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Haipengi , Tobia (T)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
30593
Old ROH no.
35473
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
First Name
Tobia
Initials
T
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
21
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in Operation Sceptic, in contact with the enemy at Smokeshell
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
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
Operation
Operation
Dates
1980-06-01 to 1980-06-30
About
Large mechanised operation into southern Angola against SWAPO bases around Chifufia and Mongua, notable as an early large-scale combat use of the Ratel infantry fighting vehicle and Olifant tank.
Awards
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

Of Owambo

Research notes

SN CORRECTION 25 Aug 2026: ServiceNo 71329221N cleared -- the pantser.cmvo.org.za SADF deaths PDF lists that number under "HAHN, KEITH" (RFN, Sterf 18 07 73), matching PersonNumber 30589 (Hahn, DateDeath 1973-07-18) by surname and exact date, not this record. Original value: "71329221N". Left as an unresolved collision otherwise -- this correction is specific to this one PDF-confirmed case, not a general claim this record's other data is wrong.
4 Sep 2026: Regiment leftover "SA Army" cleared -- that's the service branch (Army, as distinct from Navy/Air Force), not a specific regiment; the actual unit ("101 Battalion") is already captured in Unit. Per John's decision, the 52 records with no better Unit info were left as-is.
21 Sep 2026: Regiment corrected 101 Battalion -> 35 Battalion. This man died on 1980-06-10, before the unit took the name 101 Battalion: it was designated 35 Battalion until the South West Africa Territory Force was established on 1 August 1980, a rename this roll already recorded in OrgEntityAlias. Prompted by Mike Sandham's correction of 20 Sep 2026 on Shangweni (32903), applied across every 1980 SWATF rename. The later name is not wrong as a way of identifying the unit today -- sources compiled afterwards routinely use it -- but it is not the name this man served under.
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
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