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Fernando , Gabriel (G)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
30297
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
First Name
Gabriel
Initials
G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
37
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
DOAS 7,467
Died on active service
Cause of Death
Died on active service
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Unknown
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,815
South African Defence Force
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Role at time of death
Special Forces (reconnaissance)
Status
Regular Force
Each numbered Reconnaissance unit was renamed over time: "X Reconnaissance Commando" -> "X Reconnaissance Regiment" (1981) -> briefly a Parachute Battalion designation (1992/93, under "45 Parachute Brigade", a Special-Forces-only designation distinct from the real 44 Parachute Brigade) -> "X Special Forces Regiment" (1995). The parent formation itself changed name several times before 1995 (Special Forces Headquarters, then Directorate Reconnaissance(Forces)) with disputed exact dates between sources -- 1995 is the one date sources agree on. Corps classified as SAIC (South African Infantry Corps) per this site's own records; no independent source found confirms that for Special Forces units specifically -- treat as owner-asserted pending a better citation.
Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "32 (Buffalo) Battalion" → 5 Reconnaissance Regiment (SAWGP Regiment, no Unit); Regiment "South African Army" → 5 Reconnaissance Regiment (SAWGP Regiment).
16 Sep 2026, ServiceNo contamination sweep: the stored ServiceNo '81511792SP' was CLEARED. It was not a reading of this man's record. PersonNumbers 30296 to 30297 -- 2 consecutive records -- all carried the identical number, which belongs to the record at the head of that run (30296, Fernando, Augusto (D)). A value repeated down an unbroken block of PersonNumbers is a forward-fill import artefact, not men who shared a service number; the pattern holds across 850 such runs on this roll and is independently confirmed by Mike Sandham's research log, which attaches such numbers to the head of the run 167 times against 6 contradictions (all examined). No replacement is guessed: this man's real service number is simply not known, and a blank field says so honestly where another man's number did not.

Citations
Unknown
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