Identity
Person No.
31184
Old ROH no.
2059
Service No.
76360833BG
Last Name
First Name
Petrus
Initials
P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, by shrapnel from mortar round, during Operation Protea
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Operation
Operation
Dates
1981-08-23 to 1981-09-04
About
The largest SADF conventional operation since the Second World War at the time it was launched: a deep mechanised incursion into Cunene province, Angola, against SWAPO and Angolan (FAPLA) forces, resulting in the occupation of Xangongo and Ongiva and the capture of large quantities of Soviet-supplied FAPLA equipment.
Unit History
Awards
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
Son of Mr. H. E. Kruger
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit, Last Post, 28 Aug 2026: L/Cpl P. Kruger, 6 South African Infantry Battalion, age 20, KIA by mortar shrapnel during Operation Protea, 28 Aug 1981. Matches ROH record (OperationID already linked to Operation Protea).
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), page 25 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 3
Piet Kruger was killed during the battle for Ongiva during Operation Protea in 1981. During an advance under artillery fire, he was wounded by shrapnel and died a short time later.
Piet Kruger was a very pleasant fellow and well liked. He was an infantry L/Cpl with 6SAI on Operation Protea. We had already been through Xangongo and were working our way back towards SWA when we came to Ongiva. After several attempts over several days to take Ongiva we then advanced under artillery fire and cleared the town. He was wounded by shrapnel at this stage of the battle and died shortly thereafter. I still think of him now and then, 25 years later. Unknown
Piet was my section leader and was killed by shrapnel in Ongiva while he was actually talking to me. I will never forget him.
Dedications 1
Piet Kruger was my section leader and was killed right in front of me by schrapnel. I was about 1.5 meters in front of him when the bomb fell, in fact he was talking to me at that moment.