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Identity
Person No.
30735
Old ROH no.
592
Service No.
84481994BG
Last Name
First Name
Johannes Reinhard Gerhardus
Initials
J R G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during an air attack by MIG 23s on the Calueque dam (50km North of SWA border, Angola). His Buffel was hit by a parachute retarded bomb, killing all eight soldiers from 8 SAI. An Eland armoured car was also hit, killing all 3 crew members
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Unit History
Awards
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
Attached to 10th Armoured Car Squadron. Son of Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Holder, of Carltonville.
Research notes
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
-
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), pages 66-76 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War in Angola Member Dedications forum (www.warinangola.com), Excel export supplied by Johan Schoeman, 1 Sep 2026. Forum post(s): 36361, 36362.
Stories
No stories have been added yet.
Dedications 2
RIP L/Cpl JRG Jannie Holder, Army Ops Medic 8 SAI
As an Ops Medic from 7 Medical Battalion, I was attached to 32 Battalion and we had been operating in the area North of Calueque and between Techipa and Xangongo for weeks. We collected an Officer and a signalman and went to just outside Techipa. The Loot gave the coordinates for Techipa and the G5's and G2’s began dropping accurate fire on the town. Somewhere south, weather balloons covered in tinfoil were sent up by the SADF and the Cubans / FAPLA began shooting surface to air missiles [SAM’s] from Techipa.
The following day, we awoke in our TB hearing Olifant tanks to our South. However, we were informed that the Tanks had withdrawn further south the night before. A hornet’s nest had been disturbed and so our own Angolan Comrades Marathon began as we were chased by tanks and armoured cars for most of the day. At one point the Ratel's commanded by Hannes Nortman intercepted the Cubans and a fierce battle ensued. There was a lot of close quarter shooting, Nortman was injured in the neck and Lt Muller (Mielie) Meiring was killed. The contact broke off and at one point we were picked up and given a lift atop some of the Ratel's. The timeline is a bit blurry but we carried on by foot later on. MIGs came down over us on the way south; they were so low I could see one of the Cuban pilot’s helmet and goggles. They ignored us but dropped a load of bombs on the hydro scheme hitting the pipeline. Another bomb fell between a Buffel Personnel Carrier and an Eland Armoured car. 11 young men / boys were killed, including the 8 SAI Army Ops Medic [Smartie]. The day ended with a sad loss of 12 of the SADFs finest young men and with an approximate of 300 plus Cubans and FAPLA killed between 26 and 27 June. RIP Ops Medic Jannie Holder and 11 others 27 June 1988.
As an Ops Medic from 7 Medical Battalion, I was attached to 32 Battalion and we had been operating in the area North of Calueque and between Techipa and Xangongo for weeks. We collected an Officer and a signalman and went to just outside Techipa. The Loot gave the coordinates for Techipa and the G5's and G2’s began dropping accurate fire on the town. Somewhere south, weather balloons covered in tinfoil were sent up by the SADF and the Cubans / FAPLA began shooting surface to air missiles [SAM’s] from Techipa.
The following day, we awoke in our TB hearing Olifant tanks to our South. However, we were informed that the Tanks had withdrawn further south the night before. A hornet’s nest had been disturbed and so our own Angolan Comrades Marathon began as we were chased by tanks and armoured cars for most of the day. At one point the Ratel's commanded by Hannes Nortman intercepted the Cubans and a fierce battle ensued. There was a lot of close quarter shooting, Nortman was injured in the neck and Lt Muller (Mielie) Meiring was killed. The contact broke off and at one point we were picked up and given a lift atop some of the Ratel's. The timeline is a bit blurry but we carried on by foot later on. MIGs came down over us on the way south; they were so low I could see one of the Cuban pilot’s helmet and goggles. They ignored us but dropped a load of bombs on the hydro scheme hitting the pipeline. Another bomb fell between a Buffel Personnel Carrier and an Eland Armoured car. 11 young men / boys were killed, including the 8 SAI Army Ops Medic [Smartie]. The day ended with a sad loss of 12 of the SADFs finest young men and with an approximate of 300 plus Cubans and FAPLA killed between 26 and 27 June. RIP Ops Medic Jannie Holder and 11 others 27 June 1988.
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