Identity
Person No.
30274
Old ROH no.
1734
Service No.
77411411BG
Last Name
First Name
Derick James
Initials
D J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
18
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MVA 2,634
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, Buffel overturned while on patrol in the Etosha Pan Game Reserve
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. F. T. Evans
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Jan 2026: 77411411BG Lance Corporal Derick James Evans, 61 Mechanised Battalion Group, killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned while on patrol in the Etosha Pan Game Reserve, age 18. ROH unit is 4 SAI (not overwritten).
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
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Jan 2026: 77411411BG Lance Corporal Derick James Evans, 61 Mechanised Battalion Group, killed when his Buffel Troop Carrier overturned while on patrol in the Etosha Pan Game Reserve, age 18. ROH unit is 4 SAI (not overwritten).
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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), page 92 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 6
Derek Evans was a friend of my brother, and we heard he dead when the Buffel he was in, overturned in the Ethosha reserve. Derek and his family lived at Zwavelpoort, outside Pretoria, at the time of his death.
Also listed on the 4 SAI Memorial. Assume he was attached to 61 Mech.
Derek was the cousin of my husband Douglas David Evans. His untimely death was a great shock to us, just a few days after my mother-in-law (his aunt Kay passed away). His parents Ann and Fred Evans have both also since passed away, but his brothers Trevor ( Uvongo), Peter( Sinoville, Pta) and sister Alethia are still alive. They have sold their part of the family farm, Zwavelpoort, outside Pta, but Doug and his brother, Roger still owns their part of the farm.
I was in the same Platoon and section as L Cpl Evans- 4 SAI Middelburg, Echo Company, Platoon 3, Section 3. He was our bren commander, a good friend and a great soldier. I was with him in Etosha Pans on the day of his death, but not on his patrol. I will never forget him and the times we had together. I can still see his face like it was yesterday. May he rest in peace.
I did section leading with Derek and in the company I rememeber him fondly, and we where listening in on the Radio as his Platoon Leader called in a chopper, you could hear his desperation and sorrow. what a waste John Buckland
I was in Echo Comp in 4 SAI "Inligting" based at Tsinsabis at the time. Our commanding officer was Capt Goles. L/cpl Evans and his peloton was based in Etosha. It was our first casualty, I still remember the sadness and the somber atmosphere in the camp the day (& weeks) after we received the message of the accident. Although I knew him only for a few months he was the type of person that made an impression...salute.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.