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Gildenhuys , William Henry Bernard (W H B)

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Photo of Gildenhuys
Identity
Person No.
30425
Old ROH no.
503
Service No.
65778532BV
Last Name
Gildenhuys 3
First Name
William Henry Bernard
Initials
W H B
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1949 (±1 yr) 199
Age at Death
28
Death Record
Date of Death
25 May 1977 103
Cause code
DOW 2,733
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds 2,435
Died of wounds, after suffering multiple shrapnel wounds while detached to Alpha Company, 1 Parachute Battalion for special duties. During an anti-insurgent patrol with 1 Parachute Battalion to the rear of the Cape Town Highlander's position and north-east of Ondangwa where mining of vehicle tracks had become a common feature, he was killed during an extremely gallant attempt to save others when saw the safety pin being accidentally extracted from a soldiers rifle-grenade by a thorn bush. He rushed forward, grabbed the rifle and tried to fire off the grenade to prevent injuries to the other soldiers in the patrol but the rifle grenade exploded before he could do this. Rifleman F.E. Eksteen, W.R. Hamber, R.J. Schonken and A.J. Rohlandt were all injured in the explosion. Sergeant Gildenhuys was posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux for his gallant action that ultimately cost him his life
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
Cape Town Highlanders 73
Later renamed First City/Cape Town Highlanders (1943)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,346
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,825
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,869
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
CAPE TOWN (MAITLAND) CEMETERY 889
Grave Reference
MG. 100. 1
Coordinates
-33.91592, 18.52805 OSM
Unit History
Attached To
Army Battle School
Part of
71 Motorised Brigade
Awards
Honoris Crux (1975)
Honoris Crux (1975) (HC)
South Africa · awarded 1977-05-25
Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975). While detached to Alpha Company, 1 Parachute Battalion, north-east of Ondangwa, a rifle-grenade safety pin was accidentally pulled by a thorn bush. Sergeant Gildenhuys rushed forward, grabbed the rifle and tried to fire off the grenade to protect the patrol; it exploded before he could do so and he died of wounds. Riflemen F.E. Eksteen, W.R. Hamber, R.J. Schonken and A.J. Rohlandt were injured. This account is already recorded on his death narrative; Wikipedia lists him among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)
Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

Cleared stolen ServiceNo 65778532BV (belongs to Gingles A. PN 30426, 5 Recce, 1981-10-15). | Willem Steenkamp, Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola 1975–1980, 3rd ed. (Just Done Productions, 2006, ISBN 978-1-920169-00-8): Appendix B Honoris Crux recipient no. 36, Sergeant W. H. B. Gildenhuys (P), Cape Town Highlanders, serial 65778532BV — matching this name, unit and posthumous award. That service number had been sitting on Alan Gingles (PersonNumber 30426, 5 Recce, 1981-10-15), a different person; moved here 26 Aug 2026.
4 Sep 2026: Unit leftover "Cape Town Highlanders Regiment" (a named regiment, not a sub-unit) moved to Regiment. Corps unchanged.
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.

Citations

Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975). While detached to Alpha Company, 1 Parachute Battalion, north-east of Ondangwa, a rifle-grenade safety pin was accidentally pulled by a thorn bush. Sergeant Gildenhuys rushed forward, grabbed the rifle and tried to fire off the grenade to protect the patrol; it exploded before he could do so and he died of wounds. Riflemen F.E. Eksteen, W.R. Hamber, R.J. Schonken and A.J. Rohlandt were injured. This account is already recorded on his death narrative; Wikipedia lists him among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)

External References
Stories 2
on 30 May 2001 · via source
A Calamitous Incident Alpha Company was detached for special duties in a terrorist hunting excercise with the Parachute Battalion to the rear of the Cape Town Highlander's position and north-east of Ondangwa, where mining of vehicle tracks had become a common feature. Tragically, late on 25th May, Sgt W.H.B. Gildenhuys, a 27-year-old weapons instructor of No 3 Platoon of the company, whose brother had served in the regiment and whose father and mother had been in the Navy and Airforce, died of wounds received in an extremely gallant attempt to save others when a rifle grenade exploded whilst they were on patrol. Rfn F.E. Eksteen, W.R. Hamber, R.J. Schonken and A.J. Rohlandt were all injured at the same time. Sgt. Gildenhuys's body was flown back to Cape Town. He was a married man with a baby son, and was popular with everyone. Gildenhuys had been with the Cape Town Highlanders for more than ten years and had been bitterly disappointed at being medically turned down the previous year for service in Angola. At his full military funeral from St Andrew's Presbyterian Church on 30th May, Pipe-Major N. Mouton played the "Flowers of the Forest" lament and Bugler E. van der Spuy sounded the "Last Post" and "Reveille". In the desolate bush country where he had met his death his fellows commemorated his passing with a minute's silence. He was posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux for his bravery. Taken from the book "The Cape Town Highlanders, 1885 - 1985" by Niel Orpen, ISBN 0620095075, Page 84 John Dovey
by Accidentally Killed John Dovey on 16 January 2002 · via source
Accidentally Killed John Dovey dovey.john@gmail.com 2002-01-16 16:16:40
Dedications 1
on 17 September 2008 · via source
I worked with Bernie G at the ex Divisional Council of the Cape and was at the same "CF camp" the year of his death. The old Council at 44 Wale Street Cape Town had in the cash foyer at that time a roll of honour of those who died in miltary service and who worked at the Council. Bernie's name was the most recent entry to that roll. What happened to the roll, I don't know but an effort to find it may be worth while if it has been removed. Not only was he a dedicated worker but a dedicated part time soldier and gentleman. Kelvin Barry(LCpl)