Identity
Person No.
31065
Old ROH no.
697
Service No.
72348022BC
Last Name
First Name
Lionel John
Initials
L J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MVA 2,632
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, at Grootfontein
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
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
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. I. R. A. Kidson
Research notes
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Air Force" was CLEARED. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word, and it CONTRADICTED this record's own Branch, "Army". Across the roll 787 records carried such a contradiction; judged against Corps and Regiment -- independent of both columns -- the evidence backed Branch 744 times and Unit2 not once. Branch is therefore kept and the contradicting word removed. Nothing is guessed: this man's branch of service is already recorded, and his sub-unit, if any, is simply not known.
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 85-87 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
He was just a kid. Fresh from Infantry School. Posted to 6 SAI Bn as a Pl Cmdr. I can't remember the date but I believe it was sometime in April '76 shortly after Easter. We were being deployed and tasked to establish a new base east of Eenhana. I was a signaler riding on the Doc's (Capt Toppie Mulder) Unimog. Got the message that one of the 'Mogs up ahead had rolled and several guys had been injured. This was just outside Eenhana. We broke from the convoy and rushed forward to get the Doc and the medics there. The 'Mog had rolled over him and apparently crushed his pelvis. Doc tried to stabilise him. When the choppers came we loaded him and the others to be casevaced. We carried on to our new location. We received the message later that evening that he had passed away. He was our first casualty that year. He was a good kid. Let us remember him.
I actually have a photograph of the chopper doing the casevac. We were part of the convoy when it happend. If I remember correctly it was around this time of the year, either the 14th or 15th May. Photo's are available to view on the SA-Soldier.com website.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.