Identity
Person No.
31147
Old ROH no.
2027
Service No.
77422806BG
Last Name
First Name
Jacob Johannes
Initials
J J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MVA 2,633
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, buffel accident, at Tsumeb
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Unit History
Role at time of death
Mechanised Infantry (combined-arms battalion group)
Status
Regular Force
Part of
Formed 1978 as Battle Group Juliet (SWAPO counter-insurgency, Ovamboland); formally named 61 Mechanised Battalion (Group) January 1979; disbanded 2005 at Lohatla. "Battalion Group" reflects its integral combined-arms structure: two Ratel-20-mounted infantry companies, an armoured car/tank squadron (Eland/Ratel-90, later Olifant), an integral G5 howitzer artillery battery, an 81mm mortar platoon, an anti-tank platoon, and an anti-aircraft troop -- not merely units attached for one operation. Fought at the Battle of the Lomba River, 1987. No evidence found that it was ever subordinated to or redesignated as a "61 Mechanised Brigade" -- see the note on that separate OrgEntity record.
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Kotze
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 93-94 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 1
Hi John, Japie was a TSC(tiffie) at 61Mech and in his first year. He was killed during a vehicle accident whilst a convoy was en route to Tsumeb from Omuthya and a buffel overturned halfway there.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.