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Koopman , Nicolaas (N)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
31130
Old ROH no.
725
Service No.
85957013CK
Last Name
Koopman 5
First Name
Nicolaas
Initials
N
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1969 (±1 yr) 301
Age at Death
18
Death Record
Date of Death
30 April 1987 118
Cause code
MVA 2,628
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in motor vehicle accident 1,761
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, at Ondangwa
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Private
Regiment
Unknown
Corps
South African Ordnance Services Corps 95
Later renamed South African Ordnance Service Corps
Unit
5 Maintenance Unit 20
Defence Force
SADF 3,825
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,866
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612
Memorial
Memorial
SADF Wall of Remembrance
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Notes

Son of Mrs. van Wyk

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 30 Apr 2026: 85957013CK Private Nicolaas Koopman, 5 Maintenance Unit, Three 5 Maintenance Unit members killed in a military vehicle accident at Ondangwa. Same incident as Julies, Koopman and Oosthuizen. He was 18.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Navy" 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
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