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Greyling , Leslie Charles (L C)

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Photo of Greyling
Identity
Person No.
30533
Old ROH no.
526
Service No.
64020357BT
Last Name
Greyling 47
First Name
Leslie Charles
Initials
L C
Date of Birth
09 March 1947 97
Age at Death
30
Death Record
Date of Death
04 November 1977 98
Cause code
DOW 2,734
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds 2,436
Died of wounds, in Pretoria, received during the attack on Eheke
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
2 Reconnaissance Commando 2
Later renamed 2 Reconnaissance Regiment (1981)
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
2 Reconnaissance Commando 2
Later renamed 2 Reconnaissance Regiment (1981)
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,873
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
GERMISTON (SOUTHPARK) CEMETERY 34
Grave Reference
C1 1
Awards
Pro Patria Medal
Pro Patria Medal
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 Mrs. F. Greyling

Research notes

SASFA In Memoriam (operators): confirmed Special Forces operator. SASFA: Greyling Leslie DOW 1977. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf 26 Aug 2026: Unit was leftover "5 South African Infantry Battalion"; Regiment was "5th Reconnaissance Regiment". SAWGP Regiment 2 Reconnaissance Commando with no separate unit. 26 Aug 2026: Unit2 leftover formed-unit text cleared (not an arm-of-service or company/squadron qualifier).
Paul Greyling (ROH email 5 Nov 2015): confirmed ServiceNo (64020357BT) and Age (30) already matched exactly; added exact DOB (9 Mar 1947).
Jack Greeff, "A Greater Share of Honour: The Memoirs of a 'Recce' Officer" (3rd edition, September 2023, ISBN 978-1-920702-37-3), chapter 4 "Operation Kropduif", pages 90-96. Greeff was in the assaulting force at Eheke on 28 October 1977 and walked the ground immediately afterwards, so this is EYEWITNESS testimony rather than a compiled account. Of this man Greeff writes: "Les Greyling was seriously wounded but died later in hospital." This record already carries the died-of-wounds date of 4 November 1977, a week after the battle, which his account matches.
- NOTE, to prevent a future conflation: Greeff names TWO Greylings at Eheke. He found "Kallie Greyling... lying on his side, blood oozing from the left side of his chest and his left arm useless after taking four shots in the left side of the chest. He could still speak and I drew his pistol and handed it to him for protection." Kallie SURVIVED; Les did not. They are different men and only Les belongs on this roll.
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".

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