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Holm , Johan Wolfgang (J W)

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Photo of Holm
Identity
Person No.
30740
Old ROH no.
596
Service No.
67728378PE
Last Name
Holm 3
First Name
Johan Wolfgang
Initials
J W
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1939 (±1 yr) 101
Age at Death
36
Death Record
Date of Death
23 November 1975 354
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,653
Killed in action, in Battle of Ebo. An enemy rocket exploded behind the Eland and killed Capt Holm who was standing upright in the turret
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Captain
Regiment
South African Commandos 98
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
Danie Theron Combat School 8
Defence Force
SADF 3,828
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
THABA TSHWANE (NEW) MILITARY CEMETERY 592
Grave Reference
Grave 860 1
Coordinates
-25.78214, 28.12179 OSM
Operation
Operation
Savannah
Dates
1975-10-14 to 1976-03-27
About
SADF intervention in the Angolan Civil War following Portugal's withdrawal, in support of UNITA and the FNLA against the Soviet/Cuban-backed MPLA. South African armoured columns (Task Force Zulu and others) advanced deep into Angola, reaching within striking distance of Luanda, before withdrawing by late March 1976 amid international and domestic political fallout. South Africa's first large post-WWII conventional deployment and the opening chapter of the Border War's Angola phase.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry (area defence)
Status
Commando (Area Bound Reserve)
Part of
SADF Commando System category
Generic Regiment-field text used across hundreds of records whose actual unit is a specific local Commando (e.g. Rustenburg Commando, Boksburg Commando -- captured in Unit). Post-WWII, "Commando" is its own force-component category alongside Regular/Permanent Force and Active Citizen Force -- area-bound, part-time reserve units tied to a specific district, mobilised for local counter-insurgency/area protection duties during the Border War era. Not a single regiment; this Status applies to the whole category.
Awards
Honoris Crux (1975)
Honoris Crux (1975) (HC)
South Africa · awarded 1975-11-23
Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975) for actions on 23 November 1975 at the Battle of Ebo, while serving with Danie Theron Combat School. An enemy rocket exploded behind the Eland armoured car and killed Captain Holm, who was standing upright in the turret. Listed among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)
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

Husband of Mrs. M. O. Holm.

Research notes

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. 2 (Captain J. W. Holm, Danie Theron Combat School). Battle of Ebo, 23 November 1975, during Operation Savannah.
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

Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975) for actions on 23 November 1975 at the Battle of Ebo, while serving with Danie Theron Combat School. An enemy rocket exploded behind the Eland armoured car and killed Captain Holm, who was standing upright in the turret. Listed among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)

External References
Stories 2
by Peter on 25 January 2008 · via source
On 23 November 1975, during Operation Savannah, Capt Holm led an attack via Ebo to Cond? in an armoured car, accompanied by 2Lt Hermanus van Niekerek, who was driving Capt Holm's civilian Honda. The armoured cars came under enemy fire and one was hit, toppling into a river-bed, while the rest became bogged down. Mortars were brought forward but these could not be brought to bear on the enemy properly as their base plates kept shifting in the soft ground. The enemy continued to shell the combined South African / UNITA force, inflicting a number of casualties. In an effort to evacuate some of these casualties and retrieve their mortars, Capt Holm moved forward in his Eland armoured car, together with 2Lt van Niekerek in the Honda. Whilst doing so, an enemy rocket exploded behind the Eland and Honda, killing Capt Holm, who was exposed in the turret, and throwing 2Lt van Niekerk through the air. The Honda was destroyed. Information extracted from Cross of Honour by Ian Uys, Uys Publishers 1992.
on 17 August 2026 · via source
Capt Holm was an infantry officer who was attached to the squadron. He replaced
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.