 May 1980, Operation Tiro a Tiro
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1980 Army. Left column. 40th name from the top (Engelbrecht E.C.)
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 P. C. Engelbrecht, of Otjiworongo, Namibia
Research notes
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.". 1980 Army. Left column. 40th name from the top (Engelbrecht E.C.). | Locality was wrongly set to "Gauteng" -- corrected 28 Aug 2026 as part of a broader systemic fix: a large batch of records (thousands, mostly DateChecked 2026-08-17 and a few other dates) were defaulted to Gauteng regardless of the person's actual origin. This record's own AddInfo places them outside South Africa entirely, so Locality is cleared rather than guessed at a specific province.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 36-41 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
32 bn May 21 1980 Savate Angola cpl Andy falkus cpl engelbrecht capt Erasmus Lt patrick Capt C Muller (I think) This was a spec op in support of UNITA and the actual attack commenced at 09:21 Dean Shelley [dean@phoenix.idiscover.co.uk]
On 21 May, 32 Battalion were tasked to support a UNITA attack on the FAPLA base at Savate, Angola. Unknown to them, the FAPLA strength had been badly underestimated by UNITA and there was over 1000 heavily armed soldiers at Savate, rather than the 300 estimated. However, the assault went in as planned, and after a bloody day of fighting, Savate was captured and FAPLA routed with more than 550 dead and hundreds more wounded. Sadly, the battle cost 32 Battalion dearly, fifteen officers and men being killed in the fighting that day. Corporal Engelbrecht was one of the men who made the supreme sacrifice. Information extracted from 32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit ,
Dedications 2
Ou Engel, dit was baie lank gelede, maar ek onthou jou nogsteeds as 'n baie aangename, skaam rooikop Suidwester. Jou troepe was baie lief vir jou, het jou probeer beskerm tot op die einde, een het sy lewe gegee. Jy het jou lewe gegee vir waarin jy glo, heeltemal te vroeg. Dis egter God se wil gewees. Jy sal altyd spesiaal vir die mense van 32Bn wees.
Eduard of soos ek hom op skool met die byname van-(ALWARVO of VLAKTE), gedoop het was baie geliefd tussen sy skoolmaats, veral die 1978 matriek groep. Ja van n stil en stemmige pel, tot selfs sy eerste pakslae wat ek en Willie in matriek, vir jou gestage het. Hoe ons gebuig het van die lag, nadat die skoolhoof jou jockey stukkend geslaan het. Ja daar was so baie humor stories. Dit was n voorreg om jou lewenspad te kon kruis en jou heengaan was n skok vir ons almal. Ons vier die jaar ons 30jaar skool reunie en jy is in ons gedagtes. God se rykste seenwense word sy familie toegewens.