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Kellett , George William (G W)

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Photo of Kellett
Identity
Person No.
31029
Old ROH no.
684
Service No.
65749400PE
Last Name
Kellett 1
First Name
George William
Initials
G W
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1950 (±1 yr) 232
Age at Death
26
Death Record
Date of Death
04 January 1976 121
Cause code
AA 1,737
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Killed in aircraft accident 1,517
Died in Aircraft Accident, shot down by own AAA, in Aerospatiale SA3330 Puma C #122. The OC 2 Mil Area, scheduled a visit to Battlegroup Chicken, near Mussende, Angola. Unfortunately the Puma was painted green, similar to the colour of the enemy planes and flew off course over an AA battery that had not been informed of the flight. Thinking the enemy were attacking, the AA shot the chopper down
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
19 Squadron 27
Corps
South African Air Force 3,524
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,825
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,869
Locality
Limpopo 190
Cemetery
POLOKWANE (OR PIETERSBURG) CEMETERY 36
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 4
Coordinates
-23.90811, 29.44634 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
Part of
Active squadrons
Awards
Pro Patria Medal
Pro Patria Medal
South Africa · awarded 1976-01-04
Pro Patria Medal (original 1974 warrant, Government Gazette No. 4490, 8 Nov 1974, as amended by GG No. 4932, 19 Dec 1975) -- confirmed as one of the first 48 posthumous Pro Patria recipients on the official 1976 Roll of Honour, reproduced in P.F. Roos, "Pro Patria Medal: Types, Variants, Ribbon Accoutrements and Selected Recipients of Interest" (Section II, Part One). Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes

Son of Mr. P. Kellett, of Pietersburg. ref. 85 years of SAAF

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 04 Jan 2024: 65749400PE Sergeant George William Kellet (Flight Engineer), 19 Squadron, Puma 122 friendly AAA, Ops Savannah, age 26. ROH spelling is Kellett. ROH cause already has friendly AAA / Puma 122; names Battlegroup Chicken. Graham: Battle Group Orange, SA 330C, 20mm scored 21 hits, Aircraft Commander not killed in the crash but could not be freed before the wreck burnt; Commandant Martin Verster only survivor (not on the roll).
5 Sep 2026: Unit "19 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Air Force" 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 "Air Force".

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
on 01 July 2006 · via source
I was present where and when this person died after being shot down during ops Savannah in a Puma helicopter. His death was not due to a crash. I tried pulling him out of the burning helicopter but was unable to do so due to heat and exploding ammunition. This was more than an aircraft crash which seems to be wrongly stated in the records. There was one survivor who was badly burnt and airlifted for treatment. Place of death - Dondo (200km South East from Luanda) Unknown
Dedications 1
by ilzenel on 01 March 2018 · via War in Angola
This is a newspaper photo of my Uncle Sargeant G. W Kellett (George William). He was killed during Operation Savannah (04/01/1976) in a freak accident when the puma was shot down by our own forces due to lack of communication.